Related: Delray Beach: Investigation doesn’t support allegations against city manager

By Anne Geggis

One day after an investigation found no evidence that the city manager inappropriately touched him, Delray Beach Fire Rescue Chief Keith Tomey was terminated from his position for “willful, insubordinate behavior” in numerous incidents “effective immediately.”

The firing came in a Wednesday letter from City Manager Terrence Moore ending Tomey’s seven years of employment with the city. 

The letter chiefly details Tomey’s decision to allow on-duty firefighters to participate in the annual Guns and Hoses softball game last November, weakening the city’s readiness to respond to an emergency, according to another investigative report that was issued in March. That report came out as Tomey’s allegations of inappropriate touching from the city manager surfaced.

Kevin Green, who has been with the city’s Fire Rescue since 2012, will serve as interim Delray Beach Fire Rescue chief, according to a city spokeswoman.

Neither Tomey nor the attorney who sent the letter making the allegations against the city manager immediately returned a call seeking comment Wednesday.

The allegations that Tomey made about the city manager were not cited in the firing letter. The conclusion of the softball tournament investigation appears to be the final impetus for the city to sever Tomey’s city employment.

“Your poor decision making could have endangered the lives of our residents and the public and created a risk of liability to the city,” Moore wrote, citing how Tomey took an engine out of service for the game and authorized overtime hours for city firefighters.

The report did say, however, no specific city policies were violated in Tomey’s involvement in the softball game.

The investigation started when a firefighter in the game was injured and filed a workers compensation claim. But Tomey had alleged in his complaint about the city manager that the investigation into the charity softball game was part of a pattern of retaliation Moore began after Tomey rebuffed his sexual advances as the two drove to and from an exhibition of city employee art, including Moore’s, at the Arts Garage. He said that Moore “rubbed up his thigh and just briefly made contact with his groin area,” according to a third-party investigator‘s telling of Tomey’s allegations that the investigator the city hired deemed “unsustained.”

Moore notes that it wasn’t just him that noticed Tomey’s attitude about city resources and official duties.

“The investigator (into the softball tournament episode) remarked in his report your cavalier attitude regarding these serious concerns, something that I, too, have witnessed in my interactions with you when forced to address your issues in management, fiscal responsibility and accountability,” Moore wrote.

Tomey’s five-day suspension for failing to follow city policy after a Broward County accident in October 2022 involving his city vehicle was also included in Tomey’s contention he was being retaliated against. But city policy requires employees to take a drug test immediately following an accident whether they are at fault or not, which Tomey did not do until three days after the accident, Moore said in the letter. And Moore did not hear about the wreck until he received a request to approve a rental for Tomey.  

“I recall that during that disciplinary procedure you refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing …” Moore wrote. “This appears to be a pattern of willful, insubordinate behavior coupled with poor decision making that despite repeated counseling and a five-day suspension, has worsened.”

Moore cited another incident that Tomey did not say was part of the retaliation that he was subjected to because he did not respond to Moore’s alleged inappropriate touching. Tomey, in July 2022, distributed a memorandum that went to fire rescue personnel that disclosed the medical condition of an employee. The employee made a claim and the city had to pay $25,000 to settle the claim, Moore said.

Tomey's termination is effective immediately, according to the letter, and his health benefits will continue through May. Tomey's departure does not involve a financial settlement, a city spokeswoman said.

Since he was terminated "not in good standing," there are no payouts, the spokeswoman said. Tomey had been earning an annual salary of $179,587.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Tomey's length of employment with the city. He was hired in December 2016.

The shooting happened at Berkshire by the Sea, on North Ocean Boulevard in Delray. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Judge denies bond to suspect; defense aims to impugn witnesses

By Jane Musgrave

Nearly eight months after a popular computer tech was shot at a Delray Beach oceanside resort, it’s still a mystery why what was described as a friendly — if drug- and alcohol-soaked — gathering turned deadly.

Albert Camentz didn’t know his accused killer, Mark David Anderson. He had no beef with the 45-year-old self-employed Lake Worth Beach carpenter who allegedly shot him during the impromptu get-together at Berkshire by the Sea, the only two witnesses told Delray Beach police.

Not only is there no known motive for the September shooting, but the witnesses insisted they didn’t even know their 58-year-old friend was wounded even though he was having trouble breathing.

Jack Feinberg and Susan Schneider, who invited Camentz to join them at the timeshare Anderson was using, didn’t immediately call 911 or take Camentz to the hospital.

Instead the couple drove Camentz, who lived in Delray Beach, to their home six miles away in suburban Delray before calling for medical help.

Still, when Schneider was interviewed by police, she was unequivocal. “Mark shot Al,” she said, according to police reports.

Prosecutors insist that Schneider’s statement along with the other evidence police gathered makes the second-degree murder case against Anderson ironclad.

“This is not a circumstantial case,” Assistant State Attorney Jo Wilensky said at a court hearing earlier this year. “There is another human being who watched this happen.”

However, at a February court hearing, Anderson’s defense attorneys said the human beings who witnessed the shooting aren’t trustworthy. Schneider and Feinberg, a married couple, changed their stories. Feinberg initially refused to talk to police.

Both are hiding key information about Camentz’s death, defense attorney Michael Dutko told Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe at the hearing.

As a former longtime director of the Broward Addiction Recovery Center, the 61-year-old Feinberg may have been trying to shield his reputation from the fallout of a killing that occurred at a party that featured cocaine, marijuana, nitrous oxide and ketamine, Dutko said. Or he could have other motives.

Court records along with heavily redacted documents The Coastal Star obtained from the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office capture the confusion that surrounded Camentz’s slaying at the complex on North Ocean Boulevard.

The three men were talking amiably, drinking and doing drugs when Schneider, 58, said she decided she wanted to take a dip in the hot tub. She asked Anderson to get some towels from the bedroom. He emerged with what Schneider described as a “black object.”

An ear-splitting boom filled the apartment and Camentz and Feinberg fell to the floor. Feinberg stood up laughing. Camentz complained he couldn’t breathe, Schneider told police.

When asked by police how she knew Anderson was aiming at Camentz, she said, “Oh my God, because he was right next to me.”

Schneider said she checked Camentz, but didn’t see holes in his shirt or blood. She said she tried to convince Camentz to let her take him to the hospital. Camentz refused, insisting he simply wanted to go back to the couple’s house and go to sleep.

However, when the three arrived at the home, Camentz turned ghostly white and began complaining of chest pain. Fearing he was having a heart attack, Schneider called 911.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue paramedics quickly realized Camentz had been shot. They rushed him to Delray Medical Center, where he died roughly 30 minutes later.

Feinberg had followed the ambulance to the hospital. Minutes after learning his friend had died of a gunshot wound, Feinberg refused to help police find Camentz’s killer.

Feinberg said he wouldn’t answer any questions without an attorney, Police Detective John Caceres Duque said.

Later, when police arrived at the couple’s house, the detective said he heard Feinberg yelling at Schneider to do the same.

Schneider ignored Feinberg. She told Caceres that the shooting occurred at the timeshare and identified Anderson as the gunman, records show.

Police found Anderson sleeping and arrested him. They discovered a handgun in a wicker basket.

The medical examiner later determined that the type of bullet that killed Camentz matched those found in Anderson’s gun. There were four hollow-point .380-caliber bullets in the six-round magazine and one in the chamber.

