Lantana’s town manager will be sitting on the council dais for another five years. 

The Town Council approved renewing Brian Raducci’s contract 5-0 at its Nov. 10 meeting. 

Raducci, who has 25 years of local government managerial experience, has been serving as the town’s manager since 2021.

The council also approved giving Raducci a 5% salary increase that will be applied retroactively to his fourth year anniversary, which was in October. 

This now brings his total salary from $239,272.80 to $251,236.96 annually. The renewed contract will begin next year and run until 2031. 

Council members praised Raducci for his service to Lantana and for thinking outside of the box. They mentioned his efforts to improve the council’s operations through hiring both a lobbyist and a grant writer, finding ways to save money, and figuring out how to allow the town clerk — who lives in a different state — to work remotely. 

“Dealing with Brian has been pretty smooth sailing,” said Council member Jesse Rivero. “He’s very transparent; he’s a straight shooter, like I am…. He’s very responsible, and I had a good time with him.” 

Raducci thanked the council members and said he is excited about continuing to work with them. 

“You’ve allowed me to take some of these opportunities — some of these challenges — and try some non-conventional things,” Raducci said. “We have a lot more to do. … I think we’ve made great strides, and I’m looking forward to working with each and every one of you and continuing that effort.”

— Patrick Sherry

City nets millions from undersea cables that zip along data

Tentacles of undersea cables reach out to global destinations from Boca Raton’s Spanish River and Silver Palm parks. This map shows how the seven existing cables stretch thousands of miles across the hemispheres. Map provided

Related: Submerged lands buyer faces choppy legal seas

By Jane Musgrave

When Boca Raton officials gave a European-based company the go-ahead to use Spanish River Park as a landing spot for a 1,200-mile undersea fiber-optic cable that would stretch to Cancun and Guatemala and possibly beyond, some city residents cringed.

“Why are we going to compromise one of our main beaches?” asked Jon Pearlman, founder of the Save Boca citizens group and a recently announced City Council candidate. “This is our land. Don’t approve this tonight.”

What many city residents don’t realize is that the cable that the council approved in September won’t be the first to make landfall at the popular 95-acre park that extends from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Five already exist and plans are underway for an additional three, including the one that was recently approved, according to TeleGeography, a company that maps fiber-optic cables across the globe.

Another two extend from Silver Palm Park, along the Intracoastal south of Palmetto Park Road — including one owned by Globenet Cabos Submarinos America — and one more, not on TeleGeography’s radar, is planned for Spanish River Park, city officials said.

That means 11 cables will extend from Boca Raton, one of the largest number in Florida and among the most on the eastern seaboard. 

Why Boca Raton?

The cables that are sunken and buried are part of a vast invisible global network that has put Boca Raton on the map as an undersea fiber-optic hub. The longest one, installed in 2001, is 15,500 miles long, stopping in Puerto Rico and Guatemala before winding its way along both sides of South America.

The cables are the roads of the information highway, carrying 99% of global internet and telecommunication traffic, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Exactly how Boca Raton became a hot spot for the cables is unclear. 

Some have suggested that as the former home of IBM and the birthplace of the personal computer, the city had a natural affinity for telecommunications.

But Brandon Schaad, director of development services for the city, said he suspects Boca Raton became a magnet for fiber-optic cables when significant divisions of the now defunct Tyco International were headquartered in the city some 20 years ago.

Tyco was an early pioneer in the fiber-optics industry, designing, building and installing networks throughout the world, and was one of the first to lay a cable from the city.

“Tyco had a good relationship with the city,” Schaad said. Most important, he said, then city leaders envisioned the long-term benefits of attracting fiber-optic cable companies. 

The financial rewards are indisputable. If the Spanish-based Telxius wins approval from state and federal agencies for its latest cable, it will pay the city nearly $2.7 million for the easement it got to use less than half an acre in Spanish River Park.

Over the years, payments from various companies and consortiums have added millions to the city’s coffers.

Minimal impact, official says

As what Schaad called an “early mover” in the industry, the city also is home to two processing centers that receive the information that streams through the undersea cables at the speed of light. The centers transmit the information to a vast network of underground cables. 

The two 15,000-square-feet-plus communication substations — one on South Dixie Highway and Southeast Sixth Street, and another on West Rogers Circle in the South Congress Industrial Center off Clint Moore Road — are the ultimate landing points for data transmitted by the undersea cables. Both were built roughly 20 years ago.

From 1998 to 2000, the one on Rogers Circle was owned by Tyco.

While Pearlman and others worried about construction disrupting park activities, Schaad said few will notice when crews arrive next year to lay cable from Boca Raton’s banks. Disruptions from the installations are minimal as are the effects on the environment, he said.

City Manager George Brown, now emeritus, has been with the city for 43 years and has watched other cable projects. 

“I’m going to give a very non-engineering description,” he said before the council in September approved the easement for Telxius. “They essentially open up a manhole and directionally bore where the cable needs to be.”

Schaad agreed. “It’s not excavating,” he said. “It’s very low intensity. The impact is very, very minimal.”

Because the first lines were installed more than 20 years ago, some of the infrastructure is already in place.

For instance, in its plans to install another undersea cable at Spanish River Park in 2027, Telxius says once it hits land the cable will run through vacant ducts that were installed years ago. The so-called CELIA cable will link Boca to Puerto Rico, Aruba, Martinique and Antigua. In about five years, the company also plans to install a third cable, using the same easement.

An invisible technology

Both of Telxius’ planned cables — TIKAL-AMX3 and CELIA  — will have to be approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And, Schaad said, requests aren’t rubber stamped.

Telxius’ initial plans to run the cable for TIKAL-AMX3 through an off-shore sand pit that is used to renourish city beaches was a no-go, Schaad said. Ditto any plans to disrupt off-shore reefs.

The company was required to run the cable north to miss sensitive marine habitat and the sand borrow area before curving it south to reach Central and possibly South America if the company decides to extend the line another roughly 1,000 miles to Colombia.

Still, at least one council member was skeptical about the use of the park for undersea cables. 

Council member Andy Thomson cast the lone vote against granting the easement to Telxius. He said he didn’t have enough information to support it, noting that it appears to benefit residents of Central America rather than people who live in Boca Raton.

“I don’t recall us approving something like this in my time here,” said Thomson, who was first elected in 2018. “So this is putting me in a spot where I have too many questions to be able to vote on it.”

Schaad said he understands that people don’t fully grasp the invisible technology. Before he became development services director in 2016, he said he had no idea how many undersea cables landed in the city.

Once he learned about the networks that crisscross the globe, he said he realized how the city figured into the worldwide internet picture.

“Oh, wow,” he remembered thinking, “this is why the internet is so fast. It’s an incredible infrastructure.” 

By Steve Plunkett

Briny Breezes is looking for two good aldermen or women.

Alderman Jeff Duncan was the only one of three incumbents in November to file qualifying papers for the March 10 election. Mayor Ted Gross and Alderwoman Holly Reitnauer did not.

