By Rich Pollack

For the second time in two years, Highland Beach is looking for a new town manager.
At the Aug. 30 meeting, Town Manager Beverly Brown, who had been under fire for what some commissioners viewed as a lack of timely and accurate communication, submitted a letter announcing her intention to retire as of Dec. 2.
In the letter, Brown, 70, said the advanced notice will give the opportunity to find a replacement and also time for her to help bring the new manager up to speed on key issues.
    “This also provides time for me to share a guideline of approved projects on the books and communicate the history of the policies and procedures now in place with the new manager,” Brown wrote. “If additional time is required, I would be willing to provide whatever services are needed on a consultant basis.”
    Brown, who has a current salary of $130,400, asked that commissioners allow her to be compensated for all accumulated leave time to date — about 10 weeks — and also requested that she be given the opportunity to purchase her iPad.
At least one commissioner, however, asked Brown to reconsider, and encouraged other members of the commission to join him.
“I don’t think she really wants to leave,” said Commissioner Lou Stern, adding that he thinks Brown felt pressured to leave following comments from other commissioners who expressed a lack of confidence in her ability.  
In an earlier August meeting, Brown took heat from commissioners for not communicating better after she received a letter from a Fraternal Order of Police representative explaining that civilian town employees were in the planning stages of forming a union.
Brown received the letter on a Monday, but did not tell commissioners about it until the following day, when the commission held its monthly meeting. Both Brown and Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said they thought a copy of the letter had been sent directly to the commissioners.
“We need more transparency between the town manager and the town clerk and the commission,” Commissioner Carl Feldman said during that earlier meeting. “I don’t want to have a vote of no confidence, but I will acknowledge [a vote] if the aforementioned issues are not corrected. I’ve worked with three town managers in the past 15 years and I don’t want to hire a fourth one. But I will have to vote yes if that’s what’s required.”
Brown, who started with the city in 2007, later defended herself.
“I think I’ve done a good job,” Brown said several days after the earlier meeting. “We have a staff that works well together, we’ve cut the budget and we have department heads who have stepped up to be sure residents never felt the reduction in staff.”
Town Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker said she was “shocked” by the actions of both Brown and Torcivia.
“I supported you and trusted you,” she told Brown during the earlier meeting. “At this point, I have to tell you I’ve lost my confidence and trust in the town manager.”
During discussions of the union letter, Zelniker asked Brown why commissioners weren’t notified that employees were ready to organize prior to their meeting with union representatives.
“If staff members are unhappy, have you ever brought that up to the commission?” Zelniker asked.
Brown told Zelniker she had no idea that employees were planning to form a union.
“We need you to communicate with us,” Zelniker said.
    Vice Mayor Bill Weitz, later in that meeting, also expressed concerns.
“I really have lost confidence in our senior staff to allow our commission to do its job,” he said.
Brown was serving as town clerk in January 2015 when she was named interim town manager following the mutually agreed-upon departure of former Town Manager Kathleen Weiser. Brown was promoted to the position permanently in April of that year.
Brown said she was under the impression that commissioners knew employees were unhappy prior to the letter being sent out by the union representative.
“It’s been brought up before,” she said. “Employees have said they don’t know where they stand and what will happen to the benefits they’ve been receiving for years.”

By Steve Plunkett
    
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District and the city have hammered out an agreement that will have the district paying 50 percent of all beach renourishment projects and Intracoastal dredging in Boca Raton.
    District Chairman Robert Rollins happily announced the meeting of minds Aug. 26. The pact will officially be signed at the district’s Sept. 6 meeting.
    “I feel pretty good that we were able to get that done,” Rollins said. “The city’s happy with it and we’re happy with it.”
    The agreement will also enable the district to send the city a $1.5 million check for last spring’s partial renourishment of what the city calls its central beach, between Red Reef Park and the Boca inlet.
    Arthur Koski, the district’s lawyer and interim executive director, told commissioners in July that city officials had requested the money. But his advice was not to pay without an agreement in place.
Members of the City Council and the district commissioners informally agreed at a June 9, 2015, joint meeting that the district would pay half of beach renourishment costs, up from its customary one-third share. Three weeks later, commissioners approved a document saying just that, and another concerning a second phase of building sports fields at DeHoernle Park.
    But the city said both needed revisions. In November, it returned a new proposal that combined the two documents and six other contracts between Boca Raton and the city into one “master” agreement.
Among other things, the district objected to the proposed life of the agreement —30 years — and said one year was more palatable.
    The new beach agreement, which will stand alone from the proposed master pact, compromises at 10 years.
    “That’s a time frame we can live with,” Rollins said.
    The city’s dredge contractor left Boca Raton April 25 after completing about 20 percent of the central beach renourishment. Weeks Marine Inc. will return in December to finish. Ú

Delray brewers rush to meet demand

for ocean-friendly packaging

Tyler Immell, brewer at Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, removes the leftover grain barley

after mashing it. The waste material will be used to make edible six-pack rings (top).

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

    The Delray Beach friends who launched Saltwater Brewery have two passions: beer and the ocean.
    That sparked an idea to marry their priorities by creating six-pack rings out of byproducts of the beer-making process that are biodegradable and edible. If the rings ended up in the ocean, they would not harm it or marine animals.
    When the craft brewery’s founders unveiled their concept this spring, they thought it would draw interest. But the staggering response stunned them.
    A video about the rings went viral, drawing international attention. The Huffington Post, Time, CNN, NBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, National Geographic, The Verge, Yahoo, People and other media outlets ran with the story. In the first 50 days, the video got 105 million Facebook views and 1.8 million shares.
    Breweries — lots of them, big and small — called wanting in.
    “It was what we always wanted to believe would happen but did not have full faith that everyone would get on board,” said Chris Gove, Saltwater Brewery’s president and cofounder. “It was overwhelming and still is overwhelming and surreal.”
    Working with creative agency We Believers, they developed a prototype that proved their concept would work and now are improving it. Final patents are in the works.
    They hope to launch their rings into the market this fall, producing 50,000 units a month with the intention of growing that number significantly.