“That tells me in my training that there was one round missing,” Caceres testified at the hearing.

A day after the shooting, Feinberg agreed to talk to police. He said he had been friends with Anderson for years, but the relationship soured when Anderson became a huge fan of former President Donald Trump.

Still, he said, while they avoided talking politics, he and Anderson had other shared interests. They partied together and both enjoyed inhaling nitrous oxide, he told police.

Before the shooting, the mood was genial, he said. He said he and Anderson argued briefly about their spiritual and religious beliefs, but Camentz didn’t offer his views.

Like his wife, Feinberg said he was stunned when the gunshot rang out. But, he said, he tried to make a joke of it.

“Mr. Anderson, did you accidentally discharge a weapon,” he asked Anderson, according to Caceres’ report. Feinberg said he asked Camentz if he was hit. “No, it’s the sound,” Camentz replied.

Feinberg, a licensed mental health counselor, suggested Anderson may have been in a psychotic state. He suspected that Anderson had taken liquid LSD, along with other drugs, causing him to hallucinate.

Still, Feinberg admitted, the shooting was inexplicable. “I don’t know, why would he come out and done some sort of thing with some sort of weapon?” he told Caceres.

While Feinberg apologized to police for initially refusing to talk to them, Dutko said he suspects Feinberg had good reasons for waiting.

As Feinberg told Caceres, he and his wife had “corroborated each other’s memories of the incident.” The two had a chance to compare notes, correct their earlier statements and make sure their stories matched, Dutko said.

Initially, Schneider told police that the shooting took place near the pool at the complex. Later, she said, it was inside the apartment.

Feinberg also changed his story. At first, he said he was on his way to the hot tub when a shot rang out. He also remembered hearing a loud bang while he was still in his car.

Before Camentz was taken to the hospital, Feinberg told police he pulled up his friend’s shirt and realized Camentz had been shot.

At the hospital, Feinberg attributed his confusion about the shooting to “a cognitive disorder.”  While Feinberg didn’t elaborate, in his March 2023 resignation letter from

Broward’s government-run addiction center, he said poor health forced him to quit.

“I’ve been on (medical leave) and under care for some time now, due to the illness I contracted during the pandemic,” he wrote. “It has become evident that my health has worsened recently.”

Wilensky vigorously disputed the notion that Feinberg or his wife concocted stories. They both offered starkly similar accounts of what took place. Schneider’s description matches the evidence. And, she said, Feinberg added a salient detail.

He said he saw a green light flash when the gun went off. Caceres said that the gun police found in Anderson’s timeshare was equipped with a green laser sight.

Wilensky also said a laboratory analysis found Anderson’s DNA on the gun’s trigger and grip. The review showed that neither Schneider, Feinberg nor Camentz touched the gun, she said.

Wilensky described Anderson as a dangerous man.

“This is someone who can flip on a dime this quickly,” she told Rowe. “This cordial gathering turned into someone being shot in the chest.”

Other than several arrests for drunk driving, Anderson has never been in trouble with the law, Dutko countered. Referring to the support Anderson had from the roughly 10 family members who gathered for the hearing, Dutko asked Rowe to release Anderson on a $100,000 bond with house arrest.

In a six-page ruling issued in March, Rowe rejected the request. Wilensky had provided “substantial evidence” that Anderson fatally shot Camentz, she wrote.

Questions Dutko raised about Schneider and Feinberg may eventually come into play, she added.

“The inconsistencies raised by (Anderson’s attorneys) do not raise substantial questions of fact at this point, although with further discovery and proof, facts may exist which ultimately are more favorable to (Anderson) at trial,” Rowe wrote.

Dutko has asked Rowe to reconsider her ruling.

So, Anderson remains jailed. No trial date has been set. If convicted, Anderson could be sentenced to life in prison.

By Anne Geggis

Every dog may have its day, but canines shouldn’t be having theirs on Ocean Ridge’s beach.

That was among the priorities that town commissioners raised during their annual goal-setting session April 22, in addition to adding a crosswalk and maintaining momentum in replacing the town’s aging water lines.

Commissioner David Hutchins said outlaw dogs are the No. 1 topic he’s hearing about.

“In my world, people keep talking to me about dogs on the beach and I think that this would be something that I would like to work with the chief on — we have to come to some kind of solution,” Hutchins said, referring to Police Chief Scott McClure. “We have residents that routinely violate the rules and I know occasionally they’re cited, but not often.”

Town Manager Lynne Ladner said she planned to ask the commission to authorize signs prohibiting dogs on the beach at every beach crosswalk at the commission’s May meeting to see how that works, after one citizen suggested that signage might help.

On another matter, Mayor Geoff Pugh said he’d like to build on the forward motion that was begun at the commission’s April 1 meeting when replacement of the first 3,000 linear feet of water piping was approved at a cost of $2.5 million. There’s 68,000 feet left to go, but the town should make annual progress a priority, Pugh said.

Showing momentum in that goal could net the town some grant money, he said.

“We need to stay on budget, but water has to be part of our main goal,” Pugh said.

Public safety was also a topic, with some discussion about the urgency for maintaining police staffing and making the town safer.

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said she hopes the town can make the streets safer from traffic, too. A crosswalk at East Anna Street across State Road A1A would help pedestrian safety, she said.

Beach sign case closed — The “no trespassing” signage controversy that inspired a new Ocean Ridge ordinance — and then a code enforcement case against the Turtle Beach condominium association for violating it — may finally be resolved.

The code case has been closed with new beach signs acceptable to the town having been installed and Ocean Ridge billing the condo association $172.53 for the case’s administrative fees, according to Town Clerk Kelly Avery.

The case had gone before a special magistrate but ultimately negotiations ended with the town and association agreeing that the original placement of the signs should be adjusted and that the two signs had to be one-sided, not with printing on both sides.

The town has determined the association’s current signage is now in compliance with the ordinance, Avery said.

— Anne Geggis

By Anne Geggis

Add Manalapan to the list of coastal municipalities in South Palm Beach County where officials are hearing about larger-sized homes that don’t blend into their existing neighborhoods.

Delray Beach in March passed new limitations for how much square footage can be built based on lot size for homes east of the Intracoastal Waterway. It was a response to complaints about multistory homes with sheer walls that loom over their neighbors’ homes, with every story just as close to the property line as the ground floor. Recent discussions in other coastal communities suggest there’s wider concern with this building trend.

 The Gulf Stream Town Commission impaneled a committee in March that could recommend guidelines with a similar impact. An Ocean Ridge commissioner said exploring how to regulate buildings’ mass is one of her goals. And, at an April 24 Manalapan meeting, commissioners heard from upset neighbors about a Point Manalapan home that doesn’t seem to fit there.

“Something has to be done because we are going to lose what we tried to create here in Manalapan,” said Bob Kirkland, who has lived in town since 2003 and works in the real estate business. He described coming out of his door in the morning and describing what he used to see and what he sees now.

“You’d open the door in the morning and the sun would be rising in the East — beautiful,” he said. “Now it’s … an office building-type structure and two blank walls.” 

Manalapan Mayor John Deese spoke on behalf of a neighbor who couldn’t be there and suggested that commissioners take a ride by the home on Spoonbill Road to see what they thought.

