By Anne Geggis

Palm Beach County will continue to put out Manalapan’s fires and provide emergency hospital rides via ambulance, the Town Commission decided.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue won the 10-year contract to provide service to South County’s smallest coastal municipality at its March 26 commission meeting. Commissioners opted for continuing the town’s current contract instead of switching to Boynton Beach Fire Rescue.

Palm Beach County has been providing fire rescue services to Manalapan since 1997 and commissioners decided to stay with that despite Boynton Beach’s lower price and more extensive rescue watercraft located in closer proximity to Manalapan. The county’s individual rescue watercraft are in Lantana and must be brought in by trailer to Boynton Beach and launched from there to reach Manalapan.

Palm Beach County, however, has more specialists in its department and the highest rating from the independent organization that evaluates fire rescue departments nationwide.

The rating from the Insurance Services Office affects insurance rates, which should mean lower rates for Manalapan property owners.

In a last-ditch effort, after the motion to approve Palm Beach County’s fire rescue proposal was made and seconded, Boynton Beach Fire Chief Hugh Bruder called his department the “Bentley” of fire rescue departments.

Manalapan staff approached him to make a proposal, he said.

“When time means life or death, Boynton Beach Fire Rescue has a two-minute average faster response time,” Bruder said. “Boynton Beach Fire Rescue has one of the largest marine capabilities in South Florida, which is especially important for the large amount of waterfront property and people in Manalapan.”

And, he added, the contract with Boynton Beach would add up to about $3 million less than what the county is charging over the 10-year life of the contract.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue officials were late to the meeting and not there to offer any counterpoints, but Bruder’s comments did not spur any further discussion on the commission.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Chief Patrick Kennedy, who arrived later in the meeting, said he was glad that his department could plan on another 10 years of serving Manalapan. It will mean finding a way to expand the current facility at Town Hall to meet the industry standard of four responders to each rig.

“We’re going to be working with the town to make that happen,” Kennedy said.

The county’s fire rescue contract is a continuation of its current terms, starting at $2.1 million and set to rise according to the taxable value of South Palm Beach’s property, reflecting how Manalapan’s terms for fire rescue services are connected to the town a half-mile north of Manalapan Town Hall. The utilities credit for the county’s use of town facilities that Manalapan can apply to its fire rescue bill will increase from $8,000 to $25,000 annually, however.

The conversation at the March 16 town workshop indicated a strong desire for continuity, as the commission has five new commissioners who have joined since December because new state financial disclosure requirements prompted resignations. Town Manager Linda Stumpf is also expected to retire in September after 14 years in her position.

“I realize that there is a value proposition here,” Mayor John Deese said, alluding to Boynton’s lower price and the staff and commission turnover. “I just think it would be wise and important for us to strongly consider staying in a relationship with Palm Beach County.”

Had Manalapan opted to switch to Boynton Beach, the county would have been faced with a conundrum because the Manalapan fire station supports service to Lantana and South Palm Beach.

Asked before the vote what plans Palm Beach County Fire Rescue had in place if Manalapan switched, a spokeswoman released a statement from the fire chief.

“It is Palm Beach County Fire Rescue’s intent to continue delivering excellent service to the barrier islands (Manalapan & South Palm),” the prepared statement from Kennedy read. “Our goal is to continue working with the Town of Manalapan to find ways to accommodate increased staffing.”

New commissioners sworn in — Mayor John Deese was sworn in, along with four other commissioners who came on board after five commissioners resigned rather than comply with new state financial disclosure requirements for elected municipal officials.

Deese had already been on the commission but moved to the mayor’s chair after Stewart Satter’s resignation. He bemoaned the effect of the law in his first comments as mayor.

“That’s an issue that we’re still concerned about … it was a real challenge that we lost almost all of our commission,” he said.

Joining him in the swearing in were Commissioners Elliot Bonner, Orla Imbesi and Dwight Kulwin, all starting new terms. Commissioner Cindy McMackin also took the oath of office for a term that lasts until March 2025. Another new appointee to the commission, David Knobel, had already been sworn in for his term that continues until March 2025.

IT check-up passed — Manalapan’s town information technology got a check-up from the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General and was largely found up to the mark in preventing hacks. However, the report said the town needed written policies for assuring only a limited number of employees had network access, on disposing of and sanitizing data, and on responding to a cybersecurity incident. Town officials addressed those gaps during the review process, the report said.

Municipal government’s vulnerability to hackers has emerged as a concern in recent years as ransomware attacks have held city systems hostage. In 2019, for example, Riviera Beach had to pay $600,000 in bitcoin to unblock city computer systems.

— Anne Geggis

By Anne Geggis

Mayor Shelly Petrolia’s service to the city has gotten her sued personally, put her at the helm during multiple city manager firings, never won her the support of the city’s real estate establishment — yet made her popular enough that her preferred successor is taking her seat.

Her last regular City Commission meeting March 5, wrapping up 11 years on the dais (the last six as mayor), was no time to start getting sentimental.

When Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston commented at the end of the meeting about how he had crawled into a pit to shadow a city worker, the mayor raised concerns about the liability the city could have faced had something happened to him. And that had Boylston bristling.

“To throw shade in our last meeting on something that was so valuable to me …” Boylston said in disbelief.

“I am not throwing shade,” Petrolia retorted.