Chris Gove, president and cofounder of Saltwater Brewery, hopes the new edible six-pack rings

will reduce the amount of plastics in the ocean.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    “The idea is to get it into as many companies as possible,” Gove said. “Every large player we know has contacted us to help out to get this to a larger scale. They want to partner with it.”
    If everything falls into place as hoped, he said the rings could become the new industry standard.
    “What we have done is spark the fire for resurgence of a new packaging world where ease and durability and inexpensive cost do not outweigh environmental benefits,” Gove said. “The world has finally seen the detrimental effect plastic has had and now they are waking up and wanting to support the companies that want to reduce waste.”
    The rings are made from the spent wheat and barley from beer-making. The challenge has been transforming this waste product into a substance durable enough to hold six-packs together.
    The Saltwater Brewery team donates the beer byproduct to cattle ranchers to use as animal feed or fertilizer, but that has proved to be time-consuming and not the best ecological solution.
    “Instead of getting rid of the byproduct, it becomes an asset,” Gove said.
    He has tasted a prototype ring, and pronounces it as “very plain, with a bit of a grainy finish.” Hot sauce works wonders, he said.

Tons of trash reach ocean
    Six-pack rings for beer and sodas have been made with plastic for years. But plastics are a huge problem. They end up in landfills, where it will take them at least 450 years to biodegrade. Some types don’t biodegrade at all.
    Vast amounts make their way into the oceans.
    A study published last year in Science reported that in 2010, 8 million tons of plastic trash ended up in the oceans from coastal countries, with that tonnage expected to increase tenfold in the next decade unless a way is found to improve how garbage is collected and managed.
    That 8 million tons alone is more than the amount of plastics already measured in gigantic “garbage patches” floating in the oceans.

Fish eat one of the biodegradable six-pack rings in an illustration provided by Saltwater Brewery.

    A report from the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation earlier this year estimated 165 million tons of plastics are in the oceans. By 2050, the oceans will contain more plastics than fish by weight if nothing changes.
    Seabirds, fish, turtles and other marine life ingest it and die. Or they get tangled up in the plastics, leaving them unable to eat or swim.
    Biodegradable, compostable six-pack rings that are safe for marine life won’t solve that problem by themselves, of course, but it is a start.
    “We think this is part of a bigger movement,” Gove said.
    In June, the edible six-pack ring got a big boost when it was named one of four international winners of the Cannes Lions 2016 prize in the category of creative innovation. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on June 1 announced that Saltwater Brewery’s rings had won its Compassionate Business Award.
    “Saltwater Brewery has set an example for other beverage companies with its edible six-pack rings that feed marine animals instead of choking or poisoning them,” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.

Brewery already expanding
    Even before its six-pack ring idea took off, Saltwater Brewery was in expansion mode.
    The brewery opened in December 2013, after the four friends decided to pool their talents. Gove, Bo Eaton and Peter Agardy attended Gulf Stream School, and now Eaton is head of sales and Agardy is creative director. Dustin Jeffers, who moved to  South Florida about five years ago, is director of operations. Their original brewmaster, Bill Taylor, has since left and Justin Rick moved into that position one month ago from Brooklyn Brewery.
    Gove’s parents, who invested in the idea and owned an old barn, Delray Feed Store, that could be converted into a brewery, actively helped out.
    In short order, the co-founders moved beyond brewing beer that could be consumed in the bar that fronts the barn, at 1701 W. Atlantic Ave., just west of Interstate 95, or taken home in growlers.
    Their first move was to get their beer on tap at South Florida bars and restaurants. They then began canning two of their core brews, Screamin’ Reels IPA and Sea Cow Milk Stout, which are now available at several liquor stores, Whole Foods and The Fresh Market.
    Next up was getting their beer in more markets. They now have five distributors that have made their beer available everywhere in Florida except the Panhandle.
    Production has skyrocketed. Gove said they will produce 5,500 barrels this year, and plan to increase that to about 12,000 barrels next year.
    They have outgrown their brewing space and plan to contract with a brewer to increase output. At some point, Gove expects to build a new brewing facility. International sales are also in his sights.
    And they are not done with sustainable and environmentally friendly projects. Gove said they have begun considering making biodegradable straws, since straws also often end up in the ocean.
    The pressures of rapid growth have ended many a friendship in the business world, but Gove said he and his cofounders are as tight as ever.
    “It is a family here,” he said. “Anytime anyone has a problem, we are all here. We drop everything. It has actually gotten us closer.”

Grocer to create ‘unique to market’

store in Manalapan

The new Publix will anchor a major renovation of Plaza del Mar.

Rendering provided by Cuhaci & Peterson

By Dan Moffett

    After a year of impassioned negotiation and ample planning, the arranged marriage between Publix and Manalapan appears headed for the altar.
    A short list of design changes from representatives for the supermarket giant persuaded town commissioners to unanimously approve plans for a 26,000-square-foot store in the middle of the Plaza del Mar shopping center.
    Publix and Manalapan. Manalapan and Publix. Together at last.
    Matt Buehler, retail vice president with Kitson & Partners, the plaza’s landlords, told commissioners the company was building its store specifically with Manalapan in mind. He said extensive renovation of the site would revive a shopping plaza that has languished for years.
    And the centerpiece would be the stylish new Publix.
    “The grocer is creating a unique store to this market that does not exist in its portfolio today,” Buehler said. “It’s not a stock set of plans that came off the shelf. This is a uniquely designed store that will not exist anywhere else in the country.”
    Kitson’s proposed overhaul includes planting 37 royal palm trees, adding two pocket parks and a drip irrigation system, installing LED parking lights, and repaving the entire plaza. Kitson had offered to create an outdoor seating area for roughly 100 people, but dropped the idea when several commissioners objected, fearing a potential nuisance.
    The plans go to the town’s architectural committee next. Demolition could begin in October, with construction underway by the first of the year. The Publix is expected to open for business in 2018.
    Two skeptics on the commission, Basil Diamond and Simone Bonutti, voted to support Kitson after coaxing concessions from the landlord during three hours of debate at the July 19 town meeting.
    Diamond and Bonutti had worried that the store would create traffic bottlenecks on the corner of Ocean Avenue and A1A, disturb neighbors with noise and pollution, and pose safety problems with large delivery trucks driving through the parking lot.
    “My concern is the site plan itself,” Diamond said. “Does it make a negative impact on the plaza and the community?”
    Buehler said Kitson was willing to build a continuous 8-foot concrete wall along the western and southern boundaries of the property to screen neighbors from delivery vehicles.
    Engineers for the developers told the commission that the renovation actually will decrease the total amount of retail space at the plaza by about 20,000 square feet. The plan would also increase the setback area on the south side by about 35 feet, adding to the buffer zone with homeowners. Engineers said the project complies with all town codes and building rules.
    Kitson withdrew plans to add a separate liquor package store near the Publix after complaints from several commissioners at the June meeting. Buehler said the two-story tower in the heart of the plaza will be removed, opening the skyline view for neighboring residents.
    Robert Rennebaum, a traffic engineer with the West Palm Beach firm of Simmons & White, told commissioners the completed project would “meet all applicable standards.”
    Rennebaum said the new Publix figures to generate 615 fewer trips per day — about a 15 percent reduction — than the current limits on the property. “It’s not even close to capacity,” he said.
    Mayor David Cheifetz and Diamond pointed out, however, that current traffic to the plaza falls well below the limits because of underperforming businesses. So, while adding a Publix may not exceed theoretical traffic standards, in the real world, it is virtually certain to draw more cars to the site than go there today.
    Buehler assured commissioners that Kitson has the expertise to manage vehicle and foot traffic to the new store: “We do have shopping centers throughout the state of Florida. We’re shopping center experts.”
    He said typically, no more than two or three large delivery trucks would be going to the supermarket each day. “There’s not going to be a superhighway going through the center of that shopping center,” he said. “They’ll go to the back of the store, be hidden, then get the heck out of Dodge and nobody will be the wiser.”
    The path of the expanded north-south delivery access road will force out a half-dozen businesses, among them Jewelry Artisans, Manalapan Italian Cuisine and Jeannie’s Ocean Boutique. Kitson has given the merchants until Sept. 30 to relocate.
    Cheifetz, who as mayor has no vote, said he would have voted to approve the project if allowed. He commended commissioners for “a job well done” in protecting the interests of the town and working to improve plans for Manalapan’s largest commercial project in decades.