That means Duncan was automatically elected to his Seat 4 position and will serve a second two-year term. Duncan originally was appointed as an alderman in December 2023 when no one filed to run for the seat after then-Council President Christina Adams resigned early.

In March, when the three current terms end, the Town Council will appoint people to fill Gross’ Seat 6 and Reitnauer’s Seat 2, according to the town’s charter.

“At its first meeting after the election, the Town Council shall declare any office that was left unfilled due to a vacancy in candidacy to be a vacant office. The Council, by plurality vote, shall appoint a qualified elector to fill that vacancy for the full term of that office,” the charter says.

The council will also choose a mayor from among its members.

Gross was appointed to be mayor in December 2023 after he had qualified for the March 2024 election and then-Mayor Gene Adams resigned early to avoid having to file a detailed statement of his finances.

But a lawsuit held up implementation of the state’s in-depth financial statement known as Form 6 and aldermen have since only had to file the previous, less-intrusive form. 

Reitnauer, who is married to Alderman Bill Birch, will have been in office only 15 months when her tenure ends. She was appointed an alderwoman in December 2024 after Kathy Gross, Ted’s wife, gave up her Town Council seat. 

Twelve candidates on Boca Raton ballot

Related: January election canceled, but project’s fate will be in voters’ hands

By Mary Hladky

Resident furor over Boca Raton’s plans to redevelop the 31-acre downtown campus now has engulfed the March 10 city election as redevelopment opponents attempt to win control of the City Council.

Five candidates who are part of the opposition group Save Boca or support many of that group’s positions have announced they are running for mayor or the three other council seats that will be on the ballot.

In all, a large field of 12 candidates, including three current council members, qualified in November to run.

Save Boca has a slate of three candidates — Save Boca founder Jon Pearlman, Michelle Grau and Stacy Sipple.

Running for mayor
The mayor’s race includes the high-wattage matchup between Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas and Council member Andy Thomson, who are vying to replace term-limited Scott Singer.

Nachlas supports the redevelopment, while Thomson repeatedly has called for the project to be terminated.

Thomson maintains that even though developers Terra and Frisbie Group have made significant concessions to win over opponents, the project remains too dense and has been pushed forward too rapidly.

Joining them in that contest is Mike Liebelson, whose résumé includes more than 40 years of experience with energy companies, including executive management positions in two publicly traded companies. He now is a senior adviser to several sustainable energy companies.

When he learned the City Council planned to lease land to private developers, he began attending council meetings.

“I just could not believe the level of tone deafness this council had for the interests of the people,” he said.

When Liebelson did not see any mayoral candidate he could support, he decided to run for office himself. He opposes handing over city land to private developers and pledges to take no campaign contributions from developers. While not part of Save Boca, he gives the group credit. “I have to thank Save Boca for really educating the community,” he said.

Council Seat B
Pearlman and Save Boca supporter Meredith Madsen are challenging incumbent Council member Marc Wigder for Seat B.

“I saw where the leadership of Boca was taking the city. They were taking it to a very dismal place,” Pearlman said. “I am running to revert the course of the city … and to protect our public land, our parks and to do what is right for the residents and represent their best interests.”

Pearlman, co-founder of the Mission Lean fitness app who also has an office that manages investment portfolios, said that the Save Boca slate “will not take one cent of developer contributions. Therefore, we can act without being compromised. We can make every decision in the best interest of the citizens of Boca, not the developers.”

Madsen, the founder and CEO of Sunshine & Glitter, which sells sunscreen products, frequently speaks out at City Council meetings against city plans to redevelop the campus in partnership with Terra and Frisbie Group.

Council Seat A
Three candidates are vying to replace Nachlas in Seat A: Save Boca candidate Grau; Christen Ritchey, a former Planning and Zoning Board member, who resigned from that position to stand election; and Bernard Korn, who initially filed to run for mayor as well, but withdrew from that race.

Grau is a certified public accountant with Grau & Associates in Boca Raton that specializes in governmental auditing. When she learned about the redevelopment plan, she saw that “residents were concerned about not being part of the process” and what she said was the lack of information provided by city officials.

When she expressed an interest in running, she was told, “‘We need you, Michelle. We need someone with a financial background,’” she said. “I know government budgets. I know how to spot waste.”

Ritchey, a family law attorney, briefly was a council candidate in 2023 but withdrew to focus on her children and her law firm. While she is not part of Save Boca, “I love that they have come together to let the residents have a voice,” she said.

Ritchey has not yet taken a firm position on the redevelopment, but said, “I think first and foremost, collaboration and communication is key.”

Korn, a real estate broker, is a perennial candidate who has never won an election. He had his best showing in 2024 when he captured 23% of the vote when running against incumbent Yvette Drucker.

Council Seat D
Three candidates are running for Thomson’s Seat D.

Former Council member Robert Weinroth is making a bid to serve again.

He won a special election to the council in 2014 and then ran without opposition in 2015 and term-limited out in three years. He was elected to the Palm Beach County Commission in 2018 and became county mayor.

After Weinroth lost reelection in 2022, he filed to run for the Palm Beach County School Board, but withdrew from that race, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2024 in the Republican primary. He did not return calls from The Coastal Star about his current candidacy.

Entering politics for the first time is Larry Cellon, who is well known in the city for serving nearly 10 years on the Planning and Zoning Board and, before that, 27 years on the Community Appearance Board.

He resigned from the planning board to run.

Cellon is a founding member of Workshop 344+, formed by a group of influential residents who have plans to improve a five-block section of East Palmetto Park Road.

Frustrated because that effort hasn’t gained traction with city officials, Cellon decided on a council run.

Cellon is not affiliated with Save Boca, but he opposes the redevelopment plan. “I see no reason for us to give away our public lands to a private developer,” he said.

Instead, Cellon said, the city should upgrade city buildings and recreational facilities on its own.

“I think we can do it ourselves,” he said. “We can do it better.”

Sipple, a clinical pharmacist, is Save Boca’s candidate for Seat D. She said council members are not listening to residents. And residents “want to feel they have a City Council that listens to them and responds to them.”

Sipple opposes the redevelopment project.

Too many development projects have been approved in the city and are changing its character in a way that residents don’t want by turning it into an overbuilt and congested Miami or Fort Lauderdale, she said.

Sipple opposes the redevelopment project, saying it would bring an unneeded hotel and residential units. She believes that the city can improve the downtown campus on its own, at a far lower cost.

“I hope our residents show up in force and vote” in the March 10 election, she said. 

The Boca Raton Bowl spilled the beans about its new sponsor in November. It’s Bush’s Beans. Photo provided

By Larry Barszewski

It looks like South County’s contribution to this year’s college bowl season — Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans — is going to be a gas.

And that’s not a crock.

It’s a bowl. A bowl of beans. 

The game, to be broadcast on ESPN, takes place at 2 p.m. Dec. 23. Tickets go on sale Dec. 7.

