By Ron Hayes

    BRINY BREEZES — Marilyn David saw Briny Breezes for the first time from a 32-foot travel trailer in July 1946.
She became a permanent resident in 1953 and raised a son and three daughters here.
    She was here on June 19, 1963, when her husband, Hugh, was sworn in as the newly incorporated town’s first mayor. She was here through the 33 years he served as its only mayor, and after his death in February 1997, she stayed on in their home on Mallard Drive.
    At 7:30 a.m. on May 19, she died there. She was 93.
    “My parents were crazy about each other, and loved each other so much,” her son, David David, said a day after her death. “They never argued in front of the children. If they had an argument, they went out for a walk and came back pacified.”
    Her career, her son said, was her family.
    “My mother did all the raising of the kids, and we were raised on the beach in the summertime.”
    Up early, they’d hit the sand by 9 a.m. and spend the day.
    “My mother taught us how to swim,” he recalled. “She had two long black ponytails, and she would tow my sister and myself down the reefs all day long.”
    The future Marilyn David was born July 24, 1922, in St. Louis, Mo., and adopted by Milton and Eunice Bellis. On New Year’s Eve 1940, she and her high school sweetheart, Hugh Edward David, eloped, but kept the marriage a secret from their parents for more than a year until she had graduated.
 The Davids and their two small children, Judy and Diane, came to Briny Breezes in July 1946 because their St. Louis home had burned down.
    “It was wintertime, and of course that’s no time to build back in Missouri,” Hugh David told The Palm Beach Post. “We got the idea of getting a trailer and going to a warmer climate.”
    His mother had friends in Delray Beach, “and they’d seen a trailer park on the ocean.”
    Once here, Marilyn David quickly settled in, and stayed.
    “I wouldn’t be happy in a home,” she told The Post in a 1965 profile. By then, Judy had married and moved to Boynton Beach, but the Davids and their three youngest children were still sharing a two-bedroom mobile home.
    “The girls have one bedroom, David the other and my husband and I the living room couch, which is easily converted into a bed,” she explained without complaint.
    “She was a very outgoing person, always willing to help with what we called the park back then,” said Rita Taylor, the longtime Briny Breezes town clerk (now Gulf Stream’s clerk) and a friend for nearly 50 years. “She was very loyal to Briny and the people there.”
    While her husband sold real estate with Dutch Realty in Boynton Beach, Mrs. David volunteered with the county health program, driving needy children to the dentist. But her first priority was her own children.
    “She was an excellent cook, and every night it was something different. I wouldn’t say she was strict, but when we got punished it was a hard punishment: Go play on the beach,” David David said.
    Her hobbies included snorkeling, skin diving, bike riding, shell collecting and sewing, he said.
    “She made all her own clothes and never bought anything at the store,” David David said. “And she sewed for everybody in the neighborhood. If somebody got a little plump and ripped their pants out, she’d fix them for her.”
     In addition to her son and his wife, Edith Behm, also of Briny Breezes, she is survived by her three daughters, Judy Wood of Boynton Beach; Diane Potter of Atlantis; and Denise Berg of San Diego; and four grandchildren.
    The family plans a small private service in her home, followed by a larger memorial in the town’s clubhouse during the season.
    Donations in her memory may be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County.

By Brian Biggane

    GULF STREAM — If there’s one thing Alice Dye wants people to know about her brother, Perry Holliday O’Neal, it was that he had a deep sense of caring for his fellow man.
    “He was in the Trust Department at the bank, so he always took care of people, got them whatever it was that they needed,” said Dye, who along with husband, Pete, form one of the best-known golf design tandems in the world.
    “Whether it was something significant or even something as simple as a pair of slippers, he would take care of it.
    “I’ve received more than 50 letters from people whose lives he helped and encouraged, who helped them through many, many crises in their lives. Most people didn’t realize how wonderful he was to so many. He was a loving gentleman at all times.”
    Mr. O’Neal, a resident of Gulf Stream since 1980, died May 14.  He was 86.
    Mr. O’Neal was graduated from Yale University in 1952 and from the University of Virginia Law School in 1957. After a two-year stint in the Army he began his banking career at Indiana National Bank (now Chase) in Indianapolis and served as executive vice president and trust officer until his retirement in 1980.
    Mr. O’Neal always enjoyed being close to family, which brought him to Gulf Stream long after Alice and Pete had moved to South Florida in 1959. He also enjoyed his summers at the family vacation home in Lake Maxinkuckee in northern Indiana.
    “He would play tennis there, but sailing was his favorite thing,” Alice Dye said. “He would compete in all kinds of sailing races and really loved boats: motorboats, sailboats, whatever. He would spend as much time on the water as he could.
    “Even though he enjoyed that, competition was not his favorite thing. He liked to participate but winning was not his primary goal.”
    While both Pete and Alice Dye have both been champion golfers, Alice’s brother more or less dabbled at the sport.
    “He had a yearly game with us at Christmas,” Alice said. “He had a lovely swing, and could play nicely, but he really had no interest beyond that.”
    He was, however, extremely active in civic organizations throughout his life. He was an active member of the Maxinkuckee Yacht Club and Maxinkuckee Country Club and was also a founding member of the Indianapolis Racquet Club.
    His caring nature also led to involvement with the Fairbanks Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, also in Indianapolis, which helps individuals and families in their battles with those addictions. He continued those efforts in South Florida with Wayside House, which helps women struggling with substance abuse.
    Above all, Dye said, it was Mr. O’Neal’s caring nature that she will remember best.
    “Not long ago he said to me, ‘If anything goes wrong I want you to know you’ve been a wonderful sister.’ That’s the way he was with people. He was a loving gentleman.”

Rod & Gun Club members find

Run for Roses a great reason to party

Rod & Gun Club members and their guests review the field before the running of the Kentucky Derby.

Mark and Dawn Donohue visit with Louise Glover, who wears a hat adorned with feathers.

Cindy Krebsbach cheers during the running of the Derby.

The third annual Kentucky Derby Party & Spring Fling was held at the Gulf Stream home of Bob and Jane Souaid.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
INSET BELOW: The Rod & Gun Club's logo is seen above the fireplace mantel.