It turned out to be Boylston’s last regular meeting on the commission as well, although he wouldn’t find that out until March 19 when he lost a mayoral bid that Petrolia’s pick Tom Carney won.

All in all, the woman Boylston wanted to replace — and who regularly landed on the opposing side of Boylston in commission votes — has presided over many fireworks. She was term-limited from running for reelection.

Counting interim city managers, Delray Beach has gone through eight managers in the past 11 years. Petrolia chalks that up to her wanting the best for Delray Beach.

Also, Petrolia led controversial efforts to put the Community Redevelopment Agency under the City Commission’s direct control and end the lease with the Old School Square

Center for the Arts. What happens with the management of Old School Square’s cultural arts programming is one of the cliffhangers Petrolia leaves for the new leadership to decide.

“She might be one of the most naturally talented elected officials I’ve ever seen,” said

Joy Howell, who worked in communications for the Gore-Lieberman presidential ticket in 2000, before becoming a close observer of Delray Beach politics in 2015.

With rights to say that she voted to lower taxes for nine years and against Atlantic Crossing, Petrolia is going out with the full slate of candidates she supported elected with convincing margins.

Commissioner Adam Frankel, who is leaving the dais after being elected five times, was often on the other side of the votes Petrolia cast.

“She was always passionate and stuck to her beliefs and while sometimes she and I disagreed she … never wavered from the positions that she thought were best for the city,” he said at the March 28 organizational meeting.

For now, Petrolia is not saying what her next move in politics is going to be, but she will point to what she thinks was her crowning achievement in office: getting Delray’s downtown through the COVID-19 epidemic with minimal damage.

“There wasn’t any manual to tell you how to do that,” Petrolia said.

She said she’s hoping her lasting gift to the city is that no one feels the way she did when she entered politics.

“One of the reasons that I came to get involved in politics was that I had lost faith in my government,” Petrolia said.

By Anne Geggis

A newcomer to the Ocean Ridge Town Commission — who happens to be a relative newcomer to the town — was the top vote-getter March 19 in a four-person race for three seats on the dais.

Voters were asked to choose three candidates and Ainar Aijala Jr., who filled a vacancy on the commission in January, won nearly 30% of the 1,206 votes cast among four candidates. Mayor Geoff Pugh drew 28% support and Commissioner David Hutchins — another recent appointee to the commission — garnered 27%. Nick Arsali, 68, a retired engineer, was a distant fourth with 15% of the vote.

The two top finishers will serve full three-year terms and Hutchins, 75, a retired airline pilot, will serve a two-year unexpired term.

Aijala, 67, who was sunburned from consecutive days campaigning at the polls, said he thinks his message resonated with voters.

“I’m really thrilled to continue as a commissioner for three years,” said Aijala, a retired Deloitte executive.

Ocean Ridge is facing challenges regarding how much improvement in handling water and sewage the town of 2,000 can afford.

Aijala said that although he’s owned a home in Ocean Ridge for just six years, and not had a role on the town’s governance committees, his executive experience was enough to win voters over.

“I think the residents looked at the challenges facing the town going forward and felt that me being here six years and not for 26 years is not relevant,” he said in a comparison with other candidates. “I think they felt that my background could bring a skill to the table.”

Hutchins said his conversations with voters as he campaigned left him with the impression that most are happy with the way the town is running. Still, replacing the town’s old water pipes is rising to the top of his priority list.

“I believe the figure to change out all the pipes would be prohibitive,” Hutchins said. “We have to work it into the budget as we can.”

The election follows a year of turmoil in Town Hall. Two commissioners resigned in early 2023 following a split vote on making then-acting Town Manager Lynne Ladner’s position permanent.

They were replaced by two others who resigned at the end of the year, one citing the state’s new financial disclosure requirements for elected municipal officials. The town’s police chief also resigned in 2023 to go to Gulf Stream.

Pugh, 61, who will have served 20 years on the commission by the time he ends his new term, said that he aims to keep things running steady.

“I think we have a good team and hopefully everything will be nice and quiet,” Pugh said.

Pugh, who owns a pool business, has presided over meetings as mayor the past year.

He will continue to do so. At its April 1 organizational meeting, the commission unanimously chose to re-up Mayor Pugh and Vice Mayor Steve Coz to their positions for another year. Town Clerk Kelly Avery announced the results of the secret balloting to applause from the crowd.

No to hate crimes — The recent rise of antisemitic acts on American soil following the eruption of violence in the Middle East prompted the Town Commission to reaffirm that all people should live free of discrimination, intimidation, threats and fear.

The March 4 resolution passed unanimously without comment, but resident Peter Wolf rose to thank the commission for its stand.

“The issue in the resolution is something that I thought in this day and age would never have to be discussed and yet it is something that must be discussed in my opinion,” Wolf said.

Beach trash piling up — The sight of trash spilling out of garbage receptacles at the beach has some town commissioners wanting to get rid of the contractor hired to take care of it.

Vice Mayor Steven Coz recounted at the March 4 meeting seeing a tarp, a broken board and a chair at one receptacle near his house one recent Saturday. “So there’s a mountain of trash,” he said. “I go down on Monday night and figure the guy will have come on Monday. No, he didn’t.  (That means) he didn’t pick up on Saturday, he doesn’t pick up on Sunday and he didn’t pick up on Monday.”