The Boca Raton Bowl’s name legacy started with first sponsor Marmot (outdoor clothing and sporting goods), got a jolt with Cheribundi (tart cherry beverages), then landed on the “who could think of a better” promotion — South Florida’s susceptibility to hurricane disasters — with the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

Now it’s Bush’s Beans to the rescue, announced Nov. 20 as the bowl’s latest sponsor.

The company is “on a mission to turn the stadium into the biggest bowl of beans the world has seen,” said Stephen Palacios, Bush’s senior vice president of marketing.

Because, it seems, when life is a bowl of beans, there’s no fear of winding up in the pits.

Holding the Bowl of Beans game at Florida Atlantic University’s Flagler Credit Union Stadium could prove providential — as the bowl can put the credit union’s bean counters to good use.

However, despite Bush’s Beans’ best efforts to brand the event to its taste, it’ll probably end up being just the Bean Bowl to most viewers.

Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, like so many who tune into the NFL Super Bowl each year, seems to be more interested in the commercials that will air during Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans than in the game itself. 

The city’s partnership with the bowl “highlights our attractiveness to businesses and job creators through targeted ads airing during the game,” wrote Singer in an email to The Coastal Star. Even before the Bean Bowl got its name, the mayor was out touting Boca Raton as a great escape to New York City businesses concerned about that city’s election of a democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, as mayor. 

The benefits of the city’s partnership with the bowl game continue to increase even as sponsors have changed, Singer wrote, and Bush’s “provides new creative marketing opportunities for additional exposure.”

Boca Raton: The city that’s full of beans.

That just leaves the bowl teams, which are expected to be  announced Dec. 7. 

The expectations have varied greatly. CBS Sports was recently projecting a matchup between Florida International and Lousiana-Lafayette, while Coastal Carolina, South Florida and Southern Mississippi were among other names bandied about as potential contenders.

Maybe bowl-eligible Duke University would be a better choice, supported by Bush’s Beans’ own longtime mascot, Duke (a dog and a good boy). Duke’s Blue Devils could then fight it out with the University of Alabama, another bowl-eligible team, with Bush’s Best Red Beans pureed to create a Crimson Tide chip dip. 

All in all, the Bush’s Beans sponsorship has the ingredients to be long running. With all the bean-eating bravado that will be taking place, it’s easy to see that one bowl will surely lead to another. 

For more information, go to BocaRatonBowl.com.

Delray Beach City Commissioner Angela Burns won reelection when no one filed to run against her by the city’s Nov. 21 qualifying deadline.

Three candidates have qualified to run for the open seat now held by Vice Mayor Rob Long. Long has to resign his seat in December because he is running for state representative in a Dec. 9 special election.

The candidates hoping to move into his seat after the March 10 election are real estate broker Judy Mollica, attorney Andrea Keiser, and Frances-Delores Rangel, a city resident going on 60 years, who has served as the executive secretary to the commission.

Mollica is a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, president of Friends of Delray and a board member of the private Old School Square Center for the Arts organization that used to manage the city’s cultural arts campus.

Keiser was named to the board of the Delray Housing Authority in January.

Rangel was named employee of the month in December 2016 for her role as executive secretary to the commission.

The City Commission has yet to appoint a temporary replacement for Long’s seat. The issue has been pushed to its Dec. 8 agenda. Any appointment will require the majority support of the four remaining commission members.

— John Pacenti

By Rich Pollack

Laura Thurston wanted to take her 2-year-old grandson to a playground with swings and slides and all things designed for small kids who just want to have fun.

A resident of Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina at the south end of Highland Beach, Thurston loaded up a stroller and made the mile-long trek to Spanish River Park, rather than drive and deal with parking rates that are $35 a day during the week and $50 on weekends for non-Boca Raton residents.

“It’s a lot to bring kids that far,” she said, adding that she raced home to accommodate an increasingly impatient toddler.

Thurston and several other Highland Beach grandparents, who point out that the town is a public playground desert, say Milani Park would be a great place for swings, slides and maybe a seesaw.

But when the Palm Beach County park opens some time in 2028, a playground will be nowhere to be found.

“There’s the missing component,” says Debbie Shulman Brecher, another Highland Beach grandmother. “People have expressed a desire for something for kids.”

County Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo says there will be things for kids to do — just not on playground equipment — at the 5.6-acre park straddling State Road A1A.

The roadblock, she said, is a 2010 settlement agreement between the county and the town that designates much of what can and can’t be part of the park.

“Although we did have community requests for a more traditional playground in the park, this park design is following the Stipulated Settlement Agreement and conceptual design approved by the town,” she said.

But the architects and engineers who are designing the park have included some elements with children in mind, she said.

“We did have several people reach out through our public meetings stating they are excited to bring their children and grandchildren to the park with them, so we are being intentional in the design to have experiences for intergenerational memories,” she said.

There will be wildlife appreciation and educational signage and elements along a boardwalk on the east side that Cirillo said will be “artistic and playful.”

The design process is ongoing, she said, and the design team has been discussing having areas along the boardwalk near trees “for reflection that are for all ages but could be considered more appealing to children.”

On the west side, near the wetland area, there will be a boardwalk with signage about the environment and history of the site. The area could also have an Art in Public Places installation, Cirillo said.

“I am excited to hear of the outcome in the new year of the Art in Public Places process and particularly how grandparents, children and grandchildren together may interact with the art selected,” she said.

An open green space on the west side of the park will be available for unstructured play.

Then, of course, there’s the beach, where kids can play in the sand and surf under the watchful eyes of lifeguards.

All of that is good, Thurston and Shulman Brecher say, but it’s not enough.

Thurston understands that the county is trying to make the park as much fun for kids as it can, but she would like to see it more interactive.

“Kids need to be kids,” she said. “Children want to run and scream — they don’t want to sit and talk.”

Shulman Brecher thinks she and Thurston are not alone in wanting their small town to be more accommodating to young children.

“I think a lot of people would like to have a place for kids,” she said.

Thurston is hoping the county can find ways to make the park more attractive to active kids while at the same time staying within the bounds of the settlement agreement.

A playground, she said, would give her grandkids an extra reason to want to go visit grandma.

“I’m just a grandmother who wants my grandkids to have a place to have fun,” Thurston said. 

Highland Beach resident Debbie Muller (left) donated money to help police acquire certified therapy dog Sparky, whose handler is Brittney Jarboe (right). Sparky’s main job will be to help police put people at ease. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Sparky, Highland Beach’s new police therapy dog, isn’t just trained to heel, he’s also trained to help heal when a wagging tail can put someone at ease.

The latest in a number of certified police therapy dogs now making their way to police departments in Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and other area communities, Sparky is a magnet, attracting police officers and town employees who can’t wait to offer a friendly hand to sniff.