By Ron Hayes
    
    On the evening of Saturday, May 7, while the jockeys at Churchill Downs prepared for the 142nd Run for the Roses, Jane Souaid ran around her Gulf Stream home, preparing for her third annual Kentucky Derby Party & Spring Fling.
    Out on the patio, caterers readied a lavish spread of hors d’oeuvres and drinks by the pool. In the kitchen, chef Michael Suchlicki tended roast turkey and tenderloin. In the corner, a big chocolate cake layered with strawberries waited, celebrating in frosted script the Run for the Roses 142, beneath a crossed hunting rifle and fishing rod, logo of the Rod & Gun Club of Florida.
    An hour later, about 80 club members and guests filled Souaid’s home and patio, chattering clusters of khaki slacks and floral hats, while four strategically placed televisions broadcast the countdown to post time.
    “I like the club because it’s very family-oriented,” Souaid said in a rare spare moment. “And there’s an emphasis on safety. I’ve hosted a CPR class here, and we support boating safety and concealed carry training classes. I grew up military and we support education, not fear.”
    In 2013, Souaid’s husband, Bob, was among the 10 men who joined Steve Jara at the Tryst restaurant in Delray Beach to organize what became the Rod & Gun Club of Florida.
    “I grew up here and used to hunt down where the Boca Raton Country Club is now, across from Costco,” says Jara, 52, a senior vice president with Golden Bear Realty and the club’s founder. “My idea was to have sportsmen come together and enjoy the outdoors and social functions with like-minded individuals.”
    The club is a private, nonprofit entity and potential members must be sponsored by a member, have a co-sponsor and then be approved by the membership committee. Jara declined to reveal the membership fee or annual dues, but an added benefit for members is the partnership program, which offers discounts at hunting and fishing resorts such as Chiggerchaw Lodge in Lake Burton, Ga., where several spent an April weekend trout fishing.
    Today, the club boasts about 70 members, and while they are indeed “like-minded,” they are hardly all alike. Some hunt, some fish, and some do both. Some shoot birds that live and breathe, some shoot only clay pigeons. Some catch fish and mount them, and some just toss them back. Some kill animals, and some can’t bear to.
    “I fish,” Souaid said. Her biggest catch was a 5-foot, 6-inch, 58-pound bull dolphin off the Bahamas. “It took me 43 minutes to reel it in. I go clay shooting, but I don’t have the heart to hunt.”
    On the other hand, founding member Hop Kennemer of Delray Beach has a ready retort.
    “You gotta eat!” he reasons. “I hunt birds primarily — duck, dove, quail, turkey, pheasant. I like to eat the things I hunt. I don’t kill animals just to kill them.”
    Whatever the fishing and/or hunting passions, the club members’ common denominator seems to be socializing. “Once a member is approved, the entire family is the member,” Jara emphasizes. Both spouses and children are welcome to join the club’s activities, which include a sailfish tournament every January, a fall sporting class tournament at Quail Creek Plantation in Okeechobee and a Christmas party.
    At the Souaids’ Kentucky Derby party, members were encouraged to bring guests and potential members, which is how Dr. John Westine, a Delray Beach plastic surgeon, happened to be there. An avid fisherman, Westine was eager to share his iPhone photos from a trip to the Pacific coast of Guatemala, where he and fellow sportsmen caught 230 blue marlin, striped marlin, sailfish, etc., etc. And let them go.
    “You want it to be a sustainable sport,” he explained. “If guys kept purging the sea, it wouldn’t be sustainable. So it’s the thrill of the hunt. It’s going out there and not knowing what you’ll find — communing with friends, the smell of the air, the undulating motion of the boat, the sunrise as you head out to the fishing grounds dreaming of that marlin you’re going to catch — and let go.
    “I’m not a hunter,” he said. “I don’t want to shoot anything and watch it suffer.” He smiled. “But we did eat about 30 mahi-mahi.”
    At post time, the partiers gathered before the Souaids’ four TVs, drinks in hand, to watch jockey Mario Gutierrez ride Nyquist to race “the fastest two minutes in sports” faster than the other thoroughbreds. Some cheered, some sighed. If any casual wagers had been made, losses and winnings were paid and collected. A line formed for turkey and tenderloin, drinks were refreshed.
    The Run for the Roses had been run, the Run for the Roses cake was served, and the Rod & Gun Club’s members and guests went on socializing.
    For more information, visit rgcfla.com or the club’s Facebook page.

This eight-bedroom French-inspired estate on the ocean in Highland Beach

is on the market for $31.9 million, almost double the record sale in the town.

Photo provided

By Christine Davis

    It’s already a show-stopper, but when it sells, it will be a record breaker. This 23,625-total-square-foot Highland Beach French-inspired eight-bedroom estate at 2455 S. Ocean Blvd., is offered by Ocean Estate Properties agent Beverly Knight, for $31.9 million.
    Designed by Madey Architects New York and built by Mark Timothy Luxury Homes, with interiors by Marc-Michaels, it’s in the Byrd Beach estate section on almost 2 acres with 150 feet of beachfront. Features include a club room and bar, epicurean’s kitchen, two-story library den, wine room, stone fireplaces, gym, guest house, caretaker’s cottage and high-tech theater.
    According to public records, Bruce Leeds bought the property for $5.8 million in 2011 from the Henry D. Martin Trust, Safford Denise V Trustee and Victoria J. Martin Trust. Leeds is a vice chairman of Systemax.
    The highest sale for Highland Beach to date was $16.53 million for 3901 S. Ocean Blvd., which sold this year. Previously, the highest sale was $15.3 million in 2003 for 2445 S. Ocean Blvd.
                                    
    Frank McKinney’s “green” mansion, Acqua Liana, 620 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, is back on the market for $26.5 million, listed by Cristina Condon, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty. Condon said the owners have many vacation homes and aren’t spending enough time here to keep it.
                                
    Marny Glasser, chairwoman  of Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Advisory Board, recently was awarded the University’s Board of Trustees Service Award.
After donating her late husband, Harold Glasser’s, World War II collection to the university’s Wimberly Library, she established the Harold Glasser Endowment Fund, which she continues to enhance annually.
    In 2013, she helped form the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Advisory Board, and last year she donated one of her sculptures, Moon Escape, to the university. Through her leadership, the board has raised more than $340,000 in support of programs.
                                
    Palm Beach Day Academy celebrated its groundbreaking ceremony on its lower campus at 1901 S. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach, in May. Its new education center will house classrooms and labs for students up to third grade.
    The two buildings on site will be demolished over the summer, with construction scheduled during the 2016-17 school year.
    In recent years, the school raised $17 million to upgrade its two campuses. In Phase 1, it acquired land for the West Palm Beach campus, improved its Palm Beach campus and built its Smith Family Theater and Matthews Performing Arts Center.

Harbour’s Edge resident Dr. Leonard Sutton cuts the ribbon

with Lifespace President and CEO Sloan Bentle

to mark the opening of the community’s new dining venues.

Photo provided

                                
    In April, Harbour’s Edge, a senior living community at 401 E. Linton Blvd. in Delray Beach, celebrated the opening of its three new dining venues: a casual eatery, a formal steakhouse and grill, and a private dining room. These were part of a $20 million project, with the final renovation phase, featuring a media center, library and performing arts center, to be completed later this year.
    CC Hodgson Architectural Group is the designer for the project and Plaza Construction is the contractor.
                                
    In May, Artis Senior Living celebrated its grand opening. The memory care community is at 5910 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton.
                                
    Tanya Abreu, founder of WOW Health Group, has created a new women’s health concierge service at 1682 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, headed by Dr. Immacula Michel, in conjunction with the WOW Arts Warehouse, which serves as an exercise, dance, music and event community center.
    Coming up at an introductory evening at the WOW community center, guests are invited to stretch their physical and mental boundaries with yoga teacher Marilyn DeMartini, at “In Your Dreams Yoga” to live piano music by Niki Parker at 6:30 p.m. on June 7. At a wine-and-cheese reception following the class, Dr. Joel Klass will present insights on how to learn from dreams.
    The class, reception and presentation cost $20 and will be held at the WOW Arts Warehouse, 3681 N. Dixie Highway, Suite 7, Boca Raton. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Dream Ride for Special Olympics.
    To register, call 866-376 0632, or email Bianca@wowhealthgroup.com. For information, call 866-376-0632 or email deanna@wowhealthgroup.com
                                
    The board of directors of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts elected Michael J. Bracci as board chairman, effective July 1.
                                
    Fresh Kitchen, 2202 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, offers juices, smoothies, salads, wraps and healthy dishes. The 2,500-square-foot restaurant is the sister restaurant of Juice and Java Café on Andrews Boulevard. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as take-out and catering. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m., to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
                                 
    A location of Lucille’s Bad to the Bone BBQ will open mid-August in the Delray Market Place at Lyons Road and Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. For information, visit badtothebonebbq.com.
                                
