City manager pressured to address corruption concerns

By John Pacenti 

The Delray Beach City Commission since the arrest of a Code Enforcement officer in October has detailed a parade of horribles at meetings when it has come to that division.

Mayor Tom Carney said there is a perception that Code Enforcement targets certain neighborhoods over others. 

Commissioner Rob Long said he learned officers are required to fill a quota of written complaints.

Commissioner Angela Burns said officers harass residents with frivolous matters, such as putting out trash cans.

And they have heard from residents and businesses who say they are fined even after remedying violations.

“We don’t know the scope of problems in the Code Enforcement Division but residents and business owners must have confidence that neighborhoods are not being arbitrarily targeted and that city employees are applying city rules fairly,” Carney wrote in his newsletter.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale has been the most vocal, pressing City Manager Terrence Moore for answers, asking him repeatedly in and outside of meetings if there is widespread corruption in the division. She has yet to get her answer.

In a Dec. 19 email to Moore, Casale said Moore failed to inform an internal investigator that $11,250 in liens were removed from a property owned by the second in command over the division. As a result, a 12-page report failed to address her essential question.

“My concern is this was not an actual investigation,” Casale wrote. 

Preferential treatment?
Casale met with Moore and Paul Weber, the city’s labor relations administrator who performed the investigation and wrote the Dec. 19 report to Moore.

“You felt the ‘investigation would be tainted’ had you given Mr. Weber this information,” Casale wrote to Moore in an email provided to The Coastal Star. “I was shocked that you would expect a thorough investigation without all the facts. But it seems you were not looking for a thorough investigation.”

The day after Casale sat down with Moore and Weber, the investigator interviewed Danise Cleckley, assistant neighborhood and community services director. Cleckley owns 624 SW Fourth St., the property whose liens for storing junk were relieved.

Weber, in an addendum report to Moore on Dec. 20, said three liens on the property were reduced to $100 in 2006. He said that the Clerk of Courts mistakenly dismissed only one of the liens at the time when all should have been dismissed.

City Attorney Lynn Gelin, however, in a Dec. 23 email obtained by The Coastal Star, pushed back on Weber’s conclusion.

“Sorry, Paul, my staff and I also reviewed this matter and I respectfully disagree with your conclusion concerning the liens,” Gelin wrote.

“While I am not aware of anyone accusing this employee of engaging in nefarious behavior — which, in my opinion, is a very strong allegation — the question is whether or not city policies and procedures were followed and whether or not the actions of this employee met the professional standards of the city.”

The purported data entry error should have been reviewed by the city’s code board, Gelin said.

Cleckley also faced a 2021 lawsuit claiming the home on Fourth Street was deeded to her by an owner who could not read or write. 

The case settled on Feb. 16 and Cleckley kept the property. The same day, the City Attorney’s Office was presented with documents that released the liens on the property, according to Casale’s email to Moore.

Cleckley told Weber when being interviewed that the owners of the home — Charles and Carrie Clinton — were her son’s godparents. She told Weber that her family stepped up to help pay outstanding property taxes so the home was not foreclosed upon. 

In an interview with The Coastal Star, Cleckley said she was unaware the city attorney alerted the commission to the liens.

“I didn’t know that someone was coming after me personally,” she said. “What I am saying is, it was a civil matter. We handled the civil matter.”

Division upheaval
The Code Enforcement Division started its public unraveling after police arrested Code Enforcement Officer Khatoya Markia Wesley on Oct. 3 for allegedly threatening two residents with code violations unless they paid her personally. Moore then fired Wesley.

Wesley’s attorney has denied any wrongdoing by his client and prosecutors have so far declined to file charges in the case.

Then the director overseeing the division, Sam Walthour, resigned in November, though he will remain in the position through January.  

And commission meetings in the last two months have been notable by the mayor, commissioner and residents painting the division as out of control.

Moore, in turn, has been adamant in commission meetings that he could get to the bottom of the issues with the division while Casale pressed him on answers. 

At the Dec. 17 commission meeting, Casale reminded Moore that it was in February when the accusations about Wesley first surfaced. 

“And you cannot tell us: Do we have a problem in this department? This mismanagement is — it’s unbelievable,” she said. “I cannot understand how you would come to this meeting without saying something to us about what’s going on.”

Carney admonished Casale for repeatedly criticizing the city manager on the issue, citing lack of decorum. “You can’t take the floor away from me for no reason,” Casale replied. “I am allowed to speak.”

After the arrest of Wesley, Gelin asked Palm Beach County’s Office of Inspector General to review the division but has yet to get an answer. The commission, tired of waiting, on Dec. 17 authorized a $22,000 independent investigation by the outside firm Calvin, Giordano & Associates.

Casale told The Coastal Star that, according to the contract, the firm’s mission is to optimize the performance of the department. “So, we are farther away from answers,” she said.

When asked for comment, Moore responded by email, putting faith in the external reviews.

“Delray Beach’s Human Resources Department recently conducted a thorough review of the city’s Code Enforcement Division,” he wrote.

“Their report highlights several opportunities for process and policy improvements. With the added expertise of Calvin, Giordano & Associates, alongside support from our internal team, I am confident we will identify possibilities for improvement and address any outstanding deficiencies within the division.”

Police stay mum
Commissioner Long suggested at the Dec. 10 meeting that the Police Department take over code enforcement, after he learned about the quota requirement for citations in a performance improvement plan.

“So we have a quota to violate people, which is the absolute opposite of how we should be running this department,” Long said. “I think the time for half measures is over.”

But the Police Department may have its own problem since prosecutors so far have declined to file official charges against Wesley.

When asked about the investigation, Police Chief Russ Mager said he refuses to speak to news reporters anymore. His public information officer did not respond to a question about whether there is an internal investigation into how the department handled the case against Wesley.

Despite the drama of it all, Carney says the city is moving in the right direction by having numerous eyes looking at the Code Enforcement Division.

“We look forward to the results of the audit and we trust that city officials will recommend any necessary reforms for commissioner approval,” he said.

American oystercatchers mingle alongside construction equipment on the north island of Bonefish Cove. Photos provided by Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management

By Mary Thurwachter

While snowbirds flock to airports and highways as part of an annual southerly migration, birds of the feathered variety have also been arriving locally — and many are landing on a new avian hot spot.

They’re homing in on Bonefish Cove, particularly its northern island, still under construction in the Intracoastal Waterway north of Hypoluxo Island.

So says Mayra Ashton, senior environmental analyst for Palm Beach County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.