Soon the unassuming 2-year-old schnauzer-terrier mix and his handler and new best friend, Brittney Jarboe, will be available to assist police officers who come across residents or visitors who could benefit from Sparky’s comforting and supportive presence.

“He can be an icebreaker,” said Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann. “He can put people at ease when they talk to us.”

What police departments locally and across the country are finding is that police therapy dogs can reduce anxiety and stress and actually encourage communication.

In Highland Beach, with its large senior population, Sparky will be called on to follow up on welfare checks, where officers are often called to make sure a resident living alone, for example, is OK, according to Hartmann.

Sometimes those residents might just need a friendly voice — or in Sparky’s case an oscillating tail — to make them feel more at ease.

Sparky will also be used to help calm victims of a crime or an accident and to provide comfort to someone dealing with the loss of a family member.

“Therapy dogs just put people at ease when they’re in a situation,” Hartmann said. That includes police officers as well.
In Highland Beach, Sparky will have an added benefit. Since town police officers accompany the fire department on many of the calls, Sparky can also be available to help calm those going through medical emergencies — as well as their worried loved ones.

Sparky will be out and about often. He’s already been in attendance at a Town Commission meeting and will be at town events.

“This is a great way to connect with our community,” Hartmann said.

Sparky’s arrival in Highland Beach came partially through the generosity of resident and dog lover Debbie Muller, who helped pay for some of the program’s startup costs.

“The chief told me about the program and I was all for it,” said Muller, who tripled the donation that had originally been asked.

By John Pacenti

In an unusual December election, voters in Florida House District 90 will pick a new state representative.  

The Dec. 9 election choice features Democrat Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long, Republican Maria Zack or independent Karen Yeh, who has no party affiliation.

The seat has been vacant since July due to the death of Democrat Rep. Joe Casello following a heart attack.

The House district encompasses a coastal portion of southern Palm Beach County, including Boynton Beach, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Delray Beach.

Long has served as a city commissioner since March 2023. No matter the outcome of the election, he was forced to resign his seat as of Dec. 9 in order to run.

He previously served two terms in a countywide elected role as a Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor, where he chaired the board for four years.

“After nearly a decade serving this community, I understand the issues firsthand and have the relationships to deliver real results for District 90 on day one,” Long said.

He has criticized Zack for living in Palm Beach and not residing in the district. Under state law, she can move to the district if she is elected. 

Zack defeated Bill Reicherter in the Republican primary in September.  She said moving  shouldn’t be an issue and she has been looking at several residences.

“I have worked specifically on creating solutions to end government corruption and prevent government corruption,” she said of her candidacy.

A main issue in the race is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal to put on the 2026 general election ballot a referendum to eliminate property taxes, the lifeblood to fund municipal governments.

Long has said he supports economic growth as opposed to property tax elimination.

Zack — a math professor turned political consultant — said she has been working with economists at the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, and others on how to eliminate the property tax.

Yeh, the third candidate, does not support eliminating the property tax. “I think it’s very important for our firefighters and police to have local spending,” she said.

Yeh lives in Boynton Beach and is a former licensed real estate broker, a former teacher and has worked as an accountant and an auditor. She said her lifetime experience makes her the best candidate.

“Everybody says I can’t win because I’m not a Republican or Democrat,” she said. “All I want to do is concentrate on what is good for the local people.” 

Patrick Lamb plays the saxophone on the beach near his home in South Palm Beach. He’ll perform his longtime Christmas concert, which has a Charlie Brown theme, on Dec. 17 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

While Patrick Lamb loves living in South Palm Beach, he’s often somewhere else. He is a musician and vocalist, with two recent releases: Mint Condition and a remake of a Gino Vannelli hit, I Just Wanna Stop, which recently made No. 6 in the UK Soul Charts. He has a record label, Patrick Lamb Productions, and he owns Palm Beach Sound Co. 

“Ever since I was 19, I’ve toured all year long,” he said, estimating that he’s on the road about 100 days a year. “I’ve toured with Diane Schuur, Bobby Caldwell as part of his band, and as part of Gino Vannelli’s band the last 18 years. 

“Recently I’ve moved on from that, and I’m focused on my solo career” and namesake band.

Lamb has produced 250 concerts over the years. Entertainers he’s booked include Schuur, Sheila E., and Arturo Sandoval. “I’ve produced events for the Oxford Hotel, Bend, Oregon, for 14 years and I just did sound for John Lloyd Young, head of the Jersey Boys,” he added.

He’s a busy guy. On the day The Coastal Star interviewed him, he had just returned from Los Angeles, working with American Idol’s Randy Jackson on several songs. 

Music has held an important place in his life from early on, Lamb said. “I moved 12 times by the time I was 14, and at one of the schools, they had a recorder, and I just took a liking to it.”

Eventually, upon joining a school band, he was introduced to the saxophone. 

Then his grandmother Marie Maxwell got into the act, so to speak, when she gave him a saxophone she found at a garage sale. “It was rusty, brassy and looked like it had washed up on the beach. It was in a really old case with a belt around it,” Lamb said. 

“It would only play three notes. I played that for the first 14 years of my touring. It never played quite in tune, and I thought it was me, until I got endorsed by Cannonball Instruments. It took me a long time to get really nice instruments.”

Lamb moved from Portland, Oregon, to Florida with his wife, Joan, five years ago. Since then, he’s been making local connections. 

As part of that integration into the local community, he’s bringing to Delray Beach his longtime Christmas show, “Patrick Lamb’s A Charlie Brown Christmas Tour,” inspired by Vince Guaraldi’s score for A Charlie Brown Christmas, the 1965 animated television special that has become a Christmas staple.

“About 10 to 12 years ago, I was looking for a concept for a Christmas tour (with music that) everybody loves and that musicians love. I love Vince’s music and that became the program I chose.

“Anybody who has seen that program remembers the little dances in Charlie Brown, and we invite people to come down and dance and we have sing-alongs.”  

Lamb likes it when people come together around music, and for this show, he said, “Kids are singing and their parents get into the spirit of the whole event. I am in the happiness business, and everybody is smiling and having fun. That’s why I do this. I also do this for the awareness of the importance of arts and music in the schools. 

“I am following part of my mission in my life and my legacy.”

“Patrick Lamb’s Charlie Brown Christmas Tour” will come to the Amphitheater at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., in view of Delray Beach’s 100-foot Christmas tree, from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 17. 

Lamb will be joined by his namesake band and the Young Singers of the Palm Beaches. A student band from the School of Rock will play a happy Christmas rock and roll set, and a student dance group from the Achievement Centers for Children & Families will perform. 

For tickets, priced from $27.37 general admission, go to events.delrayoldschoolsquare.com/event-details/charlie-brown-christmas.

— Christine Davis

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?

A: I’m from the Mississippi Delta. My childhood was a bit of an odyssey — my parents were teachers, and by the time I was 14, we had moved 12 times through Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Texas. I went to first and second grade at Boyle Elementary in Boyle, Mississippi, and later studied under Andy Hardwick before earning scholarships to several colleges.