Town Manager Lynne Ladner said Ocean Ridge contracts with Cayco Landscaping of Oakland Park for the service. Commissioners said they would leave it up to her to see that the trash collection from the public receptacles improves.

Turtle Beach condo sign drama — The results of a Jan. 9 magistrate hearing regarding beach “No Trespassing” signs erected by the Turtle Beach of Ocean Ridge Condominium Association have been delayed as town officials plan to inspect the current setup and consider the association’s application for a sign permit.

Water pipe replacement contract approved — The first 3,000 linear feet of water piping are set to be replaced in the north end of town as the Town Commission at its April 1 meeting awarded a $2.5 million contract to Foster Marine to do the work. It’s the first chunk of 71,000 linear feet of pipe that the town plans on replacing.

— Anne Geggis

Some Democrats turned away because of confusion at polls

By Mary Thurwachter

Soon after the polls closed in Lantana on March 19, incumbent Mayor Karen Lythgoe joined friends at Lantana Pizza to celebrate her 653-385 win over newcomer George Velazquez.

“I’m relieved and I’m grateful that I get to keep working on what we’ve been working on,” Lythgoe, 64, said of the Town Council. “The five of us have got momentum going that I think is phenomenal. I think the town needs what we’re doing, we know what we’re doing, and I’m honored to be able to continue to be a part of it.”

She said she hadn’t slept for 24 hours and would be going home soon.

“I tossed and turned all night long and got up at 3:30 a.m. to start the day even though the alarm was set for 4:15 a.m.,” she said.

Lythgoe was sworn in during the March 25 Town Council meeting.

Election Day did not go without some chaos.

A handful of Democrats were turned away from voting in Lantana, as poll workers were apparently confused that registered voters of all stripes could cast a ballot in the nonpartisan mayoral election.

Lantana Town Clerk Kathleen Dominguez reports that six voters were turned away at the polls and a handful of others who initially were told they couldn’t vote were caught before they left the polling station and allowed to vote.

It’s not known how many of the six that left unable to vote returned later and were able to cast a ballot, Dominguez said.

An official with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office said one voter called the Department of State in Tallahassee to complain.

Dominguez said the confusion appeared to be confined to two polling places — Maddock Park and Lantana Recreation Center.

Nonetheless, the complaint prompted Elections Supervisor Wendy Sartory Link to send out a notification to all the Lantana precincts clarifying that although there was not a Democratic presidential primary, Democrats were eligible to vote in municipal, nonpartisan election and should be given nonpartisan ballots. Link also came to town to help sort things out, Lythgoe said.

“There was some confusion either with the training or the field clerk,” Lythgoe said. “I am a registered Democrat and when I went to get my ballot for the mayoral race they had to converse and figure out if I was allowed to vote.”

Anne Geggis contributed to this story.

The Institute for Regional Conservation recently held an ecological restoration event at Atlantic Dunes Park in Delray Beach, which focused on coastal conservation education and invasive plant removal. With funding and support from the city of Delray Beach, more than 2,000 cubic feet of invasive Brazilian pepper, as well as snake plant and carrotwood throughout the park, were removed in under three hours. 

It also held an ecological restoration event at Red Reef Park in Boca Raton. A group of 24 volunteers and the institute’s staff worked to restore beach-dune and coastal-strand habitat within the park. With funds and support from the city of Boca Raton, 90 plants were restored. Included were 23 native coastal species such as the inkberry, beach clustervine and sea lavender.

To learn about other volunteer events ahead, check out the institute’s website at www.regionalconservation.org/ircs/Events.asp.

By Steve Plunkett

Monthly garbage bills went up 22.6% on April 1 for back or side-door pickup at single-family homes and could rise even more in six months.

The rates for multi-family containerized service jumped 44.4%.

Waste Management Inc. of Florida, the company that has been hauling Gulf Stream’s trash since at least 1997, wanted to raise rates 62% at first for single-family homes, but agreed to the smaller increase while the town seeks a lower-cost alternative.

“They are eye-popping numbers,” Town Commissioner Michael Greene said.

“I understand prices have gone up in the last five years, it’s a different climate than it was then, but yeah, that’s tough,” Commissioner Rob Canfield said.

Town Manager Greg Dunham had hoped for an outcome more like what happened in 2019, when Waste Management sought a five-year contract extension at a 26% increase plus an annual cost adjustment tied to the “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Water and Sewer and Trash Collection Services.”

The town hired Mitch Kessler of Kessler Consulting and negotiated a 6% increase for the five years with annual increases tied to the specialized index.

But this time, with the contract expiring March 31, Waste Management reached out in December and offered the town a 62% increase from its current $37.86 per month for residential collection to $61.34, or a less-expensive curbside pickup option for the next five years. The commission decided to continue to provide back door/side door collection and use Kessler Consulting to negotiate a lower cost increase.

More recently Waste Management offered a six-month contract extension at a rate of $46.43, a 22.6% increase.

Dunham said the town and consultant Kessler had a call with its Waste Management representative, Barbara Herrera, and her supervisor, Lisa McNeight, to get either a 12-month extension at a 10% increase to allow for continued negotiations, or a more reasonable increase for the entire five-year renewal.

But McNeight “outright refused” to negotiate on either topic, stating that the 62% increase was the only and final number, citing cost increases related to the COVID-19 pandemic, waste hauling industry and driver pay, Dunham said.