    In April, Feeding South Florida, a regional domestic hunger-relief organization that has a new warehouse in east Boynton Beach, was awarded the Nonprofit Business of the Year distinction by South Florida Business Journal for its innovative practices, diversity initiatives, community service, employee programs, workplace environment and strong financial performance.
    Through a local network of nonprofit partner agencies, Feeding South Florida distributes almost 40 million pounds of food annually, serving 785,040 individuals throughout Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
                                
    In April, Boynton Beach resident Tina Philips, president and CEO of the Palm Beach Habilitation Center, received The Commonwealth Institute’s Top 10 Women-Led Businesses in Florida Award in the not-for-profit category for the third year in a row. Philips’ center provides employment, job placement, residential and retirement services to men and women with mental, emotional and physical disabilities.
                                
    Clinics Can Help, which seeks donations of medical equipment and supplies, is looking for used wheelchairs. It provided $820,000 in reusable medical supplies and equipment last year, said Owen O’Neill, the nonprofit’s executive director and founder.
“Thanks to generous donations of equipment and funds, we are able to provide hundreds of wheelchairs to children and adults who are in critical need every year. However, the demand is growing.”
    To donate, call 640-2995 or visit www.clinicscanhelp.org.
                                
    In May, local nonprofit organizations raised more than $3 million during the third annual Great Give, sponsored by the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties and the United Way of Palm Beach County.
    Of that amount, the Kretzer Piano Music Foundation received $3,200 in donations, which earlier gave a musical send-off to Great Give at a mini-concert. At that event, five talented young people played painted pianos at CityPlace, West Palm Beach. Boca Raton resident and artist Silvana Delbo painted one of pianos: “Melodic Liberation” for the Quantum House.
                                
    Daniel Brassloff, a senior at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, Victor Espidol, a senior at Boynton Beach High School, and Melanie Camejo Coffigny, a senior at Lake Worth High School, were selected by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council to receive this year’s Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Award scholarships.
    Brassloff, founder and president of We the People, an equality club, will be attending Babson College to study social entrepreneurship. Espidol, founder of the Boynton Beach High School Gay-Straight Alliance, will be attending the University of Florida to study biology. Coffigny, founder and president of her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, will be attending Duke University in the fall to study neuroscience.
                                
    In May, the National Endowment for the Arts approved an Art Works award of $10,000 to the Palm Beach Poetry Festival to support the organization’s 13th annual festival, to be held next January in Delray Beach.

Suzanne Duff, a professor at Palm Beach State College, is one of 40 Under 40 to watch,

the American Association for Women in Community Colleges says.

Photo provided

                                
    In April, Professor Suzanne Duff, department chairwoman  for human services programs at Palm Beach State College, was named to the 40 Under 40 list of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges. Starting as an adjunct instructor in psychology and human services before going full-time in 2012, Duff, 35, became Human Services Department chair in 2013.
    She has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Palm Beach Atlantic University and is working on her Ph.D. in educational leadership at Florida Atlantic University.
                                
    Palm Beach Travel’s founder, Annie Davis, has received her Tahitian travel specialist certification and is now recognized by the Tahitian Tourism Department as a preferred specialist. Palm Beach Travel is in Plaza Del Mar at 257 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. For information, call 585-5885 or visit www.mypalmbeachtravel.com.
                                
    Matthew Kutcher, an executive director and financial adviser with J.P. Morgan Securities, received the James and Marjorie Baer Outstanding Young Leadership Award for his outstanding efforts on behalf of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and the Jewish community.
                                
    As of May 1, Joseph Arthur Rooney Sr. took over as acting president and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, as it continues a search for a permanent president and CEO. Rooney’s past work experience includes management with Marriott Corp., Chesterfield Hotel and the Palm Beach Kennel Club. He serves on the board of overseers for the American College Dublin and the board of directors of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.
                                
    Donald Trump’s former butler, Anthony Peter “Tony” Senecal, will be guest speaker at a Gold Coast Tiger Bay Club luncheon, which will be held at 11:30 a.m. June 8 at the City Fish Market, 7940 Glades Road, Boca Raton. To RSVP, visit www.goldcoasttigerbayclub.com/registration.
                                
     Maria Hirt was named Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa’s director of sales and marketing. Previously, she served as director of marketing at Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in Austin, Texas.
                                
    The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County, ACLU Palm Beach County and the National Council of Jewish Women Palm Beach County Sections are co-hosting “Why Courts Matter,” a lunch-and-talk series focused on how the lives of Floridians are affected by judicial vacancies and court decisions.
    The second talk in the series, “The Role of the Courts in Voting Rights,” is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15, when Julie Ebenstein, staff attorney for the ACLU Voting Rights Project, will explore the impact the Supreme Court has had on voting rights.
     Also, Linda Geller-Schwartz, state policy advocate for the National Council of Jewish Women, will suggest ways in which advocates can help educate the public about why courts matter.
    The luncheon will be held at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Ave., Lake Worth. The cost to attend is $30. Attendees can register online at www.lwvpbc.org.
                                
    The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority’s Dine Out Downtown Delray Restaurant Week 2016, Aug. 1 through 7, will offer prix fixe multicourse lunch and dinner menus and various culinary experiences.
    To take part, diners select their choice from the list of participating restaurants and merchants and make a reservation. Beginning July 1, for information and a list of participating venues, visit downtowndelraybeach.com or call 243-1077.

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

By Mary Thurwachter

    OCEAN RIDGE — At Florida Atlantic University, where Heather Turner Frazer taught for 35 years, she was known as the history department’s moral compass — the woman who always knew the right thing to do and how to do it. Even 10 years after she retired in 2006, her colleagues, when faced with difficult decisions, frequently asked themselves, “What would Heather do?” They even had “WWHD” T-shirts made in her honor when she retired.
    Mrs. Frazer was the only woman in FAU’s history department for 17 years and took it upon herself to mentor every woman who joined the department after her. The first was Sandy Norman, who arrived in 1988.
    “She was my mentor and my best friend,” said Norman, who was with Mrs. Frazer, 75, when she died at her Ocean Ridge home on May 15 after a long battle with breast cancer.
    “We traveled together. We researched together, and I am the godmother to her third child. She and her husband practically adopted me. I’ve been a close member of the family for 28 years.”
    Norman said her friend loved laughter. “She was this 5-foot-2 woman with twinkly blue eyes that could turn stone gray in a heartbeat, although that didn’t happen often. She had a way of getting her way. If she went into a meeting and there was a jerk in the room, by the time the meeting was over she would have him agreeing with her. Heather made everybody a better person.”
    Mrs. Frazer, who also had a home in Northeast Harbor, Maine, was born on Nov. 25, 1940, in Honolulu.
    Her parents were James Sinclair Turner and Virginia Heathcote Turner. Her father was in Hawaii to work on installations at Pearl Harbor for his father’s firm, Turner Construction Co. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, she was building sand castles on the beach in northern Oahu.
    When her father joined the Marine Corps in 1943, the family moved back to Massachusetts, where Mrs. Frazer graduated from the Cambridge School of Weston and Connecticut College before receiving an MA and Ph.D. in South Asian history from Duke University.
    In an obituary Mrs. Frazer wrote herself, she said that her “early exposure to a significant historical event influenced my decision to become a history professor.”
    After Duke, she spent three years in England, where she had two children and completed research for her doctoral dissertation. She had her third child after moving to Florida to take a job in the history department at FAU. She was one of the founders of the women’s studies program at FAU.
    Her research and publications were about India, women’s history and oral history. But she took the greatest pleasure, she wrote, in “teaching and trying to inspire a love of learning in my students.”
    Besides teaching, Mrs. Frazer was on the boards of Gulf Stream School, Old School Square in Delray Beach, the Ocean Club of Florida and the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach. She was a trustee of the Northeast Harbor Library, a member and president of The Garden Club of Mount Desert, and a vestry member of the Parish of St. Mary and St. Jude on Mount Desert Island, Maine.
    “She never said no to giving back,” Norman said.
    Mrs. Frazer enjoyed traveling and being with her extended family, especially her grandchildren.
    She was married for 12 years to Patrick Coughlan. They had three children — Kimberly Gilmour, Devon Coughlan and Carter Coughlan. After their divorce, she was married for 32 years to Persifor “Perky” Frazer, who died in 2008.
    Besides her children and their spouses, Mrs. Frazer is survived by five stepchildren, Persifor “Pokey,” David, Randal, Lucius and Sloan, as well as their spouses, six grandchildren, 12 stepgrandchildren, her brother, Jeffrey H. Turner, and her sister, Lisa Phillips Turner.
    On the day she died, Mrs. Frazer, an avid Boston Red Sox fan, was listening to a baseball game on an iPhone with Norman. She died right after Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer, Norman said. “I think she rode that baseball right out of Fenway Park.”
    A memorial service was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on May 23.
    In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Gulf Stream School, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the scholarship committee of the Northeast Harbor Library or the Parish of St. Mary and St. Jude in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