Constantly moving made me shy and uncertain at first, but in hindsight, it taught me independence and resilience. I eventually found my grounding in music — performing with the International All-Star Band, winning soloist awards at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and studying under Dave Barduhn at Mount Hood College, who arranged for Stan Kenton.

A call from Diane Schuur changed everything and launched my touring career. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of performing with artists like Bobby Caldwell, Smokey Robinson and Gino Vannelli — what I like to call “a saxophonist to the stars” kind of journey.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: I’ve worked since my teens — everything from picking strawberries and cleaning roofs to parking cars and making pizzas. Every job taught me something about work ethic and humility.

Music has been my main profession since I was 16, but I’ve also always had an entrepreneurial streak. I founded a ticketing company that grew to over $50 million in sales, and later launched Palm Beach Sound, which I brought down from Portland, Oregon, when I moved here.

Now we live by the ocean near Eau Palm Beach, and I can honestly say I’m doing what I love — performing, producing and building meaningful projects that bring people together through music.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?

A: If you love music, get into a good music school and find mentors who challenge and inspire you. Always stay curious, humble, and hungry to improve.

A professional music career is not a halfway commitment. It’s like the Olympics: the top 2% makes it, and that takes 200% dedication. If you must ask, “Should I do this professionally?” — the answer is probably no. Passion has to drive you, not convenience.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in South Palm Beach?

A: My wife, Joan, is from Florida and absolutely loves it here. When we first visited, we stayed at The Breakers and The Four Seasons to get a feel for the area — and we were hooked.

It took time to transition our businesses, but the community welcomed us with open arms. The teams at the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority and Old School Square — especially Victoria DeSilvio and Laura Simon — have been incredible partners in connecting new community members and supporting the arts.

Q: What’s your favorite part about living in South Palm Beach?

A: Waking up, having coffee and watching the surfers. It never gets old.

Q: What book are you reading now?

A: The 50th Law: Overcoming Adversity Through Fearlessness. It’s a powerful reminder that fear is the only real obstacle between us and our potential. (The book is by rapper 50 Cent with co-writer Robert Greene.)

Q: What music do you listen to for inspiration and relaxation?

A: For inspiration, I listen to Emmet Cohen, Christian McBride and other incredible new artists pushing jazz forward. For relaxation, I go back to the classics — albums like Miles Smiles that never lose authenticity.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?

A:  “Argue for your limitations, and they’re yours.” I hear people talk about what they can’t do, and I think, “Then you’ve already lost.”

Another guiding truth for me is, “The only thing that matters is what’s true.” I’m not interested in red or blue — I just want what’s real.

And one more: “God makes a way where there is no way.” When I look at my life now, I could never have imagined where God was taking me. Honestly. He’s been there for me the entire time — even when I didn’t know it.

I was scheduled to climb Mount Hood in 1986 with my climbing team, but I twisted my ankle playing indoor soccer and couldn’t go. That climb tragically took the lives of seven students and two faculty — all friends of mine. 

I’ve also survived two dump truck accidents (yes, there’s probably a joke in there somewhere), a broken back in three places, and the challenges of a broken family, alcoholism, disillusionment and depression.

It is only through the grace of God that I’m here today.

Q: Have you had mentors or individuals who have inspired your life decisions?

A: A few stand out — Andy Hardwick and Michael Barranco in Jackson, Mississippi. My grandmothers, Marie Maxwell and Laura Ethredge, gave me unconditional love and stability during all the moving around. My grandfather, Otto Maxwell, was a Marine-turned-plumber who earned respect through quiet strength and integrity.

And most of all, my wife, Joan. She’s been the greatest influence — steady, grounded and full of light. Moving from Portland  to Florida was one of the best decisions I ever made, personally and professionally.

Q: If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?

A: Probably Joaquin Phoenix — he’s unpredictable, complex and intense enough to capture my journey.

By Rich Pollack

Two members of the Highland Beach Town Commission will be returning to their seats next spring after neither drew opposition before the filing deadline in November.

Mayor Natasha Moore, who as vice mayor filled the seat following the death of Mayor Doug Hillman in 2023 and who was elected without opposition to complete the term in 2024, will lead the commission for three more years.

Also returning is Commissioner Donald Peters, who will serve a second three-year term beginning in March.

Moore said she decided to run again to help the town continue its positive momentum and to ensure that projects Highland Beach has started are completed with the long-term interest of residents a priority.

She said that during the time she’s been on the commission the town has made progress in strengthening public safety, protecting the coastal environment, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring Highland Beach remains financially strong.

“My commitment is to keep Highland Beach safe, well-managed, and prepared for the future,” she said. “I’m grateful for the trust our community has placed in me, and I remain dedicated to serving with transparency, accountability, and a clear vision for what comes next.”

Peters said that he, too, wants to continue the progress the town has made in recent years.

“I love the town and I hope to help keep our theme of ‘three miles of paradise,’” he said.

The automatic election of both Moore and Peters to serve on the commission marks the third year in a row that Highland Beach commissioners have been chosen without opposition.

In March, Commissioner Jason Chudnofsky, who had run without opposition, began his first term on the commission, filling the seat vacated by term-limited Evalyn David.

The previous year Moore, Vice Mayor David Stern and Commissioner Judith Goldberg were all returned to their seats without opposition.

Commissioners and those who follow town government believe the lack of opposition to current commissioners is an indication that residents are pleased with the direction the town is moving.

Haynie

Criminal charges against former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie were resolved by a plea deal nearly five years ago, but related ethics charges have remained open.

Now, the state Commission on Ethics has dismissed three of the most serious of those charges, but did not do so based on their merit.

Rather, commissioners had to dismiss them because of a new state law that took effect this year. It says that complaints filed against an official must be based on personal knowledge rather than hearsay.

Parts of the complaint against Haynie by Al Zucaro, publisher of the now-defunct BocaWatch blog, were based on news reports and not on his personal knowledge.

As a result, three of eight charges had to be dropped, according to ethics officials. Ethics commissioners unanimously did so at their Nov. 14 meeting without commenting.

Eliminated are charges that Haynie violated state law by concealing a business relationship with commercial property owners James and Marta Batmasian, and by voting on matters that financially benefited herself or the Batmasians.

The remaining charges accuse Haynie of filing inaccurate financial disclosure statements in 2012 through 2016. Those statements also concealed the relationship and her votes.

Haynie faces a reprimand and fines of up to $20,000 per violation, although she and the commission could reach an agreement on the penalty.

The ethics commission still must act on these charges, but has not set a date for doing so.

In the criminal case, Haynie pleaded guilty on April 1, 2021, to two misdemeanor counts of misuse of public office and failure to disclose voting conflicts. She was placed on probation for 12 months.

By happenstance, one of the ethics commissioners who voted at the November meeting is former Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, who resigned from the council in 2020 and now is a field chief technology officer for Armis, a cybersecurity company headquartered in San Francisco.

