Patricia Mendell comforts her mother, Margaret Mendell, who lies with robo-cat Butterscotch at Abbey Delray. Margaret Mendell turned 100 in June. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Arden Moore

    Every day and in many ways, Butterscotch and Rusty demonstrate the healing power of pets toward residents, their visiting family members and staff at Abbey Delray. Even Hurricane Irma did not diminish the positive impact made by these robotic pets inside this Delray Beach senior living center.
    You read right: RoboPets. While they do not require being fed, taken for walks or having litter boxes scooped, Butterscotch and Rusty exhibit many behaviors that real cats and dogs do. On cue, they purr, bark, cuddle and even roll over.
    In fact, it’s easy to forget for a moment that they are not real pets. That’s because, like pets often do, they spark engagement and interaction from all who come in contact with them.
    And they seem to unlock fond memories of beloved pets from residents’ childhoods.
    “Having these RoboPets around makes you smile and relax,” says Lori Eisele, the life enrichment engagement lead at this center. “These RoboPets are easier for some of our residents in bed to hold and we don’t have to worry about these pets wiggling too much. The cat actually purrs, opens and closes its eyes and the dog wags his tail and makes a cute panting sound.”
These RoboPets, manufactured by Hasbro, represent a third way for residents to get their “fur fix.”
    In addition to real pets allowed in some private residences at senior communities as well as certified therapy pets who make weekly visits, the robotic animals are built to delight. Each RoboPet features built-in sensors that respond to motion and touch. These battery-operated pets sport realistic soft fur that beckons to be touched and petted. And yes, they also are programmed to take naps and even seek belly rubs.
    “It’s wonderful to see the smiles on the faces of residents as they interact with the robotic pets,” says Vicki Brown, Abbey Delray Health Center administrator. “They provide a little something extra to look forward to each day.”
    Lifespace Communities, which owns and operates Abbey Delray and 11 other such communities in seven states, purchased these robotic cats and dogs for six of their communities, including about 30 at Abbey Delray.
    Ann Walsh, Lifespace senior vice president of operations, says the robot animals made sense as an investment in residents’ well-being:  “The impact the robotic pets have had on our residents has truly been remarkable. As crazy as it might sound, these little robo-dogs and robo-cats are changing lives.”
    In some cases, the RoboPets have aided in motivating some bedridden residents to resume eating healthy meals and engage in conversations with others again.
    “The first one I gave out was to a woman with end-stage cancer and her family was glad that she had this robo-cat for the last few days of her life,” recalls Eisele. “She knew it wasn’t real, but it was comforting to her.”
    Patricia and Andy Mendell agree. They first were introduced to a robo-cat presented to their mother, Margaret Mendell, during her 100th birthday celebration at Abbey Delray on June 20.
    “People were coming into the party room just to see this robo-cat,” says Patricia Mendell, a clinical social worker and psychotherapist in New York who is now having RoboPets available in her practice.
    Although his mom is bedridden, Andy Mendell says he can see the spark in her eyes when she holds the robo-cat.
    “She talks to the robo-cat and asks if she needs anything or wants anything,” says Andy Mendell, who retired as a budget director for a university in New York. “She really loves it. I’m amazed by how it purrs, moves its ears, blinks its eyes and rolls over to be petted on its belly.”
    The RoboPets answered the call when Abbey Delray was contending with the violent winds, steady rains and swirling debris unleashed by Hurricane Irma last month. With a  community curfew enforced for safety, some family members rode out the weekend storm inside the center with residents and staff. To ease the tension, the RoboPets were passed around.
    “We had generator power when the storm hit, but these robo-cats and robo-dogs were effective in relaxing residents, young family members and even our staff,” says Eisele. “One resident named one of the robo-dogs Liberty and told it, ‘I am so glad you made it though the storm.’ These RoboPets helped a lot of people get through this hurricane.”
    Paws up to the power of pets — no matter if they are real or simply really believable in the goodwill they provide.

    Go to joyforall.hasbro.com to look at RoboPets. Dogs sell for $119.99 and cats for $99.99.

    Arden Moore is a pet health and safety coach, animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor.  Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on www.PetLifeRadio.com. ; Learn more by visiting www.ardenmoore.com.

Although the parking lot and paths of the Lantana Nature Preserve are covered in palm fronds and leaf litter, the trees and shrubs appear to have taken Hurricane Irma’s abuse in stride. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

    Soon after Hurricane Irma left us, I visited the Lantana Nature Preserve to see how it weathered the storm. I remembered how inviting it was last spring when I had visited this natural area with horticulturist Gene Joyner.
    But today I found the gates chained shut.
    Peeking through the wire fence, I could see that the wooden pavilion looked unharmed. However, a sea grape tree was down and there were plenty of brown leaves covering the paths.

Sea grape trees usually lose most of their large leaves after a storm.

    I remembered sitting under that pavilion with about 20 other people on a Saturday morning in April for Joyner’s annual preserve tour, which he’s offered for the past 15 years.
    It was then that he described this place as “a little hidden oasis.” But today with the paths hidden under brown debris, it’s hardly a safe and verdant haven.  
    In fact, Lantana Operations Director Linda Brien recently toured the damage and said, “You can hardly see the paths, there are so many leaves and fronds and things scattered across them. The dense vegetation definitely got pruned and thinned by the winds.”
    Too bad Mother Nature left her pruning refuse for someone else to pick up.
    But seeing this bit of land covered with debris is nothing new for Joyner, 70. He was just a kid fishing nearby when this 6½-acre piece was a town dump filled with rusting refrigerators, stoves and even abandoned cars.
    By the late 1990s, the town of Lantana decided to reclaim the land by clearing the debris and grading the terrain to mimic a coastal dune. Nonnative plants were removed and replaced with mangrove seedlings and coastal grasses. By 2002, 3,000 cubic yards of fill, 500 trees and 10,000 shrubs and groundcovers had been added. The preserve now resembled a coastal hammock that looked much like what you would have seen if you were among the original pioneers arriving in 1865.
    You would have seen that a little over 1,800 feet of walking trails traverse the native vegetation and wildlife. As you followed the coquina-stone paths, you’d have seen sabal palmettos or cabbage palms, Florida’s state tree.
    You’d also have seen gumbo limbo trees with their peeling rust-colored bark. They are commonly known as “tourist trees” because they are always red and peeling, said Joyner, who retired in 2007 after 35 years with Palm Beach County UF/IFAS Extension service.
    A thick canopy of sea grapes covered the land, and it’s their large saucer-sized leaves that now cover the paths post-Irma.