“The birds can be seen on occasion taking advantage of the sand at the project site,” Ashton told The Coastal Star.

“They are generally resting, loafing and feeding in the area,” she says. “On the day we spotted them, we were able to read some of the bands on their legs and report our findings to birding websites dedicated to studying and tracking the different species.

Some of the other birds spotted there are (l-r) American avocet, black skimmer and royal tern.

“That is how we learned where the birds were originally banded, i.e. North Carolina, Virginia and throughout Florida. It is fantastic to see how the project is already providing habitat for these birds.”

The project, a partnership between the county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was designed to create valuable habitat for flora and fauna that had otherwise been lost or degraded because of past dredge and fill activities, stormwater discharges and shoreline hardening.

Current plans call for two intertidal mangrove islands, each with a bird nesting mound. Both islands will have several intertidal oyster reefs to the north and south. 

The islands — named Bonefish Cove after a popular fish that recently returned to the area due to previous county restoration projects — are being formed using 320,000 cubic yards of sand from Peanut Island. 

Although the plan has been in the works for years, it took until mid-February for residents of Hypoluxo Island to get wind of it by way of a flyer sent to each of their homes. 

Many of the residents are boaters who were concerned when they realized the project, about a half mile in length and directly north of Hypoluxo Island, would take away their traditional navigational access, known as La Renaissance channel, to the Intracoastal Waterway.

But after vociferous protests from residents, the plan was changed to include two islands, not three. The originally planned third (center) island would have blocked the boat passageway via La Renaissance channel.

The $15 million lagoon project is progressing, with the Army Corps finalizing the modification of the original design to leave the traditional boating route to the Intracoastal unaffected.

“The contractor working on building the project continues to transport sand from Peanut Island’s dredge material management areas as the northernmost island continues to take shape,” Ashton says.

The northern island work should be complete in the next couple of months, with the southern island to follow. Completion is likely later this year.

The islands and oyster reefs will provide critical habitat for threatened shorebirds and protected native mangroves, while submerged sea grass and oysters will colonize, improving water quality.

A look at the birds
Here are some of the birds discovered on the north island of Bonefish Cove:
Royal tern: Banded in July 2018 in Hampton City, Virginia.
Black skimmer: One banded in August in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina; another banded in July 2024 in Atlantic, North Carolina, and a third banded in either Martin County or Collier County.
American oystercatchers: 11 birds banded in Palm Beach County between 2021 and 2024, with an additional two banded in Martin and Brevard counties in 2020.

Via Mizner apartments (right), the only completed building of the three shown in this rendering of a finished complex, is the subject of a foreclosure notice. But Penn-Florida said it intends to repay the loan involved. Still under construction are the branded residences (left) and the Mandarin Hotel (center). Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

Penn-Florida Companies faces losing ownership of its luxury apartment building that is part of a three-phase project that would also include a 164-room Mandarin Oriental hotel and 85 branded residences along Federal Highway in downtown Boca Raton.

An affiliate of Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided a $195 million senior loan to Penn-Florida in 2022. It filed notice on Dec. 1 that it has initiated a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure on the 366-unit apartment building for failing to pay off the loan. The notice said an auction will be held on Jan. 15.

A UCC foreclosure typically moves more quickly than a foreclosure case filed in court. An auction is held to sell the property to the highest bidder so a creditor can recover the money it loaned.

Penn-Florida, headquartered in Boca Raton, issued a statement shortly after the notice was filed indicating it does not expect to lose the 101 Via Mizner building, which was completed in 2018 at 101 E. Camino Real.

“This was a loan in good standing that recently matured and is in process of being repaid in-full next month (January)through a refinance,” the company said.

The auction notice is the latest headwind for Penn-Florida, which originally planned to complete construction of the Mandarin Oriental hotel and condos in 2017. The completion date has been delayed five times and now is slated for the end of 2025.

Construction has proceeded very slowly for years, frustrating city residents who consider the project an eyesore. Penn-Florida has insisted that nothing is amiss.

But some buyers who had placed large deposits on Mandarin Oriental condos have grown tired of waiting. Four couples and an individual filed lawsuits last summer seeking the return of their money.

Two couples voluntarily dismissed their cases, indicating they had reached confidential settlements with Penn-Florida.

The cases of two other couples and an individual, all represented by attorney James Ferrara, a former Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge, remain open. Their cases were consolidated in November.

Ferrara said it is more efficient to consolidate. “It did not make sense to have three separate cases that involved the exact same issues,” he said.

In November, another couple who had made a nearly $1.7 million deposit filed a seven-count suit alleging, among other things, fraudulent inducement and constructive fraud. They seek an unspecified amount of damages.

The litigation against Penn-Florida is not limited to would-be condo owners.

Areda Construction of Miami Lakes and Strategic Group Builders of Miami in August filed suits claiming they had not been paid for completed work. Both of those lawsuits were voluntarily dismissed.

In other cases that remain open, C&C Concrete Pumping of Florida and Texas filed two suits in late September, saying it had not been paid for work done on the condo and hotel buildings. Power Design Inc. of St. Petersburg also filed two suits in mid-September against Penn-Florida and its general contractor, Straticon LLC, saying it had not been paid for electrical work at the two buildings.

Crane rental company Maxim Crane Works, headquartered in Wilder, Kentucky, sued Penn-Florida and Straticon in November for non-payment.

The three companies seek payment in total for $4.8 million they claim is owed them, as well as unspecified damages and attorneys fees and costs. 

By Mary Hladky

A New Jersey man has been charged with DUI manslaughter in the Dec. 15 death of a bicyclist who was struck by the man’s Chevy Equinox on a stretch of State Road A1A next to Red Reef Park.

Felipe Soares De Moraes, 41, of suburban Boca Raton, was dead at the scene and his bicycle was embedded in the Equinox’s front bumper.

The northbound SUV, driven by Thomas Vayianos, 35, of Brick, New Jersey, struck Soares De Moraes from the rear, throwing him 65 feet before he rolled another 71 feet, according to the probable cause affidavit. A responding Boca Raton police officer found him face down within the northbound shoulder of the 1400 block of A1A.

Vayianos told police he had “no idea” that he had hit a bicyclist.

Soares De Moraes was married and the father of a 6-year-old daughter and an 8-month-old, according to a GoFundMe created to provide his family with financial support and to cover funeral costs.

“He was a devoted family man, a beloved friend, and someone who radiated kindness and love wherever he went,” the GoFundMe webpage says. “His loss leaves an immeasurable void and a challenging future for those he most loved.”

The family lives in the Sandalfoot Cove neighborhood west of Florida’s Turnpike, according to county property records.