Commissioner David Knobel said it might be a topic that needs more discussion.

“These properties are worth a lot more money and people are willing to put a lot more money in, right?” Knobel said. 
Ocean Blue Custom Homes, based in Delray Beach, is building the home on spec. The company’s principal, Josh Khoury, said it was inspired by another he built not far from there that was featured in Florida Design.

“We feel confident that this will be a beautiful home consistent with other modern contemporary homes in Point Manalapan and the town of Manalapan as a whole,” he said.

At the Ocean Ridge Town Commission’s goal-setting meeting, Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said she wants more discussion about the stark style she sees emerging.

“They are out of context with the neighborhood,” she said of new construction that has replaced older homes. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

Her view got some validation from the public at the meeting.

“People are getting sick and tired of looking at these things — metal roofs, concrete and stucco with some windows,” said resident Terry Brown. “All of it is no imagination.”

But Mayor Geoff Pugh, contacted after the meeting, said that Ocean Ridge is ahead of the curve in curbing oversized masses of square footage from taking shape in town.

Ocean Ridge already has greater setbacks than most of its neighbors and sheer, multistory walls can’t be erected because town codes already require that a second story have 25% less square footage than the first.

“We tackled that many, many years ago,” Pugh said, dating that effort to the time of Digby Bridges, a former commissioner and mayor, who served from 1993 to 2002.

Pugh cautioned against further restraining investment that people want to make in their homes, or trying to legislate style. It could scare away investment, he said.

“When you can attract people to invest in a town … knocking down an old home and building a new one … that’s a win-win,” he said. “The cost of goods and services that we provide to our residents doesn’t go down … you have to have an influx of new money to keep pace with the costs of goods and services.”

A newly built concrete block retaining wall at Siréne Villas overshadows a neighbor’s existing wooden privacy fence. Photo provided

By Anne Geggis

The old Parliament Inn’s transformation into the Siréne Villas on George Bush Boulevard has its neighbors in a tizzy because builders erected higher-than-permitted walls.

However, the Delray Beach City Commission decided at its April 16 meeting that those walls are going to be allowed.

Blame it on new federal requirements to forestall flooding that add a new required height to lots under development — and on code violations that weren’t caught until they were already solidified into actual walls.

In this case, the builder of the six-unit townhouse development in the 1200 block of George Bush, just west of State Road A1A, appeared in front of the commission to beg forgiveness — and get a variance to complete the wall. City leaders were none too happy with the development, but agreed the developer was trying to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements and preserve privacy all around when the walls were built.

The developer used private inspectors — not city ones — as state law allows.

Because of the additional fill needed to meet higher base building elevations as required by federal guidelines, the permitted mason wall complies with city requirements on the inside part of the wall. But the resulting difference in the grade on the other side of the wall makes the wall nearly 3 feet higher than city codes allow — from the view of neighbors.

“This wall is going to affect the sunshine, the sky, the view of any trees,” said George Bush Boulevard neighbor Jack O’Connor.

The property is in the special flood hazard area, thus requiring a certain height in the base building elevation. But the natural grade on the adjoining properties is 3 feet lower.

Neil Schiller, a lawyer for the project’s developer, Stamm Development, said that if the wall was built to just the 8 feet that city codes stipulate, it would only appear 4 to 5 feet tall from inside the property. “And anybody of normal size would be able to look over into the neighbor’s yard at their discretion,” he said. “So we want to avoid that.”

The commission agreed that the developer needs to meet with the neighbors to make some adjustments in the wall, be it new trees or the wall color.

Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director, says the city needs to develop new requirements for builders when the flood protection rules create this kind of a grade difference.

“This is not the last time you’ll see something like this and ultimately we need to address in our (land development rules) what are the techniques we could require people to do if the grade changes exceed a certain amount,” she said.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale said she didn’t want to see this become part of a pattern, even if there are new federal elevation guidelines that must be met, and she called for better monitoring of projects in progress.

“We don’t want to create a pattern of violations and corrections,” she said.

The waiver was granted with the condition that the builder ameliorate neighbors’ issues.

And it seems that’s not going to be easy.

“I’m very upset right now,” O’Connor said as he walked out of the city chamber after the 4-0 vote. 

Mayor Tom Carney recused himself from the discussion because he is a registered agent for the applicant through his legal practice.

By Steve Plunkett

Roadway catch basins are stacked up behind Town Hall, and the right-of-way on Wright Way is staked out, but even before Gulf Stream’s street and drainage improvement project in its Core district kicked off, officials were making changes.

First off, the project started on Wright Way at the north end of the construction zone and will work its way south, reaching Golfview Drive in December. That’s the reverse of what town residents were told at an informational meeting on the project in March.

At the April 12 Town Commission meeting, Town Manager Greg Dunham recommended at least two changes to the overall plan: keeping Old School Road wider than it seems to be and widening part of Banyan Road.

Old School, as approved, would have become 18 feet wide.

But, Dunham said, “There’s actually about 20 to 21 feet there now. It’s just all covered up with grass and some people don’t even know that.

“Our preference is not to reduce the width of any of the streets that we already have,” he said.

The section of Banyan west of Polo Drive is now 18 feet wide, “but that’s another street that is always subject to rutting” when vehicles go off the pavement. “And so we’d like to widen that to 20 feet,” Dunham said.

Commissioners agreed that Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers should work up change orders and prices and Dunham should return for approval.

King tides due in October and November were the reason for starting the project on Wright Way and Old School, which Mayor Scott Morgan noted was the lowest point in Gulf Stream.

Baxter and Woodman has set up a hotline for residents to lodge complaints (855-228-3436) and a website to track progress (www.CoreAreaRoadwork.com). The website can also be accessed at the town’s website (www.gulf-stream.org).

Gulf Stream School
Also on April 12, commissioners approved an amendment to the developer’s agreement the town has with the Gulf Stream School keeping the number of students there “not to exceed 300” through the 2028-29 school year.

Commissioners were surprised in January 2023 to be told that the school had 294 students after enrolling 270 the year before and 260 the year before that — despite the 250-student cap to which the school had agreed in 1994.

Commissioners gave temporary permission setting the limit at 300 until a legal document could be hashed out and required the school to submit a head count every October.

Police Chief Richard Jones said he had personally monitored traffic for several days before the commission meeting to gauge the effect on traffic of parents dropping off their children at the school.

“What we’ve seen and what we’ve timed is that at no point in time on Sea Road specifically have there been more than five vehicles lined up to exit onto A1A,” Jones said. “And the longest that any of those vehicles waited was 1 minute 6 seconds, which is about half the time that you typically wait at a normal red light.”

Before voting, Commissioner Joan Orthwein cautioned the school to pay attention to the 300-student limit.

“I am for this, but I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did. And also I hope that we maintain 300 people and not go over that and have a count every year so that the commission isn’t surprised by more students in the future,” Orthwein said.

“And also I want to mention that the school is a very special place, but it should maintain a little school-by-the-sea, not let’s-see-how-big-we-can-get.”

Development authority member removed — In an unprecedented action, the Delray Beach City Commission voted to remove a Downtown Development Authority board member.

The 4-1 vote at the commission’s April 16 meeting came on the heels of a Palm Beach County Ethics Commission finding that Richard Burgess had provided false information about his business address on his application to the DDA. The city attorney said she hadn’t found any example of previous removals like this.