Barry Adkin, owner of Howard’s Market in Boca Raton, was hoping to move to

Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar before the plaza began negotiating with Publix.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related story: Code change accommodates Publix sign request

By Dan Moffett

    For 30 years, Barry Adkin has helped run Howard’s Market, the family business on Southwest 18th Street in Boca Raton.
    That means rising around 5 each morning, cooking up casseroles and deli foods, getting the books to add up through good economies and bad, opening up ASAP after hurricanes, managing 40 employees and making emergency deliveries to loyal customers when unexpected guests show up for dinner.
    “We’re a small-town market,” Adkin says. “If you forget your money when you come to our store, just sign the bill. You can pay us the next time. We care about serving our community.”
    He was riding his bike through Manalapan about a year ago when the idea struck him: The town’s Plaza del Mar would be an ideal location for another Howard’s Market, a fitting extension of the eponymous enterprise his late father, Howard “Pops” Adkin Sr., founded in 1985.
    Barry Adkin, 50, didn’t know it at the time but he was about to pedal his way into a Howard and Goliath melodrama that was more biblical than any small businessman would ever want.
    Within weeks of the ride, Adkin was talking with Kitson & Partners, the plaza’s landlord. He offered a plan to put a 13,000-square-foot store in the centrally located building where two other small groceries had failed.
    Adkin brought in an engineer and drew up plans that included solar panels. “We want to do what’s right for the environment,” he said.
    Prospects for a deal with Kitson seemed promising, according to Adkin, and then a corporate giant entered the picture: Publix, the Lakeland-based supermarket chain with some 1,100 stores, 180,000 employees and annual revenues of roughly $33 billion.
    “We went from first in line to second in line very quickly,” Adkin said.
    Now Publix and Kitson are negotiating terms of a deal that would put a 26,000-square-foot supermarket in the plaza, town officials say, with construction beginning early next year and an opening set for 2018. Both Publix and Kitson declined requests to comment for this story.
    Town commissioners find themselves caught somewhere in the middle of the sticky grocery drama. They have no authority to get involved in negotiations between Kitson and a prospective tenant.
    But they have plenty of authority to dictate the building codes, permitting requirements and operational rules that regulate a large business in their town.
    “The owners of the shopping center are certainly well within their rights to bring a major grocery store in there,” Mayor David Cheifetz said, “and there’s a limit to what we can do as a commission.”
    Town Attorney Keith Davis said the town has to stay out of the landlord’s contractual relationships: “We have no business getting into whether it’s a Publix, Winn-Dixie or some other, smaller grocery store.”

Is Publix too big?
     In May, town commissioners approved a change to their sign ordinance that would allow Publix to display a large version of the company logo. About a month ago, Cheifetz visited Howard’s Market in Boca, as commissioners wrestled with worries that Publix might be too big for their town and plaza.
     “The entire concept of allowing that (large) store basically is going to push out other tenants with that structure,” said Commissioner Ronald Barsanti. “You’re losing the flavor of that plaza by pushing out restaurants. The jewelry store is going to have to move. A number of people are going to leave and we’re going to have this big monolith there.”
    Pedro Maldonado, owner of Jewelry Artisans Inc., says the landlord has given him until Sept. 30 to vacate the store he’s occupied for 27 years. “Right now, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Maldonado said.
    Former Vice Mayor Robert Evans, who lives adjacent to the plaza at La Coquille Villas, told the commission it should consider Howard’s Market as an option that might fit Manalapan better than Publix.
    “Now we know that there are alternatives and that the market is viable, we don’t have to trade our character for convenience,” Evans said. “It’s not just about La Coquille. It’s about the entrance to our town and what people see when they enter our town.”
John Lawson owns Stepping Out Shoe Salon in the plaza. His store will not be uprooted by the Publix plan.
    “Barry’s a nice guy and I like him as a small businessman,” Lawson said. “But I’m for whatever brings more traffic and makes the center more lively. We desperately need an anchor. We need a place where somebody on Ocean Boulevard can roll out of bed in the morning and go buy a bottle of milk. I’m for whoever can bring that, and unfortunately for Barry it looks like it will be somebody else.”
     Adkin, with his older brother and business partner Howard Jr., believe their store’s three-decade track record speaks for itself and shows the town stability that the previous small grocers lacked.
    “We have three employees who have been with us 20-plus years because we’re a family company,” he said. “When they have hard times, we take care of them.”
    Howard’s also brings special services to the table, he says. Last Thanksgiving, the Adkins cooked 150 whole turkeys and 200 breasts for Boca customers, a tradition that Howard Sr. started.
    Bringing a store to Manalapan would be a fitting way to extend the legacy of the father and small businessman who died six years ago.
    “Our holidays have always been when you have no holidays,” Adkin said.
    “My dad and I cooked together every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas. What else could a father and son want than to spend every holiday together?”