Jamaican Caper is a native plant with small leaves that keep their color and shape even after exposure to hurricane-force winds.

    As the preserve is brought back to its earlier condition, its butterfly garden will once again help swallowtails thrive. And the firebushes — a must for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds — will be showing off their orange-red flowers that bloom year-round.
    A small path branching off the main trail leads to the highest point in the preserve, which proves to be only a few feet above sea level. As nature heals itself after this major storm, the towering banyan tree at the top will once again offer shade and a place for visitors to enjoy the gentle side of nature.
    “Eventually we will reopen the preserve. I just can’t put a timetable on it right now,” Brien said. However, Town Manager Deborah Manzo said the property will be ready for the town’s annual Haunted Preserve celebration on Oct. 20.

Post-hurricane tips
    Find out the steps you need to take now to ensure the trees left after Hurricane Irma flourish in the days and years to come:
Assessing Damage and Restoring Trees After a Hurricane: monroe.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/Hort/Assessing_Trees_After_Hurricane.pdf
Restoring Trees After a Hurricane: indian.ifas.ufl.edu/Emergency-Disasters/Restoring_Trees_ENH1054.pdf

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

If You Go
    The Lantana Nature Preserve, 440 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana (between The Carlisle senior living facility on East Ocean Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway), is closed until further notice.  Get updates and information by calling customer service at 540-5000.
    Horticulturist Gene Joyner’s annual tour is usually held in April. He also hosts tours of his Unbelievable Acres Botanic Gardens (unbelievableacresbotanicgardens.org) in an unincorporated area west of West Palm Beach. But now he could use volunteers for storm cleanup. For more information about the tour and volunteering at his Unbelievable Acres, reach him at 242-1686.

Deacon Ben Thomas

By Janis Fontaine

     Deacon and soon-to-be priest Ben Thomas is the new assistant rector at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton. He sees himself as a reconciler in his new role, and he’ll be involved in building bridges between adversarial groups — within the church, within the community and in the world.
    “We’re called to the difficult work of reconciliation,” Thomas said. “Meaning, we’re here to fix what’s broken, bring peace to discord and mend relationships, within ourselves and with others, with the way we treat the Earth, this beautiful gift, and especially our broken relationships with God. The starting point is self-awareness. ‘Mindfulness’ is the big word for it now.”
    Reconciliation demands both patience and diplomacy, and Thomas brings a distinctly diplomatic perspective to the church. He lived a life of service since long before he started seminary. After earning a bachelor’s degree in literature and philosophy and a master’s in humanities and social thought from New York University, Thomas worked in social entrepreneurship, international economic and community development, and investment and finance for more than a decade, what Thomas describes as “helping wealthy people spend their money.”
    He didn’t help them buy rare art or gold bricks; he helped them invest in programs that seek to eradicate poverty from the globe. “I’ve always worked for the ultra-wealthy, but I didn’t grow up privileged,” Thomas said.
    Born in Roanoke, Va., in 1977, the middle child of an insurance agent and a homemaker, he and his family had a barely middle-class existence. It was a devout Christian home where the family sacrificed greatly so the kids could attend a private Christian school.
    After high school, Thomas was chosen to attend a cutting-edge college consortium in Washington, D.C. That program introduced the small-town boy to the world. After that, every chance he got to travel or study abroad, he took. He’s been to 35 countries so far.
    Thomas said his ah-ha moment came on a rooftop in Morocco after a 14-hour cab ride in a ’79 Mercedes diesel — six people making their way across the Sahara Desert with no air conditioning, windows rolled up tight to keep the sandstorms out.
    They were there to visit midwives, American women who came to help deliver the babies of the local women.
    “We were hanging out on the roof in Morocco, and it’s so dark you don’t even have to look up to see stars. They’re right out in front of you on the horizon. It’s like you’re in a big cup. I felt the inner nudge at the sheer beauty of it. We have so much, but we don’t incorporate our faith into the daily operation of our lives,” Thomas said.
    The way the women’s spirituality was interwoven in their lives, that was what Thomas wanted for himself. He decided the best way to satisfy his spiritual needs was to enter the seminary, and then to help others fulfill theirs.
    Thomas graduated in May from the School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee. He’ll become ordained a priest on Nov. 18 at Trinity Cathedral in Miami.
    In August, he moved his family — wife Anna, whom the Rev. Andrew J. Sherman of St. Gregory’s called a “grace-filled partner,” and their five kids, ages 3-10 — into a church-owned house on Northeast Second Street, just in time for his first hurricane.  Six days without power didn’t dampen his enthusiasm.
    “Cultivating a deepening of your spiritual life, that’s what I’m all about,” Thomas said. “Helping others reach their faith on a deeper level, I’m charged with that. The future lies in the hands and hearts of the church’s lay people.”
    To do this, Thomas started a new “sort of graduate-level class” in September that uses the detailed chronology of the church calendar as a map to talk about spiritual life. The class will use only two books: the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible. “We’ll be stripping it down,” Thomas said, “with a goal of really helping people.”
    Some of Thomas’ time is spent helping Sherman, the rector of St. Gregory’s, shoulder his many responsibilities,  and one of Thomas’ primary duties is serving on the Boca Raton Interfaith Clergy Association, a group representing the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions in the Boca area. The group meets to support and serve the community and to discuss issues of importance to all faiths.
    One of the first activities Thomas helped plan and execute was an Aug. 21 candlelight vigil in Boca’s Sanborn Square to condemn the violent acts and speech of Neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen, white supremacists and white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va. About 350 people and two dozen clergy attended the event.
    In its official statement, the BRICA wrote: “As religious leaders of Boca Raton representing churches, synagogues and mosques, we come together with respect for each other: for the values we share and for the differences we honor. We recognize that this is a challenging time in the life of our nation.”
Peace-making. Compromise. Win-win. Agreement. These are the words that pepper Thomas’ vocabulary. He believes it’s possible to find solutions where both sides get some of what they want. He wants to teach others that our differences don’t need to divide us. He knows that there are problems that we can solve only by working together.  
    “At the vigil, we were called to do the difficult work of reconciliation,” Thomas said. “At the vigil, we said ‘yes’ to solidarity.”