Commissioner Rob Long, the lone holdout on the removal, said the problem the ethics panel found doesn’t meet the criteria for removal in the legislation that created the DDA, and that the violation the ethics commission found has been fixed. He noted that Burgess’s removal could open the door to a lawsuit.

Daniel Rose, Burgess’s attorney, portrayed his client’s removal as a “hit job” and a “witch hunt.” Rose cross-examined nearly every person who came to the commission to urge Burgess’s removal.

Ultimately, though, commissioners said they couldn’t allow someone who had broken the rules to stay on. “I think our job here was to find if there was cause (for removal) and I think that this constitutes cause,” Commissioner Angela Burns said.

Preempting hate speech — Invocations of Adolf Hitler and other antisemitic utterances at the April 2 Palm Beach County Commission meeting have the Delray Beach City Commission looking to beef up its rules for civility at meetings.

Commissioner Rob Long says he’s never heard the kind of speech he’s trying to prevent at Delray Beach’s proceedings, but he doesn’t want to take any chances that the chambers serve as any kind of platform for hate speech.

“It does seem like there are some opportunities to beef up language under civility in our local rules,” Long said at the April 9 commission meeting. “And the goal here would be to give Mayor Carney additional tools to swiftly shut down this type of speech and even remove its perpetrators from City Hall.”

City Attorney Lynn Gelin warned that city officials could not police speech for content, but she presented new guidelines adding prohibitions against “using terminology or gestures that cause a disruptive environment.” The commission unanimously approved the guidelines at its April 16 meeting.

Grant to fund license plate recognition cameras — Delray Beach will receive nearly $1 million for crime-fighting technology, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel’s office announced April 8.

The federal funding will pay for license plate readers for the city Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center to improve its ability to observe, detect and prevent crime, Frankel’s office said.

A license plate reader for the Old School Square parking garage won City Commission approval April 16 and serves as an example of the kind of technology that Police Chief Russ

Mager said he envisions will be more widely installed as a result of the grant.

The parking garage reader was in the works when an incident occurred, providing an example of what police hope to forestall, Mager said. On March 30, a woman was shot in the ankle at what police called “a large gathering” on the top level of the garage. The injuries were not life-threatening. Police said they were looking for the culprit.

City beach keeps eco-friendly recognition — As it has for the past year, a blue flag raised over Delray Beach’s sandy expanse throughout 2024-25 will signal that the city’s shore is among the select for its environmental health.

Last year, when the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association first launched the Blue Flag USA program, the city’s beach was one of two locations recognized as meeting 30 criteria for water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, safety and services, sustainable tourism, and social responsibility. And this year, the city has done it again.

The symbolic flag will be raised again at 9 a.m. May 8 at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and State Road A1A.

— Anne Geggis

By Rich Pollack

The year-long State Road A1A improvement project through Highland Beach and part of southern Delray Beach has been pushed back and now isn’t expected to start until late May or early June.

In an email to elected officials in both municipalities sent just after the project was scheduled to begin early last month, Florida Department of Transportation officials said that the $8.3 million project was delayed “based on the latest coordination with the contractor.”

The project, which is expected to result in major traffic delays, will still most likely continue through next summer.

A spokesperson for the FDOT said the contractor requested the extra time to pursue a “cost savings initiative” related to how the roadway will be milled and resurfaced.

That initiative, which gives contractors the opportunity to offer ideas that can reduce public impact, save money or save time, would not change the original scope of the work.

Included in the project are the repaving and widening of A1A from Linton Boulevard to the Boca Raton line. It will also include 5-foot bicycle lanes on either side of the road and significant drainage improvements through much of Highland Beach.

One area where the improvement will be most noticeable will be at the intersection of A1A and Linton Boulevard.

For years, Highland Beach town leaders and residents have complained about the long line of cars turning onto the Linton Boulevard bridge causing lengthy backups on northbound A1A.

Included in the new project is an almost quadrupling of the length of the left-turn lane for cars heading over the bridge, from 75 feet to 275 feet. The turn lane now accommodates only about three cars. That will expand to about 11 cars once the work at the intersection is complete, meaning that fewer cars will be blocking traffic heading north through the intersection, FDOT representatives say.

Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie believes that while the project will cause much disruption, it will have visible benefits once it is complete.

“My hope is that all the frustration residents experience will be well worth it when we have a newly paved road, a better intersection at Linton Boulevard and improved drainage,” he said.

Correction: An earlier online version of this story, which also appeared in the May 2024 print edition, contained in incorrect project cost. The project cost is $8.3 million.

By Anne Geggis

The three traffic citations a Lantana woman received after driving her 2020 Kia Soul into a group of cyclists on State Road A1A in Gulf Stream in January — injuring three critically — won’t leave any marks on her driving record.

A judge dismissed Betty Ann Ruiz’s tickets on April 3 after the Florida Highway Patrol officer who wrote the tickets for her did not appear for the April 3 hearing. The trooper, Andy Ong, was on approved leave, said Lt. Indiana Miranda, FHP spokeswoman.

The dismissed citations carried a $116 fine for failing to have proof of insurance, $166 for driving with a suspended license and $166 for failing to keep to a single lane.

A report on the crash shows that Ruiz, 77, was not tested for drugs or alcohol after the incident, but Miranda said that Ruiz agreed to a blood draw for which the results will be available in three to six months.

Also, although Ruiz’s failure to stay in her lane was attributed to “seizure, epilepsy, blackout,” in the first report, that report has been updated, according to Miranda.

Now the report attributes Ruiz’s failure to stay in her lane as fatigue instead of a medical emergency. Ruiz, who court records show attended both a March 20 pretrial hearing and the April 3 hearing, could not be reached, despite calls to more than a half dozen numbers listed for her and a visit to the Lantana address listed on her ticket. It appears the dwelling is not currently occupied, with construction debris in front. A man leaving the site said he had not heard Ruiz’s name before.

Her license remains suspended, Miranda said.

Five people were taken to the hospital as a result of the crash that started with Ruiz’s swerve into the wrong lane. The number of casualties prompted a discussion throughout the coastal areas about the tight space drivers and cyclists share. Several municipalities have pledged to find a way to make the scenic route safer for cyclists.

One of those critically injured, Diego Rico, 37, of Coconut Creek, said that no investigators ever contacted him to hear his view of the crash that broke his femur, dislocated his shoulder and shattered his pelvis. He expects that his injuries will keep him out of work for another two months.

“Literally, they are leaving us with nothing,” said Rico, who said he had 20 stitches to his knee and 39 staples to his hip and racked up medical bills totalling more than $1 million.

In response to a question about the citations’ dismissal, a spokesman for State Attorney David Aronberg said that the office doesn’t get involved in noncriminal cases.

The crash report on the Jan. 4 predawn incident found that Ruiz was heading south when she crossed the center line in the 2400 block of North Ocean Boulevard alongside the Gulf Stream Golf Club course.

The most severely injured person had to be revived before being taken to Delray Medical Center via the county’s medical helicopter. He was released from the hospital nearly two months after the crash and has not fully regained his ability to walk and talk, Rico said.

Rico said that the driver has never contacted him or any of his fellow bicycle club members. He is part of the club Galera do Pedal, which is Portuguese for “Pedal Guys,” that regularly cycles along A1A from Deerfield Beach to Lake Worth Beach.