McNeight justified the 62% cost increase by stating that the dollar figure itself was low, “only a few dollars a week,” Dunham said she told the town’s representatives. The proposed 62% increase would cost residents an additional $281.76 per year, he said.

That left Gulf Stream only two options: a six-month extension at a rate of $46.43, a 22.6% increase, or a five-year extension at a rate of $61.34, a 62% increase. Commissioners on March 8 chose the shorter term.

“If Waste Management is not willing to negotiate then we should put it out to bid,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.

Core area resident Joe Hardiman asks a question about flooding during an informational session last month at Gulf Stream School. He and other residents posed more than a half hour’s worth of questions to town and construction project officials. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

The much-anticipated plan to rid Gulf Stream’s Core area of stormwater flooding and pooling in the streets kicks off in earnest on April 24 and will work its way across the neighborhood through December of next year.

“It’s going to be inconvenient for a year and a half at least. But in the end it’s going to be worth it. It’s going to really improve the quality of life and the aesthetics of our town,”

Mayor Scott Morgan told about 70 residents who attended an informational meeting last month.

Silvio Rubi of Roadway Construction LLC said his crews will arrive in Gulf Stream on April 22 for some initial activity with “clearing and grubbing” operations to begin two days later on Golfview Drive west of Polo Drive. Clearing is the removal of vegetation, trees, rocks and other debris from the construction area, including landscaping, while grubbing is the removal of roots and stumps left behind after the clearing procedure.

The team will go door to door to see whether homeowners want to move shrubbery elsewhere on their properties instead of having it bulldozed away.

The $13 million Core project is divided into two phases of work. The first phase is Polo Drive and streets west of Polo and will continue until next February. Then construction shifts to phase two, the streets east of Polo.

Morgan said this is year six of the town’s 10-year capital improvement program.

“This is really the important year. This is what we have saved our money for. We have for 10 years been building up our reserves so we can pay for this particular project,” he said.

The age of the town’s water lines prompted the overall project. Town commissioners decided that if they were going to tear up the streets to replace the pipes, they might as well put down new asphalt, Morgan said.

“The water lines in the Core neighborhood district are very old, 50 to 60 years old, well past their life expectancy, and they need to be replaced well before anything untoward were to occur,” he said.

The project will also regrade the streets to better channel stormwater toward outfalls, and it will add curbs in strategic locations and 2-foot-wide “valley gutters” throughout the town.

Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers have set up a hotline for residents to lodge complaints (855-228-3436) and plan to create a website to track progress (www.CoreAreaRoadwork.com). The website also will be accessible from the town’s website (www.gulf-stream.org).

“So any concerns you might possibly have will come directly to my office, and then I will immediately get on top of what the problem is. And you will get it resolved as soon as possible,” said Rick Chipman, the construction project manager for Baxter and Woodman.

“We’re going to coordinate all the time with all the residents to make sure all your needs are being fulfilled.”

But, he said, “We need to be blunt and let you know that construction of this project will disrupt your normal daily transportation and other activities, but it’s not going to prevent you from doing anything. … So hang in there. … I know you’re going to be very happy with the project.”

Construction schedule

2024
April 22: Initial mobilization
April 24: Phase one begins at Golfview Drive with clearing and grubbing
May 3: Removal of existing drainage begins on Polo Drive
June 17: Water main and stormwater installation begins on Polo Drive
July 2: Clearing and grubbing at Palm Way
Aug. 21: Clearing and grubbing at Banyan Road
Nov. 6: Clearing and grubbing at Wright Way
Dec. 11: Clearing and grubbing at Old School Road

2025
Feb. 16: Phase one is substantially complete
Feb. 17: Phase two initial mobilization
Feb. 20: Phase two begins at Gulfstream Road and Golfview Drive with clearing and grubbing
Feb. 27: Water main and stormwater installation begins on Gulfstream Road
March 20: Clearing and grubbing at Middle Road
April 17: Clearing and grubbing at Lakeview Drive
June 15: Clearing and grubbing at Banyan Road
July 16: Clearing and grubbing at Oleander Way
Sept. 2: Clearing and grubbing at Bermuda Way
Oct. 14: Phase two is substantially complete
Oct. 15: Final asphalt placement begins on total project
Dec. 13: Project complete

By Anne Geggis

Allegations that Delray Beach’s city manager fondled the leg of the city’s fire chief as the two drove to an art exhibit in August 2022 has spurred a city investigation, according to a letter that surfaced despite the city saying it is exempt from disclosure.

City Manager Terrence Moore and Chief Keith Tomey could not be reached for comment to discuss the contents of the letter from Tomey’s attorney, which The Palm Beach Post posted online without identifying its source.

The letter said Moore “began to rub the inside of Tomey’s left thigh up to the groin area,” as he drove the two to the Arts Garage to view an exhibit of works by city employees.

Despite Tomey’s recoil from that touch the first time, Moore did the same thing on the way back to the office, prompting Tomey to say, “stop it,” the letter says.

After that, the letter alleges, Moore retaliated against Tomey in a series of incidents over the last two years.

City commissioners received the letter detailing the unwanted touching and resulting retaliation days before the March 19 municipal election. The day after the election, which saw a new commission majority elected, departing Mayor Shelly Petrolia called a special commission meeting to authorize the city’s lawyer to appoint a special investigator to look into the alleged incidents and retaliation.

The city has hired Brooke Ehrlich, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, to investigate the matter.