Paul Katcher and Tom Roma have a last breakfast at the Green Owl.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related story: Granger’s looks to relocate; Doc’s parcel on the market

By Jane Smith

    Dave Gensman gave up his 33-year-old spot on Atlantic Avenue the same July weekend that Garrison Keillor retired from his 42-year radio career.
    Keillor relied on his Minnesota, no-emotion style when starring in the radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion.
    But in Delray Beach, Gensman said he felt nauseated all week just thinking about the last day of the Green Owl on Atlantic Avenue.
    “Thirty-three years,” Gensman said as he looked around the paneled restaurant, adorned with hundreds of owl images.

Various owl art decorates the Green Owl’s paneled walls.

    The Green Owl, which accepts cash only, was among the last places downtown where diners could be served by a waitress and spend less than $10 for breakfast or lunch.
    A firm affiliated with the Delray Beach-based Menin Co. bought two Atlantic Avenue buildings in April 2015 for $19 million. Menin wants to raise the rent for the Green Owl space, expand it and rent it to a Capital One Café. The Green Owl will reopen in the fall in a smaller spot on Southeast Fourth Avenue, also owned by Menin.
    The Green Owl is just one example of a small business finding it difficult to stay afloat amid escalating real estate prices in Delray Beach’s increasingly trendy downtown.

Comfort food,
comfortable folks
    At the Green Owl, Gensman created a comfortable spot where people could gather and catch up on the news.
    “We always sit at the counter,” said frequent Sunday diner Julie Greene. Originally from the Pittsburgh area, she feels at home amid Gensman’s Steelers memorabilia and has for more than 16 years. “It’s like a Friday night at the Cheers bar on Sunday mornings,” she said.
    Paul Katcher and Tom Roma of Boca Raton have eaten at the Green Owl for about 10 years. The boyfriend of Roma’s daughter discovered it. Katcher likes having a hamburger for breakfast, which the restaurant makes for him.
    They also have a favorite waitress, 11-year server Traci Padalino. She spells her last name, and then asks, “Why do you want to know?” That makes Katcher and Roma chuckle. They appreciate her snappy comebacks.
    Mike Luther, an eight-year customer from Delray Beach, picks up that line of humor. He responds, “It’s about time,” when asked how he feels about the Green Owl’s last day.
    Chris Cooper, who has eaten at the restaurant since the late ’80s, laments the lack of small-business owners on Atlantic Avenue. “It’s becoming just like South Beach,” he said.
    Cooper usually orders the Green Owl’s grilled cheese on rye. “It’s to die for,” he said. He enjoys the nostalgic, 1950s feel of the family restaurant.

David Gensman (left), owner of the Green Owl diner in Delray Beach, speaks with Julie and John Greene,

customers for some 16 years. The diner is leaving its location on Atlantic Avenue for a spot across the street

at 11 SE Fourth Ave. Gensman’s mother, Carol Savage, bought the restaurant in 1983. He expects to reopen in November.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Keeping the ‘family’ feel
    Throughout the Green Owl’s last morning on Atlantic Avenue, Gensman’s eyes would tear up from time to time.
    Breakfast was free that day. Customers were asked to make a donation to the breast cancer fund for the relative of a Green Owl waitress. “I want to give back to the community,” Gensman said.
    Later, he would open the restaurant for a last bash on Atlantic Avenue — for his regular customers.
    When asked which owl is his favorite, Gensman went into the kitchen, rooted around and returned with an owl head that once held plants. He beamed as he showed off the planter. He values the piece not for its looks but because of the person who gave it to him.
    The Green Owl’s new space will seat 65 diners, 20 fewer than on Atlantic Avenue. Menin is building out the space, and it should be ready by November. Gensman is in charge of the décor — paneling and most of the owls.
    Greene and her husband, John, say they relish the camaraderie of sitting at the counter. They’ve been invited to weddings and baby showers, held by people they’ve met at the Green Owl.
    Gensman will try to keep that family feeling and hopes to fit a counter in the new place.

    The Coastal Star has been honored by the Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with three awards for feature and editorial writing.
    The Coastal Star competed against daily newspapers.
    Executive Editor Mary Kate Leming won second place in editorial writing for her columns advocating open government and easier access to public records.
    Randy Schultz and Leming won a third-place award in feature writing for a look at the 1984 Delray Beach murder of a 14-year-old babysitter. Three decades later, her killer remains on Florida’s death row.
    Writer Ron Hayes received a second-place honor in profile reporting for introducing readers to karaoke entertainer Jacqie Jackson; veterinarian Harold “Doc” Burton, who ferried horses to Europe after World War II; and the late book collector and philanthropist Dr. Arthur Jaffe.
    The awards were presented July 9 at the chapter’s annual Sunshine State Awards.