Rodgers, who was appointed to the commission in June by Gov. Ron DeSantis, told commissioners that the agency’s general counsel had determined that he had no conflict of interest and could vote.

— Mary Hladky

Manalapan will have no municipal election in March because the candidates for the open seats qualified without opposition.

The town has confirmed that the following individuals qualified for office in November as required, and that no one else filed in any of their respective races:

Commissioner Orla Imbesi (Seat 2)

Commissioner Dwight Kulwin (Seat 4)

Mayor Pro Tem Elliot Bonner (Seat 6)

All three were appointed to the commission when others resigned in 2023 because of Form 6, which required new state financial disclosures of elected municipal officials — requirements that were ultimately placed on hold due to a court challenge.

Their new terms, which start in March, expire in March 2028.

Imbesi works for several family businesses, Bonner is a Florida Power & Light executive, and Kulwin is a retired ophthalmologist.

— John Pacenti

OCEAN RIDGE — Don Young died Nov. 23 while in hospice care at his home in Ocean Ridge, with his family by his side. He was 89.

Mr. Young was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 12, 1936, to his loving parents, Donald John Young and Elizabeth Cowan Young. He was the elder brother and lifelong supporter and guardian of Tim. Tim’s struggle with serious health issues, which began with his birth, made Mr. Young empathetic to the difficulties and hardships of people from all walks of life.

Donald Soutar Young matriculated at the University of Michigan. This set the ground for a lifetime in Michigan, as well as a lifetime of devotion to all things “Blue.” The phrase “Ohio State” was not considered polite conversation in his company.

At Michigan, Mr. Young undertook intellectual pursuits and by senior year he was president of the Michigan Union, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society and a Navy ROTC midshipman. 

While at Michigan, Mr. Young met Laila Sadi. It was love at first sight and led to their marriage after college. 

Following graduation with highest academic honors, Mr. Young was accepted at Harvard Law School but first entered the Navy. His service led to sea duty on a destroyer home-ported at Newport, Rhode Island. 

The couple’s quarters in Newport were well known among Mr. Young’s fellow officers as a place for an enjoyable story and cocktails; it is thought that the coordinates of their place were logged on the charts hung in the wardrooms of visiting Navy vessels. 

Following law school, Mr. Young accepted a position in the Detroit-based firm Dykema Gossett, where he rose to run the firm’s litigation practice. He mentored scores of young lawyers who went on to constructive careers, including prominent jurists. 

Mr. Young particularly promoted the career aspirations of young women attorneys, as he understood the significant roadblocks women faced seeking to build a substantive career.

Don and Laila first came to the Ocean Ridge area in the early 1970s, attracted by its low-key charm and stunning beauty.

He took important roles at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the ALAS legal/insurance group, the National Service Organization and as a founding trustee of the Florida Coalition for Preservation in Boynton Beach, where he helped lead the fight against untrammeled development of South Florida’s beautiful coastline.

Later in life, Mr. Young suffered from atopic dermatitis, a serious form of eczema. He joined the National Eczema Association and became chairman of its board. Today, we have effective treatments and far greater understanding of the disease, thanks to efforts he coordinated.

Mr. Young leaves behind his beloved wife, Laila; his children, Sarah and her husband; Jamie; and Donald and his wife, Jane; and his adoring grandchildren, Harry O’Donnell, Jack O’Donnell, Wheeler Young, Charlie Young and Honor O’Donnell.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers “and if anyone would wish to do so in Mr. Young’s memory,”contributions may be made to the National Eczema Association (www.nationaleczema.org).

— Submitted by the family

ALSO IN THE WORKS: Highland Beach is seeking state funds to install embedded lights on its A1A crosswalks, like this one in Deerfield Beach. The lights activate when a pedestrian pushes a button before crossing. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach is hoping the Florida Legislature will send $750,000 its way, with a lot of the money going to fix a problem it says the state created during its State Road A1A construction project.

In November, the town submitted a request for the funds to the legislature, hoping to use $300,000 to install embedded lights in the eight crosswalks on A1A — with the rest of the money going to resurface and raise the town’s 3-mile sidewalk.

The A1A project started almost a year and a half ago and is months behind schedule. But with the completion near, Town Manager Marshall Labadie says water sometimes floods the sidewalk because the surface of the highway has been raised too high, creating a safety problem.

Pedestrians are forced to walk on the shoulder to the traffic lane or the edge of the roadway, an area that is used by bicyclists and motorists.

“It’s a confluence of different kinds of users on a roadway that isn’t built for that,” he said.

In addition, Labadie said there are sections of the sidewalk that Florida Department of Transportation contractors improved but other sections that were not touched.

“The town may replace the whole sidewalk and move it up to standards,” he said.

The town manager said raising the sidewalk would keep water coming off the road in the swales.

“The goal is to reduce flooding on the walking path during smaller and more frequent rain events,” he said.

At least one town commissioner said raising the sidewalk may not be enough.

Commissioner Jason Chudnofsky said he supports the town’s request for the allocation but is not sure swales will be able to handle water from heavy rains coming off the raised road and the raised sidewalk at the same time.

“I would like to have an engineer come and tell me how this is going to solve the problem,” he said.

Chudnofsky believes if the swales are full, residents will be forced to walk in the shared portion of the road or in the water if bicyclists are using the 5-foot-wide bike lane.

“There’s something wrong with that,” he said.

Labadie said the town will be matching the $450,000 to address the sidewalk issue if state funding comes through.

The town manager said he hopes the town will be able to add embedded lighting to the town’s eight pedestrian crosswalks if the appropriation is approved. If the state doesn’t approve the funding, the town could consider funding the project on its own.

The town has already installed pedestrian-activated flashing signs at the crosswalks with lights that shine on the crosswalks. The embedded lights, also pedestrian activated, would add one more alert to motorists that a pedestrian is using the crosswalk.

Labadie said the town would wait until the A1A construction project is finished before installing the lights.

FDOT officials say the project is scheduled to be completed sometime in December, a number of months later than the original target completion date of this past summer. 

WELLINGTON — Charles Andrew Elmore, a reporter at the Palm Beach Post for 30-plus years and more recently a freelancer for The Coastal Star, died Oct. 30 at his home in Wellington, less than three months after diagnosis with metastatic colon cancer. He was 62.

He was a devoted husband, father, brother, uncle, friend, journalist and sports fan. 

Mr. Elmore was born on Sept. 13, 1963, in Titusville, where his parents — Mary Wallace Hollingsworth of Sylvania, Georgia, and Albert Earl Elmore of Forest, Mississippi — had been recruited to teach school during the “space boom.” His only sibling, John “Jay” Edward Elmore, was born in 1967. 

He spent his childhood in several Southern locales, including Nashville, Tennessee; Cleveland, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and his most cherished place of all, the beloved family cabin on Brier Creek near Sylvania. He graduated in 1981 from Prince Edward County High School in Farmville, Virginia, where he was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and a three-sport athlete — in football, basketball and tennis.