“She never tried to get in touch with us or say or do anything,” Rico said. “She’s acting like she’s not at fault.”

That Ruiz is not being held responsible in any way rankles Michael Simon, president of the Boca Raton Bicycle Club.

“It should be taken seriously, especially with something like this,” said Simon, whose law practice is focused on civil litigation and corporate transactions. “Even if she had a medical incident. She shouldn’t have been on the road to begin with.

“She shouldn’t haven’t been driving with a suspended license — we learn that in driving school,” Simon continued. “And she had no insurance. The insurance is there to protect all of us, including her, and she didn’t have any. She shouldn’t have been driving.”

By Brian Biggane

Even as it works toward the construction of a new Town Hall and community center, the South Palm Beach Town Council finds itself in a period of upheaval.

Following the resignation of longtime member Robert Gottlieb in December, the council finally elected his replacement, Elvadianne Culbertson, at its April meeting. Two days later,

Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy resigned, once again leaving the governing body one member short.

The election of Culbertson came as a bit of surprise. It occurred when Council member Ray McMillan asked for another vote as a follow-up to the 2-2 standoff in March and then switched his vote from Jennifer Lesh to Culbertson.

“She was on before and she does have the experience, and a lot of dedication,” McMillan said afterward. “She’ll do fine.”

While LeRoy made no public comment on the switch, he had been the one pushing for Lesh and his body language made it clear he was unhappy with the outcome. He left the room immediately after the meeting, skipping a social gathering to which he had been invited.

“I felt my candidate was a much better fit for the town,” LeRoy said two days later, on April 11. “Elva had already been on the council, and when she ran (for reelection) she lost.”

Those comments came only moments after LeRoy had returned to Town Hall to submit his resignation to Town Manager Jamie Titcomb.

“I’m on the 10-year plan,” LeRoy said of his decision. “I figure I’ve got 10 years to live, and I’m not going to do anything that makes me unhappy or stresses me out. And that to me is a stressful job. I don’t need the job; I put in my five or six years. That’s enough, I guess.

“Effective today, I’m out.”

LeRoy joined the council in 2018 to finish another member’s term and was elected to a three-year term a year later. He was reelected in 2022 to a four-year term that still has two years to run.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she was “saddened” by the news and felt the council had been working seamlessly toward construction of the new Town Hall building, which is expected to start shortly. But she said she was aware of the health issues LeRoy cited in his decision.

“That did concern me,” she said. “He’s been struggling for quite a while. I’m sorry that it ended like that, but that’s his choice. He reached a point where he didn’t want to do it anymore.”

In her remarks after the meeting on her election, Culbertson extended an olive branch of sorts to LeRoy, stating that she wouldn’t be as “chatty” as she was in her previous stint on the council, which ran from 2017 to 2019.

“The main thing Bill had against me before is that I would voice my opinion,” she said. “But what I’m going to try to do now is, once I get the agenda, draft what I have to say, so at the meeting they’ll say ‘You’re right’ or whatever. My chattiness won’t be as big a problem.”

Culbertson also said she understood LeRoy’s reasoning when it came to his health.

“If you look at pictures of him a few years ago and now, there’s definitely been a change,” Culbertson said.

When asked if the obvious solution to the problem would be to appoint Lesh to fill the vacant seat, Fischer demurred.

“I don’t want to respond to that,” she said. “This is just a shock and it needs to settle. None of this is my decision so we’ll have to see what the council wants to do.

“I wish him well and I’m sorry he’s not going to be with us during the Town Hall process. I feel bad about that. It was just unexpected.”

Fischer said the matter will be addressed at the council’s May 14 meeting.

By Brian Biggane

The woman charged in the November hit-and-run death of a South Palm Beach woman has multiple DUI offenses and has been driving without a valid license for the past seven years, according to court documents.

Amneris Ramos, 43, listed as homeless, was booked into the Palm Beach County jail April 16 and charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, tampering with physical evidence, and driving with a suspended/revoked license.

Her bond was set at $100,000. She was still incarcerated as of April 25, according to the jail’s online booking blotter. Her arraignment was scheduled for May 2.

According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office report, Ramos, who was driving a black 2016 GMC Terrain northbound on State Road A1A, struck and killed Hatixhe Laiqi, 73, at 6:03 p.m. Nov. 10, around dusk.

Laiqi, a resident of the nearby Barclay condominium, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The following morning, the report said, a “Good Samaritan” spotted a damaged car parked in Boynton Beach, bearing evidence that it had struck someone, and notified police.

The front driver’s side of the SUV had extensive damage, including to the bumper, headlight, fender, hood, windshield and sideview mirror and was determined to be the same vehicle that struck Laiqi.

The investigating officer said Ramos had wiped down the hood and had thrown the side mirror toward a nearby lake in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Ramos has not been licensed to drive since 2017, the report said. “She has amassed suspensions and revocations for multiple DUI offenses, driving without a license, driving offenses, and failure to pay,” the investigating officer reported.

Palm Beach County court records show Ramos was adjudicated guilty of driving under the influence in May 2021 following an arrest in Boynton Beach a year earlier.

The probable cause affidavit said Ramos admitted to driving the vehicle when the accident occurred.

“She gave specific details, which would have only been known to the driver,” the investigating officer said. “She also described her travel path following the crash. The synopsis of events given by [Ramos] were substantiated by tag readers, video surveillance, and [her] cellular telephone records.”

Speed limit lowered
The hit-and-run upset town residents, who two months later packed a meeting with Florida Department of Transportation engineer Jonathan Overton. The speed limit has since been lowered in the town from 35 mph to 30 mph and several signs have been erected urging drivers to be careful and share the road.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer reported at the Town Council’s April meeting that lowering the A1A speed limit has been well received in town, but there remains a strong desire among residents to install a crosswalk. The town has none.

FDOT has proposed adding one just south of the town line at the north end of Lantana Beach, which would require the cooperation of Lantana. Because Fischer considers the existing crosswalk at the Ocean Avenue intersection to be very dangerous, she spoke to Lantana’s mayor and town manager and “they were very interested” in the idea, she said.

Fischer, Overton and Lantana officials met in late April to further address the issue. Fischer was expected to report on that meeting at the May 14 Town Council meeting.

Regarding the speed limit change, PBSO Sergeant Mark Garrison said the first statistics regarding traffic stops and tickets would also be available at the May meeting.

The body of a 32-year-old man found March 17 on the South Palm Beach shore has been identified and an autopsy report shows that he died of natural causes — an asthma attack.

The body of Maximiliano Lujan-Rodriguez, 32, of Palm Springs, clad in a shirt, shorts, socks and shoes, was found near the Mayfair House Condominiums on the 3900 block of South Ocean Boulevard.

He was found face down in the sand, just beyond the water line, at 7 a.m.

A subsequent toxicology report found that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death. The “punctate abrasions” found on his body were determined to be caused by postmortem contact with the sand, the autopsy report says.

Lujan-Rodriguez, who had turned 32 just seven days prior to his death, had a history of bronchial asthma and often forgot his medicine at home, the autopsy report says.

