Critics have complained that Mizner 200 is too large and would obstruct sunlight and views for adjacent buildings. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

    Boca Raton City Council members have demanded yet another redesign of the proposed Mizner 200 luxury condominium, giving developer Elad National Properties one month to complete the task before they reconsider the project Aug. 21.
    Council members, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners at a July 24 meeting, praised the design of the project, which would replace the 246 Mizner on the Green townhouses on nearly 9 acres along Southeast Mizner Boulevard.
    But four council members said they want more design tweaks before they will give the project their blessing. Only one, Robert Weinroth, said he was ready to vote in favor of it.
    “I personally feel this is a project that has come to the point it deserves to be embraced by the city,” Weinroth said.
    Other council members recognized that Mizner 200 has been redesigned four times in an effort to win support of vocal critics who contend it is too massive. Even so, they want more space between three sections of the project to open up views toward the ocean, more landscaping along Southeast Mizner Boulevard, and developer meetings with critics in an effort to win them over.
    “I think we are on our way. I think this is going to happen,” said council member Andrea O’Rourke, who then added, “It is important we reach out to the people concerned. Please get with the neighbors.”
    “I don’t feel we are all the way there,” said Mayor Susan Haynie.
    Elad chief executive Amnon Safran contended his team has met with critics, to little avail.
    “We negotiated for a year and a half with everybody. They would never agree to anything,” he said.
    Elad is unwilling to start over on the design, Safran said, noting that the developer and architects GarciaStromberg/GS4Studios already have cut the size of the proposed 384-unit condo by 60,000 square feet to decrease its density.
    Other changes included increased setbacks, additional green space, varied roof heights and increasing the distance between the project and the neighboring Townsend Place condominiums.
    After a brief huddle between the Elad team and city staff, Elad agreed to meet again with critics and make additional changes.
    “As quickly as we can, we will reach out to interested parties and talk to them about our ideas,” said Elad attorney Bonnie Miskel.
    Within days of the meeting, architects for Mizner 200 and architects hired by project critics were working to make design changes acceptable to all by the first week of August to meet a city deadline to place the project on the Aug. 21 agenda.
The changes will be presented to two city consultants for their review before going to the City Council.
    The strongest criticism has come from Townsend Place unit owners, who complain Mizner 200 will block their eastward views and sunlight, reducing their property values.
    “The residents of Townsend Place are against this project in its present form,” said Townsend Place president Craig Sherman. “We are not against development.”
    Investments Limited, a prominent city developer which is planning a makeover of its Royal Palm Place shopping and dining destination on the west side of Southeast Mizner Boulevard, joined them.
    The views from Royal Palm Place, whose residential component would compete with Mizner 200, also would be partially blocked and its representatives contend the condo project does not comply with the city’s architectural guidelines.
    Architects Doug Mummaw, who has designed several downtown projects, and Derek Vander Ploeg, who is on the Downtown Boca Raton Advisory Committee, and former Boca Raton CRA executive director Jorge Camejo support Investment Limited’s objections.
    The meeting was punctuated by the spectacle of Mizner 200 attorney Robert Sweetapple employing a little-used procedure that allowed him to cross-examine some of those who spoke against the project.
    Sweetapple questioned other attorneys in sometimes testy exchanges.
    “I felt I got to witness Law and Order, Boca Raton edition tonight,” quipped Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, referencing the TV show.
    Sweetapple’s intent, in part, appeared to be to show that some opponents had been recruited to the cause by Investments Limited, which had paid at least one of the opponents to review the project.
    Elad has struggled for three years to get approval to begin construction. The tide began turning in its favor this year when two city consultants reviewed plans for Mizner 200 and determined it complies with the city ordinance that governs downtown development.
    In May, the Community Appearance Board and Planning and Zoning Board voted in favor of it. City staff also has recommended that the City Council approve it.
    At nine stories, Mizner 200 meets the building height limit for that part of downtown. It also meets the city’s requirements for setbacks, parking and open space. It incorporates a reinterpretation of design elements that appear in architect Addison Mizner’s signature buildings.
    The building has supporters, including a number of downtown residents who would love to see the old Mizner on the Green rental units replaced with a more visually appealing project.
    The City Council has been lobbied intensely on the project. At the start of the meeting, Weinroth and Haynie held up thick binders filled with emails they have received.
    Regardless of whether the council gives the project the go-ahead or nixes it, a court battle is likely to follow. Elad’s legal team now includes Sweetapple, a well-known litigator.
    BocaBeautiful, a citizens group that opposes the project, and two residents of Townsend Place also have hired attorneys.

By Sallie James

    Driving an electric car makes sense in so many ways: no gasoline costs, no toxic emissions, and one of the quietest rides around. But access to a charging station is essential if the battery runs low.
    For Boca Raton residents, that worry may soon be a thing of the past.
    In the spirit of “going green,” council members recently proposed that new multifamily dwellings such as apartments and condominiums put chargers in their parking lots.
    The proposal comes after the city recently installed two new stations at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road, and one at the Spanish River Library, at 1501 NW Spanish River Blvd. Each can recharge two vehicles at a time, enabling users to top off their cars within hours while visiting the libraries or downtown.
    The first EV charging station was installed in October 2015 at the Downtown Library.
    “The hope is that the stations are an added benefit and that they support and encourage drivers of electric vehicles,” said Dan Grippo, municipal services director for Boca Raton.
    The Boca Raton City Council recently passed a resolution adopting a climate action pledge and is continuing its efforts to integrate “green” actions within the framework of the Regional Climate Action Plan.
    “We hope that more commercial businesses will follow our lead and start installing stations as well,” said Mayor Susan Haynie. “Transportation models are changing and electric vehicles are a big part of that change; we all need to do our part.”