    We are a local newspaper. Our focus is on a 20-mile stretch of coastal southern Palm Beach County. Our mission is local. We don’t write about presidential elections, state or county elections.
    Outside of the office you might hear us voice opinions on broader topics, but you won’t see us write about issues that don’t directly impact our geographic area.
    Plastics in the ocean may seem like a global issue, but if you walk the beach like I do, you have seen the local effect of a growing global problem.
    On a recent family trip to Bolivia and Peru, I was hit hard by the scope of this issue. I had visited these countries when I was teenager (long, long ago) and although many of the socioeconomic changes I observed this summer were positive, the plastic pollution had grown to an alarming level.
    It was heartbreaking to watch glossy ibis wade through plastic refuse in open sewers in the rapidly expanding suburbs of La Paz, Bolivia. Even the flamingos along the rail line in Peru were often seen feeding with plastic bottles floating nearby.
    If attention isn’t paid to this global environmental crisis, it will soon become a human health crisis.
    And yes, I know these are developing countries in the mountains of South America. What does trash in the mountains have to do with plastic in the ocean? Plenty. When plastic is left unmanaged, gravity ultimately sends all non-biodegradable waste into the world’s vast oceans.

    That’s why the efforts by the young men at Saltwater Brewery are so important.
    A biodegradable six-pack holder seems like such a simple idea it’s no wonder manufacturers all over the world are clamoring to incorporate it into their packaging.
    I wish these entrepreneurs all the luck in the world as they get this exciting new product through the patent process and into the global market. I believe they will succeed.
    It took sharp minds to be aware of the frightening amount of plastic in the oceans and to not simply turn away, but instead to stop and think, “What can I do about it?”
    Finding a way to reduce the amount of discarded plastics in our environment is an immense, global issue. But sometimes it just takes one small, local idea to make a difference.


— Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

Lantana’s public beach is a popular destination for families.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Lantana Municipal Beach came uncomfortably close to having a no-swimming advisory on July Fourth weekend.
    Bacteria levels were in the “poor” range June 28 in tests conducted by the Palm Beach County Health Department. The advisory was lifted June 30, the day before the holiday weekend, when bacteria counts dropped to the “good” range.
    Lantana Beach has had four no-swimming advisories because of high bacteria levels since the first of the year.
The beach is the worst offender of the 13 county beaches tested every two weeks by the health department.
    To make matters worse, the June 14 test showed alarmingly high bacterial levels — 1,900 enterococcus CFU (colony-forming units) per 100 milliliters. The “poor” range is 71 or greater enterococcus CFU. (The June 28 count was 260 colonies.)
    “We don’t ever see numbers that high,” said Tim O’Connor, county health department public information officer. Causes could be a leaking sewage pipe or a large ship dumping sewage.
    The health department was working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to identify the cause, he said.
    “We usually test within 24 hours to see if Mother Nature will take care of it,” he said. “We can’t always find the source. The bottom line is we will continue to look at it.”
    Subsequent tests of Lantana Beach have been in the “good” range, but the beach is still on the health department’s radar. If bacteria counts rise to the June 14 level again the department will investigate.
    “We’re testing for sewage, so we would check lift stations for leaks, septic tanks, sewage pipes to see if any are broken, and make sure sewage facilities are working,” O’Connor said. “We would look at boats going by, and would check with the Coast Guard for boat schedules.”
    The only precautions beach-goers can take are immediately showering after swimming and staying out of the water when no-swimming advisories are posted.
    Enterococci are enteric bacteria that normally inhabit the intestinal tract of humans and animals.
    The presence of enteric bacteria can be an indication of fecal pollution, which may come from storm-water runoff, pets and wildlife, and human sewage.
    Some beaches are not flushed out by ocean tides as much as others.
    “At Gulf Stream beach, for example, water gets trapped there,” O’Connor said. Gulf Stream is not one of the 13 beaches routinely tested by the county.
    High levels of enterococci can cause gastrointestinal illness, as well as infections in open wounds, and ear and eye infections, said O’Connor.
    Meanwhile, South Palm Beach and other coastal towns are considering building    groins to help hold sand on beaches and guard against erosion, which may worsen the bacteria problem.
    “Groins interrupt the natural flow of sand and water and trap bacteria close to shore,” O’Connor said.
    Standards for bacteria testing were raised Jan. 1 this year. The new criteria for enterococci bacteria were recommended by the U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency after epidemiological studies showed disease risks from water with high bacteria levels are greater than previously thought.
    Swimmers can check beach water quality at palmbeach.floridahealth.gov and click on Beach Water Sampling.

Palm Beach County beaches tested by the health department:
• Lantana Municipal Beach
• Lake Worth Beach
• Boynton Beach
• Spanish River
• South Inlet Park
• Sandoway Park
• Carlin Park
• Dubois Park
• Jupiter Beach Park
• Ocean Inlet Park
• Palm Beach
• Phil Foster Park
• Riviera Municipal Beach

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge commissioners are exploring ways to use traffic calming devices to promote safety and help provide the town with its own identity.
    Newly elected Commissioner Steve Coz said he heard a lot from residents about the need for traffic calming while campaigning for his seat in March.
    “There were three issues that continually came up,” Coz said. “People were complaining about speeding. They were complaining that the town needed an identity — that the town be identified as a community separate from Boynton. And they were worried about safety.”
    During the July 11 Town Commission meeting, Coz showed commissioners some possibilities that he and town engineer Lisa Tropepe had developed. The idea is to use calming devices on Ocean Avenue, Midlane Road and Beachway Drive, not only to slow down motorists but to send them visceral signals that Ocean Ridge is its own place — with its own character and its own rules.
    “When you go into the town, Ocean Ridge is defined as a safe community, with low speeding,” Coz said of the proposal. “It makes a statement.”
    Tropepe suggested that commissioners consider installing raised speed tables at intersections on Ocean Avenue.
    Constructed of bricks or pavers, the devices would help slow traffic entering the crossroads from four directions and add an aesthetically pleasing detail to the neighborhood, she said. A center median device could help define the town’s Beachway entrance.
    Tropepe said costs for the devices range somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000 each, depending on size and design choices. Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella said he believes that those numbers are high and the town could get the work done for less.
    Coz cited Olive Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach as a good example of how the raised intersection devices might work.
    “Great ideas and very nice changes,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said, “but we haven’t paved the roads in Ocean Ridge in over three years.”
    Pugh said that if commissioners decide to go forward with traffic calming, they should “dovetail it with paving and repairs” throughout the town. He said the commission needs to look at traffic calming within the context of paying for the town’s overdue road work.
 