A witness to the crash who also was bicycling on A1A shortly after 7 a.m. told police the SUV passed so close to him that he could touch the vehicle. The vehicle was swerving on the roadway and repeatedly veered into the bicycle lane before it hit Soares De Moraes.

The affidavit said Vayianos was swaying and unsteady on his feet when questioned by an officer. He had to be asked questions multiple times and did not answer or went off-topic.

Vayianos said he was “in rehab” that his parents were paying for, and was taking Adderall and Vyvanse, which treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Gabapentin, an anti-seizure medication.

Vayianos, who the officer said had pinpoint pupils, told him that he was “worried about the hotel people,” and seemed to think that the officers on the scene were “hotel people.” 

He agreed to participate in sobriety exercises, and failed them, with the officer concluding that he was too impaired to operate a motor vehicle safely.

During a Dec. 16 court hearing, Palm Beach County Judge Ted Booras assigned Vayianos a public defender and set bail at $150,000.

The fatal crash is the most recent example of why Boca Raton bicyclists have pressed state and city officials for years to make A1A safer for them. A January 2024 crash injured six cyclists struck by an SUV in Gulf Stream. 

At the site of the Dec. 15 crash, the bike and car lanes are next to each other with no barrier to separate them, which leaves no margin for error, said Les Wilson, a Boca Raton cyclist and contributor to the BocaFirst blog. The bicycle lanes are four feet wide there.

“If there were more space, it gives everyone more time to react,” he said.

The Florida Department of Transportation plans a $7.3 million project that will improve the nearly 5-mile stretch of A1A that runs through Boca Raton. Work is expected to start in the fall of 2027.

One component of the project is adding 6-foot buffered bike lanes to better separate drivers and cyclists.

“What they plan to do would not have prevented the (Dec. 15) accident,” Wilson said.

BocaFirst has called the design inadequate and “dangerous by design.” In an April blog article, writers said painted lines between bike and car lanes offer inadequate protection for cyclists and that barriers should be constructed instead.

The city’s Citizens’ Pedestrian and Bikeway Advisory Board has proposed that when the bike lane approaches city parks along A1A, the lane should be routed into the parks. Such a routing through Red Reef Park, where the crash happened, could have prevented it, Wilson said. 

There’s a phrase I’ve been desiring to say for several years. Finally, I think I can.

I’m retired. Yep. There I said it.

As of Jan. 1, I turned the editorial reins of this newspaper over to the talented and competent people my husband and I have recruited and hired over the past 16 years — including many who have been with us since the beginning. I have no doubt readers of The Coastal Star will be in good hands.

Plus, Jerry Lower and Chris Bellard are still around and dedicated to each edition. So I’m the only one of the original crew taking a breather at this point, and feel comfortable doing so with the addition of our new editor, local news veteran Larry Barszewski, to shepherd the newspaper into print each month.

Although I’m stepping away from writing this monthly column in the new year, I’m excited that readers will hear from others at the newspaper in this space.

Still, don’t be surprised if a bee in my bonnet occasionally compels me to share my thoughts here. I have no plans to move away, and still care deeply about preserving the quality of life in the coastal communities we all love.

It’s been an honor to be such a vital part of informing the residents of this very special area. I’ve met such wonderful people and not one month has passed that I couldn’t find people and places worth featuring. The depth of history, beauty and generosity in our area is truly inspiring.

If I’ve made even the slightest impact on preserving our way of life along the coast, this past decade and a half will have been worth the effort. I’m confident our newspaper will continue on this dedicated path. We all care deeply about the role of local journalism.

Another change to note is that I will no longer be the community’s funnel for all things poured into this newspaper. It’s been a lot. Especially from my friends in the public relations community. You folks are persistent!

In my absence, please keep at hand the list of contacts below. You’ll find each of these people to be professional and willing to talk you through what it takes to get your information into our hyper-local South County publication. And please note that it’s always helpful if you explain why what you’re pitching is important to coastal readers, and point out people who live and work within our delivery area.

Every inch of newsprint we give strives to reflect our string of coastal communities and provide value to our readers. That’s what makes The Coastal Star successful. That’s what every person below understands and will continue to provide to the community.

— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor

  Coastal Star contacts:

Publisher : Jerry Lower, publisher@thecoastalstar.com

    Advertising
Advertising director: Chris Bellard, sales@thecoastalstar.com
Advertising managers: Peter Jackson, John W. Jones, Jay Nuszer, sales@thecoastalstar.com

    Editorial/News
Editor: Larry Barszewski, larry@thecoastalstar.com
Managing editor, Boca Raton/Highland Beach: Steve Plunkett, news@thecoastalstar.com
Editorial/Features
Managing editor/Features: Mary Thurwachter, news@thecoastalstar.com

    ArtsPaper
Editor: Greg Stepanich, gstepanich@pbartspaper.com

    Columnists:
Business announcements, health news: Christine Davis, cdavis9797@gmail.com
Food/restaurants: Jan Norris, nativefla@gmail.com
Health: Jan Engoren, jengoren@hotmail.com
Outdoors/fishing: Steve Waters, steve33324@aol.com
Pets: Arden Moore, fourleggedlife@gmail.com
Philanthropy/celebrations: Amy Woods, flamywoods@bellsouth.net
Religion/faith: Janis Fontaine, fontaine423@outlook.com
Tots & Teens: Faran Fagen, ffagen@aol.com

Mayor against staffers handling code enforcement — Ocean Ridge Mayor Geoff Pugh warned that the town does not want unauthorized staffers acting like code enforcement officers — especially when it comes to ticky-tacky potential violations like a little mold at the corner of a roof.

“I just want to make sure that we are solid, that we are not driving around looking for something to code enforce for us, because that would put a knife right in the heart of this town,” said Pugh, without giving any specifics.

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said it’s the “gotcha perception.”

Pugh said staffers who know about serious code violations can tell the police or the new part-time code enforcement officer whom the town has hired.

The town was recently embarrassed when it forced a resident to trim his 16-foot hedges to 6 feet only to learn that there was no prohibition on the height of hedges in the Town Code.

$25,000 in Tupperware bowl handed over in suspected scam — Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure is warning residents it’s scam season. His department was able to return $25,000 to a resident who handed it over to a person promising internet security.

McClure said at the Dec. 9 Town Commission meeting that no arrests had been made. 

“Fraud is on the rise, as everybody’s aware,” he said. “We’re going to homeowners associations next month to get the word out about the different types of fraud.”