The letter that prompted the commission to act with all due haste was exempt from public disclosure, according to City Attorney Lynn Gelin.

The letter contends that Gelin received a report of the incident around the art show — an exhibit that included artwork by Moore and “risque” nudes done by Moore’s assistant — immediately after it happened.

Report on chief
On March 28, the Post published an article identifying what prompted the meeting and who was involved. It was published online soon after a report about how Tomey’s department allowed on-duty personnel to participate in a November 2023 charity softball event was completed and available for public inspection.

The city’s report investigating the charity softball game noted that Tomey, a 33-year fire service employee, received marginal ratings for accountability in his 2023 performance evaluation and called it “poor decision-making” on Tomey’s part that allowed firefighters to participate in the game while on duty.

Although the decision did not violate any specific city policies, it resulted in injury to one of the players, a worker’s compensation claim and compromised fire operations, according to the city report.

The letter with allegations against Moore that the commissioners received on March 15 also alleged that the city’s investigation into the charity softball game is just one part of the retaliation Tomey suffered for rebuffing Moore’s advances in the car.

The letter also says Tomey was experiencing retaliation for rebuffing Moore when Moore suspended him for five days following a car accident that Tomey was involved in and neglected to report to Moore.

“My client received a five-day suspension without pay for reasons that he does not understand except his belief that it is retaliatory,” says the letter from Isidro Garcia, a West Palm Beach attorney.

The letter also says that in 2022 Moore called Tomey in for a meeting at which Moore was “very upset” about Tomey promoting a Delray Beach fire captain to division chief of logistics. Moore asked him to demote the new division chief but Tomey refused, it says.

By Brian Biggane

Ever since a pedestrian was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing State Road A1A near the Barclay condominium in November, South Palm Beach residents have actively pursued new safety measures ranging from crosswalks and caution signs to a reduced speed limit.

Those efforts have paid off, with the Florida Department of Transportation announcing that by April 11 the town speed limit will be reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph. In addition, 12 safety signs will be installed: six “share the road” signs and six signs warning that bicyclists are present.

Most of the new 30-mph speed limit signs were up by the end of March.

Engineer Jonathan Overton, who runs the regional FDOT office out of Pompano Beach, said the changes were directly due to a Jan. 29 workshop attended by a near-capacity crowd at Town Hall.

Residents didn’t get everything they wanted. They told Overton repeatedly that the town needs a crosswalk to help pedestrians better navigate the highway.

Instead, Overton has suggested officials ask the town of Lantana to run a sidewalk from the north end of its public beach to A1A so FDOT could put a crosswalk there, near South

Palm Beach’s southern border. But the resulting crosswalk would be only 800 feet north of a crosswalk that already exists at the intersection of A1A and Ocean Avenue. It would be about a quarter-mile away from where Hatixhe Laiqi, 73, a Barclay resident, was struck and killed Nov. 10 while crossing A1A.

“I’m not sure if we will ask Lantana to do that,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said, “and even if they agree it’s still a long walk to get there for a lot of our residents.”

Since there is no public beach access in the town, Overton said, there is nowhere on the east side of the road to which he can run a crosswalk. While some residents suggested putting a sidewalk on the east side of A1A, Overton said that would be a detailed project involving the state and Palm Beach County and take a minimum of five years to complete.

On the speed limit change, Overton said driveways at the north end of town are spaced relatively far apart, prompting those drivers heading north to speed up as they leave town. But coming into town from the north the driveways come closer together and traffic on the adjacent sidewalk on the west side of A1A typically picks up.

“So, it was a good idea that those two traffic adjustments could be made,” he said, “the signing and the speed limit.”

Manalapan similarly requested a drop in its speed limit in early 2023, from 35 mph to 25 mph, but it was rejected by FDOT after the state completed a study that didn’t support a lower speed limit there.

Sales tax extension supported — The Town Council voted its support for a Palm Beach County voter referendum to extend the county’s one-cent sales surtax to fund local infrastructure projects through 2036. The county’s extra penny tax is expected to end in 2025 and county commissioners have indicated they don’t plan on calling for a referendum to extend the tax.

Backup generator sought — A measure to solicit bids for a new lift station generator has been rescinded by the Town Council. Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said he’s working toward having a backup generator available in case the current one fails.

Town awaits Town Hall costs — Titcomb said he anticipated receiving budget figures from Moonlight Architecture, which has been selected to construct the new Town Hall and community center, in the near future.

— Brian Biggane

By Brian Biggane

A major drawback for a government board with an even number of members is that any vote can end in a tie. That’s just what happened when South Palm Beach Town Council members attempted to add a fifth member to their board at their March meeting.

The seat was open because of the resignation of Robert Gottlieb in December. He cited health issues and an unwillingness to comply with new state financial disclosure requirements as his reasons for leaving.

His successor could have been decided by voters during the March 19 elections, but Gottlieb’s resignation caught would-be candidates by surprise. Not only did Gottlieb not file to run for re-election during the November qualifying period, no other candidates came forward either.

That put the decision on a replacement in the Town Council’s hands, to appoint someone to serve for two years until the March 2026 election.

Three applicants came forward in January, but Council member Raymond McMillan informed the body that applicant Arnelle Ossendryver had decided to drop out to tend to her ailing mother.