— Anne Geggis

Legislative wrap-up — State Rep. Mike Caruso and Sen. Bobby Powell, both of whose constituencies include the town, gave a 40-minute report on the recently concluded legislative session at the Town Council meeting in April. While their work was significant — Caruso sponsored seven bills that passed and Powell two — none of it involved the town. Both said they would be willing to pursue funds for the Town Hall project.

Bird sanctuary designation being eliminated — Two ordinances submitted by the Code of Ordinances Committee were approved on first reading without discussion, one of which would repeal a provision designating the town as a bird sanctuary. Committee Chairwoman Elvadianne Culbertson said it never should have been designated as such as it doesn’t meet the necessary criteria.

— Brian Biggane

By Steve Plunkett

With Gulf Stream officials saying they’re close to a deal to get water from Boynton Beach, its longtime supplier Delray Beach has issued a drop-dead date — June 17, 2025 — to get off its system.

Gulf Stream and Boynton Beach elected officials have not approved — or even seen — a proposed contract yet, and connecting the municipalities’ water pipes could take a year or more.

Nevertheless, on April 24, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore sent Gulf Stream a “Notification” by certified mail that the relationship will end next year.

“The town has been on formal notice of the city’s intention not to renew the agreement since May of 2022, if not before. Despite the city’s repeated forewarnings to the town, the town has refused to acknowledge the city’s position and has intentionally failed to take action on behalf of its residents,” Moore said in the letter to Gulf Stream Town Manager Greg Dunham.

Moore alerted Delray Beach city commissioners to his stance in his April 26 weekly update to them, adding that “current and long-term water utility operational functions do not support service delivery to other municipalities.”

With the city starting to design a new water plant, he said, “future accompanying infrastructure and water resources need to likewise support current and future demand solely for the Delray Beach corporate limits.”

Gulf Stream officials did not anticipate Moore’s message.

“It was surprising and inconsistent with the conversations that we’ve had,” Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said.

As recently as April 12, Nazzaro had told town commissioners that it looked like the town would renew its 25-year water agreement with Delray Beach. But Dunham and Nazzaro continued to negotiate with Boynton Beach and on April 18 Dunham told Moore that the town planned to switch.

“We’re right on the precipice” of reaching a deal with Boynton Beach, Nazzaro said.

In an interview, Moore said that Delray Beach had “graciously” supplied water for the past two years despite not having an agreement with Gulf Stream.

“I’m very gracious … with everybody, including them,” he said.

But it will take at least 12 months after an agreement with Boynton Beach is signed for new pipes to be installed from Seacrest Boulevard to a Gulf Stream transfer point at the Federal Highway entrance to its Place Au Soleil neighborhood.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to work amicably” with Delray Beach, Nazzaro said.

Gulf Stream would have to pay $2 million for the new connection. It is considering getting a loan for that plus additional millions to finance its ongoing road and drainage projects.

The new arrangement should also provide Gulf Stream residents with better water pressure because the Boynton Beach water plant is closer to the connection point, Nazzaro said.

Moore said Delray Beach anticipates growing by 7,000 more residents, whose water payments will more than offset the money it receives from Gulf Stream’s 660 or so households.

“That’s not a concern,” he said.

Delray Beach has supplied Gulf Stream with water at least since 1976. It also provides fire rescue services for the town and until August 2022 handled its building permits.

Dunham said the first meeting with Moore on the water contract was in August 2022 and that Gulf Stream asked if the city would consider offering a rate less than the 25% surcharge it was collecting. The surcharge is the highest the state allows providers to charge nonresidents.

“The city said the renewal would be at a 25% premium, and encouraged the town to seek a better rate from other water providers,” he said. “It was only at the Delray Beach city manager’s direction that the town started talking with the city of Boynton Beach and its utility department.”

At the April 12 Gulf Stream Town Commission meeting, Nazzaro said Delray Beach is charging the town $3.81 per thousand gallons of water.

“But next year it’ll jump to $4.49 and then the following year to $5.20. So there are some significant jumps because they’re trying to finance the water plant,” he said.

Boynton Beach was talking about a starting rate of $3.75 per 1,000 gallons, Nazzaro said, with increases possible as it improves its infrastructure. That rate would also include the 25% maximum surcharge.

Residents may remember the Bank of America plaza that used to occupy the northeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, where this 371-unit mixed-use development is planned. Rendering provided

By Tao Woolfe

Boynton Beach appears poised to approve an imposing 371-unit mixed-use development at the northeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway early this month.

The developer also wants the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to approve an $11.5 million subsidy for the project, using tax incentive funding revenues (also called tax increment revenue funding).

The project known as Ocean One, estimated to cost $170 million, is not new to the city. One smaller version proposed several years ago had 358 apartments, 12,075 square feet of retail and a 120-unit hotel.

That proposal was revised last year to one with 371 rental units, 25,000 square feet of retail space, 21,000 square feet of green space, and another 36,000 square feet of sidewalks and paved areas that will include public plazas with outdoor seating.

The complex also will boast a parking garage with 90 spaces set aside for the public, as well as 70 commercial spaces. Too much traffic and too few parking spaces are the two biggest complaints residents lob at city officials whenever new developments are on the horizon.

Those criticisms surfaced again at the April 9 CRA board meeting at which the Ocean One plan was discussed. The board postponed a vote on the matter until a special hourlong CRA meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. May 7— just before a City Commission meeting that same night.

The developer, Miami-based Hyperion Development Group, has asked the CRA for a TIF subsidy up to a maximum amount of $11.5 million over 15 years.

Hyperion has said the property will offer tenants a lap pool, a fitness area, a pickleball court, two public plazas and a courtyard.

Timothy Tack, the CRA’s assistant director, told city commissioners who make up the CRA board that an evaluation done of the developer’s request for TIF funding determined it “appears to be generally in the range of reasonableness.”

TIF payments amount to a portion of the increased taxes accruing from a project’s increasing property values, taxes which under state law are then paid to the CRA. The funding is used by CRAs to pay for additional projects in a designated redevelopment area. Hyperion wants the CRA to use a portion of those revenues generated by its project to subsidize the project’s costs, making the dollars unavailable for other CRA projects.

Bonnie Miskel, attorney for Hyperion, said the developers had been meeting with residents and business owners to hear concerns and work on solutions — especially those centered on parking and amenities.

Miskel has said the developer is not responsible for the city’s parking problems, but his willingness to work with the neighbors resulted in the promise of 90 public spaces and the addition of amenities that everyone can enjoy.

“Let’s be part of the solution. This is a really exciting project,” said Hyperion Chief Executive Officer Rob Vecsler. “We love Boynton Beach.”

But not all the city commissioners seemed convinced of the project’s merits.

“This building does nothing for me in terms of attractiveness,” said Commissioner Woodrow Hay. “I’m not convinced. I want more.”

Commissioner Thomas Turkin agreed.

“We should have negotiated further,” he said, adding that he would like to see a reduction in the TIF amount; public parking spaces preserved in perpetuity; and that residents from nearby Marina Village be given a seat at the negotiating table.

“My biggest fear is that we’re getting something worse” than the earlier proposal, Turkin said.

The public, too, seemed skeptical.

“This project involves more rental and not enough office space,” said longtime resident Susan Oyer. “What does this project add? Where are the jobs and hotels?”
Harry Woodworth, another longtime city resident, said the project should be sexier.