By Sallie James

    A controversial plan to build an upscale restaurant on a 2.3-acre parcel near the Intracoastal Waterway and East Palmetto Park Road is moving forward.
    Deputy Boca Raton City Manager George Brown announced plans for the Wildflower property during the May 24 City Council meeting. The on-again, off-again project is slated to come before the city’s Planning and Zoning Board on June 9.
    Boca Raton purchased the waterfront property in 2009 for $7.5 million so residents could have access to the waterfront. After the city began negotiations to lease the land to the Hillstone Restaurant Group, the property was fenced off from the public with locked gates.
    Original plans called for a Houston’s restaurant on the water, but current plans describe the proposed eatery only as a “full-service restaurant . . . compared to Hillstone’s other operations.”
    No dock is proposed, but a lease summary says Hillstone would not oppose a dock if it were installed by the city and as long as it did not obstruct patrons’ views of the water.
    The project, which would put millions of dollars into city coffers, has drawn ire ever since it was proposed. Residents who live in the area have cited concerns over increased traffic problems in an already congested area, while others are adamant about preserving the area for a park.
    An earlier proposed lease agreement fell through late last year when Hillstone withdrew from negotiations.
    Under the most recent proposal, Hillstone would initially pay $600,000 a year for five years, with the payments rising every five years to nearly $700,000 annually in years 16 through 20.
    The proposal includes five-year renewals, with payments increasing every five years for a lease total of more than $33 million. The city would pay all of Hillstone’s property taxes and the city could get added rent if gross sales exceed targets.
    According to Brown, the Planning and Zoning Board will review the project’s site plan on June 9 and make recommendations to the City Council on any land-use changes, rezoning, conditional use approvals and the lease. The project is expected to come back before the City Council on June 14, with a final public hearing at its next meeting on July 26.
    Meanwhile, more than 60 residents are carrying petitions in hopes of getting enough verifiable signatures by June 24 to put a referendum on the Aug. 30 primary election ballot. The referendum would demand that city-owned parcels adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway be used only for public recreation and boating access.
    “All we want is for citizens to be able to share their voice on the use of the property and the city has refused it,” said longtime resident James Hendrey, a city activist. “What we are trying to say is ‘Please let the citizens express their wishes,’ and the best way we know of getting that done — legally we are forced — is to develop [a question] we can put on the ballot.”
    The group needs at least 1,500 signatures, but Hendrey said it is hoping for 2,000.
    Citizens would vote “Yes” if they would like the properties on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway to be used for recreation and boating. Citizens could vote “No” if they were amenable to other types of uses, Hendrey explained.

    The good people of Boca Raton are in position to build the first homeless kibbutz in the USA. The United States’ shelter system for homeless people is a failed system. It makes nothing better, it only makes the situation worse.
    It is time to re-homestead our homeless people on small portions of land that they own in common. A small, working, agricultural kibbutz. A social experiment consisting of 25 homeless people, or 25 homeless American veterans, can be built on 1 acre of land. They could do this along with the right to erect shelter for the purpose of survival in 25 tents that may evolve into 25 tiny houses. Empty land above an abandoned septic tank or two portable toilets would be required.
    Over time, homeless people will come and homeless people will go, and a kibbutz could include many homeless people on the way to a more constructive life. Should the experiment work well for the city, then the city can build a second, third or fourth kibbutz, each on 1 acre of land. The city can increase or decrease the land leases as needed.
    I read the article by Sallie James, “Homeless in East Boca.” It is a well-written, unbiased explanation of the situation that the city finds itself locked into forever. A homeless person has lost more than the lawful right to enter and remain in a building; a homeless person has lost the right to land, altogether. The Industrial Revolution is over in the Western World; it is no longer necessary to force people off of the land into the cities to provide labor for industry. Industry is now a Rust Belt. It is time to re-homestead our homeless people on land that they own in common. Three million to 4 million homeless people in America exist on the land without a lawful place to be, and some of them end up in Boca Raton.
    Soon, about 15 million to 20 million American families that have lost their mortgages will spill out onto the land. Being forced to live without shelter causes the natural consequence of unnatural death. Homeless people exist on the land; it is the responsibility of society to organize this basic fact of life.
    In 2014, I went before the Boca Raton City Council and pleaded with them for this social experiment. I was ignored. The combined wealth and intelligence of this community can find every answer that we need to build the first homeless kibbutz in America. We know it works in Israel. Please visit the website homelesslandmodel.com and Facebook.com/American Homeless Land Model or send an email to american_homeless@yahoo.com.  
— Ken Churchill
Boca Raton

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach residents soaked by high water bills as a result of large leaks could soon be getting some relief.
    During discussion of a proposed ordinance that would include changes to the town’s water-rate structure — including a minimal rate hike for all water users — commissioners appeared to support the idea of giving customers a one-time break following a major leak.
    Commissioner Lou Stern, who has pushed for the change, said big water leaks are not uncommon in Highland Beach.
“We’ve had it happen twice on our street, including to our 10-unit condominium,” he said. “It can be a lot of money.”
    At the Coronado Ocean Club, a large underground leak led to water bills covering a four-month period adding up to about $143,000 — double what it would have been normally.  
    Dennis Dowd, the vice president of the condominium association, told commissioners in a May 3 letter that the leak had been fixed, but he wondered if it would be possible to help the condo association defray at least a portion of the large cost.
    One reason why Coronado’s water bills — and those of others who have big leaks — are so high is that Highland Beach uses a tiered-rate structure, similar to that used by other towns.
    With that structure, customers with high usage pay a higher per-gallon rate.
    In most cases, an underground water leak on the customer’s property will push the rate to the higher tier.
    Resident Jerry Wolff, whose six-unit townhome community received a $4,100 bill instead of the normal $300 to $400 bill for a two-month period in 2013, said if it weren’t for the tier system, the bill would have been in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.
    Under a proposed resolution brought to the commission last month, town officials would use prior bills to estimate the amount of water lost due to a leak.
    They would then adjust the customer’s bill to reflect only the water estimated to have been used. The customer would then be billed at the lowest-tiered rate.
    The one-time adjustment, according to the proposed resolution, would be at the discretion of the town manager.
    It would require customers to demonstrate they have repaired the leak and submitted a request for the adjustment within two billing cycles of the higher bill.
    The town manager would also have the ability to allow customers who suffer from unusually high bills, including those who do not qualify for the adjustment, to make up to four quarterly payments.
    Wolff, who said his community has seen two or three smaller leaks since 2013, would like commissioners to offer customers adjustments every two or three years rather than one time only.
    “The bottom line is the town should not benefit from someone else’s hardship,” Wolff said.
    The proposal, which commissioners will vote on before finalizing the budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, follows the recommendation of a consultant and includes a rate increase for water and sewer customers of about 2.4 percent.
    For a customer using 6,000 gallons per month, the increase would be about $1.13.
    A customer using 30,000 gallons per month would see a $3.26 increase.
    If approved, the increase would mark the first time Highland Beach has hiked its water and sewer rates since 2009.

By Dan Moffett

    Prospects dimmed for a barrier island fire district as officials from six coastal communities dug deeper into a consultant’s feasibility study last month.
    The preliminary report from Robert Finn, a manager with Texas-based Matrix Consulting Group, uncovered two significant problems that could derail the plan. Both are costly.
    For one, contrary to earlier estimates, revised numbers suggest that it would be difficult for the six towns to save money on operational expenses if they provide their own fire-rescue services. In fact, forming a district likely would require them to pay more each year.
    The other problem is delivering service to a district that stretches roughly 20 miles from South Palm Beach to Highland Beach and that is connected mostly by a single two-lane road, State Road A1A. Safety officials now believe that it will take four fire stations to cover the zone, meaning two new facilities would have to be built somewhere between the existing stations in Manalapan and Highland Beach.
    Even with four stations, the town representatives say they would still need mutual aid agreements with mainland service providers to ensure the proposed district is properly covered during the tourist season and periods of high recreational use.
    The preliminary report suggests that the price tag for creating the district is significantly higher than previously thought.
    “That’s the big gorilla in the room — cost,” said Bob Vitas, South Palm Beach town manager.
    Finn said he would have the study revised and completed before the end of June. Then the report will go to the elected bodies in the six towns — South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Highland Beach — for consideration.