ABOVE: The ultra-modern four-story duplex could feature wide open glass exposure on the beach side. BELOW: The side facing A1A would have access to the four-car garage. Renderings provided

By Steve Plunkett

    A volunteer group led by a barrier island resident is mounting a last-ditch effort to stop construction of a four-story duplex on the beach between Spanish River Park and Ocean Strand — the second project planned in the area.
    Boca Save Our Beaches opposes the 14,270-square-foot project planned for the east side of A1A at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. The proposal is hurtling toward a City Council showdown perhaps as soon as October.
    In late July, group founder Jessica Gray opened an online fundraising campaign with a goal of $5,000.
    “Once our beaches are gone, we cannot get them back,” she wrote on the GoFundMe.com website.
    Gray’s group also collects PayPal donations via a link on www.bocasob.com, its main webpage. So far the group has about $4,000, she said.
    The group equally opposes a 10,432-square-foot house proposed for a parcel two lots south, at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. That project sparked Gray to form Boca Save Our Beaches in December 2015, right after the City Council granted a zoning variance allowing the single-family mansion to be built on a parcel less than 100 feet wide. Gray and other furious residents complained that the structure  would change the face of the beach, disorient nesting sea turtles and set a precedent for more development.
    The proposed duplex site is wide enough not to need a zoning variance, but both sites will need the council to grant a variance for building seaward of Florida’s restrictive Coastal Construction Control Line.
    The state issued 2500 N. Ocean a “notice to proceed” in October, ruling that the project would not “weaken, damage or destroy the integrity of the beach and dune system.”
    Boca Raton’s procedure for granting a CCCL variance is separate from the state’s.
    “Neither project is currently scheduled for Environmental Advisory Board or City Council review,” city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said.
    But the city sent coastal engineering consultant Applied Technology Management Inc. the 2600 N. Ocean duplex’s applications for the CCCL variance and EAB review on June 26, Gibson said. It has until Aug. 8 to return its recommendation.
    ATM’s review must be put on the environmental board agenda within the following 30 days, and the board’s recommendation must go to the City Council 30 days later.
    Gibson said paperwork for the CCCL variance and EAB applications at 2500 N. Ocean has not been sent to the consultant yet because the applicant has not provided an updated environmental assessment.
    Each side of the planned duplex will have four bedrooms, five full baths, one half-bath, a glass elevator and a four-car garage, according to Delray Beach-based Azure Development, which is marketing the site. It will also boast a 40-foot boardwalk and a rooftop swimming pool. No price has been set, Richard Caster, an Azure principal, said.
    Gray, 31, moved to east Boca Raton in 2004 to attend Florida Atlantic University and fell in love with the area. She moved to the barrier island four years ago.
    “I’m right in front of these two properties,” she said.
    She and the group’s two other directors sponsor events to create awareness and raise money. Attendance varies from 50 to 140, she said.
    The mission of the group is clear on its Instagram page: “Boca Save our Beaches was organized in Boca Raton, Fla., with one purpose: to save our beaches from coastal construction.”

By Sallie James

  Property taxes will hold the line if city officials approve the proposed tax rate for 2017-2018.
  However, residents could be asked to pay $125 for the city’s fire services fee, up from the current $105.
  City Manager Leif Ahnell proposed a tax rate of $3.6788 per $1,000 of assessed property value at the July 25 council meeting. The rate is slightly lower than last year’s rate of $3.6789.
  Under the proposed tax rate, the owner of a $300,000 single-family home would pay about $1,103 in municipal property taxes, slightly less than a year ago.
  Council member Robert Weinroth expressed concern about the proposed increase in the fire fee.
  “I’m just concerned with the trajectory of this fee,” he said. “I think we increased it by $20 last year and this would be another $20 increase. Where are we headed with this kind of fee going forward?”
  Ahnell said the fire fee hikes are due to increased costs and planned Fire Rescue Services Department expansion, a dynamic that could continue to be a factor in coming years.
  “I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s not going to go up in the future,” Ahnell said.
  Residents will have a chance to ask questions about the budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 during a public budget hearing at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road.

By Sallie James

    The Boca Raton City Council July 25 introduced an ordinance that would ban the practice of allowing private individuals or entities to place “unattended, expressive installations, displays, exhibits and similar objects” in Sanborn Square during the winter holiday season.
    Chalk up the proposal as a win for at least one Palm Beach County resident.
    “I think religion poisons everything,” said Preston Smith, a middle school teacher from Lantana and self-proclaimed atheistic satanist. He erected a controversial pentagram display at Sanborn Square last year and is happy the city may soon ban the practice. “Let the community decide how much they want to mix religion in government property.”
    Smith erected the pentagram and a banner disavowing the existence of heaven and hell in December and wasn’t surprised when it was vandalized eight times. He wanted to let others know that atheists in the community have the same right to make a statement as Christians, Jews and any other religious groups.
    The pentagram display was erected under the protections of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion and speech. The city has allowed religious groups to set up seasonal displays such as a Nativity scene and a menorah in the park, at 72 N. Federal Highway, since 1990.
    Preston thinks the practice becomes problematic when someone erects a display that doesn’t mesh with what most people think is acceptable, which is what happened with his pentagram display.
    “It’s not my place to decide what the city wants, but I intend to put up the satanic display for years to come as long as other religious displays are allowed. That is not a bluff, not a threat, but that is equal rights for all,” Smith said. “The Supreme Court has been clear if you allow one you better be ready for anything.”
    The proposed ordinance, which will be voted on at a later date, says the city “does not intend to limit other forms of expressive activity” within Sanborn Square, including protests, rallies, speeches and the carrying of banners or other similar types of messages.
    Smith said he would consider it a “win” if the city approves the proposed ordinance.
    “That is strict adherence to the separation of the church and the state,” he said. “That is my ultimate goal. But if they have a city-owned Nativity and menorah, they can expect a lawsuit from me and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, whose attorneys have indicated they will fight.”