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

The Greater Lantana School Community Education Council collected and distributed school supplies Sept. 25 to Lantana Middle, Lantana Elementary and The Maritime Academy.  The group collected binders and notebooks, composition books and backpacks along with pens and crayons, glue sticks, erasers, pencils, markers, calculators and more. ABOVE: (l-r) Lyn Tate,  chair of the Education Council; Teresa Wilhelm, vice chair; Ed Burke, principal, Lantana Middle School; Lantana council member Ed Shropshire; Janyn Robinson, principal, Lantana Elementary School, and  Greg Ganim, a member of the Education Council. Photo provided

The Rev. Angela Cortiñas blesses a dog at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

    St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church will host a new and improved pet blessing at 11 a.m. Oct. 7 on the front lawn of the church, at 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton.
    The event will feature a short service, music and a special blessing of pets by clergy. Following the blessing, the church will host a community block party in the parking lot featuring a reptile show, food trucks, worship music, face painting and arts and crafts.
    All pets are welcome. For more information, call 395-8285 or visit www.stgregorysepiscopal.org.
   

St. Gregory's season opener

    The 2017-18 concert series at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton kicks off with acclaimed organist Timothy Brumfield improvising a live organ score for the 1925 silent film The Phantom of the Opera at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21. Individual show tickets ($30) and season subscriptions ($99) are available online.
    Subscriptions feature three additional shows: The Amadeus Trio on Jan. 14, Wycliffe Gordon on Feb. 11 and Talise Trevigne on March 2. Visit www.stgregorysboca.eventbrite.com.

Weekend music fest
    Congregation B’nai Israel, an inclusive Reform congregation in Boca Raton, welcomes the Nefesh Mountain bluegrass band to headline a weekend music festival Oct. 13 and 14 at the synagogue, 2200 Yamato Road, Boca Raton.
    Founded by a husband and wife team, Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff, the band has developed a fresh blend of soul and bluegrass with a distinctly Jewish flavor. It’s difficult to imagine an Appalachian mountain cabin with a Jewish band picking on the front porch, and Old Testament tunes replacing familiar gospel, but Bluegrass Today called the band’s music a “highly effective blend of these two spheres.”
    At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13, the band performs at a “Shabbat Experience” with the CBI clergy.
    At 7 p.m. Oct. 14, doors open for a reception featuring music from the Shade Tree Pickers, followed by a concert from Nefesh. Premium reserved tickets including the dessert reception are $118. Reserved seats are $54. General admission is $36 and student admission is $20.
    Also planned is a performance for children by Zasloff in her role as Mama Doni, at 2 p.m. Oct. 15. Arrive early for pre-concert fun with Miss Susan. Tickets are $18 adults, $10 for ages 12 and younger. To purchase tickets, visit www.CBIBoca.org. For more information, call 241-8118.    
Advent’s Octoberfest
    Advent Lutheran Church, 300 E. Yamato Road, Boca Raton, will host an Octoberfest celebration for ages 21 and older from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 21 in the church’s Fellowship Hall. All are welcome to this salute to German culture. Enjoy German food, craft beer and lively German music guaranteed to get toes tapping. Tickets are $20. Cash bar. For more information, call 395-3632 or visit www.adventboca.org.

‘Music’ returns to St. Paul’s
    The Music at St. Paul’s concerts return with a special performance by the Trillium Piano Trio at 3 p.m. Oct. 22 at the church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
    The Trillium Piano Trio features award-winning pianist Yoko Sata Kothari, violinist Ruby Berland and cellist Susannah Kelly. The program is Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49; Claude Debussy’s Piano Trio in G Major, L. 3; and Franz Schubert’s Sonatensatz in B-flat Major, D. 28. Arrive early for a conversation with Kothari and St. Paul’s Music Ministry Director Dr. Paul Cienniwa at 2:30. Tickets are $20 for adults and are available at the door. Admission is free for ages 18 and younger. For more info, visit www.music.stpaulsdelray.org.

October meetings
    Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation & God meets at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 (and the third Thursday of the month) at Barrel of Monks, 1141 S. Rogers Circle, No. 5, Boca Raton (and also the first Tuesday of the month at Biergarten, 309 Via de Palmas, No. 90, Boca Raton). Conversation, fellowship, open discussion. 395-1244; www.fumcbocaraton.org.
    The Islamic Center of Boca Raton hosts a monthly open house from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, at 3480 NW Fifth Ave., Boca Raton. No reservations are needed. Drop in and meet your Muslim neighbors, take a tour of the mosque, ask questions and enjoy some snacks and refreshments. For more information, call 395-7221 or visit www.icbr.org.

 Send religion news to Janis Fontaine at janisfontaine@outlook.com.

    The Coastal Star earned five first-place awards, three seconds and two thirds in the Florida Press Association’s Better Weekly Newspapers competition.
    First place-honors went to Scott Simmons, Jerry Lower, Tracy Allerton and Steve Plunkett for overall graphic design; to Hiram Henriquez for a two-page informational graphic on lionfish; and to Steve Plunkett in the local government reporting category for a story about the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District’s longtime lawyer also working as its executive director and construction administrator.
    Mary Hladky’s story about four friends at Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach who invented a biodegradable alternative to plastic rings, won first place in business reporting; and Ron Hayes took first in education reporting for a feature about Gulf Stream School students learning geometry and statistics via a field trip to a Miami Marlins baseball game.
    Taking second-place awards were Executive Editor Mary Kate Leming in the editorial category for columns on the sober home crisis; Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley in agricultural and environmental reporting for a column about efforts to repopulate Delray Beach with native plants; and Lona O’Connor in health, medical and science reporting for a story about a Boca Raton woman’s fight against cancer.
    Third-place prizes went to Janis Fontaine in faith and family reporting for a story about a Boca Raton congregation turning $8,000 into $30,000 in donations; and ArtsPaper Editor Greg Stepanich in arts, entertainment and review reporting for an interview with the former director of Arts Garage.
    The annual contest received 1,154 entries from 56 newspapers. The Coastal Star competed in the nondaily over-15,000 circulation category, for the largest newspapers.