He said a good rule of thumb is that nobody legitimate is going to ask for payment in Bitcoin, gift cards or gold.

“She handed over in a Tupperware bowl $25,000 cash to a person who walked up to her gate,” McClure said. “We were able to get her money back.”

He said the person was identified through private security cameras and a license plate reader. 

McClure said residents shouldn’t allow themselves to be bullied or blackmailed through text or email.

— John Pacenti

Missing and broken windows and doors on the second floor are among violations at the home on Coconut Lane. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge commissioners, in a particularly ornery mood at their Dec. 9 meeting, rejected the town attorney’s advice to settle outstanding code violations and pending litigation with the owner of a dilapidated home.

Town Attorney Christy Goddeau and her staff recommended that the commission accept a settlement where the owner of 23 Coconut Lane would pay $30,000 of $117,000 in outstanding fines and dismiss his lawsuit against Ocean Ridge.

There was little sympathy for James Cooksey, owner of the home. He said a sale fell through because of liens against the home and he needs a clean title to resurrect the deal. 

“So instead of the buyer and the seller figuring out how to pay off that lien, you’re coming to the public to pay up that lien,” said Vice Mayor Steve Coz.

“They go for 509 days without doing the right thing. Then to come back and say, ‘Gee, it’s a lot of money,’” said Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. “If you would have done it when you were supposed to do it, you wouldn’t have had the big fines.”

Mayor Geoff Pugh called it disingenuous for Cooksey to seek relief after allowing the property to become not just an eyesore but unsafe for surrounding properties. He noted that the second-floor bedroom didn’t even have a door for a time.

“I’ve been watching birds fly in and out of that opening on the second floor for two years now. Enough is enough,” Pugh said. 

Cooksey said that he spent $150,000 on interior work to try to save the home, which according to Zillow is worth $3.9 million. “It’s completely unlivable. The house has basically fallen apart. It had very, very bad settlement cracks,” he said.

Pugh said there were things Cooksey could have done, such as mow the grass.

Cooksey sued Ocean Ridge in 2023, claiming he was not properly notified of a hearing in front of the special magistrate on code violations at his home. The lawsuit was dismissed but Cooksey appealed the ruling.

Coz said he was amenable to maybe knocking $10,000 off the fines upon the sale of the property. Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said she didn’t want to set a bad precedent.

Cooksey said his attorney believes he has a valid case going forward. “We can litigate the thing for two more years, I don’t care if that’s what you guys want to do. Pay people $500 an hour rather than resolving it,” he said. 

By John Pacenti

Delray Beach Commissioner Rob Long voiced outrage at “a sweetheart plea deal” for a Clearwater man who in February allegedly defaced the city’s rainbow gay pride intersection by leaving a skid mark through it.

“We’re not going to allow Delray Beach property to be vandalized and we’re not going to allow messages of hate toward marginalized citizens in our community to stand,” Long said at the Dec. 10 commission meeting.

Dylan Reese Brewer, charged with felony criminal mischief, will plead to a misdemeanor, pay a $5,000 fine and avoid any time behind bars, Long said.

Long said Brewer got “a sweetheart plea deal.” He said LGBTQ groups are crafting statements to voice opposition to a plea deal at a Jan. 8 court hearing.

“If something like this happens to the LGBTQ+ community, it could happen to our Jewish community, it could happen to our Haitian Caribbean community. It could happen to the African American community,” Long said.

Long had hoped that commissioners could get behind a unified statement opposing the plea deal but the matter was not on the Dec. 17 meeting agenda.

Brewer will also serve 12 months of probation, perform 75 hours of community service and be required to take an eight-hour anger management course under the plea deal, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The 19-year-old will plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and reckless driving with injury to a person or property.

Brewer’s attorney, Scott Sale, said he had no comment on the potential plea.

The pride intersection is at Northeast First Street and Northeast Second Avenue.

The February incident was the second time the intersection was defaced by burning out of a vehicle. Both had a connection to former President Donald Trump, who is now president-elect and set to be sworn into office again in January.

Alexander Jerich pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief in 2022 after vandalizing the intersection while driving in a birthday rally for Trump. Video of the February incident showed a Trump flag flying from the back of Brewer’s pickup.

The plea deal sparked a war of words between Rand Hoch — founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council — and State Attorney Dave Aronberg.

Hoch issued a statement saying, “I cannot fathom why Dave Aronberg cut such a sweet deal for Brewer. It just makes no sense legally.”

Aronberg retorted that Hoch was showing “extreme ignorance” because he never served as a prosecutor.

“Our office will keep standing strong against hate in our community, and will continue to urge the (state) Legislature to give us additional tools to maximize punishment of offenders,” Aronberg said in a statement.

By Steve Plunkett

Future two-story homes along Gulf Stream’s signature Polo Drive and Gulfstream Road will have smaller second stories, while new one-story homes there will be able to be five feet closer to the street under new rules the town is considering.

After an ad hoc committee delivered its recommendations on how to limit large new residences that overpower their neighbors’ homes, the Town Commission declared a “zoning in progress” on Dec. 13 to stop building permits from being issued while it enacts the changes.

The overall recommendation was to create a zoning overlay district comprising the homes on the east side of Polo and the west side of Gulfstream to address massing in the Core District. 

“We’re looking at relatively small footprints,” said Malcolm Murphy, chair of the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board and a member of the ad hoc committee. “We went through many ideas, but the main, overriding theme was, let’s make this desirable, let’s encourage people to want to build a one-story home.”

The committee — Murphy, chair Paul Lyons, and members Gary Cantor, Michael Glennon, Bill Koch III and Thom Smith — met monthly since being formed in March and sought input from architects, planners, other experts and the town of Palm Beach.

To incentivize building one-story homes in the overlay district, the panel recommended raising the floor area ratio, or building square footage to lot area ratio, from 33% to 36% for roughly a 10% gain for those homes. 

“Typically, you’re looking at (an extra) 300 to 350 square feet, which is based on the lot sizes in this area,” Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said. The largest lot would get an extra 600 square feet.

Also for one-story homes, the panel said to count all covered, unenclosed area at only 70% for FAR instead of 100%, and to reduce the front setback to 25 feet instead of 30 feet.

To limit massing of two-story homes, the committee recommended reducing the second-floor FAR to 30% of the first floor FAR instead of 50% and to reduce the maximum roof height to 28 feet instead of 30 feet.

“Disincentive is the wrong word, but we wanted to make sure that people understood fully what they had to work with if they decided to go with this two-story home application,” Murphy said.

Mayor Scott Morgan said he was “more than impressed.”