    In other business:
    • At a July 13 special meeting on the budget, commissioners unanimously approved a preliminary tax rate maximum of $5.35 per $1,000 of assessed property value — the same rate Ocean Ridge has had for the last two years.
    The town’s property values rose about 7.5 percent since 2015, from roughly $825 million to $887 million, in line with the increase throughout Palm Beach County. Ocean Ridge’s rollback rate — the rate at which tax revenue would remain the same as last year — is $4.99 per $1,000 of assessed value.
    Commissioners set a budget workshop meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. to work out the details for fiscal 2016-2017.
    Immediately preceding the workshop, beginning at 9 a.m., commissioners will meet to consider changes to health insurance plans for the town’s employees.
    Several employees have complained about coverage problems with the town’s current carrier.

    Manalapan issued a boil-water notice to customers along State Road A1A and the south end of Hypoluxo Island after a drop in water pressure in late July.
    Plant operator Valerie May said a pump malfunction on the morning of July 24 caused water pressure to drop, prompting the town to issue a boil-water notice to about 300 customers, including businesses in Plaza del Mar and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
    The drop in pressure did not affect water users in the town of Hypoluxo who receive water from the Manalapan plant.
    The boil water notice was in effect from 6:30 a.m. July 24 until 1 p.m. July 26.

--Willie Howard

By Dan Moffett

    Concerns about cost have stopped six coastal communities from moving forward with a plan to create a barrier island fire district.
    Robert Finn of Texas-based Matrix Consulting Group, which completed a feasibility study on the idea last spring, said he has no meetings planned with representatives of Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Briny Breezes, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge and South Palm Beach.
    Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher, who organized the group, said the plan stalled over the higher costs the towns would have to pay to provide their own fire-rescue services. Several town managers who participated in the study initiative said they could not support anything with a higher price tag.
    “It seems like it’s dead to me,” Thrasher said. “Every formula that we came up with causes a situation where some would have to pay more money. That immediately eliminated the probability of this thing.”
    It came down to taxable values, several group members said. Towns with high valuations were capable of moving forward with the plan but those on the other end of the spectrum couldn’t afford it. Consider that Highland Beach’s tax base is roughly 50 times that of Briny Breezes and seven times that of South Palm Beach. Gulf Stream and Manalapan have valuations that are about three times that of South Palm and 25 times Briny’s.
    Thrasher said all six communities would have to participate for the plan to succeed. But the numbers wouldn’t allow it. South Palm Beach and Briny would be dealing with an “almost impossible rate increase,” he said, no matter what formula for participation was used.
    “I think the district is a great concept that serves a great purpose,” he said. “But it deals with entities that have different parities of taxable values. Your hands are tied as to what you can do when your revenues are so restricted.”
    Besides cost, there were worries from public safety officials about the difficulties of having first responders in position to efficiently cover a district that would be about 20 miles long.
    “There were a lot of things that are potential problems besides financial problems,” Thrasher said. “There are a lot of moving parts.”
    Finn said he expects the six town managers to discuss individually his 130-page report with elected officials. The study cost the group $39,000.

By Rich Pollack

    After months of back-and-forth — and sometimes contentious — discussions, Highland Beach and Delray Beach have finally reached agreement on a nearly $3.8 million annual contract that will allow the larger community to continue providing fire protection to its smaller neighboring town.
    “I think this agreement is definitely good for Highland Beach residents and it’s even better for Delray residents,” Highland Beach Commissioner Carl Feldman said.
    Under the 10-year agreement, Delray Beach Fire Rescue will continue to provide staffing for the town-owned fire station on State Road A1A.
    In addition, Delray Beach will buy a new ladder truck and a new rescue wagon to lease to Highland Beach as part of the contract. After 10 years, Highland Beach would purchase the two vehicles from Delray Beach for $1 each.  
    “We now have a very advantageous agreement while maintaining a healthy relationship with a neighboring community,” Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein said. “I am convinced categorically that this is a great opportunity.”
    The relationship between the two communities was strained earlier this year when Delray Beach city commissioners rejected a proposed contract, previously approved by Highland Beach, with some commissioners claiming Highland Beach was benefiting more from the agreement than Delray Beach.
    Delray Beach commissioners then sent a counterproposal that included a 20 percent administrative fee. Highland Beach responded by pointing out that a large percentage of the calls handled by the crew and apparatus for which Highland Beach was paying were actually in Delray Beach.
    During a City Commission meeting in early July, Delray Beach’s new fire chief, Neal de Jesus, said that without the Highland Beach station, the city would have to purchase additional land in Delray Beach — if it could find it — and build and staff a new station to adequately protect residents in the southeast section of the city.
    “This relationship makes sense,” he said.
    Glickstein, who supported the proposal, agrees.
    He pointed out that about 75 percent of the 911 rescue calls handled by the Highland Beach station are in Delray Beach.
    “Delray Beach taxpayers will save millions over the life of the contract while enjoying the same level of service they would have with a far more expensive stand-alone station in that part of the city, assuming we could even find another suitable location,” he said. “Highland Beach benefits by having the full complement of our entire fire-rescue personnel and apparatus resources available to their residents.”
    As part of the contract, Delray Beach will charge Highland Beach a 5 percent administrative fee. That may be offset in part, however, by an arrangement in which Highland Beach will receive all transport fee revenues for patients from Highland Beach who are taken to the hospital by the rescue unit stationed in Highland Beach.
    Under the current $3.3 million contract that would have expired in September 2017, Delray Beach receives payment from patients in Highland Beach or their insurance companies whenever patients are transported to the hospital by the rescue truck.
    Another key element of the agreement is a “true-up” clause that allows both Delray Beach and Highland Beach to examine the actual cost of services provided and then adjust them accordingly.
    “We make up the accounting differences at the end of the year,” said Highland Beach’s Feldman, whom the Town Commission appointed to be part of the negotiating team.
    Prior to reaching the agreement with Delray Beach, Highland Beach also met with fire-rescue representatives from Boynton Beach, Palm Beach County and proponents of a possible coastal fire district, but found all three alternatives too expensive, impractical or both.
    “Having this agreement benefits residents of both Highland Beach and Delray Beach,” Feldman said.