Mr. Elmore graduated magna cum laude from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he majored in English. He served as editor-in-chief of The Sewanee Purple his senior year of college. During his college summers, he interned at The Washington Times and The Atlanta Constitution. 

If there are natural-born journalists, Mr. Elmore surely was one. He was a true believer in freedom of the press, journalistic integrity, and the centrality of both for a democratic society. At age 10, he persuaded his teacher to let him start a newsletter, The Fifth-Grade Times, which prominently featured his editorial columns expressing disappointment and dismay over President Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

Mr. Elmore became a business reporter for The Palm Beach Post in 1986, accepted a position with The Atlanta Constitution in 1987, and, after marrying Jenifer Lynn Bobo in 1988, he worked for a year as a foreign freelance reporter while the couple traveled the world during his wife’s Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.

Mr. Elmore returned to The Palm Beach Post in 1989 and worked for the paper until his retirement in 2019. He wrote news and feature stories for multiple beats and sections. He served for a time as the Post’s Tallahassee bureau chief; covered multiple Grand Slam tennis tournaments including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the French Open; and handled special investigations along with his business and government news coverage. 

More recently, he reported on a freelance basis for the Town-Crier in Wellington and The Coastal Star.

He received numerous awards for his coverage, including a National Headliner Award in 2003, a Best of Cox Award in 2001 from the Post’s then parent company, and multiple first-place awards in annual competitions — including one in January from the Florida Press Club for his 2024 Coastal Star piece on predatory parking rates in downtown Delray Beach private lots.

He loved history, true crime narratives, detective fiction, stoic philosophy, rock and blues music, stand-up comedy, the many Jack Russell terriers that he and Jenifer adopted, and, of course, sports. He was a passionate, lifelong fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and the University of Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team.

Besides his wife and brother, Mr. Elmore is survived by daughters Martha Hollingsworth “Holly” Elmore of San Francisco and Shelby Elizabeth Elmore of Stuart; son Andrew John Elmore of Wellington; and many extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his mother in 1997 and his father in 2016.

A funeral service was held Nov. 4 at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Wellington, with burial Nov. 8 at Screven County Memorial Cemetery in Georgia.

Donations in Mr. Elmore’s honor may be made to Journalism Funding Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the depth, diversity and sustainability of local journalism, at www.jfp-local.org.

— Submitted by the family

By Rich Pollack

The Highland Beach Police Department recently reached a major milestone, having achieved a “flawless inspection report” from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation for the second consecutive time.

Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann said that three inspectors from the commission, which provides accreditation status to police departments throughout the state, found that the department scored perfectly on a detailed set of standards and regulations during the recent inspection.

The chief says accreditation is a coveted recognition of a department’s overall excellence, competence and professionalism.

“The residents and employees of Highland Beach can take pride in knowing that their agency represents the best in law enforcement,” he said.

Hartmann said the inspectors spent three days in town reviewing the department’s policies and procedures and checking to make sure they are followed. The team also reviewed the department’s training process and spent time interviewing members of the department as well as some residents.

“This is our barometer to show how we’re doing,” the chief said.

The commission, which recertifies departments every three years once they become accredited, found the Highland Beach agency to have a flawless inspection in 2022 as well as this year.

The department first became accredited in 2016 and was also recertified, but not as flawless, in 2019.

The Highland Beach police’s success in achieving flawless inspections, the chief said, is due in large part to the efforts of training and accreditation manager Eric Aronowitz, who oversees the process.

Hartmann said he was especially pleased to hear the inspectors share his staff’s views about the culture in the department.

“They made it a point to comment on how impressed they were with the culture they felt exists in the department and the level of commitment they saw,” he said. 

Visitors admire the new mural by artist Brian Butler and read the words and phrases that can be projected onto the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater at Mizner Park. Photo provided

As part of the city’s centennial celebrations, a new mural created by artist Brian Butler is now displayed on the Mizner Park Amphitheater stage doors.

Officials unveiled the “Ode to Boca” mural on Nov. 25 during a ceremony hosted by the city’s Public Art Boca program in collaboration with the O, Miami poetry organization.

The mural showcases key city features, including Addison Mizner architecture, the Intracoastal Waterway, a sunbather on a beach, a sea turtle and a ship.

Attendees met Butler, who is based in Miami, and saw poetry created by city residents in honor of the centennial.

Residents were encouraged to write five-line poetic tributes to the city, with the number of words in each line based on residents’ ZIP code numbers.

Words and phrases from the poems will be projected onto the stage doors after sunset.

The event was one of the last that will celebrate this year’s centennial. On Dec. 6, the city will debut new public art at Wildflower Park and bring back the Mi Casa, Your Casa swings that drew many residents to the Intracoastal park downtown earlier this year.

The new amphitheater mural replaces one that was first displayed on the 30-by-60-foot stage doors in 2021. That mural, titled “On Stage,” featured a musician and a dancer and was created by West Palm Beach artist Eduardo Mendieta.

— Mary Hladky

Candace Friis and her son, Phil Friis, have been part of the five highest-priced home sales in Gulf Stream in 2024 and 2025, including a town-record $39 million deal. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

When it comes to knowing the Gulf Stream real estate market, Candace and Phil Friis are second to none.

The mother-son duo, agents with the Corcoran Group, have been involved in the top five residential transactions in the town over the past two years.

That includes the all-time top price for a home in Gulf Stream — the $39 million, June 2024 sale of the oceanfront home at 3223 N. Ocean Blvd., where they  represented both the buyer and seller.

“We’re a great team,” Candace Friis said, grateful that the youngest of her three children had the same interest in the real estate market.

“It’s the best ever,” she said of their working relationship. “He’s got my back all the time. And I’ve got his back.”

 The two in October were part of the $15.914 million sale of 8 Driftwood Landing, which was the fifth-highest sale in town during 2024 and 2025. Once again, they represented the buyer and the seller.

The other three top sales in the past two years:

• The second-highest purchase price was $22 million for 3435 N. Ocean Blvd. in September, with the Friises representing the seller, Bon Property LLC. The home actually makes the recent top-priced list twice — in fourth place as well — with the team also having brokered its April 2024 sale for $21 million.

• The $21.625 million sale of 1443 N. Ocean Blvd., better known as the Lila Vanderbilt Webb estate, in September ranks third. The Friises represented the buyer, Commodore Gulfstream LLC, which purchased the house from the family of the late Robert Ganger.

What’s it like holding the town’s priciest sale?

“It is an honor to have represented the highest sale ever for Gulf Stream, surpassing our previous record representations and continuing to solidify this exclusive enclave as one of South Florida’s most coveted locations,” Candace Friis said.  

The home itself did have something to do with it.

Phil Friis credited “the exceptional location, substantial size and breathtaking views of the property” for helping it bring top dollar.

***                             

Developer and former Manalapan Mayor Stewart Satter has rethought how to market his ocean-to-lake property in town at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd. 