“When I first came on the commission, massing was an issue that we wanted to address,” he said. “And we have tinkered around with it. This commission has changed a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but we never could really wrap our heads around it.”

Commissioner Joan Orthwein’s suggestion that the town incentivize building one-story homes led to the creation of the ad hoc panel, Morgan said. 

“I think what you’ve come up with is an excellent approach to dealing with the problem of massing in a fair and reasonable way that doesn’t punish two-story people but encourages what has been historically the aesthetic of the town, at least of the Core, and that is the single-story, more understated but elegant home,” the mayor said.

Morgan also said the Dec. 19 meeting of the ARPB was to be Murphy’s last as its chairman. The Place Au Soleil resident is returning to South Africa for an undetermined period of time.

“I just want to say you’ve been an outstanding chairman and member of the ARPB,” Morgan said. “You have a calmness about you. Maybe it’s the British accent, I don’t know. ... I just want to thank you for your service.” 

Liza Thornton (l-r), Joan Lorne, Darlene Duggan, Ginny Cairo, Sally Willis and Lydia Weis spend hours on the beach collecting discarded bottle caps to turn into art, such as this octopus. Photos provided

By Ron Hayes

When she’s home in Colorado, Sally Willis walks the ski country’s hiking trails, picking up trash.

When she escapes to Gulf Stream every April and November, she walks the beach each morning, picking up seashells and glass.

That was the plan, anyway.

“When I was here in 2019, I was looking for shells and glass and not finding much, but I kept finding bottle tops and caps,” she says. “So, I kept them as my seashells.”

Five years later, Willis’s bottle cap collecting has become an annual tradition, and an art project.

That first year, she put the caps she’d found in a glass jar, posted a photo to Facebook, and invited her friends to guess the number of caps.

The winner guessed 577 caps. The answer was 578.

Just for fun.

A year later, the coronavirus pandemic kept her home in Colorado, but in November 2021 she was back on the beach, along with a king tide, which upped her bottle cap bounty quite a bit.

“I used them to make a Christmas tree mural in the sand by my house, took some pictures, and cleaned it up and threw everything away.”

By November 2022, she was friends with Joan Lorne, Joan’s daughter Jackie Kingston, and Darlene Duggan, turtle monitors with Kingston’s Sea Turtle Adventures.

“We’re both out in the mornings,” Lorne says. “Sally would be getting trash off the beach while we were monitoring turtle nests, so we became friends. She’s just a super cool gal.”

With her new friends helping that year, they used the caps to create a sea turtle in the sand.

“I usually do the mural the Sunday after Thanksgiving somewhere in front of our house,” Willis says.

In 2023, they fashioned a mermaid mural.

“Everybody contributes,” Willis says. “We start to make the outline in the sand and everybody puts their two cents in. It’s not me saying this is how we’re going to do it. I explain my vision and we work around that.”

If you walk the Gulf Stream beach about 7 a.m. most days during her visits, you would spot Willis with her 5-gallon Home Depot bucket. Mornings she heads south from her home near the Gulf Stream Golf Club, evenings she turns north.

“It’s just amazing,” she says. “You put the bucket down and pick up five to seven caps in a pile of seaweed, all coming in from those cruise ships out on the Gulf Stream.”

On Dec. 1, Sally and her team of sea turtle monitors opted for an octopus, which they dubbed “Sandipi.”

“We didn’t have quite enough caps to make it as dense as I would have liked,” she says, “but we made it work.”

Willis’s bottle cap art is still just for fun, not posterity.

“We usually pick it up within 24 hours, depending on the tide line,” she says. “If I think the high tide will take it away, we pick it up right after we have taken enough photos. If we can do it way up on the beach like we did this year, then we leave it for 24 hours. I don’t want those bottle caps to end up back in the ocean.”

And for the first time, the 1,751 bottle caps Willis and friends used to create Sandipi were not thrown away when she left for Colorado.

In addition to monitoring turtle nests, Joan Lorne is a teachers’ aide at St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach.

Students there will use the caps to create an artwork for Earth Day, which is April 22.

In Colorado, the trash Willis collects in plastic bags winds up in trash bins.

In Gulf Stream, her 5-gallon bucket full of bottle caps that became art will become an educational project at the local Catholic school.

Driving back to Colorado in December, Willis carried a sense of satisfaction along, but not too much.

“I feel good that I can clean up some of the trash, but it’s just for fun,” she says. “We talk about what we’re going to do for a mural this year, and what are we going to find on the beach that we can incorporate.

“I know what we’re going to do next Thanksgiving,” she adds. “But I’m not going to tell you.”

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR
Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

By Steve Plunkett

For rescuing a woman pulled into the ocean by rip currents, veteran Gulf Stream Police Sgt. Bernard O’Donnell was handed a lifesaver award in an emotional presentation Dec. 13.

Tragically, he was unable to save the woman’s 15-year-old son, who went into the Atlantic at the county-operated Gulfstream Park with his younger brother while his mother watched from the shore early Nov. 10. When the younger child signaled her for help, she jumped into the water.

“That day, the winds were 25 miles an hour out of the northeast and the surf was so extreme that the 20-plus bystanders who were on the beach were unable to assist,” Police Chief Richard Jones told everyone assembled for the Town Commission’s monthly meeting. “So, had it not been for Sergeant O’Donnell, we would have lost the mother and a child. 

“So we appreciate your heroic actions. Thank you.”

O’Donnell, who is 59 and joined the town’s police force 12 years ago, had to take a few moments to compose himself before thanking the chief for providing good advice, Deputy Chief John Haseley for providing comfort and the townspeople for providing him the tools to do the rescue.

“You were able to provide the equipment and the training that also helped me that day. I had the equipment in the car that helped and if it wasn’t for that … I probably wouldn’t have been successful,” he said.

All town police units have a rescue throw disk with 75 feet of rope, a lifeguard water rescue flotation device and a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.

Townsfolk did even more, O’Donnell said, singling out Elizabeth Ruth for putting out a call for contributions.

“As you know, funerals can be very costly,” he said. “I attended the funeral and presented the check there so the family didn’t have to have an additional burden. I’m very thankful for that and for the residents that contributed to it, and it made the healing process a lot better.”

O’Donnell said his boss helped the healing process.

Chief Jones “made a great point, you know. If I wasn’t able to get to the mother in time, she would have had three children grow up without a mother. And I didn’t think about that, but he provided a great point there.”

O’Donnell thanked his wife, Maria, who was invited to attend the presentation.