By Sallie James

    Should the city hold a special election to fill a vacant City Council seat or should council members continue appointing someone to the opening? It’s a question at least one elected official continues to ponder.
    City Council member Scott Singer in April proposed a change to the city charter that would have required council vacancies be filled by special election no later than 60 days after the day the vacancy occurred.
    The way Singer figured, someone appointed to that vacancy could serve up to two years without voter approval. Singer said he wanted to give control back to voters.
    But when he presented the plan to council members in early May, the proposal failed amid a barrage of criticism citing unknown costs, among other things.
    Singer introduced a revised proposal at the May 24 City Council meeting extending the time frame for an election to 90 days and including language that outlines the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of holding special elections concurrently with previously scheduled elections.
    Council member Robert Weinroth called it a “solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” He also expressed concern about the cost if the special election didn’t coincide with a previously scheduled election. Other council members also expressed concerns about cost.
    “I think the system that is currently in place has worked well,” Weinroth said. “I am at a loss to think why [Singer] wanted to bring it back so quickly. I am kind of surprised. I thought he might have realized there really wasn’t much support for what he is trying to do.”
    According to a memo from Boca Raton City Clerk Susan Saxton, a special election held in conjunction with a primary or general election could cost the city anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000. A standalone special election — which would include all actual costs incurred by the county supervisor of elections — would cost between $120,000 to $135,000, the memo stated.
    If City Council members approve the proposed charter amendment, the measure could come before voters in the Aug. 30 primary election.
    The revised charter change provides that a special election for a council vacancy would take place the Tuesday following the 90th day after the vacancy occurs or as soon as practical. The amendment goes on to say if the vacancy occurs within 150 days of a previously scheduled federal, state, countywide or city election, the special election can be held concurrently.
    Both Mayor Susan Haynie and council member Jeremy Rodgers agreed in early May that the measure needed more study. Singer’s proposed changes were in response.
    Also at the May 24 meeting, Weinroth introduced a revised ordinance that proposes salary hikes for the mayor and City Council members, changing some of the original proposals he made in late April.
    The April proposal suggested elected officials get pay raises that more than quadruple their salaries, and stated that if Palm Beach County commissioners’ salaries are raised, Boca Raton council members’ salaries would be raised the same amount.
    The revised ordinance, which would also go before voters on Aug. 30 if the council approves, removes the automatic salary increases and slightly reduces the previously proposed annual salaries.
    The earlier proposed salary of $38,550 for the mayor was reduced to $38,000 in the revised proposal, and the initial proposed salary of $28,766 for City Council members was reduced to $28,000 in the revision.
    Weinroth said he proposed the revisions because feedback from the community and the Chamber of Commerce showed support for the increase, but reservations about making them automatic.
    “The real issue was people had some concerns that they wanted to have a voice in future increases and certainly I could understand that,” Weinroth said. “If [automatic increases were] the only reason they would not support it, I wanted to take that off.”
    Boca’s mayor currently is paid $9,000 a year. Council members are paid $7,200 a year.
    Previous attempts in 2004 and 2006 to increase the salaries both failed.
    If voters approve, the pay hikes would become effective in October 2017.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue Capt. Jason Owens checks on the shark bite victim

before she was taken to the hospital.

Photo provided

By Sallie James

    It was an “only in Florida” story if there ever was one: A young woman went for a swim in the ocean and emerged with a baby nurse shark attached to her forearm.
    A shark that had latched on so tightly that rescue workers decided not to remove the shark from the woman’s arm, but took her by ambulance to Boca Raton Regional Hospital with the creature still attached.
    “If it can happen, it will happen in Florida,” said Boca Raton Fire Rescue spokesman Bob Lemons. “There was very little blood — there wasn’t really any active bleeding when the marine patrol or we were on scene. She was in very good spirits. She made several social media posts.”
    The woman’s name was not released. Her condition is unclear and it’s unclear how the shark was removed.
    The odd incident occurred around 1:20 p.m. on May 15, when a woman showed up at Lifeguard Station No. 8 with the shark firmly attached to her right forearm.
    Boca Raton Ocean Rescue Capt. Clint Tracy was on duty at another location when he heard radio chatter about the shark. Ocean rescue workers are careful not to tie up the airwaves with idle chatter, so the transmissions caught his attention immediately.
    “We have a young lady with a small nurse shark attached to her arm,” a rescue worker from Lifeguard Station No. 8 said.
    “I asked him if he needed fire rescue at the time. He said, ‘Not at this time,’ and then a lieutenant arrived and said we did,” Tracy said. The first lifeguard on scene — who was new to the job — was extremely calm and handled the situation well, Tracy said.
    By the time Fire Rescue arrived, Ocean Rescue had pretty much stabilized everything. However, the 2-foot-long shark — which was dead — was still attached to the woman’s arm, he said.
    According to National Geographic, nurse sharks have strong jaws “filled with thousands of tiny, serrated teeth, and will bite defensively if stepped on or bothered by divers who assume they are docile.”
    Rescue workers put a splint underneath the woman’s arm and underneath the shark so she could be transported with the shark on her arm. Rescue workers didn’t want to pull off the shark and possibly cause unnecessary tissue damage.
    How the incident occurred remains in question.
    According to some witnesses, several people in the water were antagonizing the shark. A friend said the shark just came out of the water and bit the woman.
    “We were there to keep her comfortable and transport her to the hospital. I think it was just a very unique situation,” Lemons said. “Everybody worked well together.”

Related story: Higher cost estimates could scuttle fire district plan

By Rich Pollack

    Another deadline for when Highland Beach has to let Delray Beach know if it plans to continue contracting with the city for fire and rescue services has come and gone — and still no decision has been reached.
    Negotiations are continuing, however, with both municipalities agreeing to extend the deadline for 90 days.
    “Extending the deadline gives us the opportunity to continue negotiating further,” Highland Beach Town Manager Beverly Brown said.
    While town officials continue back-and-forth talks with Delray Beach representatives, Highland Beach is also exploring the possibility of contracting with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
    Currently, Delray Beach staffs a Highland Beach-owned fire station adjacent to Highland Beach’s Town Hall. The town owns a 10-year-old rescue wagon and rents a fire truck from Delray Beach for $8,500 a month.
    Brown said the town had discussions with Boynton Beach officials but ruled out contracting with that city’s Fire Rescue Department because of concerns over the time it would take for a backup rescue or fire truck to respond in an emergency.  
    Also still under consideration is the possibility of Highland Beach joining a proposed barrier island fire district being explored by six municipalities. But Brown said there are several issues that could prevent the town from partnering with others.
    “It’s not as viable an option as it once was,” she said, citing start-up expenses and backup response times.
    Discussions regarding a new 10-year fire-rescue service agreement between Delray Beach and its smaller neighbor have been going on for months. At one point this year, an agreement seemed unlikely after Delray Beach commissioners proposed adding a 20 percent administrative fee to the proposed $3.5 million annual contract.
    Negotiations resumed, however, after representatives from both municipalities realized they could benefit from continuing the partnership.
    “The notion that Highland Beach gets more out of this than we do is not factually accurate,” Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein said during discussions in March.
    Brown said she does not think delays in reaching an agreement with either Delray Beach or Palm Beach County will affect Highland Beach’s ability to have a fire rescue service provider in place by the time the current contract expires in September 2017.