By Jane Smith

    Delray Beach is on its way to living up to its brand of being a safe haven for trees.
    In early August, the Delray Beach City Commission unanimously approved an updated tree ordinance making preservation the No. 1 priority.
    “If there is a specimen tree on site, we want developers to plan around that tree rather than disregard that tree in their plans,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said Aug. 2. “It comes back to: Are we penalizing enough financially to have the developer comply?”
    Planning Director Tim Stillings said, “Yes, ultimately, we’d rather have the tree than the money.”
    However, the city decided it needed an ordinance with more bite because several projects downtown were removing trees and the developers were just paying the penalties, Stillings said.
    Stillings presented in the updated rules a list of fees the property owner must pay when removing shade trees. For trees with a trunk diameter of more than 18 inches at breast height, the fee would be $1,000 per diameter inch.
    Previously, the fee was $100 per inch regardless of trunk diameter.
    Delray Beach has a tree canopy of about 20 percent citywide, but its goal should be about 40 percent, Stillings said.  
    Vice Mayor Jim Chard asked about the policy of allowing developers to replace a hardwood tree with three palms. Stillings said the preservation ordinance calls for like kind replacement — a hardwood for a hardwood.
    “The city’s landscape code allows three palms to replace a hardwood, but that’s only for 25 percent of the trees removed,” he said.
    The ordinance demands that developers must try, in order, to leave the shade tree where it sits; to keep the tree onsite; replace it with a tree of equal size if it must be removed; and as a last resort, remove the tree and pay the fee.
    At the second August commission meeting, Chard brought up another option: He wants to start a tree gifting program where developers donate mature trees to public spaces in the city, such as parks, schools and water retention areas.
    That option would be No. 4, ahead of removing the trees and paying the fees. The developers would also pay to move the trees, Chard said.
    The city’s planning department will bring back the amendment at a future commission meeting.
    Chard said Swinton Avenue and Linton Boulevard have projects with large trees. Swinton Commons/Midtown Delray Beach has 200 trees, he said. The Sports Authority shopping center and the Lavers International Plaza on Linton Boulevard also have mature trees.
    Chard recently was behind the moving of three yellow tabebuia trees from the iPic project site in the downtown to the Achievement Centers for Children and Families on Northwest Fourth Street.
    Twelve royal palms, also from the iPic site, were moved to Lake Ida Road, near the retention pond.
    The tabebuias, about 20 feet tall, were severely cut back for the move, Chard said. The royal palms also had most of their fronds removed for the move.
    Chard became a shade tree advocate through his work with Human Powered Delray.
    “We need shade trees if we want people to get out of their cars and walk and bike,” he said. “Mature trees can be worth several thousands of dollars to a city.”

By Dan Moffett

    In a sharply worded letter, an attorney for the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa has warned South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer that the town can expect a lawsuit if it goes forward with plans to install groins on its beach.
    West Palm Beach attorney Gregory Coleman said that the resort shares the concerns of Manalapan officials that using groins in the South Palm shoreline stabilization project will disrupt the natural flow of sand and damage beaches to the south.
    Coleman, former president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, told Fischer in the letter sent in late July that the Eau is prepared to go to court to stop the project:
    “This letter is to place the town and adjacent property owners on notice that if you proceed with your groyne (sic) implementation strategy, and our property suffers detrimentally as a result of your groynes, then we will proceed against any and all responsible persons, entities or municipalities, to recover monetary damages for our financial loss.”
    Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters in recent weeks has suggested his town would take similar legal action, as Palm Beach County and South Palm Beach have begun work on obtaining the permits necessary to get their joint project started by November 2018.
    Eleven years in the making, the $5 million plan calls for installing seven concrete groins from the northern South Palm Beach line to Lantana’s municipal beach to slow the erosion that encroaches on the town’s condo buildings.
    Waters and Coleman cite the experience of Hillsboro Beach in Broward County as compelling justification to oppose the project. Deerfield Beach installed dozens of groins in the 1960s and Hillsboro, its neighbor to the south, has been losing its beachfront ever since, the critics say. The two municipalities are fighting out their dispute over stolen sand in court, with millions in damages at stake.
    Fischer has expressed optimism that South Palm’s project can move forward without legal delays. She says her town’s project bears little resemblance to what Deerfield Beach did.
    The mayor said she has talked to County Commissioner Steven Abrams and their hope is that the Eau and Manalapan will drop their opposition if they take a closer look. “If engineers come and have them understand the project, [Abrams] feels it can move forward,” Fischer said.
    Bob Vitas, the South Palm town manager, says the fate of the plan is uncertain until opponents are satisfied.
    “We don’t know whether they’re going to litigate and literally create a delay in the project,” Vitas said. “Any litigation is going to stop that project cold.”

    We went on vacation.
    That may not sound like much to you, but for the “family” behind a family newspaper it’s a big, big deal. It’s not often we have the chance to take a break from our monthly production schedule.
    We couldn’t have done it without the able assistance of our key editorial and production assistants. They worked hard while we were traversing the Pacific Northwest in search of the totality of the solar eclipse, and their competence made returning to the grind of deadline much easier than expected.
    I should have known we were leaving the newspaper in good hands. Each year their freelance contributions to The Coastal Star garner accolades from professional news organizations across the state.
    These folks are pros at what they do. Most (like me and my husband) are showing a little gray these days, but they each believe in the importance of community journalism. And for that (and my vacation), I am grateful.

— Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

Mike Kaufman at last year’s Mayor’s Ball. Photo by Gina Fontana

By Rich Pollack
    
    Were it not for his inability to grasp college chemistry, Mike Kaufman might have become an athletic trainer for a professional sports team rather than president of one of South Florida’s most successful construction companies as well as a leader in corporate philanthropy.
    An athlete while at South Broward High School in Hollywood, Kaufman went on to the University of Florida with his heart set on becoming an NFL trainer.
    Then he met the periodic table and decided it was time to move in a different direction.
    He changed his major to the university’s building and construction program. It appealed to him for two reasons. The first was that he learned a lot from his dad, who was handy and could fix anything. The second reason was more, ah, elementary.
    “I looked it up and it didn’t require chemistry,” Kaufman said.
    Now president of Boca Raton-based Kaufman Lynn Construction, he will be honored when his company is recognized with a George Long Award at this year’s Boca Raton Mayor’s Ball on Oct. 14.
    Named for Boca Raton’s first appointed mayor, the annual award recognizes visionary individuals or organizations that have left an indelible mark on the city.
    Since its founding in 1989 with crew of 10, Kaufman Lynn has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with 130 associates.
    While becoming one of the top 400 construction companies in the country, it has made a significant philanthropic contribution to improving the community.
    With a focus on arts, education and early childhood development, the company has supported several organizations and institutions, including the George Snow Scholarship Fund, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Helping Hands and the Florence Fuller Child Development Centers. Kaufman also is a member of the Florida Council of 100, an organization of business leaders that serves as an advisory board to Florida’s governor.
    “If you’re going to have a successful business with motivated associates, you have to be part of the community,” Kaufman says. “We have been supporting the community for all the right reasons for the last 15 years, whether we made money that year or not.”
    That commitment to doing the right thing, even when inconvenient, has been the foundation on which Kaufman Lynn is built. It is a deep part of the company’s culture and one of the reasons for its success.
    “Good character defines us,” Kaufman says. “This is absolutely a company of integrity.”
    Kaufman, 58, leads by example, making it a point to treat customers, subcontractors and associates the way he wants to be treated.
    “Everyone deserves the respect you ask for yourself,” he says. “No one is below you, no one is above you.”  
    Part of that attitude may exist because Kaufman, an east Boca Raton resident, struggled in his career for a short time before finding success.
    After graduating from UF, he landed a job as an estimator with one of Broward County’s leading contractors. He soaked in everything he could learn, making lifelong friends along the way. He left after three years to join an out-of-state firm seeking to make an impact in South Florida.
    It turned out to be a mistake and within a short time, Kaufman found himself out of a job, right in the middle of a significant economic downturn.
    With a wife, two kids and another on the way to support, he traded in his pride-and-joy Porsche 911 for a 1988 Chevy pickup and started Michael I. Kaufman construction, doing any work he could find — including small carpentry jobs —  to bring in revenue.
    Through a college buddy, Joe Lynn, Kaufman landed a large subcontracting job working on a new stadium at the University of Miami. He hired a crew of 10 to help him.  To make payroll, he borrowed $12,000 from his mother-in-law, whom he was able to pay back a few years later when he teamed up with Lynn to form Kaufman Lynn Construction.
    Though Joe Lynn left the company and retired after 10 years, Kaufman kept the name. He will soon move to a 23,000-square-foot building just over the Boca Raton line in Delray Beach that will be the company’s new headquarters.
    Kaufman Lynn’s success in the highly competitive South Florida construction industry in large part may be due to Kaufman’s determination and tireless work ethic.   
    “I still have the same aspiration — to do it bigger, better and best in class,” he said.

If You Go
What: Third Annual Boca Raton Mayor’s Ball
Where: Boca Raton Resort and Club
When: 6 p.m. Oct. 14
Tickets: $300
Info: Visit www.rotarydowntownbocaraton.org or contact Deborah Freudenberg at 299-1429 or mayorsball@rotarydowntownbocaraton.org.

    Once again we are talking about beach sand and how what one town does affects others. There is no doubt at all that the groins South Palm wants to build will prevent some sand from reaching points south. Not being a lawyer, I have no clue whether other towns have a right to that sand, which may or may not actually wind up on their shores.
    We better get used to this. I have seen severe erosion along our coast since the ’60s when A1A was washed out in north Delray Beach. For the most part, the more natural coastline maintains itself fairly well. Where you have the major issues are where seawalls line the beach, as in Manalapan, or where condos are built too far east, as in South Palm Beach. 
    Many people don’t know that new sand production was drastically curtailed in the 1930s, when the Tennessee Valley Authority was created and dams were built along the Appalachians to produce electricity. The quartz rocks that were crushed into sand as they were swept downstream — and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico — were no longer able to make that journey, and as a result much of Florida’s sand was not created anymore. 
    We can be sure that is going to be the case for any foreseeable future.
    It is probably too late for more intelligent building decisions helping this issue and it will remain an economic decision as to the value of beaches and who will pay for them.
    I have no doubt that future generations will find excellent snorkeling over some ill-fated condos, regardless of what we do.

Taylor Snow
Lantana

By Dan Moffett

    Architect Steven Knight gave the South Palm Beach Town Council a conceptual drawing of what a new Town Hall might look like.
    Now it’s up to the council and their constituents to decide whether to go forward and spend up to $6 million to replace their aging building.
    Knight, of Alexis Knight Architects in West Palm Beach, presented council members a larger, taller and thoroughly more modern alternative to their current building during the Aug. 29 town meeting.
    Knight’s proposed design has five floors and 22,500 square feet of floor space, about triple that of the current building. A public lounge is on the ground floor, the Police Department is on the second floor, administration is on the third, a community room on the fourth and council chambers on the fifth.
    “It’s a beautiful design but it goes way beyond our needs,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said. “It’s too much.”
    “It is a grandiose building,” Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan said. “We don’t need five floors.”
    In the weeks ahead, the council will be seeking input from residents and holding public workshops to gauge the support and the opposition to the proposal.
    Knight said there is no way to satisfy parking requirements and maintain the Police Department on site without devising a multi-story design.
    “We just don’t have the square footage,” says Town Manager Bob Vitas. “The only way we can go is straight up.”
    Officials put the cost of constructing the new building at between $200 to $250 per square foot.
    One of the toughest complications to overcome if the council decides to build a new hall would be finding a place to temporarily relocate the town’s Police Department and administrative employees. Possible solutions include trying to rent space across the bridge or at Plaza del Mar, and both options are problematic.
    If council members decide to construct a new building, they would have to ask voters to approve a general obligation bond referendum during the March municipal election. Vitas said he thinks the $6 million price tag for a new building is a “worst-case” estimate. He thinks the project can be completed for less and the town could possibly obtain grant money to cover some of it.
    So far, the town has about $49,000 invested in the idea — the bill paid to Knight for his architectural services.
    In other business:
     • Vitas said no matter whether the Town Hall or beach stabilization projects moves forward, one capital improvement that he wants to complete for sure in the next fiscal year is upgrading the street lights on A1A.
    Council members say numerous complaints from residents about the inadequate lighting on the town’s main street make this project a priority. Vitas said he hopes to have new energy efficient lighting installed before the end of the year.
    Vitas says another must-do project is building a sea wall behind the Town Hall parking lot. Erosion from the Intracoastal Waterway has worsened in recent years, eating away the shoreline and causing drainage problems. Work on that project is likely months away.
    • During their budget workshop on Aug. 24, council members gave preliminary approval to a partial rate rollback for taxpayers. The council supported lowering the current tax rate of $4.12 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $3.99. A full rollback that would have kept tax revenues flat year-over-year would have dropped the rate to $3.87 per $1,000 of taxable value.
    With the decreased rate, the total savings for the town’s taxpayers is about $43,000. The council approved a similar partial rollback last year. Public hearings on the proposed 2017-18 budget will be held on Sept. 7 and Sept. 12, both beginning at 5:30 p.m.
    • With a 4-0 vote, the council approved the appointment of Lucille Flagello, 76, to fill the seat left open by her son, Joe Flagello, who died suddenly last spring.
    The seat comes up for election in March.