“When I, when we get off duty we go home to the family, if it wasn’t for my loving wife who lives there for me,” he said, breaking up again. “Thank you very much.” 

Combining properties puts owner in a fix — The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office combined residential properties at 316 Andrews Ave. and 1137 Vista del Mar Drive North at their owner’s request, but Delray Beach regulations don’t allow for more than one principal residence per property in that residential zoning district.

The property owner has been seeking a certificate of occupancy for a newly built home on the southern portion of the combined property and said the other home would be used as a guest cottage and art studio. But the 1,432-square-foot cottage is more than double the size the city allows.

On a 3-2 vote, the commission agreed at its Dec. 17 meeting to a waiver. Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns voted for the waiver, with Vice Mayor Juli Casale and Commissioner Tom Markert opposed, citing concern about setting a precedent. 

— Larry Barszewski

Mayor gives update on public safety — Mayor Tom Carney recently updated the Beach Property Owners Association on its request for an increased police presence on the barrier island.

The request came after recent “crime trends, issues and concerns,” Carney wrote in a Dec. 14 email to BPOA President Hal Stern. The most notable incident occurred on June 21 near the Delray Beach Pavilion, where four dozen gunshots were fired at a popup party.

Carney, in the email to Stern, identified several steps being taken:

• Police have increased their visibility and have upped enforcement of traffic measures, such as cracking down on cars with loud mufflers, playing loud music and speeding.
• There is an ongoing conversation with the Community Redevelopment Agency to redirect the downtown Clean and Safe officer east of the Intracoastal Waterway. “This initiative will increase our police presence on the barrier island, specifically related to the Atlantic Avenue corridor up to A1A,” Carney wrote.

The CRA funding of the Clean and Safe police officer program includes safety ambassadors who patrol on foot, golf carts and bikes and interact with the homeless population.

They respond to calls from police when homeless people are trespassing, panhandling or drinking in public.
Carney said the city’s community outreach team has also conducted beach sweeps where transient individuals have been identified.

$3 million from bond targeted for three facilities — About $3 million from the 2023 voter-approved $100 million public safety general obligation bond will be spent to make repairs to two city firehouses and its Ocean Rescue facility.

Fire Chief Ronald Martin says improvements are needed for the following facilities:

• Fire Station 112 at 35 Andrews Ave.; work includes concrete restoration, fire alarm system upgrades and weatherproofing.
• Fire Station 111, the department’s headquarters at 501 W. Atlantic Ave.; work includes painting, roof repairs and an interior design study.
• Ocean Rescue, 340 S. Ocean Blvd.; work includes exterior repair and possible storage and interior remodel.

City Manager Terrence Moore said the Public Works Department is working with Martin on the improvements while the Finance Department is working to get the money.

New city clerk is no surprise — Alexis Givings will be the new city clerk, City Manager Terrence Moore announced in his Dec. 13 newsletter.

Givings has served as interim clerk since September after serving as deputy city clerk. She replaces Katerri Johnson.

Givings’ work history includes administrative roles with Lauderdale Lakes and the Broward County Clerk of Court.

The duties of the clerk include maintaining official documents of the city, administrating municipal elections, and preparing and distributing agendas and minutes of city meetings.

Advocate criticizes DARE funding decision — Cat Kelly, a well-known advocate for addiction care, told the City Commission at its Dec. 10 meeting that city officials made a mistake in allocating their $239,000 share of opioid settlement money.

She was particularly critical of using settlement money for the police program DARE  — Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

“Multiple studies over the past few decades have shown that DARE has failed to reduce drug use among participants. Some evidence suggests that it may have inadvertently normalized the behavior it aims to prevent,” said Kelly, an Ocean Ridge resident who is on the board of the Crossroads Club, a safe space for 12-step meetings.

The city is expected to get irregular installments of the settlement money from the $50 million deal struck by the states with opioid manufacturers and distributors for fueling a pill epidemic that continues to take lives.

The City Commission and staff struggled for months to come up with a plan to allocate the money, deciding that $130,000 would go to DARE and that some of the money would be used to purchase the anti-overdose drug Narcan.

“As it goes for Narcan, we are able to get Narcan for free,” Kelly said. “Approving this allocation is not just an oversight, but it is a missed opportunity.” The commission did not address her remarks.

 — John Pacenti

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream is ending its decades-long contract with trash hauler Waste Management Inc. of Florida and shifting instead to Boca Raton-based Coastal Waste and Recycling Inc.

The move means monthly bills for picking up trash from residents’ back or side doors will drop slightly, from $47.82 to $46. 

“Our residents aren’t going to see a lot of change,” said Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro, who spent most of 2024 negotiating the contract with help from Kessler Consulting.

But the switch also avoids Waste Management’s planned price change to $61.34, a 62% hike from the $37.86 it was charging as recently as last March.

“They really did not want to do backdoor service anymore,” Town Manager Greg Dunham said.

The Coastal Waste arrangement will have an initial 10-year term with an option to renew for two five-year extensions.

“So it’s a potential 20-year agreement,” said Nazzaro.

The contract wording also provides for annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, rather than the higher “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Water and Sewer and Trash Collection Services” that Waste Management had proposed.

Proposals were received  from Waste Management, Coastal Waste and Waste Pro USA, with Coastal Waste receiving the top ranking. Nazzaro said he will bring a final contract to the Town Commission in January.

Waste Management, the town’s trash hauler since at least 1997, had sought a five-year contract extension in 2019 at a 26% increase plus an annual cost adjustment tied to the water-sewer-trash index. But the town negotiated a 6% increase for the five years with annual increases tied to the specialized index.

This time the company insisted on the 62% increase and rebuffed any talk of lowering the rate. 

Civic Association invites residents to centennial party — The Gulf Stream Civic Association will host a centennial celebration of the town’s incorporation with “a casual event” at The Little Club on Feb. 22.

The group will also sponsor a beach cleanup and a “Gulf Stream Gives Back” day with a deserving nonprofit still to be selected. It also sold 96 commemorative belts and 70 coasters. 

“If there’s demand we will offer additional orders on that,” said Kirsten Stanley, the association’s president.

The cost for attending the outdoor buffet, weather permitting, is $50 a person, and there will be a capacity of 220 people. Stanley thanked Suzanne Lanigan, Lisa Morgan and Jennifer Coulter for coordinating the effort.

“It will be a first-come, first-serve basis and we encourage and hope all residents are able to attend. We want it to be very inviting and very inclusive,” Stanley said.

Mayor Scott Morgan said he hopes residents will take part.