“If you’re going to give that much TIF money, you’ve got to ask them to give something that would make people get off the highway,” Woodworth said. “Get a little more creative.”

In answer to residents’ suggestion that more office space be added, Miskel said office space is languishing on the market these days. She also said the public parking spaces would remain public, unlike some complexes where public parking expires after a set number of years.

Vecsler said he would love to add a hotel, but the financing simply would not work right now. He added that the smaller scale height — eight stories, rather than the 15 stories previously allowed by the downtown zoning code — helped to make the project friendlier.

“It’s a transformative project,” Vecsler said.

Some of the commissioners’ hard feelings about the project stem from the failure of the site under its original owner, Davis Camalier.

Camalier had also negotiated a TIF agreement for his project, but that lapsed after several extensions when he failed to start construction. As a result, the 3.7-acre site has been vacant for years.

In 2018, the CRA sold a half-acre parcel of adjacent land to Camalier for $10. That land, valued now at more than $500,000, allowed the project to extend north to Boynton Beach Boulevard.

The city had negotiated that the developer would, in turn, build a small park on the site, but neither it, nor the apartment complex, ever materialized.

Rena Abrams, age 102, has lived at the Carlisle in Lantana since her husband died in 2010. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Growing up in New Jersey between World War I and World War II, Rena Abrams did just about everything right. She studied hard, earned two college scholarships and worked five jobs to help out her family during the Great Depression.

Then midway through her senior year at the women’s branch of Rutgers University, two girlfriends introduced her to their brother and everything changed.

“When I opened the door, I saw this handsome lieutenant in his officer’s uniform and I thought I would drop, and I just about did,” said Abrams, a 102-year-old resident of the Carlisle in Lantana. “I saw him for the next five days and then he went back to his base in Louisiana.”

He called her on the pay phone in the hallway of her dorm every night and when the holidays rolled around invited her to take the long train ride to visit him in Louisiana. After a week together, he asked her to marry him, and knowing he would soon head off to the South Pacific, she accepted.

“He was in one of the first groups of navigators going over there and at the time half of them were coming back dead, so I decided I couldn’t miss this chance,” Abrams said. “I decided to drop out of school and wait for him and when he came back, if he ever did, we would marry.”

Arthur Lawrence Abrams would go on 26 missions and survive them all. Rena went back home, took midterm exams and then left school to wait. When Abrams returned, they were married and remained so until he died in 2010.

“We had a wonderful life together, a lifelong love affair that never ended,” she said.

The couple had three children, including Nancy Ellen Abrams, a prominent author, Fulbright fellow and Woodrow Wilson designate whose husband is renowned astrophysicist Joel Primack; Judy Hollier, who is a member of the board of directors of a community garden initiative in Philadelphia; and Peter, who works in computers and lives in Philadelphia.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and went to Battin High School, an all-girls school, and then the women’s school at Rutgers University. My father gave me two dollars every week to live on, so I got five jobs to earn extra money and as a result I wrote my papers at midnight every night and never got to sleep before 2 a.m. My father did well before the Depression, but then it hit and he lost everything, so I needed scholarships to go to school and got them.
I dropped out of college midway through my senior year to get married, but when my youngest child was in kindergarten I went back and finished my degree and also got my master’s in social work and psychology. I thought of going on to get a Ph.D., but it was hard because my husband was a very accomplished lawyer and we had dinner parties and such for his clients. And it was a 45-minute drive each way to Rutgers.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: After I got my master’s degree I worked in social services for a number of years. I was a very good social worker, but there’s not too much help you can give your clients. It’s a difficult field.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Good luck. You have to be lucky to find a job you can live on. I look at all the people who work in our building and they can’t afford to live in this area. They have to drive long distances, way inland, pay for the gas, the time involved. Some commute more than an hour each way. It’s pitiful, bad news. I don’t know what they’re going to do about it.

Q: How did you come to live in Palm Beach/Lantana?
A: We bought a small apartment at the corner of Lake Avenue and A1A in 1982, very close to the ocean. There were no big buildings at that time and we had a great view. On the corner was a Howard Johnson’s, and they made great sandwiches and 36 flavors of ice cream. Our apartment was right next door so it was very convenient.
We had a two-bedroom apartment and all our family and friends wanted to come visit, so we decided we needed a bigger place. We looked up and down the coast and nothing stood out, but they were building a new building, the Oasis, at 3120 S. Ocean Blvd.
We walked in and I thought I would drop dead. It was just spectacular. At that time there was nothing else on the beach. We had the most magnificent view. It was 3,000 square feet, three bedrooms and four bathrooms, and a whole private dining room, and the views were north, south, east and west. ... You could sit on the toilet and watch the sailing ships go by. We lived there until 2010, when my husband died.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Lantana?
A: Six years before my husband died, he developed dementia and I took care of him. But he was over 6 feet tall and it got to a point I couldn’t do it by myself, so I found a place to take care of him, the Vi at Lakeside Village in Lantana. I could visit him frequently because it was a 10-minute drive. My family worried about me being alone in that 3,000-square-foot place. There were only two apartments on my floor and in the summer the owner of the other one went home, so I would be alone. I decided to move here to the Carlisle because I had friends living here.
I’ve had a wonderful life here since 2010. It’s really beautiful, I’ve got lots of good friends. Now a lot are dead, but I sit at the table with people that I care about. They’ve become part of my family, and I’ve become a part of theirs. And I take Bobbi Horwich’s fitness classes five days a week.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I read constantly, not with my eyes but my ears. The program Books on Tape is a lifesaver, so I read hundreds of books. My latest was a biography of the actress Hedy Lamarr, who was not only an actress but a brilliant scientist. She was fabulous in the movies, but scientifically she co-created [technology] still used today.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I like classical music. I’m not familiar with most modern music.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: I had a professor in college named Weston La Barre with whom I was very close. He was also a very good friend. When I was deciding whether to leave and get married during my senior year, he sat with me and we analyzed the situation. It was nice to have someone who cared about me that much to help me come to a decision.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I think maybe Meryl Streep. She’s a great actress.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Good wit. Having a good sense of humor. I believe I have one. My husband, along with high intelligence, he had both great wit and humor. We had many good laughs together.

By Sallie James

OCEAN RIDGE — Charles L. Lea Jr. was a high-profile venture capitalist whose boyish grin and infectious charm could put anyone at ease. A consummate gentleman with an unusual ability to make others feel heard, Mr. Lea died on April 3 at his home in his sleep after a brief illness. He was 96.

Born on Dec. 2, 1927, in Richmond, Virginia, Mr. Lea grew up in Baltimore, where he graduated from St. Paul’s School. He enlisted in the Army and served overseas in the Pacific at the end of World War II, then headed to college in 1948 after his discharge.

Mr. Lea attended Kenyon College in Ohio, then graduated from Cornell University in 1952. Years later he served as a member of Cornell University alternate investment committee at the Johnson School of Business. He was also a member of the Cornell Council.

Mr. Lea began his business career as an assistant to the president of Bessemer Securities, working in New York City from 1953 to 1961. Then in 1961, Mr. Lea became a partner of F.S. Smithers & Co., where worked until 1969.

In 1970, Mr. Lea became managing director of New Court Securities, the primary investment vehicle for the Rothschild family in the United States. He remained there until he joined Dillon Read in 1981, retiring in the late 1990s.