Related story: Atlantic Avenue business sales drive Delray’s value increase

By Mary Hladky

    As the housing market collapse fades into memory, the taxable value of Palm Beach County properties has risen to within striking distance of the historic high set in 2007.
    Estimates released by Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits’ office on May 27 show that taxable values have increased for the fifth year in a row.
    Countywide, the amount grew by 7.85 percent from 2015 to 2016, to $164.5 billion. That is just short of the record high of $169.5 billion, and well above the low point of $124.4 billion in 2010.
    Delray Beach bested other cities and towns in south Palm Beach County, with taxable values rising 10.1 percent. Boynton Beach jumped 7.7 percent and Boca Raton rose by 6.7 percent.
    The county and its 38 cities and towns could soon completely wipe out the losses of the recession, Nikolits said.
    “It is probably within the next couple of years. We are practically there now,” he said. “We will be back to where we would have been if we had not gone through all the upheaval.”
    Local governments will use Nikolits’ estimates to calculate how much property tax money they can expect in the coming year and to set their annual budgets and 2016-17 tax rates.

    A preliminary tax roll will be submitted to the state on July 1, and governments then approve new budgets and tax rates — a process that ends in about mid-September before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.
     An increase in taxable values means that the county, cities and towns will collect more money from property owners if they keep their tax rates the same as last year.
    While elected officials can increase the tax rate, most typically are loath to do so and anger residents. They also can reduce the tax rate any amount or enough that the new rate will bring in the same amount of tax revenue as last year.
    “It is a double-edged sword,” Nikolits said of the rise in taxable value. “It is good news for the property owner. It is bad news for the taxpayer, who is usually the same person, because it affords the taxing authorities the ability to take in even more tax revenue. It is a very rare taxing authority that won’t take advantage of that.”
    Indeed, only seven of the county’s cities and towns lowered their property tax rates enough to avoid tax increases last year.
Boca Raton was among those that did not do that. But Mayor Susan Haynie notes that the city has the lowest tax rate of any “full service” city in the county, meaning a city that does not outsource any of its municipal services. The current property tax rate is $3.67 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
    “The important thing is we are able to provide world-class municipal services at the lowest tax rate in the entire county,” she said.
    Delray Beach City Manager Don Cooper said his city’s gains in part reflect development in the central business district. The projects fall within the Community Redevelopment Agency area and, as a result, any additional tax revenue generated will remain within the CRA rather than benefiting the city as a whole.
    Cooper said it’s too early to predict next year’s property tax rate since the 2016-17 budget is still being worked on. The current rate is $7.33 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
    “We certainly are not going to go up,” he said. “We will stay the same or drop.”
    Boynton Beach officials declined to talk about the tax rate. It currently is $7.90 per $1,000 of assessed value.
    Taxable values increased by 7.3 percent in Briny Breezes, 5.5 percent in Gulf Stream, 6.5 percent in Highland Beach, 9.1 percent in Lantana, 9.9 percent in Manalapan, 7.5 percent in Ocean Ridge, and 7.9 percent in South Palm Beach.
    While estimated taxable values have gone up, the property appraiser’s numbers show growth has slowed in recent years. Taxable values jumped 9.7 percent countywide last year. In just two other examples, Boynton Beach was up 10.1 percent while Boca Raton increased 7.6 percent from 2014 to 2015.
    Before the real estate crash, a 4 percent to 7 percent increase “was considered a normal market,” Nikolits said. “What we are seeing over the last two years is that we are returning to a more normal market — not double digit (increases).”
    The average increase for all cities was 8.22 percent.
    Realtors have noted that increases are slowing.
    “Sales prices for high-end properties in the coastal communities have regained ground lost during the recession and then some,” said Pascal Liguori, a broker associate with Premier Estate Properties. “Now prices are beginning to level off, reflecting a more normal rate of appreciation.”
    Yet the market remains very active, he said. “It always goes back to the fact that there is more demand for property in the coastal areas than there is supply,” he said.
    Jack Elkins, an agent with Fite Group, agrees demand remains strong in the coastal communities, although values now are edging up rather than skyrocketing.
    One change he is seeing that bolsters business is that instead of buying vacation homes, more out-of-staters in the market for luxury homes are opting to become Florida residents. As a result, he said buyers are willing to pay more for a permanent home than a vacation property.
    While not certain why this is happening, he posits that changes in tax laws up north are making it more expensive to live there. Florida has low taxes and owners can homestead for additional tax savings.

Michelle Quigley contributed to this story.

By Steve Plunkett

    Talk of the city annexing five subdivisions north of Clint Moore Road has the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District crying foul.
    District commissioners were already chafed by the 2013 annexation of the Royal Palm polo grounds, which also are north of Clint Moore Road and outside district boundaries. Royal Palm polo residents are able to use beach and park district facilities but do not pay beach and park taxes.
    “It is unfair to tax some people and not others. Whatever it takes to make it fair to everyone is what needs to be done,” District Commissioner Dennis Frisch said.
    The Boca Raton City Council heard a preliminary analysis of the possible annexation of Le Lac, Azura, Fieldbrook Estates, Boniello Acres and Newport Bay at its May 9 workshop session. Combined, the 435 residences in the neighborhoods would bring in an additional $505,567 in city taxes, Deputy City Manager George Brown said.
    Arthur Koski, the beach and park district’s interim executive director, estimated that the Royal Palm annexation, with a planned 247 homes, would mean about $250,000 a year in unpaid district taxes when built out. A buyer paid $2.2 million for the first residence there in December, according to county property appraiser records.
    “This is not small change,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said, adding that the missing revenues over 10 years would pay for most of a beach renourishment project.
    The five targeted neighborhoods would bring the district about $277,000 a year in taxes if the new residents also become part of the district. But if not, they too will get free use of beach and park facilities.
    “It would seem to me, simply, that all the existing city residents and the existing district residents would be subsidizing those annexed citizens as they come into the city. Everyone else would be paying the [$1 per $1,000 of taxable value] to the district except for these annexed citizens,” Koski said.
     Koski also said that if the annexed residents were to pay district taxes, existing residents might see a tax decrease. But changing the district’s boundaries is not a simple task; it requires a state legislative act, and city officials must give their approval first.
    Commissioners told Koski to write the City Council and ask its members to support a change to the district’s legislation to include newly annexed areas. Frisch said to also request that they consider the matter at their June 14 meeting since the council meets less frequently in the summer.
    “If we get a letter there next week and it doesn’t get put on until the July or August agenda, it defeats our purpose of making things go,” Frisch said

The Early Literacy Backpack program is giving Suzanne Endruschat’s daughter, Maggie, 4,

a head start on developing her reading skills.

Photo provided

By April W. Klimley

    Maggie Endruschat just turned 4, but she’s already getting ready to read — and enjoying it — says her mother, Suzanne, thanks to Boca Raton Public Library’s new Early Literacy Backpack program launched in April.
    The libraries offer 12 backpacks that parents can borrow: six at the downtown branch, six at Spanish River. Each backpack is filled with books, toys, educational puzzles and even puppets and stuffed animals.
    The idea is to help children up to 5 years old become familiar with the concepts of reading — such as the alphabet, phonics and storytelling — and thus prepare them for learning to read in kindergarten.
    The themes of the backpacks range from the basic ABCs and numbers to pets, bears, toys and bugs. The program is based on the six skills identified by the American Library Association for successful reading readiness: print motivation, print awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, phonological awareness and narrative skills.
    “All the backpacks were checked out in about a week,” says Amanda Liebl, the library’s youth programs director. Liebl says that many parents found out about the program during story time for their tots. Now there is a waiting list.
    Maggie has already gone through the ABC and Number backpacks, so she was ready for new themes, according to her mom. The bear backpack is based on the popular folktale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It contains a stuffed bear, several board books, a puzzle in a frame, a lacing card and laminated sheet with pictures of the three bears story.
    Suzanne Endruschat, who works in accounts services for the library, says Maggie has enjoyed all the backpacks so far. And now, with the bear backpack, her little girl has started telling the three bears story herself. Maggie points to different pictures on the laminated story sheet as she tells the story to her mother.
    Lynne Holloway, collection services librarian, observes that the backpack program is not just for the children. “It’s for the parents, too,” says Holloway. “The backpacks give guidance to the parents or caregivers.” They enable adults to learn new ways to help their children become “reading-ready,” whether or not the children also attend a day care program where they might be learning these skills as well.
    Endruschat also believes the backpacks benefit parents. “I do think the backpacks are really fun for her,” she says. “But they also give me ideas on how to do other things with her. It makes you think of ways you can engage your child to enrich the stories you tell. It’s all about engaging your kids.”
    A further appeal of the backpack program may be the packaging itself. “The tinier kids see the big kids carrying backpacks for school,” says Endruschat. “So part of the appeal is the ‘big kid’ feel of the backpack.”
    For more information about the Early Literacy Backpack program, visit www.bocalibrary.org.