“This is our hundredth anniversary for the town, founded in 1925. So hopefully the word gets out and we have a great turnout,” he said.

— Steve Plunkett

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana signed off on flood management regulations to meet National Flood Insurance Program standards, which meant the town also had to revise its ordinance as it relates to mobile homes. On its first reading of the ordinance in November, the Town Council voted affirmatively, although not all members agreed.

“We wanted time to do some homework to be sure we knew what the implications were,” Mayor Karen Lythgoe said at the Dec. 9 meeting. But even with further discussion, the vote remained the same: 3-2 in favor of the changes. Council members Lynn “Doc” Moorhouse and Christopher Castle cast the dissenting votes.

Development Services Director Nicole Dritz gave some background.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s revised flood insurance rate map became effective on Dec. 20.

“As a condition of eligibility in the National Flood Insurance Program, the town must adopt the flood plain management regulations to meet the standards set by the NFIP,” Dritz said. “In addition to the NFIP requirement that we must adopt, the ordinance also revises language related to how we as a town regulate our mobile homes.”

That’s the part that concerned council members.

“The town has participated in a voluntary program called the Community Rating System for over 15 years,” Dritz said. “The voluntary program is meant to incentivize communities to implement flood plain management practices and procedures that exceed the minimum set by the NFIP.”

Communities earn points for various flood plain activities that reduce flooding risk or enhance resiliency, such as improving drainage systems or promoting public education, she said. As communities accumulate points, they can achieve different rating levels that can lower flood insurance rates for property owners.

Flood insurance premiums in town currently receive a 10% discount with its Class 8 rating.

“As a prerequisite, and for the town to retain that Class 8 rating, all manufactured homes installed or replaced in the special flood hazard area must be elevated to or above the base flood elevation outlined by the NFIP, by FEMA or one additional foot,” Dritz said.

While the new elevation requirements don’t apply to existing homes, they will apply to homes undergoing major renovations or repairs.

Annemarie Joyce, who lives in View Street, a mobile home park south of The Moorings on the Intracoastal Waterway, said she’s concerned “that the wording in here says that we can only do repairs (for damaged homes) up to 50% of our appraised valuation by the property appraiser’s office.”

“With inflation the way it is, this is going to leave people in the lurch by a great deal. Because the property appraiser’s valuation of our homes is not high enough that we would be able to do many repairs. I am extremely concerned about that.”

But that’s not the only worry for owners of mobile homes in a flood zone.

Moorhouse said those homes could be difficult to sell given the new requirements. “I just think it’s totally unreasonable,” he said.

The reduction in the cost of insurance wouldn’t amount to much, perhaps as little as $50 a year for people in mobile homes, he said. “I’m not going to put somebody out of their home for $50 a year. I think it’s a burdening hardship.”

But Lythgoe said she would be voting in favor of the changes.

“I’m going to vote for this primarily because in 2027, Citizens Insurance is going to require all policy holders in Florida to have flood insurance, whether you’re in a flood plain or not. If we’re not in good standing in the program, we’re not going to be able to get flood insurance through the NFIP, and in that case when someone goes to purchase a home or if you have a mortgage that requires you to have windstorm insurance, you’re not going to be able to keep it.

“And if you have Citizens, which a lot of people do, you’re not going to be able to keep your insurance policy because you’re not going to get flood insurance. Very few insurance companies are writing flood insurance, you have to get it through the federal government.”

The special flood areas are all east of Dixie Highway, according to Dritz.

Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason said that while this vote was for him “heart-wrenching, there comes a time you have to think of the majority.”

He said insurance can get as high as $10,000 a year and a 10% reduction was a significant one.

Vice Mayor Mark Zeitler said he empathized with Joyce and other mobile home residents, but would join Mason and Lythgoe in voting for the revised language.

After the vote, Joyce told The Coastal Star she was one of those people who looks at both sides.

“I can understand that some people who can afford insurance stand to benefit,” she said. “My main concern is for people who don’t have unlimited resources.

“I don’t see any upside for them.”

Library employee receives top honor — Jennifer Sweeten has been working at the Lantana Public Library for less than a year but has made a big and wonderful impression on colleagues and regulars at the library.

Sweeten, who transferred from the town’s Development Services Department in February, was named the town’s Employee of the Year and received a plaque marking the occasion at the Dec. 9 Town Council meeting.

Never before has a library staff member become Lantana’s Employee of the Year — and no one could have been prouder to make that announcement than Library Director Kristine Kreidler. “She is one of the best, if not the best, customer service and problem-solving employees I have ever worked with,” Kreidler said. “She saved us during our summer reading program, as our statistics have continued to grow exponentially and the flow of traffic increases month over month. I don’t know how we would’ve done it without her.” 

Kreidler called Sweeten a genuinely caring person “and everyone she interacts with walks away knowing Jen cares about them, illustrating a rare native emotional intelligence. One of our older patrons even asked Jen to be her power of attorney.”

Working in a public library in a community like Lantana means “you are part social worker, part mediator, part teacher, part tutor, part crime prevention, part mentor, part party planner, part friend, part community activist, part mom, part dad, and on and on. Jen wears them well,” Kreidler said.  

Vote on Kmart development delayed — A special Town Council meeting was held on Dec. 10 to vote on amending the comprehensive plan to allow a change in the density from 15 to 25 dwellings per acre at Lantana Village (the former Kmart site), but voting was postponed until 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9.

Mayor Karen Lythgoe said the reason for the delay was that Town Attorney Max Lohman could not attend and the town needed a little more time to smooth out the details.

Since the December meeting had been advertised, town officials needed to convene, but a presentation on the development plans was not given. Public comment was allowed, but without having seen the PowerPoint, residents opted to wait until the next special meeting to make their comments.

— Mary Thurwachter

Walking tour participants pause at the site of the Orange Grove House of Refuge while local historian Tom Warnke (green cap) describes its history as the first building in the Delray Beach area. The shelter for shipwrecked sailors was built in 1876. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Hannah Spence

There are cities in the United States whose history is well-known, especially to their residents. But despite its rich past, Delray Beach does not seem to get the same kind of attention. The Delray Beach Historical Society is helping change that by resuming walking tours that cover the historic coastline. 

“It’s an assemblage of the history of the Delray Beach area going back hundreds of years,” said Tom Warnke, a local historian and the society’s archive coordinator. “We also talk about the natural history going back 10,000 years because that relates to the ocean environment, and a big part of the walk is about the coastal processes and why Delray is so unique.”