By Steve Plunkett

    The town is on record that it still wants no part of paying for the county’s Inspector General Office.
    In a resolution passed Aug. 11, Gulf Stream commissioners said they do not support contributing town tax dollars to pay for the countywide IG program “since Gulf Stream residents already pay for and support the program through payment of their county taxes.”
    County voters in November 2010 approved a referendum creating the Inspector General Office, and the following May county commissioners passed an ordinance that required municipalities to pay for part of its operations.
    Cities and towns sued, and last December the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the county’s attempts to collect money were barred by the municipalities’ having sovereign immunity.
    But, Gulf Stream’s resolution said, “the county recently has requested that all municipalities voluntarily pay their ‘fair share’ of the costs.”
    Not every city joined the suit, and in March, Briny Breezes, Boynton Beach, Hypoluxo, Lantana, Ocean Ridge and South Palm Beach were given refunds of what they had paid for the inspector general.
    Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, Highland Beach and Manalapan had refused to pay and so were owed nothing.
    In other business, Vice Mayor Thomas Stanley noted the July 25 passing of former Police Chief Garrett Ward and said Commissioner Paul Lyons attended the graveside service at Long Island National Cemetery in New York.
    “We just wanted to say great thanks to him and our prayers and best wishes to his family on the record,” Stanley said.
    Ward’s successor, Chief Edward Allen, introduced the department’s newest member, Officer Brad Fidler, who spent 27 years with West Palm Beach’s police force.
    “He brings a wealth of experience to us,” Allen said.

By Dan Moffett

    The Briny Breezes Town Council is moving forward with two changes that will significantly restructure the way the town has conducted business throughout its 54-year history.
    For one, the council voted 4-1 during its Aug. 24 meeting to create the position of part-time town manager, a move that would end Briny’s status as the only municipality in Palm Beach County — and probably the state — without some type of executive administrator.
    And, with a unanimous 5-0 vote, the council decided to solicit proposals for legal services, a move that could mean that, for the first time, Briny has a town attorney who isn’t named Skrandel.
    John Skrandel has held the attorney position since the death of his father, Jerome F. Skrandel, in 2013. The elder Skrandel signed on as the town’s attorney in 1975 after previously representing the Briny corporation. Together, the Skrandels have had a hand in writing or rewriting virtually every ordinance and regulation in the town’s books.
    In recent months, however, the council has drawn criticism from residents and the corporate board for spending too much on legal fees, and much of that blame spilled over on John Skrandel.
    Mayor Jack Lee has been one of the harshest critics, claiming Skrandel charged the town too much for research and services that were unnecessary. Lee also criticized the council for considering a proposal to hire a magistrate to resolve building code disputes.
    The mayor invited Boca Raton attorney Greg Hyden, who has represented governments in Port St. Lucie and Martin County, to the August town meeting and recommended him as a replacement for Skrandel.
    “He agrees with resident concerns for a building permit and code enforcement system, which is much more resident friendly,” Lee wrote about Hyden in an open letter to town residents. “He agrees with everyone that Briny needs smaller government with no need for a town manager.”
    Council members voted to open Skrandel’s job to applicants, with the hope of having several candidates and proposals to compare at the Sept. 28 town meeting.
    Council President Sue Thaler expects that John Skrandel will be one of them: “I want him to make a proposal,” she said.
    Skrandel, who during the meeting found himself in the awkward position of advising council members on how they should go about replacing him, was noncommittal.
    On creating the manager position, Alderman Bobby Jurovaty said he spoke with officials in county municipalities smaller than Briny Breezes — among them Cloud Lake, Glen Ridge, Jupiter Inlet Colony, Village of Golf — and found they all have town managers. Jurovaty said the officials were surprised Briny was able to get by without one.
    “They all pretty much said the same thing: ‘You need to get busy and hire a manager,’ ” Jurovaty said.
    Alderman Christina Adams, who cast the lone vote opposing the idea, said she was concerned about the expense of hiring a qualified manager and providing benefits. Thaler said the money is already in the budget and the candidate could be hired without benefits as an independent contractor. Jurovaty said the manager’s salary range in the towns he surveyed is between $20,000 and $40,000.
    The council intends to approve an ordinance with specific job requirements and have the position filled by the end of the year.
    In other business, the council will hold public hearings on the 2017-2018 budget on Sept. 14 and Sept. 28, both beginning at 5:01 p.m.
    Council members and the corporate board will hold a joint budget meeting on Sept. 7 at 4 p.m.

Plans for license tag cameras still on hold

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge town commissioners have decided to add two patrol officers and a dispatcher to their Police Department to deal with the growing stream of beach visitors from across the bridge.
    A 6 percent increase in the town’s taxable property values from 2016 makes the police expansion possible, though commissioners and Police Chief Hal Hutchins won’t get everything they’d like to have — including license plate recognition cameras, Tasers and body cameras.
    During an Aug. 22 budget workshop, the commission agreed to lower the town’s tax rate from $5.35 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $5.25, reducing total revenues by about $85,000. The reduction is made possible because of a surplus of about $186,000 left unspent from the 2016-2017 budget.
    However, homeowners will still pay slightly more, about 3 percent, during the next fiscal year than the last one because of property appreciation. The rollback rate that would keep revenues flat is $5.08 per $1,000.
    The decision to hold off on installing LPR cameras will save the town about $225,000 but comes with a cost in public opinion. For years, many residents have called for the commission to install the devices to tighten security throughout the town.
    Hutchins said his position on the camera system has evolved and he now believes the priority should be adding officers. He hinted that the town might be able to do better shopping for the cameras later but declined to disclose why publicly.
    “Are we over-hiring? That is my question,” Mayor Geoff Pugh asked.
    “I need to be very, very candid right now with all of you. We are not in fact over-hiring,” Hutchins responded. “The activity levels we’re seeing on the law enforcement side are increasing every day, based upon outside forces that we can’t control. There’s an anticipation that there’s going to be exponential growth within a block of this building [Town Hall] very soon. We need to address that.”
    The chief said new residential developments in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Lantana ensure that the two officers and dispatcher will be kept busy. The three new positions will cost the town about $180,000. Hutchins said a proposal to hire part-time officers won’t work because he has been unable to find qualified applicants who are willing to work when the town needs them.
    The three new hires would increase the department’s number of full-time employees to 24, which includes the chief, dispatchers and uniformed officers. Their annual salaries amount to about $1.4 million and the town pays another $270,500 in pension contributions.
    The commission will hold public hearings on the proposed budget on Sept. 11 and Sept. 21, each beginning at 6 p.m.
    In other business, on a 4-1 vote, commissioners decided to approve changing the current one-year contract for Town Manager Jamie Titcomb to a month-to-month agreement.
    Several commissioners have complained about errors in Titcomb’s budget work over the last two years. The manager has countered that he inherited budget practices that were outdated and needed an overhaul. Titcomb said obsolete computer software and personnel turnover made the improvements he implemented more difficult.
    The new contract arrangement doesn’t affect Titcomb’s $107,000 yearly salary or benefits, but does reduce the severance the town would owe him, should the commission decide to end the relationship.
    Commissioner Gail Aaskov voted against the new contract, saying it was unnecessary.