The council’s March vote then ended in a 2-2 tie, with applicants Elvadianne Culbertson and Jennifer Lesh splitting the vote equally. Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy and McMillan voted for Lesh while Mayor Bonnie Fischer and Council member Monte Berendes went with Culbertson.

Town Attorney Ben Saver said that since the appointment was to take place at the April meeting, the council could put off the decision, which it did. If the deadlock can’t be broken then, Saver said the council can carry on with its business with just four members — and can continue trying to find someone who can win the support of at least three council members.

LeRoy offered a forceful and animated endorsement of Lesh, who has lived in South Palm Beach for 22 years, spent 25 years working with students with exceptional needs in the Palm Beach County school system and is now in charge of the special education program at Lynn University.

“I’ve been trying to get her but she’s been busy doing other commitments,” LeRoy said. “But now her time is free. And when I asked her to run again — and I’ve asked her many times — she said now she had time for civic involvement. Now she wants to do this, and she’d be great.”

McMillan, who was supporting Ossendryver, said he changed his vote to Lesh when Ossendryver informed him she wouldn’t be able to make the time commitment to the council.

McMillan lives in the Southgate condominium, home to both Lesh and Culbertson.

McMillan’s vote surprised Fischer, who assumed McMillan would vote for Ossendryver, LeRoy would vote for Lesh and Culbertson would get the two remaining votes.

Nodding to Culbertson, the only candidate who was at the meeting, Fischer said, “We have someone sitting here in Elva who’s missed one meeting in 18 years or something like that. She’s been on the council.

“I know some members didn’t like her (attention to) detail, especially with the minutes and all that, (but) detail is important and we make decisions that affect everybody in this town.”

Berendes said another plus for Culbertson was her background with building plans as the town prepares to construct a new Town Hall and community center.

“We need somebody with her expertise,” he said. “I’m very much in favor of her being on the council. Very much in favor. I do think the other women are capable but she is head and shoulders above what we need right now.”

New limits could prevent large homes like this one, which looms over its neighbor’s pool and patio. Photo provided

By Anne Geggis

New home construction east of the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach will face new limitations for how much square footage can be built based on lot size — and more regulations may be on the way.

The City Commission unanimously approved new rules March 5 in response to resident complaints about a new style of home emerging on the barrier island. Residents criticized the oversized, office-like structures springing up as home sales lead to tear-downs, with the much bigger replacements looming over older homes in neighborhoods.

“We moved here because of the charm and character of Delray Beach, the Village by the Sea,” said Bob Schneider, one of the coastal residents who appeared before the commission. “We didn’t want to move into an office area.”

The new adopted rule means, for example, that a lot of 10,000 square feet could have a maximum of 6,500 square feet built on it — a cut of 45% from the previous 12,000-square-foot maximum that could have been built under air conditioning on the same lot.

Members of the Beach Property Owners Association said the guidelines are the result of working with the city’s planning department for three years. Some of them spoke and showed examples of homes that don’t exactly fit in.

“The bulk of this structure just looms large, as you can see, over the privacy of the neighbor’s rear terrace,” said Ned Wehler, flashing a photo that one might think showed the large building’s pool.

These homes, he said, are overgrown.

“One might ask, what is the harm?” Wehler continued. “The harm is a profound loss of privacy and destruction of neighborhood charm. Neighbors lose their pride of ownership and their sense of community as their homes are dwarfed by three stories flush with vertical walls built right next door, 7½ feet away.”

Anthea Gianniotes, director of the city’s development services, said that the staff was concerned that the points system used as a guideline for home-building still allows enough leeway that straight walls could still go several stories high. Ideally, homes with more than one story would have second and third floors that step back from the first-floor base.

“They might just back the whole building up (from the property line) so you’re still getting that sheer wall which may not be as aesthetically pleasing to the eye,” she said.

To stop that, the city might propose another tweak to the design code, Gianniotes said.

Hal Stern, the BPOA president and a resident of Seasage Drive, said he was glad the commission acted: “It’s a good start.”

By Anne Geggis

After years of planning, the replacement of Delray Beach’s 72-year-old water treatment plant is officially underway with the City Commission authorizing $15 million for its first construction phase.

At the plant’s age, it is no longer able to break down synthetic chemical compounds, although the water it produces does meet state and federal drinking water guidelines, said Hassan Hadjimiry, the city’s utilities director.

The replacement, like the existing one, will filter water through a membrane that separates contaminants from the final product. The new one is being designed to better filter out PFAs in the water, better known as “forever chemicals” that don’t naturally break down and can build up in the blood over time.  

Suzanne Mechler, client service leader with CDM Smith, the city’s contractor for the first phase of the project, said that if all goes well — and the company gets awarded the bid for the entire project — construction would begin in the summer of 2025 and be completed in 2027.

Built into the timing: qualifying for Florida’s State Revolving Fund grant program. The estimated total cost of the project has ballooned in recent years from $60 million to upwards of $120 million, so the city is looking for some help.

“That design is important because there’s also an SRF grant that’s out there that we want to help support and get that timing so that you guys are available for the next grant cycle,” Mechler said.

Challenges will include buffering the adjoining neighborhood to the plant — at 200 SW Sixth St. — from the construction, and building a new plant while the old one operates on the same site, Mechler said.

The unanimous motion to approve the contract marked a milestone for Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who won the mayor’s seat just as the condition of the city’s water came under increasing scrutiny, she said.  The March 5 meeting at which the commission signed off on the deal was her last official one presiding on the dais.