The walking tour takes attendees to landmarks such as the Sandoway Discovery Center and the Orange Grove House of Refuge — the first structure in the area, built before the area became known as Linton, which was the precursor to Delray Beach. The first tour, on Dec. 14, was cut short due to rain. Guests received a rain check to a Jan. 18 tour. Another one will be held on Jan. 25. The society will list other tours online later this month.

Participants were educated on stories from the old days such as when, on a New Year’s Eve during Prohibition, a boat broke up and dozens of cases of rum washed up on the beach. Also provided is information on the Barefoot Mailman, a legendary South Florida symbol.

The historical society is resuming the tours that stopped  because of the coronavirus pandemic. Warnke said the tours meet a demand. 

“I would even say the majority of people who live here complain that there’s no history, but if they dig down a little bit, there really is a deep history there,” Warnke said.

He said the misconception that Delray Beach does not have an interesting backstory developed because “it just doesn’t look old. If you’re from New England or most places in the country and you come here, the area doesn’t have the architecture that looks old. But even here on Atlantic Avenue, we’ve got structures that are over a hundred years old. A lot repurposed, but like the Colony hotel, it’s still the way it was 100 years ago.”

Participants meet at the Delray Beach Pavilion at the beginning of the tour.

The walk is 2.7 miles long and typically scheduled on a Saturday. Participants follow Warnke through earpieces that enable them to hear from even 50 feet away. Breaks and snacks are incorporated into the event. 

The chance to learn is why historical society member Tim Sharp decided to join the walk. 

“I’m constantly trying to learn about Delray Beach, its history and what’s going on with the town,” said Sharp, who moved to the city from Boca Raton about three years ago. “I thought this tour sounded like a great opportunity to do that.”

Although Sharp admitted he knew some of the information from reading signs on the beach and generally just being a history buff, he thought Warnke made the walk enjoyable. 

“He was really good,” Sharp said. “Very knowledgeable and funny and a wealth of information.”

The tour has people walk right down to the water’s edge to connect with the ocean up close. 

“When you connect people with it, they are more likely to want to save it,” said Warnke. “As more and more people move down here, they get to know a little bit more about how we came to be and how we continue to grow.” 

If You Go

What: Historic walking tour of A1A in Delray Beach

When: 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 25

Where: Meet at the beach pavilion at Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard

Cost: $25 for Delray Beach Historical Society members, $30 for others

Info: 561-274-9578;

delraybeachhistory.org, under events

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified when the Orange Grove House of Refuge was built. It was built even before the area was known as Linton.

Little League agreement reached — Boynton Beach city commissioners approved a five-year agreement Dec. 17 that will allow Boynton Beach Little League to use the city’s Little League Park facilities and will end the lawsuit the league filed against the city in January 2024.

The agreement, in exchange for the league having the suit dismissed, was approved without comment at the commission’s regular meeting following a closed-door session on the subject that same evening. It comes after the two sides had a meeting of the minds in August. The league is also known as East Boynton Beach Little League.

“This agreement emerges from a recent legal settlement and establishes clear operational guidelines for the organization’s use of the City’s ballfields and resolves all litigation and potential attorney’s fees and costs,” a city staff report said.

Beach park treatment plant to be repaired — Boynton Beach city commissioners approved an agreement for upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant at Oceanfront Park to Close Construction Services, LLC, of Okeechobee, which bid $907,000 for the work, with an additional 10% contingency.

City staff reported the existing treatment system is more than 20 years old and “showing signs of wear and corrosion.” The work is mainly for rehabilitation of the rotating biological contactor system.

“Several events during 2018-2019 identified flows exceeding the permitted capacity, causing the plumbing fixtures in the park infrastructure to leak,” staff reported.

— Larry Barszewski

By John Pacenti

Replacing a portion of Ocean Ridge’s water main running down State Road A1A turned out to be a delicate operation as the 70-year-old pipe proved especially brittle, causing numerous unexpected breaks.

This led to a hopscotch pattern of asphalt patches. Now the Florida Department of Transportation wants the town to repave the affected parts of A1A at a cost of up to $325,000.

“Because there were so many breaks and so many patches, they’re asking us to go above and beyond what our engineering plan showed,” Town Engineer Lisa Tropepe said at the Town Commission’s Dec. 9 meeting.

Initially, Mayor Geoff Pugh was reluctant. “Why would we do that?” he said. “That’s a state road.”

Though FDOT will be repaving A1A in southern Delray Beach, there are no plans to continue northward, commissioners were told by contractor Foster Marine.

Tropepe and Foster Marine said FDOT has made unexpected demands after greenlighting the initial plans. “They approved it and they sat over here at the pre-construction meeting and didn’t say a word,” Tropepe said.

Commissioners authorized the money needed for the additional road work.

Pugh told Tropepe and Foster Marine he felt the repaving costs were a surprise. “We’re getting basically, you know, slapped in the back of the head,” he said.

Commissioners were told the delay was getting information from FDOT on whether the state would resurface the road in the near future. They also approved a $45,000 emergency change order to shut off the old pipe for the last remaining residents using it. And there was also $101,000 approved for cost overruns due to field directives.

In all, the commission approved up to $471,000 in new spending on Dec. 9.

The cost coming into the meeting for that A1A leg of the water pipe replacement project was $2.58 million.

Replacing the A1A pipe from Island Drive to Inlet Cay Drive is just the first step. Tropepe provided a chart for the work for the rest of the town — broken up into seven phases — estimating the cost would be $38.8 million over eight years.

Not all is bad news, Tropepe said. The town has 3,600 linear feet of new pipe and 95% of the impacted residents are hooked up to the new main.

“We’re just so happy to get that pipe out of commission. And we need to do everything we can ... to get that type of pipe wherever it is in town, we need to get it out of here,” she said.

There appears to be a bonus for residents in a $1 million-plus grant that reimburses Ocean Ridge for much of the purchase price of the submerged Priest property behind Town Hall.

The Florida Conservation Trust, as a condition of the grant, requires some type of public recreation, said Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy. The county owns the other submerged lands next to the Priest property — all of which is a pristine mangrove swamp teeming with marine life.

“We have been talking to the county, because the county owns several of those parcels, and they’re going to work with us in kind of creating and marking a kayak trail,” Cassidy said. “We’re just in the beginning stages of talking about that.”

One of the decisions that needs to be made is where the kayaks will be rented and launched. When established, the kayak trail will give residents access to marine life.

“There’s a lot of wildlife back there,” Cassidy said. “I talked to some people that have been at Ocean Cay (just north of Town Hall) for a while and they’ve seen manatees. It’s really kind of a nice place.”

— John Pacenti