Last January, he listed it for $285 million, as a proposed new-construction mansion that buyers could customize.  

Those plans were for a 54,570-total-square-foot estate with an eight-bedroom main house and guest house on the lakeside parcel, with a beach house on the ocean side. A tunnel under State Road A1A would connect the two parcels. 

Satter is now also listing the property at $75 million as a land offering to go with the plans he had drawn up last year. 

Douglas Elliman listing agent Nick Malinosky confirmed: “Based on the feedback from last season from interested buyers about acquiring the land as well as the from the brokerage community, we are offering it both ways.”

***                              

Mark Pulte of homebuilder Mark Timothy Inc. sold his newly built, 14,000-square-foot mansion at 701 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, for $59 million in October. The buyer was the 701 South Ocean Trust with BNY Mellon as trustee. 

This beats the city record-setting sale this past July, a 12-bedroom, 19,055-square-foot residence at 2325 S. Ocean Blvd., which sold for $51.12 million.

On more than an acre with 120 feet on the ocean, the six-bedroom estate at 701 S. Oceanwas crafted by Mark Timothy Luxury Homes with interiors by Jeffrey Strasser. Pulte acquired the site in 2020 for $11.05 million and completed the home in 2023. 

It was listed by Pascal J. Liguori and Carmen N. D’Angelo of Premier Estate Properties. Pascal J. Liguori and Antonio G. Liguori of Premier Estate Properties represented the buyer. 

***                              

Saily Perkins sold her Delray Beach oceanfront seven-bedroom, 9,761-square-foot mansion at 1171 S. Ocean Blvd., for $29.625 million. Perkins is the widow of AshBritt Environmental founder Randy Perkins. 

The new owner is Sunset Pine Trust, with attorney Elana Bronson as trustee. The home  last traded for $18 million in 2021. 

Built on the 0.9-acre site in 1994, the home was recently renovated by builder Mouw Associates with interiors designed by Marc Michaels Interiors. Agents Nick Malinosky and Michael O’Connor of Douglas Elliman represented the seller in the deal, while the Matt Moser and  Nick Gonzalez team at Serhant worked with the buyer.

***                              

Florida Atlantic University’s Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education recently hosted its annual Educator Awards Dinner at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center. The dinner celebrated the work of K-12 teachers supported by the Gutterman center and honored the 2024 Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educators.

One of the honorees was from the Palm Beach County School District, Lisa Brown of Lake Worth High School.

***                              

American Heritage Schools announced  “Niche” rankings for the Delray Beach campus, which rated No. 1 in four Palm Beach County categories: Best Private K-12, Best College Prep Private High Schools, Best High Schools for STEM, and Best Boarding High Schools.

Niche’s ranking factors include SAT/ACT scores, the quality of colleges students consider, and student-to-teacher ratio, among other criteria. 

***                               

Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science received a $1.5 million donation from the Aaron Family Foundation and technology company Ubicquia to create the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure.

 The center will help design and utilize technologies, like industrial sensors and artificial intelligence, that aim to improve how utilities, cities and businesses manage their infrastructure through digital tools.

***                              

Rick Maharajh, CEO and founder of the Boynton Beach Chamber of Industry & Commerce, announced an effort to support the relief in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.  

“The BBCIC has a proud member, Playa Paraiso Jamaica Bed and Breakfast, located in Hanover, Jamaica. I have personally been in touch with the owners and will continue to do so and to reassure them that they have our support,” Maharajh said.  

“We have partnered with Car Accident Referral Services, a BBCIC member, along with Dutch Pot Jamaican Restaurant, to provide this joint relief effort. Please join us in supporting all our friends in Jamaica.” 

They are looking for tarps, work gloves, generators, flashlights (including solar-powered flashlights), large trash bags, tents, canned/nonperishable foods, industrial sponges, water, first-aid kits, batteries, sleeping bags, new clothing and toiletries. 

Boynton Beach resident Samantha Ramnarine, owner of  Car Accident Referral Services, is heading up the collection efforts. To donate, call her at 954-249-5858 to make arrangements. 

  ***                              

The nonprofit Institute for Regional Conservation has launched a new initiative, “Reviving Urban Nature.” As part of this effort, the institute partnered with Boca Raton’s Office of Sustainability to restore scrub habitat at Gopher Tortoise Preserve in Boca Raton. 

At two recent events, volunteers planted scrub species that included gopher apple, narrow-leaf silkgrass and large-flower false rosemary. These plants provide habitat for endangered gopher tortoises and other species that depend on Florida’s scrub ecosystem. 

The preserve is not open to the public yet, so look for future announcements from the city of Boca Raton to see these planting areas. 

***                             

Boynton Beach Vice Mayor Woodrow Hay was recently awarded an honorary lifetime membership to the Boynton Beach Chamber of Industry & Commerce. Hay was first elected to the City Commission representing District 2 in November 2007. He also served as mayor in 2012-2013 after being appointed to fill a vacancy in that office, and he has served on the planning and development board for the last eight years.

Hay has been involved with community organizations that include the Committed Citizens Concerned About Our Children, the Boynton Beach Housing Authority, the United Way Palm Beach County and the Jean Cobbs Sickle Cell Center in Delray Beach.

***                            

Among Michelin Key distinctions, two area hotels won “keys” in 2025. The Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach won two keys and the Tower at The Boca Raton won one key.

The Michelin Key awards, introduced in 2024, recognize “the most outstanding hotels in our selection,” similar to how Michelin stars denote restaurants. The selection process involves anonymous inspections by Michelin Guide experts, who choose from a list of more than 5,000 properties. One key signifies a “very special stay with high comfort and great personality.” Two keys denote “an exceptional stay with premier service and design.”

Christine Davis writes business news and can be reached at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

The Boca Raton City Council unanimously approved Camino Square’s second phase after the project’s builders agreed to include more retail and less residential.

The Nov. 17 vote of the council, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners, came one month after they put the project on ice until landowner Kimco Corp. and FCI Residential Corp. revised plans.

The changes they made were small but enough to secure the council’s blessing on grounds that they would bring more people to the site and enliven it.

The number of residential units dropped from 394 to 374 and the amount of retail increased from 8,632 square feet to 23,368 square feet.

The project also would include a bigger interior courtyard and pocket park fronting Camino Real.

Project attorney Ele Zachariades said she hopes the builders will be able to lease some of the space to a restaurant that would have outdoor dining.

The previous month she told council members that, despite years of trying, the builders were unable to attract retail because a gas station blocks the view of the property from the street so people won’t know retail is there.

The vote came six years after the council approved the first phase of the project at 171 W. Camino Real. It included two eight-story apartment buildings with 350 units that are now almost fully leased.

At the time, the second phase, located on the western side of the 9.1-acre tract, was to focus on retail. Since then, the plan was changed to add two more eight-story apartment buildings and a parking garage.

— Mary Hladky