One of the highlights of his career included bringing Federal Express from a fledgling company through the venture capital process to its first public offering.

He met his wife, Kathleen, at work. They had known each other for years before they married on Dec. 1, 1984. Mr. Lea was an adventurer who loved sailing, golfing and traveling.

He was a true redhead and an impeccable dresser.

“Everybody loved his laughter and loved his smile. He was charming,” Kathleen Lea said. “He tried everything and he was good at everything.”

Mr. Lea was a co-founder of the National Venture Capital Association where he served two terms as president. He was recognized in “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who in Finance and Industry,” and “Who’s Who in Venture Capital.”

He was a former chairman and governor of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland; the former chairman of the investment committee of the Shore Health Systems, a hospital complex in Easton, Maryland, and a member of the investment committee of the Mid-Shore Community Fund. Mr. Lea was also an appointed governor of Washington College, of Chestertown, Maryland.

But despite his impressive, high-profile finance background, Mr. Lea was humble and approachable.

“He was not an intimidating person at all. He was very bright and he was always under the radar. He was not up there in your face,” Kathleen Lea said.

Mr. Lea was beloved in Ocean Ridge, where he and his wife had lived since August 2008. In December 2022, the town issued a proclamation in celebration of his 95th birthday.

“Charles always had this boyish grin and a kind word for everyone. He made everyone feel heard, respected and liked,” said neighbor Kristine de Haseth, a former Ocean Ridge commissioner.

“Whether it was someone new to the island or the trash collector or someone from the Ocean Club who walked their dog regularly on the island. He really tailored his remarks to the person — he would really take the time.”

His wife said their romance ignited one night in New York when he called her up and said he was attending a function and needed a date. The rest was history.

“We traveled a lot. He had to go to Japan several times a year. We went to Africa one time and he went horseback riding. I rode in the jeep and he rode the horse,” she said, laughing.

Another time they went camping in Idaho. The adventures were unforgettable.

Mr. Lea was sharp and engaged to the end.

“The night before he died he talked to a neighbor about local politics,” his wife recalled. “He was always interested in the news and read a lot of books on world wars. He always found common ground with whomever he spoke.”

He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, in Ocean Ridge; two daughters from a previous marriage, Hilary Lea and Emily Lea Boudreault (Stephen); grandchildren Colin Bernard and Catherine Bernard; and niece Elizabeth Oswald.

He was preceded in death by two sisters.

Lorne and Sons Funeral Home in Delray Beach was in charge of arrangements. A celebration of life will be in Newport, Rhode Island, in the fall.

OCEAN RIDGE — Avid skier, gardener and party host Carol Burrow of Ocean Ridge died April 3, surrounded by her husband and children. She was 70.

Born Aug. 15, 1953, in Washington, D.C., she spent most of her life in South Florida and graduated from South Broward High School in 1971.

Mrs. Burrow was married to the love of her life, Bob, for 52 years and together they had two children, Jessica and Andy.

Carol and Bob started their own business where they worked together for 35 years before retiring in 2006.

Mrs. Burrow was a wonderful woman who loved her family and friends dearly. She was known as the “cool” parent and could host one hell of a party. She loved going water- and snow-skiing and was at every sporting event for her kids. She loved to dance and was a great cook. She loved being a member of the McCormick Mile Beach Club as well as the Ocean Ridge Garden Club.

The last 15 years of her life was a tough battle. She fought every day to be here for her family. Her strength and courage were unwavering and truly inspirational.

She is survived by her husband, Bob Burrow; son, Andrew Burrow; daughter, Jessica Helmer; brother, Lee Gantz; and grandchildren Jacob Burrow, Zachary Burrow and Grady Helmer.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Ron Hayes

DELRAY BEACH — Kathleen Bell was the power behind the phone.

When readers called to report that The Coastal Star had failed to appear in their driveways, she reassured them we would not fail again. When they called to praise us, she passed the praise along. When retailers called to advertise, she connected them with a salesperson.

She ordered our supplies. She made sure everyone got paid.

And when chaos threatened, she remained calm, assisted by Pippi, the office cat.

The paper’s office administrator for the past 10 years, Ms. Bell died April 5. She was 73 and lived in Delray Beach.

“Kathleen brought a much higher level of organization to our bookkeeping and elevated our customer service,” said Jerry Lower, the paper’s publisher. “Occasionally her wry sense of humor would surface and trigger welcome laughter in our little office.”

Ms. Bell was blessed with both a soft voice and a dry wit. When reporters and photographers dropped by the office, she liked to maintain the fiction that the sleeping Pippi was her feline co-worker, reporting with a straight face on the cat’s workload and conversation.

Kathleen Therese Bell was born on June 25, 1950, in Mitchell, South Dakota, and grew up in Florida.

“She was also the keeper of family stories,” recalled her youngest sister, Maureen Kussler.

Their mother missed Kathleen’s high school graduation in Jacksonville because she was busy giving birth to Maureen, 18 years younger, in Fort Myers.

“Kathleen used to say that I was her high school graduation gift,” Kussler said.

She liked chocolate, books and being in charge.

“And she was good at it,” her sister said. “She cultivated many lifelong friendships and was really good at keeping in touch with people.”

Ms. Bell learned the art of telephone diplomacy in the early 1970s, while working as an assistant to editor Malcolm Balfour at The National Enquirer.

“She was the best thing that ever happened to me there,” Balfour recalled. “In those days the paper had a horrible reputation and people didn’t want to talk to us, but she could get anybody on the line. And then she’d demand they be polite. She was just dynamite, and I had the highest respect for her.”

Chip Biays met Ms. Bell in 1981, when she served as matron of honor at his marriage to her best friend, Carol Wershoven, whom she’d met in 1969 while Carol was her teacher at Marymount College, now Lynn University.

“Carol was the only one to call her talented student Kathi,” Biays said, “and both the name and quirky spelling endured.”
Later, Ms. Bell went on to earn a master’s degree in English at Florida Atlantic University, and spent most of her professional career in property management.

“She was as comfortable around the conference table discussing architectural renderings and plat surveys as she was in a graduate seminar or cooking class,” Biays added.

Working for the Arvida real estate corporation in the early 1980s, she met Kathy Assaf when both volunteered at her alma mater.

“We just hit it off,” Assaf said. “We had the same view of life. Both Catholic and very religious and concerned with doing things in a prayerful manner.”

That friendship endured, and when Ms. Bell was released from the hospital after surgery for a benign brain tumor in January 2023, Kathy and her husband, Ron, welcomed her into their Boca Raton home until she’d recovered.

“It was fun, we had a good time,” Assaf recalled. “And then the last time she was in the hospital, near the end, I brought her a rosary from the Holy Land. She had it clutched in her hands and would mumble the prayers along with me.”

Ms. Bell was predeceased by her mother, Cathleen; her father, Michael; and two sisters, Michelle and Suzanne. In addition to Maureen Kussler, she is survived by her sisters Monica and Julie; her brother Geoffrey; several nieces and nephews; and Pippi, the office cat.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. May 3 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 840 George Bush Blvd., in Delray Beach.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of her favorite charities: Lynn Cancer Center, Lourdes Noreen McKeen Residence, Christ the King Monastery, Fisher House

Foundation, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County or the Florida Press Foundation Community News Fund.