By Steve Plunkett
    
    The short era of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District’s rubber-stamping the city’s proposed parks budget appears to be over.
    Craig Ehrnst, one of the district’s new commissioners, led the first assault. The city wants $16.9 million in the coming year to operate and maintain district parks and Boca Raton’s Red Reef Park and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, up from $15.6 million it expects to spend this year.
    “We can’t give them a blank check,” said Ehrnst, who is corporate treasurer at NCCI Holdings Inc. and ran for a district seat last year in part on a pledge to boost cooperation between the district and the city. “That, to me, is an unrealistic budget, and it’s also to me not a very good stewardship of taxpayer money.”
    Ehrnst complained that some items that would lower the budget request were missing, such as the installation next April of artificial turf at Patch Reef Park, which should lower maintenance costs. He also said Mickey Gomez, the city’s recreation services director, should be at the district meeting to explain the budget request.
    Commission Chairman Robert Rollins said Gomez usually attends the district’s budget discussions.
    “I have to tell you, it gets pretty hot at these meetings, because there’s not always agreement with the budget,” Rollins said.
    Gomez was on vacation and missed the district’s subsequent meeting July 26. That did not deter Ehrnst, who noted the city’s operating budget was $13 million in fiscal 2014, $13.4 million in 2015 and $14.6 million in 2016.
    Ehrnst called the $16.9 million request “unrealistic” and suggested giving the city $16 million.
    “Last year the approved [amount] was $16.3 million but they never spent it. They’re not even close to spending it,” he said. “So $16 million gives them enough, assumes they spend the same as they did this year and gives them another $400,000-plus increase for inflation, whatever it is.”
    Rollins embraced Ehrnst’s approach.
    “I like it better than trying to go through it each individual park,” he said. “I think there’s still some fluff in there.”
    Rollins emphasized he has no complaints about how city workers do their jobs.
    “The parks are in as good a condition as I’ve ever seen them with the number that we’re paying them to do this project,” he said. “I’ve never been happier.”
    Commissioners decided to set a tentative rate for property taxes of 91.47 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. They will have more budget discussions on Aug. 9, 14 and 30. Public hearings will take place in September.
    Last year, in the heat of the election season, commissioners approved the city’s budget request in full with little comment. In earlier years they insisted that Gomez postpone some purchases and hold the line on other items.

By Emily J. Minor

    BOCA RATON — Dr. Samuel S. Stephenson III, who picked up his wife and two small children in 1968 to move to Florida and help lead a fairly new college called Florida Atlantic University, died June 21 in hospice care. He was 93.
Born in Manhattan in New York on April 18, 1924, Dr. Stephenson would go on to fall in love with both engineering and teaching. He first attended Manhattan College and then the Stevens Institute of Technology in nearby Hoboken, N.J.
    Eventually, he earned a doctorate of engineering from New York University and taught for many years at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island.
    In 1965 while walking along the street in New York City, he would reunite with the woman who would become his wife, Jeanne Godfrey Stephenson. The two met years earlier during their families’ annual summer beach vacations in Madison, Conn.
    “And that was that,” said their daughter, Karlen Stephenson. “They were 6 years old when they met.”
    The couple eloped in Manhattan in April 1966. They were both in their 40s at the time, and neither had been married before, their daughter said.
    Two years later, they uprooted their young family and moved to Florida when a colleague invited Dr. Stephenson to join the leadership faculty at FAU.
    The couple bought one of the first lots in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club. Mrs. Stephenson wanted their new home away from the water, because of their young children, and near the guard gate, because her husband often traveled, said their son, Sam Stephenson of Boca Raton.
    In Boca Raton, Dr. Stephenson quickly immersed himself in scholastic and community circles.
    A boater at heart, he served for 20 years with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 36, teaching boating and sailing for many years.
    “He loved that,” Sam Stephenson said. “He loved teaching, and his students loved him.”
    In 2004, he retired from FAU as a professor emeritus after 35 years. Through those years, he was a business and IT consultant to many major corporations, including PepsiCo Inc., said his children.
    Always laid back and looking at life with a positive attitude, Dr. Stephenson was stricken with aggressive cancer three times in his life, first with carotid cancer at the age of 18. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 1986. Again, he survived.
Dr. Stephenson was diagnosed with bladder cancer in his early 80s. He lived cancer free until it returned and eventually contributed to his death, his daughter said.
    “I honestly think the reason he was able to live so long was that he didn’t worry about things,” she said. “He was so laid back.”
    He was also thoughtful, even bringing the bank drive-thru tellers chocolates at Christmas time, she said.
    And he served on the board of directors of the Habilitation Center for the Handicapped in Boca Raton for more than 10 years.
    “He always found the good in whatever was,” said his son.
    Dr. Stephenson was buried July 1 at Boca Raton Cemetery alongside his wife, who died March 6, 2006. In addition to his children, he is survived by a daughter-in-law, Kirsten, and his six grandchildren.

Construction crew members plan for the demolition of several buildings in the Plaza del Mar shopping center

to make room for construction of a Publix grocery. Businesses in the mall will remain open

during the projected year-long process.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

    Demolition has begun to make way for a Publix supermarket at Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar after the mall’s landlord cleared the last two obstacles to the $10 million renovation project in June.
    For one, town commissioners ended seven months of negotiation with Publix and Kitson & Partners over the store’s sign design in finally approving 3-foot white lettering with backlighting for the marquee space above the front entrance.
    “We have ourselves a sign,” said a smiling Mayor Keith Waters after com-missioners’ unanimous vote on June 13.
    The other obstacle to fall was a civil suit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court that sought to block the supermarket’s construction. Lantana resident Barbara Federico and homeowners from Manalapan’s La Coquille Villas had accused town officials of procedural errors and failing to follow their own building rules.
    Federico also objected to the size of the supermarket — 25,000 square feet — and its potential negative impact on traffic. La Coquille residents complained the store wasn’t in keeping with Manalapan’s “unique ambiance.” But the plaintiffs decided to withdraw their lawsuit before the case made it to the courtroom, ending a legal fight that could have stalled the project for months.
    Matt Buehler, Kitson’s retail vice president, said construction of the Publix, as well as a facelift for the adjoining stores and parking lot, will take about a year to complete. The target date for the supermarket’s opening is June 8, several months later than Kitson and Publix had wanted.
    The approved sign design will share similarities with signs across the street at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa and will be restricted to the same level of illumination. Two monument signs marking the plaza entrances will not have the words “Food and Pharmacy” as Publix had wanted.
    Illumination of the store’s main sign is restricted roughly to business hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
    “When the store is closed, we’d like that light to go off,” Waters said.