She recalled a tour of the water plant where she saw key parts that looked like relics from the 1950s.

“It’s unbelievable that that’s what is operating this whole plant of ours,” Petrolia said. “It’s just amazing. … We have not done anything really to update that in decades. And it is well past time.”

Split vote — The newly reconstituted Delray Beach City Commission had its first 3-2 split, which came at the March 28 organizational meeting when its three new members were sworn into office.

The new members — Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Tom Markert — voted for Casale to be vice mayor, while Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns picked Burns. 

The rest of the voting was unanimous for commission positions. Long was elected to continue as deputy vice mayor, Carney was elected chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency, and Burns was elected to continue as vice chairwoman of the CRA and as the city’s delegate to the Palm Beach County League of Cities.

Turmoil at the DDA — The Palm Beach County Ethics Commission has reprimanded a member of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority after finding Richard Burgess lied his way onto the DDA board.

And the newly seated City Commission unanimously agreed at its organizational meeting March 28 to have a hearing April 16 on whether to remove him as a result.

Burgess agreed to accept a reprimand for misrepresenting his business address as being within the DDA’s “tax qualified” borders when applying for the position last year, a move that the Ethics Commission said greatly improved his chance of being selected.

On the board, Burgess was one of two members — both appointed last June — who gave DDA Executive Director Laura Simon failing marks on city evaluation forms for her role as a downtown liaison and as a budget manager. But Simon’s evaluation at a March 11 meeting was postponed after some questioned if Burgess should be allowed to remain on the board — and Simon received an outpouring of support from downtown merchants amid rumors she might be fired.

The board agreed to have workshops regarding Simon’s performance.

Duplexes approved in historic district — A plan to put five two-story duplexes on Southeast First Avenue, in the southeast corner of the Old School Square Historic Arts District, won City Commission approval March 5 even though the project came with a thumbs down from the Historic Preservation Board.

Critics pointed to how the proposed Downtown Delray Villas needed 25 waivers and variances from the development rules for the district, including height limits and street frontage requirements. But the project was supported by neighbors who told commissioners it would be an improvement from the blighted properties there now.

The commission voted 3-2 in favor of the project, with Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Commissioner Angela Burns dissenting.

— Anne Geggis

By Steve Plunkett

An ad hoc committee of planning board members and interested citizens is busy looking for ways to make sure the mass of a new home doesn’t overshadow its neighbors.

“We have been tiptoeing around the massing issue for the last 10 years,” Mayor Scott Morgan said as the Town Commission prepared to authorize creating the panel on March 8.

Chaired by Architectural Review and Planning Board member and former Town Commissioner Paul Lyons Jr., the ad hoc committee met for the first time on March 28. Other members are ARPB members Malcolm Murphy and Thom Smith (another former town commissioner) and Core district residents Gary Cantor, Michael Glennon and Bill Koch.

Morgan said people tearing down a single-story home in the Core area and then replacing it with a two-story residence is making that neighborhood the one “most in threat of being changed” despite the town’s Design Manual having been created to preserve Gulf Stream’s original mid-20th-century charm.

“As property values increase, the desire for large homes comes along with it,” he said.

Lyons told commissioners that it was important for the ad hoc panel to have a clear mission and said he had identified 10 sections of the town code that might need modifications.

“My understanding is to look at massing within the Core district, that would be our focus, and to come up with some approaches, ideas to try to maintain the current atmosphere we enjoy — on Polo Drive in particular and Gulfstream Drive, those two lanes that are critical to the Core district,” he said.

He said the panel will meet every other week to “pick the brains of others,” including architects and city planners, and look at places such as Southampton, New York, where he has a summer home. That village, he said, “has developed some rules, codes, policies as relate to these kinds of issues in a similar kind of core district.”

Lyons said the panel would work hard to get residents to come to its meetings, “so it’s not just the ad hoc committee, but it’s the public, and we then make a recommendation to the commission.”

He also referred to the town’s coming centennial in 2025.

“You know we’re approaching 100 years,” he said. “Now we need to have a plan on how we want to see the town evolve” over the next 100 years.

Lyons also said the ad hoc committee would want to create incentives to discourage massing.

“Rather than be punitive — you can’t do this — (let’s say) this is what you can do. So, we’re gonna try to give it a positive environment for people to operate in,” he said.

Mark Zarrilli, a financial adviser and sales associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Boca Raton, relaxes at his condo in Highland Beach with a copy of his book. Zarrilli serves on Highland Beach’s Financial Advisory Board. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Mark Zarrilli’s final commute from Manhattan to Weehawken, New Jersey, after he spent 33 years on Wall Street came not in a car, boat, train or even a plane.

It came instead on a stand-up paddleboard as Zarrilli spent an hour navigating choppy waters on his three-quarter-mile trip across the Hudson River.

“It was definitely a challenge,” said Zarrilli, 58, who took the unusual trip in 2019 and who now has a home in Highland Beach.

The crossing of the Hudson was perhaps a metaphor for Zarrilli’s lifestyle transformation, going from a situation steered by outside forces — which came as a result of a three-decade career selling fixed-income securities — to a jam-packed but less intense life with him at the helm.

“My life is fast on my terms,” Zarrilli said.

These days, it would not be surprising to find Zarrilli selling real estate in Florida, developing property in the Keys or managing a bar he owns along with his brothers in New Jersey.