By Dan Moffett

     County parks and recreation officials have been trying for years to put together enough money to give a much-needed overhaul to Ocean Inlet Park Marina at the Boynton Inlet.
     With a boost from the penny sales tax increase voters approved in November and some government grant money, a $6 million renovation plan is finally moving forward.
     The bad news is that it’s moving very slowly.
Eric Call, the Palm Beach County director of parks and recreation, says his department has a backlog of projects and the Ocean Inlet Park renovation may not begin until 2023.
     But Call says he’s hopeful the county can reorganize other projects according to priority, and perhaps start work on the inlet marina upgrade within the next three years.
     In fact, on Aug. 14 it cleared one of its first administrative hurdles when the Ocean Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved plans drawn up by the county’s consultant, Alan Gerwig & Associates of Wellington.
     The Ocean Ridge Town Commission is expected to give its approval at the Sept. 11 town meeting.
Project designers have emphasized two important points: The park hasn’t had significant work done since it opened 30 years ago, so a major facelift is needed; and the overhaul won’t increase the park’s capacity or increase traffic.
     “The proposed improvements at the park will not add any additional facilities or expand existing facilities,” according to the county consultant’s plan. “Therefore, the number of park users is not expected to change from the current conditions.”
     Among the project’s main features:
     • Replacing the existing marina structures with new bulkhead walls and docks. The total number of boat slips will remain at 28. A floating wave attenuator will protect the marina from waves and boat wakes.
     • Demolishing the existing buildings and replacing them with a single building that will include a second-story residence for a dockmaster/caretaker. “Having a PBC Parks employee based in the park will help with traffic control and security issues,” the consultant says.
     • County sheriff’s personnel will continue to be stationed in the new building.
     • Plans also call for improved landscaping that includes planting of shade trees for picnic areas and footpaths.

By Jane Smith
    
    The developer of Midtown Delray Beach was able to put its appeals on hold while it creates a new site plan for the proposed project.
    The Delray Beach City Commission granted the stay in early August.
    Under city rules, the developer had to ask for the stay within 10 days of the appeal hearing.
    Because of the way the City Commission arranged its meetings, the stay was heard on Aug. 2. The appeals of the Historic Preservation Board’s decisions were to be heard on Aug. 15.
    In late August, Steven Michael, principal of Hudson Holdings, said he didn’t know when his team would submit a revised site plan. Hudson Holdings is a partner in the Midtown project.
    He also declined to say why the project’s attorneys asked for a stay on the historic home moves and demolitions, but didn’t appeal the board’s site plan denial or withdraw from the appeals process.
    The City Commission gave the project’s owners a 60-day extension. The next available meeting date is Oct. 17.
    “They just can’t submit the same site plan, it has to be substantially different,” Delray Beach Planning Director Tim Stillings said. “Ultimately, the decision is mine” to determine whether substantial changes were made to the old site plan.
    It takes about three weeks for all departments to review a site plan, he said. Midtown already missed the cutoff date to make it onto the Historic Preservation Board’s September agenda, Stillings said.
    The 4.4-acre project will sit prominently at the southwest corner of Swinton and Atlantic avenues, putting it at the entrance of The Set, the new name for the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.
    Midtown Delray Beach also will have to meet the terms of a new tree preservation ordinance, passed in early August.
    The ordinance calls for a sliding scale of tree preservation: preserve in place, preserve on-site, remove and replace with smaller versions of the same tree or remove and pay a fee for each tree.
    In order to build an underground garage for the project, Hudson Holdings proposed moving six historic homes and removing all of the 200 trees in the first block of South Swinton Avenue.

For those lucky enough to travel to the totality and to get clear skies, the eclipse was a stunning event. While in Salem, Ore., Coastal Star Publisher Jerry Lower photographed an every 10-minute exposure to create this time-lapse image.

Thomas and Troy Rockett, students at Morikami Elementary, look at the eclipse through safety glasses at Florida Atlantic University. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Sunlight filtered through leaves of a tree showing on the ground in the parking lot of the Delray Beach Public Library gave Michelle Quigley an opportunity to capture  mini-eclipses.

Boca Raton resident Shaina Yeslow brought a colander to watch the eclipse, using it to capture mini-eclipses. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Tytan Halfhill of Briny Breezes took The Coastal Star’s advice and wore his safety glasses to view the eclipse. Photo provided by Mikee Rulli

Gulf Stream resident Julie Murphy traveled to Clemson, S.C., to photograph the totality.

Ocean Ridge residents Neil and Zoanne Hennigan caught the eclipse in Salem, Ore., while visiting their daughter. Their dog, Potter, practiced safe eclipse viewing.