By Steve Plunkett
    
    Is the town’s barrel of litigation half-empty or half-full?
    Resident Chris O’Hare, who inundated Gulf Stream with expansive requests for public records, then sued the town when it did not quickly respond, in mid-June notified judges he was withdrawing the lawsuits he had filed.
    O’Hare’s lawyer filed the motions the same way O’Hare asked for public records — in batches, three on one day, six on another, 15 on another.
    The filings came after O’Hare and Gulf Stream agreed June 9 to settle all legal differences.
    “This was a total attack on any government as we know it, any legal system as we know it,” said Robert Sweetapple, Gulf Stream’s outside lawyer.
    The lingering question is when — and whether — resident Martin O’Boyle and the town will settle similar cases he filed; O’Boyle and Gulf Stream have at least 10 actions pending.
    Mayor Scott Morgan, who ran for office promising to mount an aggressive defense against O’Hare’s and O’Boyle’s lawsuits, was elated with the settlement.
    “This essentially brings to a conclusion nearly four years of public records abuse and litigation from Mr. O’Hare. It is a testament to the determination of this town not to voluntarily pay out in response to extortion demands,” Morgan said.
    O’Hare said he worked closely with Morgan and others over several weeks and together reached “a balanced and equitable settlement.”
    “The town is a much different place now than it was when this all started,” O’Hare said. “The town’s new, once nonexistent Records Department is first-rate and the new town manager and police chief are a welcome change.”
    If O’Boyle agrees to settle, the mayor said he would call a special meeting of the Town Commission to endorse the document.
    In all, the release O’Hare and the town signed calls for the dismissal of 36 lawsuits and appeals O’Hare filed and the withdrawal of all requests for public records.
    Neither side will pay the other’s legal expenses. There is a clause preventing O’Hare from winning legal fees in future disputes.
    “What that would do would be to de-incentivize any further litigation over public records. There would be no fee entitlement based on this waiver,” Sweetapple said.
    The settlement also requires O’Hare to pay a $250 “facilitation fee” if he ever decides to make another public records request. Failure to pay the fee “will conclusively render such public records request withdrawn,” the release says.
    The O’Hare and O’Boyle saga has included demands for hundreds of documents and caused Gulf Stream to hire extra workers, upgrade its computer software and raise property taxes 40 percent.
    Gulf Stream maintained that O’Hare filed wide-ranging requests in hopes that the town could not timely respond and thus run afoul of the state’s public records law. In one case last month, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull III found that O’Hare “intended to harass and intimidate the town’s employees to generate litigation and fees with ‘gotcha’ type requests.”
    O’Hare began asking Gulf Stream for public records in 2013. From late August through December that year, he made more than 400 requests, Sweetapple said. Together, he and O’Boyle have filed more than 2,000 requests and dozens of lawsuits.
    In comparison Boca Raton, with more than 100 times the population of Gulf Stream, handled 2,263 requests for public records in 2016.
    An example of the cases being dismissed is one in which O’Hare on Sept. 29, 2013, asked for “Any photos of the Gulf Stream property of Anthony Pugliese in the town’s public record.” The town said it would review his request “within the next three business days” and “will promptly send you the appropriate response or an estimated cost to respond.”
    O’Hare filed suit 66 days after making his request. Pugliese, a developer, lives in an oceanfront mansion valued at more than $30 million. The property appraiser’s office labels the address a “confidential record.”

Isabelle Paul, the Florida Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller Commandery,

has been a dutiful dame in the organization since she was knighted in 2005. She’s wearing the red and white colors

of the Order of St. John. Paul’s home in Boca Raton has a painting of her from the 1990s.

Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star

By Amy Woods

    She has led the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller Commandery of Florida since 2011, raising an impressive $800,000 for local charities that aid the sick and the poor. She has served as a dutiful dame in the religious organization since 2005, when she was knighted during an elaborate ceremony in Malta.
    She has devoted her life to philanthropy since 1987, when her husband died.
    “My husband and I were benefactors of many charities,” said Boca Raton resident Isabelle Paul, rattling off a list of nonprofits including the Mayo Clinic, The Salvation Army, World Vision International and others. “After my husband passed away, I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life doing the Lord’s work.”
    Paul’s husband was a builder and developer. He also manufactured parts for the space program.
    “He received a commendation from President Nixon for helping get Neil Armstrong to the moon,” Paul said.
    The couple owned a resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which now is Sandals. “The highlight of the hotel was that the queen of England chose it for her reception when she visited Jamaica in 1966,” Paul said.
    Paul spends six hours each day in her role as commander, meeting with the agencies that have received money from the order, reviewing applications of those seeking financial assistance and overseeing details of the annual gala.
    “I’ve always had a passion for the sick and the poor,” she said. “It really started from childhood watching my parents help others. They were not doctors or ministers. They were just good Christians who liked to help others.”
    Traveling around the world, Paul said, made her aware of the thousands of people in need.
    “I have, and continue to, help people who I will never get to meet,” she said.