By Steve Plunkett

    Night owls behind the wheel can expect to encounter up to 30-minute delays on Interstate 95 on select Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Work on the Spanish River Boulevard interchange this month will include erecting bridge beams across the highway from 11 p.m. June 7 and June 9 until 5 a.m. the next day.
    The Florida Highway Patrol will restrict northbound I-95 traffic beginning at Southwest 10th Street; motorists can expect a half-hour delay. The I-95 northbound entrance ramps from westbound and eastbound Glades Road will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. those days in conjunction with the pacing operation. Traffic will be detoured via Federal Highway.
    I-95 southbound bridge beam work is scheduled for 11 p.m. June 14 and June 16 until 5 a.m. the next day. The FHP will restrict southbound I-95 traffic at Atlantic Avenue; motorists can also expect a half-hour delay there. As part of this operation, the I-95 southbound entrance ramps from westbound and eastbound Yamato Road will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. both days; traffic will be detoured via Congress Avenue.
    Continuing work on the $69 million project means I-95 northbound and southbound between Glades Road and Congress Avenue may have up to three lanes closed, with the first lane closing at 9 p.m. and the second lane and third lanes, if needed, closing from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Friday. The new interchange is expected to be completed in summer 2017.
    Drivers can visit www.d4fdot.com or call the Florida Department of Transportation at 954-777-4090 or 561-214-3358 for more information.

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District is sending a counterproposal filled with additions and deletions to the City Council, which wants “sole discretion” to make changes at parks.
    The district and the council now must compromise when they don’t see eye to eye. District Chairman Robert Rollins says the city plan would be “an unlawful delegation of our legislative authority.”
    “The only thing left for the district is to tax our constituents and write a check,” Arthur Koski, the district’s interim executive director, said.
    “That’s the way I interpreted it,” Commissioner Susan Vogelgesang said.
    Rollins said he told Mayor Susan Haynie he was unhappy with the city’s proposal and wanted to scrap it and start over. But Haynie urged him to suggest changes instead.
    The city and the district have eight contracts with each other governing the operation and maintenance of one park or another, Koski said. He saw nothing wrong with trying to consolidate the agreements into one provided the new document was “properly worded.”
    Commissioners compiled a list of changes they want in the contract at their May 24 meeting. Koski said they did not have to accept the document as proposed.
    “Keep in mind, we are not a board of the city. We do not respond to City Council wishes,” he said.
    Rollins objected to a clause that would let the city bill the district for any work the city decided was not up to its standards and had to be redone.
    “When I’ve had somebody come to my house, I typically tell them what work I want them to do for me. This is totally opposite of that,” he said.
    The kicker, he said, was a statement that the city could terminate the agreement for any reason, “or no reason,” with six months’ notice. There was not a similar out clause for the district.
    “This contract was in play for five months before we saw it,” Rollins said. “This was a great opportunity for us to have some communication, I thought.”
    Commissioner Earl Starkoff said city officials “sideswiped” the district with the proposal and called it a “threat to our existence” and a “totally one-sided money and power grab.”
    “We never asked them to consolidate the agreements,” Starkoff said.
    Commissioners also decided to seek a 10-year contract with automatic renewals instead of 30 years, and the ability to send the city payments via electronic transfer rather than U.S. mail. They also planned to invite the City Council to a joint meeting on July 25, when council members are scheduled to have a workshop session.
    “I don’t want us to send this and find another five months goes down the line,” said Commissioner Dennis Frisch.

By Steve Plunkett

    Arthur Koski, longtime attorney for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, will relinquish his additional role as interim executive director of the agency Oct. 1.
    Koski, who has been under attack from city officials seeking a full-time director, said his decision to step aside was not a result of outside pressure.
    “None whatsoever,” he said. “It takes an issue off the table.”
    Boca Raton city officials last year included a clause in a proposed contract between the two government entities requiring the district to have a full-time executive director. City Council member Robert Weinroth made a similar demand in a March 15 email.
    “For the record ... I believe the District needs to [make] securing a permanent executive director as a top priority,” Weinroth wrote.
Koski became the district’s interim director after Robert Langford retired in 2012.
    In Koski’s private law practice, he represents two city residents who are suing Boca Raton to block construction of a chabad on the barrier island.
    Koski, who announced his intention to quit at the district’s May 24 meeting, recommended that district commissioners promote Briann Harms, the assistant executive director, into the top spot.
    “She’s ready,” he said.
    District Chairman Robert Rollins signaled his desire to change the status quo earlier in the meeting.
    “We probably need a full-time executive director,” he said.
    Harms has been with the district since 2005. She started as a recreation center supervisor at the district’s Sugar Sand Park, became information supervisor for the district in October 2013 and was named its assistant director a year later.
    She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Florida State University.
    Commissioners appeared ready to embrace Koski’s recommendation for his successor. They will make a decision at a future meeting.
    “I think you can see, we all appreciate the talents you bring to the board,” Rollins told Harms.
    “It’s really a joy, Briann, to see young professionals coming up and fulfilling their potential,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.

By Sallie James

    The Boca Raton City Council after much disagreement last month again delayed approving an ordinance that would limit building heights in areas zoned local business and multifamily residential.
    The proposed ordinance would limit building heights in certain zoning districts to 30 feet and accessory buildings in another type of zoning district to 25 feet. Both zoning categories currently allow heights up to 50 feet with council approval.
    Discussion centered on whether eliminating an option that allows for increased height was a good idea. In the end, the ordinance was tabled until the fall.
    Robert Eisen, who works for Investments Ltd., at 215 N. Federal Highway, spoke on behalf of himself and 16 other property owners. He said eliminating an increased height option could pose problems in the future as land becomes more scarce and commercial demands increase.
    Architect Doug Mummaw echoed his concerns.
    “Change is inevitable and zoning codes are meant to be flexible,” Mummaw said.
    Mummaw and Eisen suggested establishing a planning task force that would focus on the B1 zoning in the neighborhoods east of the Intracoastal Waterway and include homeowners on the barrier island, business owners and Chabad of East Boca, which has already been granted approval to build a much taller structure in the area.
    Council member Robert Weinroth even suggested consideration of a completely different zoning district in light of the concerns.
“I think the community and everyone who has spoken ... is of a mind that we have something special on the barrier island and it needs to be handled differently,” Weinroth said.
    In other action in May, the City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, delayed action on approving an updated rule requiring developers to set aside green space and open space in front of downtown buildings. The move delays the proposal until the July 25 CRA meeting, which will give the public more of a chance to speak on the issue.