By Jane Smith
    
    Want to see the roof of the Old School Square garage turn into a disco at night?
    That activity was proposed after a weeklong charrette on transit-oriented development, made possible by a $141,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The money was matched by the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency.
    “Traffic, parking and the [Tri-Rail] Coastal Link are critical to what we deal with in a car-centric city,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein at the start of the Aug. 18 workshop. “At some point in the future, state and federal grants will be ready. Cities who have plans in place will be at the head of the line.”
    Dana Little, urban design director at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, led the charrette. He assembled a design team to transform residents’ ideas into drawings, brought in two financial consultants to analyze the viability of the designs and headed the workshop.
    In November, they will have a draft of the plan with three designs and estimated costs for each version.
    The area chosen for a Coastal Link-tied development contains six city-owned parcels along Northeast Third Avenue and Northeast First Street, along the FEC tracks. The 1.5 acres have 194 surface parking spaces in what is known as the Railroad Lot. The Silverball Pinball Museum will stay in all three designs, Little said.
    The charrette started with residents giving suggestions for covered entrances at Atlantic Avenue to a promenade along both sides of the train tracks and the station platform. They also suggested more shade trees, better lighting and safety measures, more public spaces, a connection to the historic train building on the west side of the FEC tracks and better bike and pedestrian paths.
    Of the three designs considered, the one that seemed the most viable to the design team offered 254 parking spaces in a two-level garage where 34 spaces would be reserved for golf carts.
    The design shows 29,350 square feet of flex spaces — shops or offices — on the ground floor; 26,000 square feet of space for offices, shops, apartments or live/work units; and a third floor that would house 84 apartments of 1,000 square feet and offer rooftop amenities, including a pool.
    The development does not need a hotel, said financial consultant Tom Moriarity. He said 480 new hotel rooms are planned for the downtown, increasing the supply by 36 percent.
    The downtown has 969,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space, Moriarity said. He spent most of the hot August week walking Atlantic Avenue counting stores and restaurants. Another 355,045 square feet is proposed, a 37 percent increase, he said.
    The Coastal Link site can support retail boutiques and shops that sell commuter-oriented goods, Moriarity said.
    Housing, up to 100 units, is viable at the Coastal Link site, consultant Tom Lavash said. The downtown is projected to add 1,700 new households in the next five to seven years. Nine planned projects will offer 877 units, he said.
    Delray Beach has a high office vacancy rate, mostly from the vacant Office Depot headquarters on Congress Avenue. The average asking rent is $21 a square foot, compared with $28 countywide, Little said.
    The downtown can support boutique office spaces for medical and legal uses, Little said.
    He also said a pedestrian train barrier can be dressed up with covered walkways, benches and plants to create a safe, attractive option.
    For nearly a year, city employees have been working with FEC and All-Aboard/Brightline leaders after a woman was killed last August when she crossed over the tracks, just north of Atlantic Avenue, near Northeast Third Avenue. She was hit by a freight train.
    The city wants to put up an aluminum rail fence with bougainvillea plants to prevent people from crossing the tracks before Brightline begins its high-speed passenger service between West Palm Beach and Miami. The train’s start has been pushed back until the fall, but no start date has been released, according to a Brightline spokeswoman.
    Little, a planner who likes to explore creative uses for parking, said a mere 450 feet away from the Coastal Link platform sits a mostly empty Old School Square garage. The walk took him 102 seconds.
    On a weekday, he said the second level was about 80 percent full, the third level about 10 percent full, the fourth level about 8 percent full and the roof was empty.
    He proposed adding solar panels to shade the vehicles parked on the roof during the day. Then late at night, the roof could transform into a disco.
    Delray Beach was one of two Palm Beach County cities to receive the transit-oriented grant. The other was Palm Beach Gardens, which received a $120,000 grant.
    The grants allowed both cities to work with the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, operator of the Tri-Rail commuter train line, and the Regional Planning Council staff to create a master plan for a Tri-Rail Coastal Link station area.
    The commuter line doesn’t have a start date, but it is at least five years away.

By Jane Smith
    
    After more than 10 years of discussion, city leaders are inching their way toward paid street parking in downtown Delray Beach.
    In mid-August, the five city commissioners each presented their wishes for downtown parking on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway. After more than an hour of discussion, here’s what they decided:
    • Parking will be free but limited to two hours on Atlantic Avenue, between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal, between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. The time limit will be enforced.
    • Between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., meters will go into effect at the rate of $2 per hour on that stretch of Atlantic and one block north and south of Atlantic.
    • Parking in the two city garages will be free during the days. Users will pay $5 to park Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. Employees can park for free on the top floor of each garage, using a hanging card from the rearview mirror.
    • The city’s five surface lots, with approximately 314 spaces, will be free between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. and have a two-hour parking limit. Meters will be enforced between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. at the rate of $2 per hour.
    • The Gladiola Lot at 51 SE Fifth Ave., with eight-hour time limit, will not have meters. Its 74 spaces will be free for employees and downtown patrons to use. The Railroad Lot at 25 NE Third Ave., which also has eight-hour spaces, will not have meters installed in those spaces. They will be free.
    • City staff did not know how many of the Railroad Lot’s 190 spaces had the eight-hour time limit.
    • Even with signs, drivers will be confused and enforcement complicated, said interim City Manager Neal de Jesus.
    • Residents can purchase an annual parking permit for $100.
    • The valet fee will be increased from $7 to $10.
    Using that input, city staff will bring back a parking management proposal to the City Commission in September.
    Commissioner Shelly Petrolia worried that the city was pushing drivers into the neighborhoods to find free parking spaces. “Downtown businesses are willing to pay an extra $100 annually, if we don’t put in the meters downtown,” she said, suggesting no changes be made until the city replaces the spaces lost to construction at the iPic project and adds more parking with a garage nearby.
    “Meters will generate turnover and generate revenue to keep the area clean and safe,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said.
    The mayor also wants city staff to explore building a city garage on the Gladiola Lot using the in-lieu parking fees that downtown restaurant owners have paid. When a restaurant opens where the previous building use was retail, the restaurant owner identifies available parking spaces nearby to follow city rules. When adequate parking is not available, the owner pays a fee per space, called in-lieu parking fees. About $2 million exists in the accounts, Glickstein said.
 He also is thinking of the long-term needs of the city. “I suspect the city will lose about $1.5 million when voters agree to the extra homestead exemption in 2018,” Glickstein said.  
    Vice Mayor Jim Chard began the Aug. 15 discussion by touting the results of three days of enforcement by Lanier Parking staff. “Two hundred citations were issued, and 10 percent were paid in one day,” he said. At that rate, he estimated the annual amount the city would generate from fines would be $416,000.
    Before Lanier Parking took over parking enforcement in June, enforcement was done inconsistently by volunteers, de Jesus said. The volunteers worked during the daylight hours.
    In June, the city and its Downtown Development Authority seemed to be in agreement on the need for parking meters downtown.
    But in early August, after a change in leadership on the DDA board, the new mantra for parking became: Start slow and grow.  Just a few hours before the City Commission meeting on Aug. 2, the DDA’s executive director took the opportunity to drop off the organization’s unrequested parking management plan. The DDA recommended putting meters on only 245 spaces, instead of the 2,577 the city staff had proposed.
    The commission directed its staff to come back with an analysis of the DDA parking plan.
    DDA Executive Director Laura Simon said the central core merchants were concerned about employee parking. She requested the eight-hour parking spaces remain free in the Railroad and Gladiola lots.
    Employees can park for free in the garages with a card that hangs from the rearview mirror, the mayor said about his new proposed option for staff parking.
    He questioned the DDA’s priorities that put parking for workers before patrons. “You’re far more worried about employee parking than spaces for customers,” he said.