    Paul met Henrietta de Hoernle while volunteering for the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League. De Hoernle, a board member, was a dame in the order and invited Paul to join.
    “We became good friends, and I knew her until the day she died,” Paul said. “We were very close, to the extent where she even had me plan her funeral.”
    De Hoernle, who died last July at age 103, left a legacy for the order by becoming one of three members worldwide to receive its highest award, the Cross of Merit.
    “She was a driving force,” said Paul, who did not wish to share her own age. “She is dearly missed.”
    Among the charities the order supports are Boca Helping Hands, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries, Home Safe, Place of Hope and Spirit of Giving Network.
    “All of these organizations are helping people in so many ways,” Paul said. “Many children are no longer going to bed hungry. We are housing homeless veterans. There are boys and girls who are abused and are being taken away from their parents.
    “There’s just such a need,” she said. “It’s unbelievable. The world has changed so drastically. People don’t care about each other like they used to, and I’m praying we get back to that.”
    Although she has no children of her own, Paul sponsors children in Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Portugal, Rwanda and Thailand.
Mary Csar, a member of the order, said it has grown in scope and size under Paul’s leadership.
    “She’s really tried to expand the organization rather than just being happy with a handful of members,” Csar said.“She’s been very steady, and she keeps it going. We keep voting her in as commander because she has done such a good job.”

    During a budget workshop on June 12, Manalapan commissioners tentatively agreed to maintain the current tax rate of $2.79 per $1,000 of taxable value for the 2017-18 fiscal year.  That’s roughly 5 percent above the projected rollback that would keep total tax revenues flat year-over-year.
    Mayor Keith Waters said the extra revenues are needed to make improvements to the Town Hall chambers and possibly to cover the legal expenses the town might have if it takes on the county and South Palm Beach over their beach stabilization project.
    “We still have one of the lowest tax rates in the county,” the mayor said.
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the proposed budget includes a 3 percent raise for employees, including police officers who are close to agreeing on a four-year contract with the town.
    The next budget workshop is July 17 at 10 a.m.
 —Dan Moffett

By Steve Plunkett

    The barrier island-based Florida Coalition for Preservation wants Gulf Stream and its neighbors to budget money this summer to determine where to locate a new fire-rescue station and how much it would cost.
    “It’s important for you to understand that when you see your first budget … that we at least identify a possibility that we’ll be asking for some money from each of the towns on the barrier island,” said former Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger, who founded the coalition.
    The study would be a follow-up to an exploratory study that seemed to scuttle the idea of forming a unified fire-rescue department for Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Gulf Stream.
    “If we don’t start now, you’ll never be ready when Boynton in particular is redeveloped and there is a real problem getting over the bridges,” Ganger told Gulf Stream commissioners at their June 9 meeting.
    Mayor Scott Morgan asked how the proposed study would differ from last year’s effort. Ganger said the earlier study identified the cost of putting a facility on the barrier island and the possibility of two locations, but it was “all just speculative.”
    “Now we’ve got to get down to the real nitty-gritty and determine whether or not it’s run by Boynton Beach — which is probable, certainly possible — and where it would be located,” Ganger said.
    New Town Manager Greg Dunham said he would give commissioners their first look at his 2018 budget proposal July 14.
    Ganger said he hoped commissioners would set aside a “material” amount for the fire study, $15,000 to $20,000.
    “But don’t quote me on that because I literally do not know,” he said.
    Kristine de Haseth, the coalition’s executive director, warned commissioners in May that development in Boynton Beach on Woolbright Road and Ocean Avenue could impede emergency medical service access to the island.
    Ganger explained: “We are planning to talk to all the town managers and see their level of interest, their commitment to participate financially in a study, which at this point in time we haven’t really figured out what the study’s going to be.”
    Ganger said his group has talked to Bethesda Memorial Hospital, “and they’re very interested in what we’re trying to do.” The proposed station may turn out to be “non-civic, may be Bethesda, but you just don’t know,” he said. “You’ve got to do the work.”

    I am addressing the Editor’s Note, “Extra drive time a necessary nuisance this time of year,” that appeared in the June 2017 issue of The Coastal Star.
    Upfront, I totally agree with the opinion that most construction projects on the barrier island reflect necessary improvements to our transportation infrastructure. However, I am reacting to the comments concerning A1A in Delray Beach that seem to me to unfairly blame the MBR construction company, contractor on the beach master plan project.
    The editorial states that “Delray Beach’s oceanfront traffic has been barely inching along because of restricted parking and construction movements along the beachfront.”
    I live directly on the west side of A1A facing the beach walk and constantly observe the progress of the project and the traffic flow. Believe me, MBR is super-organized in facilitating traffic flow and the availability of beach entrances. I do not see traffic tie-ups as you described.
    The parking has been removed, but the traffic and bike lanes are in place in both north and south directions. The construction crews rarely impact traffic when working or even when debris is being removed. My impression is that all equipment remains within the original parking and bike lanes that are fenced off.
    Frankly, the major traffic tie-ups are at other A1A locations, where the parking meters are still in place, caused by motorists stopping to wait for a parking spot to become available. This can be a long wait.
    In relation to the new-home construction sites on A1A, this equipment has no place to park except partially on A1A, but seems not to impact traffic flow significantly.
    I do not feel that I am biased as president of the BPOA, which is partnering with the city in initiating the beach master plan. Compliments are due MBR Construction. I understand they are on schedule to complete the project by October or before.