Peter Gary hopes that he and his dance partner, Pam Casanave, will be able to raise

more than $200,000 for the George Snow Scholarship Fund.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Amy Woods
    
    He served in the Marine Corps for eight years and has several belts in the martial arts — dual disciplines that have given him a proverbial leg up in this month’s feisty and fun charity dance-off, Boca’s Ballroom Battle.
    Peter Gary, a 52-year-old Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club resident, has a hankering to hoof.
    “I think Pam and I are going to rock it,” Gary said of dance partner Pam Casanave, owner of Fred Astaire studios in Boca Raton, which has sponsored the fundraiser for nine years.
    Proceeds from the event benefit the George Snow Scholarship Fund, an organization that helps students in financial need attend college.
    A total of eight dancers, backed by devoted donors, will break out their best moves in a quest for the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.
    “I think the fact that I was in the Marine Corps definitely helped with understanding the cadence — left, right, left, right — and what you’re doing with your feet,” Gary said. “If you’re off a quarter of a step, it throws off the rest of what’s going to happen.”
    He and the other community volunteers began training in April. The competition will take place Aug. 20.
    “It’s a huge time commitment, but Pam does such a great job that they’re fun,” Gary said of his dance lessons. “You get to learn new things as you progress through the choreographed routine.”
    Last year, $324,000 was raised for South Florida students wanting to further their educations.
    “I was touched by how many lives it actually impacts,” Gary said. “None of these kids have defeatist attitudes. They aren’t looking for a handout. They are looking for help.”
    Gary, the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Advertising and Marketing Group, was approached by 2015 contestant Donna Parlapiano for a donation. He made one and was so impressed with the Dancing with the Stars-style extravaganza that he asked to participate.
    “Here is a man without ego, from my perspective, who just puts himself out there,” said Debi Feiler, the fund’s vice president of program services. “He wants to raise money for our kids.”
    Gary’s goal is $200,000 — a lofty one. He will rock a pinstripe suit during the evening, whose musical theme is “Gals vs. Guys!”
    “Let’s not mince words: You could make a fool of yourself out there,” Feiler said. “We all think we know how to dance. But to have the nerve — my hat is off to him.”

If You Go
What: Boca’s Ballroom Battle
When: 6 to 10 p.m. Aug. 20
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club, 501 E. Camino Real
Cost: $185 to $250
Information: Call 347-6799 or visit scholarship.org

Owners Timothy and Adriana McLarney (center) stand with their staff in front of Granger’s Grille

in Delray Beach. They hope to remain month-to-month after their lease ends Oct. 31.

 Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Granger’s Grille has been priced out of its 21-year spot on the corner of Northeast Second Street and Federal Highway in Delray Beach following a March sale.
    “We would not have considered relocating if our rent was not tripled,” said owner Timothy McLarney.
    McLarney has found a temporary place in Atlantic Plaza, whose owners are locked in a lawsuit with the city.
    “It’s a stopgap measure,” he said. His current lease ends Oct. 31, but he is trying to remain on a month-to-month basis until a new tenant is found. Then he will reopen in the former Free House American Eatery & Pub location in Atlantic Plaza.
    McLarney had tried to buy his present site. He had both the longtime restaurant and nearby single-family house appraised, with a value of $705,000. But the then-owner wanted $300,000 more and found a buyer willing to pay slightly more than $1 million.
    The new owner wants McLarney to pay $12,000 monthly to rent both buildings — $4,000 for the 1,500-square-foot single-family home and $8,000 for the 960-square-foot restaurant.
    Granger’s serves lunch and dinner daily and has nightly specials Tuesdays through Saturdays. The barbecue ribs often sell out, McLarney said.

    Granger’s has 38 seats. The most expensive item is $22 for fried lobster on Fridays.
    The grill serves food that diners can recognize and is comforting, said real estate broker Cecelia Boone.

    “Something that does not have a quail egg on it,” she said.
    McLarney started looking for a new space in May 2015. At one location, the restaurant owner was asking $600,000 plus extra for the liquor license. A place that once held a coffee shop on North Federal Highway didn’t have enough parking, and he would have needed to buy four in lieu spaces from the city, costing $100,000.
    McLarney finds the rents on Atlantic Avenue prohibitive. Parking also is a problem for Granger’s. The salon owner in an adjacent strip shopping center often posts a sign, “No Granger’s parking.”
    And yet another Delray Beach landmark, Doc’s All American at the corner of North Swinton and Atlantic Avenues, faces an uncertain future. The owner of Doc’s  and the neighboring Dunkin’ Donuts parcel has the 0.77-acre property back on the market. The listing on Loopnet, a real estate website, does not have an asking price. A recent multimillion- dollar deal fell through.
    Doc’s, which dates to 1951 when a Pennsylvania dentist opened the soft-serve ice cream spot, may be offered a smaller space in any new development that happens at that location, according to Boone, who has the listing. “It will be at least two years down the road,” she said.
    Generations of Delray Beach residents stopped for a cone after school or a root beer float after a day at the beach at the walk-up ice cream and burger place, which takes cash only.

Officer Gerry Ricco demonstrates

the body cameras that Delray Beach Police will be using.

Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

    When Capt. Tom Mitchell started in law enforcement close to three decades ago, the only cameras available to help police do their jobs were regular film cameras and Polaroids, which could instantly develop a crime scene photo or a suspect’s mug shot.
    Fast forward to today and you’ll find cameras have become an integral part of law enforcement’s effort to prevent crime and apprehend lawbreakers.
    “Look at what cameras have done in assisting in security,” says Mitchell, who is leading the Delray Beach Police Department’s efforts to use cameras to do everything from streaming live images from a crime scene to capturing license plate numbers. “Cameras hold people accountable. They’re making us more responsible for our actions, and they’re making citizens more responsible for their actions.”
    They’re also helping police better prove their cases in court.
    “Today, you’d better be able to show the picture, not just paint it,” Mitchell says.
    While other police departments in the area are using cameras, few can match the effort Delray Beach is putting into using the latest video technology.
    Last month the department became the most recent law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County to use body cameras. It assigned the cameras to 20 officers, mostly sergeants, lieutenants and canine officers. However, it could be outfitting all of its more than 150 officers with cameras within three to five years.
    In August, Mitchell and others are expected to go before the City Commission to request the go-ahead to install license plate recognition cameras in five locations, all east of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    Not long after that, Mitchell and others in the department hope to have its new video intelligence center up and running. The center will make it possible to monitor cameras on public buildings in real time. It will also enable the department to monitor cameras installed by private businesses that give the city permission. “We’re hoping to form partnerships to allow us to stream their video,” Mitchell says.
    To illustrate the value, he paints a hypothetical example in which a suspect, aware of cameras, wears dark glasses and a baseball cap to hide his face during a bank robbery.
    As the crook heads out the door, police are alerted and tap into live feeds from cameras monitoring a parking lot next door, after gaining permission from the business owner. There they can see the suspect get into a small blue car and head south. Information is immediately relayed to responding officers, who now have a better chance of intercepting the vehicle and making an arrest.
    At some point, Mitchell says, responding officers may even receive the streaming video on the computers in their vehicles.
    While cameras will focus on the suspect, they’ll also monitor the actions of the officers, leading to accountability for the steps they take.
    Body cameras also will be used for accountability, not just when it comes to the actions of the officers but when it comes to the actions of individuals.
    “This organization will always be accountable,” Chief Jeff Goldman said in unveiling the body cameras.
    He was quick to point out that the body cameras are not perfect because they offer only a limited view. Still he believes they can provide valuable information.
    Police are also being proactive when it comes to the use of cameras by businesses and residential communities.
    A department team works closely with the city’s planning and zoning department to recommend locations where businesses could benefit from having closed-circuit monitoring systems.
    “We’ve been recommending CCTV at strategic locations,” Mitchell said.
    While there may be privacy concerns, Mitchell says the evolution of technology has taken away the expectation of privacy on public streets, especially since anyone with a cellphone can instantly record anything he or she sees.
    In fact, Mitchell says, he will be putting up signs to ensure everyone knows video surveillance is in use.
    “We want people to know this isn’t Big Brother,” he said. “This is for people’s protection. Cameras are making residents and visitors safer, and that’s the ultimate goal.”

By Jane Smith

    Boynton Beach will dip into its reserves to bring Fire Station No. 1 up to staffing level standards set by South Florida fire-rescue agencies.
    For the past two years, Boynton Beach has had enough money to post only four workers at the station with a fire truck and a rescue vehicle. Standards call for six employees per shift. To meet the requirement of dispatching three-person teams on medical calls, the station has been deploying two, two-person teams to each call.
    Since 2012, Fire Station No. 1 — located on Boynton Beach Boulevard near City Hall — has responded to the lowest number of calls among the five stations in Boynton Beach, according to the city’s Fire Rescue 2015 report.
    Station No. 1 also serves the island communities of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.
    City Manager Lori LaVerriere advised against dipping into the reserves to pay for operating expenses. “It’s not an unsafe situation,” she told city staff and elected officials on the second day of budget hearings in mid-July.
    City commissioners decided to keep the city’s $7.90 per $1,000 of assessed property value tax rate and its $100 fire assessment the same for the next budget year and dip into reserves to cover the estimated $420,000 needed to staff six workers at Fire Station No. 1, $300,000 to redo the greens at the city golf course and $425,000 needed to balance its budget.
    Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb says his town has not noticed an increase in response times or logistical problems. Fire Station No. 4 on South Federal Highway, the city’s third busiest, also responds to calls on the barrier island. “They just deploy from other stations if the vehicles are all out,” he said. “We have no complaints.”
    His town will renew its fire-rescue contract, which expires at the end of September. Ocean Ridge police officers are certified first responders and carry portable defibrillators in their cruisers to assist those with heart problems until rescue personnel arrive. Two police officers also are certified emergency medical technicians, Titcomb said.
    Briny Breezes officials could not be reached for comment.
    Boynton Beach Commissioner Joe Casello, a retired firefighter from Massachusetts, brought up the staffing situation as inefficient use of city equipment by sending out two vehicles. “We are putting wear and tear on the apparatus,” he said.
    The city rescue personnel also have more exposure to accidents with the second vehicle on the road. “The Fire Department is understaffed,” he said. “We need to do what’s important for safety.”
    He suggested raising the fire assessment by $5 to pay for the extra staff need at Fire Station No. 1.
    That would be cheaper than paying $712,926 in overtime costs to staff the station fully, according to Fire Chief Glenn Joseph.
    Mayor Steven Grant suggested raising the tax rate slightly to 8.0, and then lowering it if warranted during the September budget hearings. The other commissioners wanted to keep the tax rate the same, although most property owners will pay more in taxes because of increased taxable property values. That motion passed 4-1, the mayor voting no.
    Commissioner Justin Katz, who also was against raising the fire assessment, said he wants residents to vote yes in November for the sales tax increase, which would give Boynton Beach enough money for the next 10 years to tackle some of its deferred maintenance. He also was concerned about the effect on the proposed Town Square, should the city seek voter approval in March for a bond referendum to build a police headquarters and new Fire Station No. 1.
    “We should tighten our belt now,” Katz said. “We’re in a good position to wait.” He suggested dipping into the reserves this year. Then if the sales tax doesn’t pass, raise tax rates for the next budget year.
    The city Fire Rescue Department’s budget runs about $22.5 million, or nearly 29 percent, ranking it second in the general fund. The Police Department, with a budget of $30 million, comes in first.

By Dan Moffett

    Briny Breezes moved closer in July to locking in long-term contracts for police and fire-rescue services.
    Briny and Boynton Beach have agreed to a 12-year fire-rescue pact that will cost the town $356,725 for the first year and includes an adjustment formula for annual cost increases of at least 4 percent.
    Boynton Beach city commissioners unanimously approved the terms in July after Briny Town Council members signed off in June.
    Ocean Ridge town commissioners also gave their blessing to a new deal with Briny — a three-year contract to provide police service that will cost $221,167 annually beginning in October. The contract includes a yearly 4 percent cost-of-living increase, a new provision in the long-standing agreement between the municipalities.
    “We had heard that Ocean Ridge was going to increase the cost,” said Briny Town Council President Sue Thaler, “so we were pleased to see that it was less than what it might have been.”
    Thaler said the agreement will go to the Town Council for final approval on Aug. 25. The Briny corporation typically pays about 40 percent of the cost of the police and fire contracts.
    Ocean Ridge Mayor Geoff Pugh said the working relationship between his town and Briny has been good for both communities.  “I appreciate the Town of Briny Breezes entrusting Ocean Ridge with this contract,” Pugh said. “Thanks for your business.”