Bob Victorin
Delray Beach

By Jane Smith
    
    The rainy weather in the first half of June did not delay the contractor working on the promenade along Delray Beach’s municipal beach, a city staffer said.
    But the contractor has asked for a three-day extension because of the work shutdown over the Fourth of July weekend, said Missie Barletto, deputy program director in the Environmental Services Department.
    The city and the contractor plan to allow pedestrians full access for the July 4 festivities through open and protected walkways to the beach.  
    Parking will be limited along the ocean, with meters removed from the south side of the municipal beach. Festival-goers are urged to park west of the Intracoastal Waterway in city garages and parking lots and then take the Downtown Trolley to Northeast/Southeast Seventh Avenue, and walk or bike over to the beach.
    For the event, city police will close Ocean Boulevard at 2 p.m. from Thomas Street to Bucida Road, one block past Casuarina Road on the south. That stretch won’t be reopened until the crowds clear after the fireworks end on the north end of the city’s beach, according to the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative. The fireworks show will start at 9 p.m.
    City police also will close East Atlantic Avenue at Northeast/Southeast Seventh Avenue at 1:30 p.m. July 4. Festivities start at 8 a.m. with a sandcastle-building contest on the beach. For a list of activities and parking information, festival-goers are urged to check this website: JulyFourth DelrayBeach.com.
    Meanwhile, the $3.1 million upgrade to the municipal beach promenade is moving toward an early fall completion date for the 1.25-mile project.
    In June, the contractor finished removing the entire sidewalk from the south end. Access remains the same on the north end. South of Atlantic Avenue, beach-goers are urged to use the designated entrances. Signs are posted to help pedestrians find the way.
    Underground piping for the showers and fountains continues to be installed between the Sandoway parking lot and Boston’s Sand Bar. Concrete forms for the new sidewalk, north of Lifeguard Tower No. 5, continue to be installed, along with concrete pouring for the sidewalk.
Starting July 5, the work zone will shift north of the Sandoway parking lot to the Marriott Hotel. The sidewalk and parking in that area will be closed. The contractor will begin installing smart meters between Casuarina Road and the Sandoway lot the week of July 10.
Sandblasting of the knee wall, north of Atlantic Avenue, continues.
    The promenade enhancements are nearly 10 years in the making. The work west of the dunes will feature wider sidewalks and coordinated shower poles, benches, bike and surfboard racks, trash/recycling containers and signs to replace the current hodgepodge of styles. Smart parking meters will be solar-powered.
    Bicyclists can still ride on Ocean Boulevard, but they are urged to use caution. The bike lane on the east side will be narrowed with barriers to protect the public from the construction work.
    Beach benches, plaques and stone memorials have been removed and are stored. The city is asking donors to contact project manager Isaac Kovner at 243-7000, ext. 4119, to discuss options.

By Jane Smith
    
    The height of the sea wall in Veterans Park will soon be raised to a uniform level and the two docks there rebuilt, after the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency agreed in late June to pay for the work.
    The agency could pay the estimated $643,700 cost during the current budget year from the savings of three items, said Thuy Shutt, assistant director.
    She told the board members that a less costly HVAC system was installed at the Old School Square complex for a $193,700 savings.
    Delray Beach officials also requested the agency remove two items from its current budget: improvements at the Swinton and Atlantic intersection, costing $300,000, and way-finder signs for the parking management program, costing $150,000.  
    Callaway Marine Technologies Inc., of West Palm Beach, was the lowest bidder. It will do the Veterans Park work for $585,178.80 with an additional 10 percent needed for construction engineering inspection services, for a total cost of $643,700.
    The city already paid about $80,000 to the Wantman Group to survey, design and supervise the construction of the sea wall cap and the two docks.
    The public sea wall will be 20 inches high and rid of slopes and other imperfections along its approximately 400-foot length to the Atlantic Avenue bridge. The sea wall height is measured from the average water level in the Intracoastal.
    Then in 25 years, the city can decide whether another 16 inches is needed because of rising sea levels. This can be done with a triangular parapet on top of the current sea wall to bring the height to 3 feet.
    The higher sea walls were recommended in mid-June. The city’s Rising Waters Task Force recommended a height of 5 feet for public and private sea walls along the Intracoastal.
    “What the city is doing is fine for now by designing a base that can hold increased height,” said Andy Katz, a task force member with a science background. “It doesn’t make sense to increase the height in one area and not the length of the waterway.”
    Delray Beach is in the bidding process for the southern portion of the repair work along Marine Way and the city’s marina. That street does not have a sea wall. The work is set to begin next year.
    The two docks at Veterans Park were closed last September because the wood rotted, making them unsafe to use. The replacement docks should be ready by January.
    Separately, Delray Beach is surveying the condition of public and private sea walls along the Intracoastal Waterway. The work is supposed to be finished in August.

By Jane Smith
    
    Free parking along Atlantic Avenue west of the Intracoastal Waterway is about to become a thing of the past.
    Delray Beach city commissioners directed staff to look into installing meters along the avenue to increase turnover for retailers and restaurateurs, especially between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal bridge.
    “Because the spaces are free, employees park there all day,” said Dale Sugerman, assistant city manager, when presenting a parking management plan to the commission at a mid-June workshop.
    Peter Arts, a Downtown Development Authority board member and an insurance broker, said, “Metering Atlantic Avenue would preclude people from parking all day.”
    Nine members of the public spoke about the parking plan at the workshop. Eight were for it. Only one was against it.
    “Parking meters would devastate the downtown,” said David Cook, owner of Hand’s Office and Arts Supply on Atlantic Avenue. He’s also a former DDA chairman, who termed out of the position.
    Commissioners want to see a  program that would allow residents to park for free after purchasing passes. That program also would cover seasonal residents.
    “It could be a pre-purchase program for the garages and surface lots,” Commissioner Mitch Katz said.
    Commissioners also want to see a breakdown of the revenue balanced by the costs of the new parking system, including meters and personnel.
    “I want to see revenue versus costs,” said Commissioner Shelly Petrolia. Previous staffers have said, “An army would be needed to make this work.”
    Her fellow commissioners agreed that they want to see the options available for the city lots and on side streets before approving the parking management plan. They want to see a range of rates and new hours that the meters will be enforced.
    The city has 3,277 parking spaces in the downtown and on the barrier island, Sugerman said.
    Smart meters already are installed in the city’s six surface lots on the barrier island and on Atlantic Avenue east of the Intracoastal. The meters, which can take various forms of payment, will be installed along Ocean Boulevard after the beachfront construction is completed in the fall.
    The barrier island has a total of 700 spaces, Sugerman said.
    Smart meters recently were installed in the city’s two garages, which have 727 spaces. Parking is free there most of the time. The city charges a flat rate of $5 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday after 4 p.m. and during special events.
    In June, Lanier Parking Management took over as the parking manager. Its duties include collecting revenue from the meters, issuing citations, staffing the garages and maintaining the meters.
    Patrons can download a ParkMobile application that will allow them to pay the meter by using a smart phone. People who downloaded the app reported on social media that it was easy to use.
    An employee program did not go over well, according to Sugerman’s report.
    Earlier this year, the city worked with the DDA to set up an employee parking program in the South County garage for $20 a month. Parking hours were 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. and a Downtown Roundabout Trolley would provide free rides to the garage.
    But no employee passes were purchased, according to the report. Employees said they could park much closer to their job sites for free, were afraid of entering the garage late at night with a day’s tips in their pockets and were inconvenienced by waiting for a trolley.
    Commissioners were not interested in setting up an employee parking program. They pointed out that parking is free in the city garages until 4 p.m.
    As to the rates, Sugerman told commissioners that no other town charges more than $3 per hour.
    Some commissioners want higher rates for Atlantic Avenue.
     “We are a hot spot,” Petrolia said. She would like to see the higher rates during weekend night hours for Atlantic Avenue, between Swinton and Northeast/Southeast Fifth avenues.
    Mayor Cary Glickstein agreed. “Friday and Saturday nights, when it is impossible to find a space along Atlantic Avenue,” he said, “people should pay for the convenience of parking close to their destinations.”

Mayor Keith Waters says a proposal to add a 60-room hotel and 70 condos to the 15-acre Ziff estate

would represent a seismic shift in the land use, planning and zoning of Manalapan. The lush vegetation

of the grounds conceals the 33-room mansion and other buildings.

File photo/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

    Think about the Ziff property, that 15-acre parcel of pristine undeveloped land at the southern tip of Manalapan — a natural preserve that offers a glimpse of the unspoiled Florida that Spanish explorers might have seen when they visited the hemisphere five centuries ago.
    Now think about the Ziff property with a 60-room hotel on the Intracoastal Waterway side, 70 condominiums rising on the oceanfront and parking for dozens of cars and delivery vehicles.
    That’s what Tony Imbesi asked Manalapan commissioners to consider when he told them about his idea for the iconic property, known as Gemini to the Ziff family.
    Imbesi, 26, is the son of real estate investor Joseph Imbesi, who lives on Lands End Road in the town. Five years ago, Joseph Imbesi sold the Bal Harbour Club in Miami-Dade County to an Argentine developer for $220 million. The deal made way for the Oceana Bal Harbour condo tower that stands there today.
    The Imbesis are seeing the same kind of potential for big things when they look at the Ziff property.
    “This would be a very special condo hotel,” Tony Imbesi told the commission on June 13. Rooms would go for between $2,000 and $5,000 a night, “a seven-star hotel,” he said.
    Manalapan’s existing luxury hotel, the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, would be unaffected by the Imbesis’ vision, they say.
 “This is something that wouldn’t compete with the Eau but complement it,” Tony Imbesi said.
    The condo building would have “a small footprint and tall height” to preserve more of the 1,500 tropical plant species around it. The existing 33-room mansion on the property also would be preserved.
    Tony Imbesi came to the commissioners with no plans, drawings, studies or even details about the proposal. He was looking only for feedback to gauge how realistic his ambitious venture might be.
    “If they go along with it,” he said of the commissioners, “it’s extremely realistic.”
    Mayor Keith Waters told Imbesi the project would represent a seismic shift in land use, planning and zoning for Manalapan, changing population density, traffic patterns and even political apportionment.
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the administrative work needed to move such a project through town regulatory reviews would take at least two years in itself.
    Waters advised Imbesi to continue to solicit opinions about the idea from Manalapan residents and reminded him that the town is determined to remain “a small enclave, a little jewel.” The mayor said the commission will listen to the responses from the community that are sure to be coming.
    One recent change has made the Imbesi plan more realistic. The Ziff family cut the selling price of their compound by $30 million to $165 million, hoping to attract more buyers.

By Dan Moffett

    The running joke in Briny Breezes during the last month has been that the town might soon be able to score a huge windfall by investing in telescopes.
    A nudist group was pushing Palm Beach County to allow a clothing-optional beach at Gulfstream Park, just south of Briny Breezes. What an opportunity for Brinyites to cater to the needs of the throngs of curious onlookers that surely would be coming.
    But dreams of imminent prosperity died with the joke on June 8 when the county’s Tourist Development Council shot down the idea, telling members of the Freedom Beach Initiative that their proposal wasn’t right for the location.
    County Mayor Paulette Burdick, who sits on the council board, said the park is “family-friendly,” with playgrounds for children, so that means clothing has to remain mandatory.
    “I didn’t think it would get too far with the tourism board,” said Briny Alderman Bobby Jurovaty. “It was never going to happen.”
    Council President Sue Thaler said, all jokes aside, there wasn’t any support for the idea in Briny. “I don’t know anyone who was in favor of it,” she said.
    Karl Dickey, who championed the proposal to the county, said his grass-roots group will continue lobbying officials for a nude beach somewhere. Dickey said he has a half-dozen other prospective sites in mind and that public opinion about clothing-free beach-going is slowly changing.
    “We need county officials to get past the old myth that clothing- optional beaches are not family friendly,” he said. “The only people that would say clothing-optional beaches are not family friendly are those that have not been to one.”