By Mary Hladky

    The taxable values of Palm Beach County properties have jumped higher than Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits forecast in late May.
     Countywide, the amount grew by about 8.4 percent from 2015 to 2016, above the earlier estimate of 7.8 percent, according to the updated tax roll numbers Nikolits released in late June and sent to the state Department of Revenue.
     The county’s total taxable value is now $165.1 billion, very close to the record high of $169.5 billion set in 2007 before the real estate market collapse.
     In south county, Delray Beach outpaced other cities and towns, with taxable values increasing by about 10.4 percent.
Boynton Beach showed an 8.3 percent gain and Boca Raton was up about 7.5 percent.
     Taxable values increased by 8.1 percent in Briny Breezes, 5.9 percent in Gulf Stream, 6.7 percent in Highland Beach, 11.7 percent in Lantana, about 10.1 percent in Manalapan, 8.2 percent in Ocean Ridge, and 9.7 percent in South Palm Beach.
     All the South County cities and towns showed greater increases than had been estimated in May.
     Elsewhere in the county, Loxahatchee Groves posted the biggest increase — 16.8 percent. Tiny Cloud Lake showed the least improvement, with a gain of only 3.2 percent.
     Nikolits has predicted the county and its 38 cities and towns will wipe out the losses of the 2007-2009 recession within about two years.
     While taxable values continue to move up, the growth has slowed in recent years to what Nikolits considers a more normal market.
Local governments use his estimates to calculate how much property tax money they can expect and to set their annual budgets and 2016-2017 tax rates.
     An increase in taxable values means the county, cities and towns will collect more property taxes if they keep tax rates the same as last year.

    Officials are still hoping to confirm that the body of a man pulled from the ocean last month in Gulf Stream was one of several Cuban refugees.
    Two men were reported missing by a group of six Cuban refugees who were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard ship Gannett off Boca Raton. The two were last seen at sunset on July 19.  
    The Coast Guard began a search for the missing men using crews from stations in Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale but suspended the search the next day after scouring more than 1,500 square miles of ocean.
    The search resumed the following day, however, after a body believed to be that of one of the missing men washed ashore in Gulf Stream. The search has since been discontinued.
    The six surviving refugees were found in good condition, with some treated for signs of dehydration.
— Rich Pollack

Riverwalk developers say they need 10 stories for the project to “break even.”

Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

    Boynton Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board squeezed in an interim meeting in late July and reviewed two-thirds of the changes proposed by the city-CRA’s consolidated plans.
    The most controversial — the height change from 75 to 100 feet at Woolbright Road and South Federal Highway — was approved after passionate pleas by residents and community leaders against it. Advisory board members approved six changes, five unanimously. They will review the remaining three changes in August.

    The new consolidated plans cover the entire 1,650-acre CRA district and will determine the look of the city’s eastern half for the next 20 years. The plans feature complete streets with bike lanes, shade trees, enhanced lighting and widened sidewalks; clustering of taller buildings on Federal Highway; and would turn Ocean Avenue into a designated festival street.
    The CRA advisory board had met previously in early July and adjourned after 11 p.m. without reviewing the entire set of plans. The board then held an interim meeting on July 21 when members reviewed six of the nine proposed changes in the consolidated plans.
    Residents expressed concern about proposed planning nodes that allow extra height and density at key intersections along Federal Highway. The intersection of Woolbright and Federal was the first change discussed by the board.
    At the southeast corner of that intersection, the owner of Riverwalk Plaza wants to raze the shopping center and build a 10-story apartment project. The maximum height allowed there at present is 45 feet, although the current guidelines would allow for seven stories based on the height of surrounding properties. Developers need only to propose a project in that location to get the seven-story height limit. The new consolidated plan would allow up to 100 feet in height.
    CRA Executive Director Vivian Brooks referred to the plan’s height increase as a “little uptick to what was there.” The CRA wants the Woolbright and Federal Highway node to be considered a secondary development area, connecting to the downtown and with access to the interstate and the beach, she told the advisory board.
    Fifteen people spoke at the advisory board meeting on that item, 10 were against the change. Five, including four associated with Riverwalk’s owner Isram Realty, were for it.
    Isram attorney Michael Weiner read a section of state law governing CRAs, and repeated the word “redevelopment” in explaining the advisory board’s role.
    Steven Wherry, Isram’s land-use attorney, pointed out that the compact living arrangement in apartments reduces costs of city services. The plaza now contributes $330,000 in taxes and the new project will contribute $1.4 million, he said. He did not explain how he arrived at the value of the apartment project.
    Advisory board member Dr. James DeVoursney talked about the pairing of the district-wide plans and the Isram redevelopment project.

    “That’s unfortunate. Citizens would look at this as spot zoning,” he said. “For the sake of transparency,” he prefers the 75-foot height limit and allowing the Riverwalk project to continue with its review through the city approval process.
    He was the only advisory board member who felt that way. His six colleagues voted for the change in height.

Riverwalk owner insists
project cannot wait
    Earlier in July, at a CRA board meeting, the Riverwalk property owner insisted board members decide soon.
    “However, if this will be dragging on, I will withdraw my application. … We’ll keep it as a retail center,” said Shaul Rikman. His company owns the plaza where a Winn-Dixie grocery store left its space in January 2015. “We, I, will not wait any longer. You’re going to have to be big boys and make a decision.”
    Rikman explained to the CRA board members why his company needs the extra height. “Financially we can’t make it at seven stories, we need 10 stories to break even,” he said. “They (city and CRA staff) said, ‘You know what, we’re working on creating nodes and hold off on it until such thing passes or not.’ ”
    At that meeting, the city’s development director, Andrew Mack, said, “One of the reasons this is being expedited is because we are in a development cycle and there are projects before us. It’s not just for Riverwalk.”
    The CRA advisory board was scheduled to discuss the remaining three changes on Aug. 4, when board members were expected to make recommendations about the entire plan.
    The CRA board members will then meet Aug. 9 to review the advisory board recommendations and make their own to the City Commission, which meets Aug. 16. It’s an intertwined relationship with the CRA board members also sitting as city commissioners.
    Although Riverwalk appears headed for the Aug. 23 Planning and Development Board agenda, Boynton Beach spokeswoman Eleanor Krusell said  there is no timeline for city approval.  “It’s on hold,” she said.