By Dan Moffett

    South Palm Beach thought its long-awaited beach stabilization project was finally about to get started when Palm Beach County commissioners voted early last month to accept the town’s easements and begin permitting.
    Then came some sobering news from a neighbor to the south.
    Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters said his town is committed to doing whatever it takes to see that the project never gets off the ground.
    “We’re going to fight this project tooth and nail,” Waters told his Town Commission. “We’re going to vehemently fight it and bring to bear whatever we need to bring to bear.”
    Waters said he wants to set aside money in the town’s budget to cover the cost of a possible legal battle.
    The mayor thinks the seven concrete groins the county and South Palm Beach plan to install will steal sand that otherwise flows south and nourishes Manalapan’s beaches.
    “This is going to be seriously damaging to our community,” Waters said. “I don’t know anyone in Manalapan who supports that project.”
    South Palm Beach officials have declined public comment on the remarks, but privately say they feel blindsided. The project has been planned for more than a decade and they say no Manalapan official has complained to them directly.
    Representatives from the county and South Palm Beach say they’re committed to moving forward.
    “Our next goal is to submit a comprehensive Request for Additional Information response to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection,” said Kimberly Miranda, the county’s project manager. “It is our intention to submit the response to DEP over the summer.”
    On June 6, county commissioners approved 14 easements from property owners along the town’s beach, paving the way for permitting. The Concordia East condominium and the town of Lantana, which owns the municipal beach, are still negotiating easements with county attorneys.
    Project managers hoped to have construction started by November, but have pushed the target date back to November 2018. The project should take about four months.
    Waters points to the dwindling shoreline in Hillsboro Beach in Broward County as evidence of the damage groins can do. Hillsboro Beach has accused northern Broward County neighbor Deerfield Beach of stealing sand for decades because of a system of 56 groins installed in the 1960s. In April, Hillsboro Beach filed suit against Deerfield Beach, seeking to recover millions in damages.
    Manalapan’s opposition to the project surfaced in July 2016 when then-Mayor David Cheifetz wrote a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers. Cheifetz criticized the corps’ 500-page Environmental Impact Statement for not taking into account the damage the groins might cause to “downdrift” beaches south of the project that benefit from the natural sand flow.
    “The town is very concerned regarding the effects of the coastal armoring structures,” Cheifetz told the corps. “The EIS states that the groins will facilitate stabilization by disrupting a portion of the sand flowing south along the beach and encourage sediment deposition on the updrift side of the structure.”
    The corps also received a complaint from the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, which withdrew its support for the project that summer after hiring an engineering firm to study the plan.
    Eau President Eva Hill wrote: “The project will have a devastating impact on our beach and the operations of our resort.”
    Cost of the $5 million project is shared among governments, with the town paying about 20 percent, the county 30 percent through tourism taxes, and the state and federal governments covering about 50 percent.
 Manalapan and South Palm Beach have enjoyed a productive working relationship in the past, collaborating on police and traffic issues, as well as sharing a fire-rescue contract with the county.
    “We have a great neighbor to the north,” Waters said. “But we can’t allow this project to move forward.”
    In other business:
    • The South Palm Beach council scheduled its first budget meeting for the 2016-17 fiscal year for 1 p.m. on July 11.
    Mayor Bonnie Fischer said one of the top priorities for council members is deciding a plan for the Town Hall, which needs either a major renovation or a complete rebuilding.
    Either choice will have a significant impact on the town’s budget, she said. Property values in South Palm Beach are up about 6.5 percent, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office, giving the town increased tax revenues to help pay for the Town Hall improvements.
    • Town Manager Bob Vitas told the South Palm Beach Town Council on June 27 that groundbreaking will be at 10:45 a.m. July 12 for the 3550 project on the former site of the old Hawaiian Inn hotel.
    Paragon Acquisition Group and Manhattan-based DDG are building a 30-unit luxury condominium. Construction for the $35 million project will take about 18 months.

By Dan Moffett

    After hearing concerns about rising legal bills, the Briny Breezes Town Council has decided to seek “comparative proposals” for services from outside attorneys.
    The move comes in response to a growing number of complaints from residents about the size of recent payments to John Skrandel, who has served as town attorney since 2013.
    Ted Gross, the treasurer of the corporate board, and Mayor Jack Lee have been the loudest critics, saying the town is spending too much money for Skrandel’s work, some of which might not be needed. One recent monthly check topped $5,000, which Lee and Gross maintain is more than Briny can afford.
    Skrandel told the council during its June 22 meeting that his costs have been higher lately because council members have assigned him more to do.
    “My work is basically on demand. It’s not a set amount,” Skrandel said. “It can be from zero on up depending on what work is assigned to me by the council.”
    Skrandel also said he has voluntarily given Briny breaks on billing to keep costs down. He said he doesn’t bill the town for travel to Briny and he doesn’t round charges up on fractions of billable hours — he rounds them down. Skrandel charges $185 an hour for his services.
    Alderman Bobby Jurovaty, who acted as council president while Sue Thaler was on vacation, said the council intends to explore how other communities pay for legal services and then make a decision later this year.
    “I’d like to factor in as much as we can what other towns are doing,” Jurovaty said. “We’ll take a nice, long look at this.”
    Skrandel is only the second attorney Briny has ever had. His father, Jerome Skrandel, handled legal services for the town from 1975 until his death in 2013, when John took over.
    In other business:
    • The council approved a six-member advisory committee to research and develop a job description for a part-time town manager position. Members are Keith Black, Sue Revie, William Birch, Holly Reitnauer, Therese Tarman and Gross. Black volunteered to serve as committee chairman. The town hopes to hire a part-time manager before the end of the year.
    • Briny should receive about $25,000 a year from the county’s penny sales tax increase that voters approved in November. Alderman Christina Adams, who acts as the council’s liaison to the county on the tax, said the town has decided on the possible infrastructure improvements for spending the money: water systems, sewage systems, sidewalks and burying main electrical lines. The town likely will allow the tax proceeds to accumulate over two or more years to tackle larger projects.