In between, he has time to mentor young athletes on the power of investing and to serve on Highland Beach’s Financial Advisory Board.

He and his wife, Janice, make time to enjoy all that South Florida has to offer — from the sunny weather to all the activities on the water, including fishing and boating.

On top of that, he’s updating a book he wrote, Brick & Mortar, which he describes as “part memoir, life advice, career advice, and the places you go, the people you meet along the way.”

“I’m not just sitting around talking about what I did for 33 years,” he said. “I’m planning on having fun for the next 33 years.”

The title of Zarrilli’s book has a double meaning going back to his days of growing up in Brick Township, New Jersey, and working with his father, who was a mason.

A boxer in the local Police Athletic League when he was teenager, Zarrilli met friends in the gym who helped him get started in the financial industry.

“In 1986, I was mixing cement by hand, doing block, brick and concrete work,” he recalled. “Within a year, I was working at a primary dealer, selling fixed-income securities to some of the biggest portfolios in the world.”

Working in the financial industry, he said, was incredibly pressured and fast-paced.

“It was like being on a treadmill every day,” he said.

A father of two adult daughters, Zarrilli still spends lots of time at the gym staying in shape. That also enables him to meet young athletes, whom he has mentored on investing wisely and given ideas on becoming well-paid professionals.

“I like going to the gym and talking to these guys and educating people,” he said. “We’re helping them find the right investment.”

Looking back, Zarrilli said his decision to leave Wall Street — and to do it on a paddleboard — came at the right time and the right way.

“I ended it the way I wanted to end it,” he said.

— Rich Pollack

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and grew up in Brick Township, a blue-collar town along the Jersey shore.

Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. I worked as a bricklayer before going to Wall Street, where I worked as a fixed-income bond salesman. 
I am most proud of being gainfully employed for 33 years and of choosing how I would end my Wall Street career.

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today? 
A. Be tenacious and have no sharp elbows — be nice. Do anything like you do everything.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Highland Beach?
A. I was introduced to South Florida in the late 1980s during several visits for bond conferences.

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Highland Beach? 
A. The eternal summers and the slow pace of living. I enjoy the beach, boating, fishing, recreation and exploring local areas.

Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I read two books a month and just finished Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way. I started John Grisham’s The Exchange: After The Firm.

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax? 
A. I like all genres of music. I am a lifelong Springsteen fan and I like old and new country and 1980s classics. I consider relaxing time while at the gym or beach reading.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions? 
A. I have two: “You’re not here for a long time, so have a good time,” and “Fear minus death equals fun.”

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. My mom, who is eternally optimistic and sees the bright side of everything, is a great mentor and so is my dad, who taught me to work hard and play hard. Both instilled family first.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Someone between John Wayne and Jerry Lewis.

By Ron Hayes

BRINY BREEZES — Ira Friedman of Briny Breezes died in his sleep March 23. He was 83.

How he spent most of those 83 years is more difficult to describe.

“He was the smartest person I ever met in my life,” said his wife, Joanne Friedman.

“He was an eccentric and an inventor,” said his stepdaughter, Jennifer Peri.

“He was a pain in the neck in a very good way,” said his longtime friend and neighbor, Mikee Rulli.

Mr. Friedman was a T-shirt designer who came up with a logo for his beloved Boston Red Sox that sold 50,000 shirts.

He was a member of the Briny Breezes Chiselers Club who crafted from wood a spectacularly detailed model of an airport baggage carousel, then used a power drill and gears to make the conveyor belt, all wood, travel in circles.

He was a puzzle maker who designed intricate games he dubbed Lockout, Slotto and Switchback.

He built a wooden replica of the Briny Breezes Oceanfront Clubhouse, accurate down to the smallest detail, and installed the first of the town’s five full-sized tiki huts on the beach.

And then he built the Briny-Go-Round, a tiered merry-go-round adorned with miniature mementos of the town he loved.

He was a carpenter, a woodworker, a model maker, a T-shirt artist and more.

Ira Joel Friedman was born in Boston on Dec. 24, 1940.

After graduating from Brookline High School, where he played on the varsity baseball team, he took classes at Franklin & Marshall College, MIT and the University of Illinois before serving six years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, where he earned a sharpshooter medal.

His first marriage, to Leslie Koran Friedman, produced a daughter, Jessica, in 1974.

Mr. Friedman earned a business degree from Boston University and worked for several years as a bank examiner for the U.S. Treasury Department.

With a partner he founded Eastport Manufacturing Co., which produced replica sports jerseys and for which he earned U.S. patents for silkscreen printing mechanics. The company was later sold to Starter sportswear.

“When I met him, he was a nomad,” Joanne Friedman recalled. “He had a hammer and nails.”

That was in 1981, at a Jewish singles dance in Newton, Massachusetts. “On our second date he said, ‘Do you want to move to Florida?’”

After 11 years in Wellington, they arrived in Briny Breezes in 1997, and Mr. Friedman found a home in the Chiselers Club.

“The Chiselers Club was a blessing to my mom because he had all those tools,” Jennifer Peri said.

And he wasn’t afraid to use them, fashioning countless models that threatened to overwhelm the couple’s trailer.

“He was a hoarder,” Mrs. Friedman conceded. “In Wellington, I had to remove about 50 bikes from our porch so Jennifer could get married. We owned 50 cars in 43 years.”

Moving into a mobile home did not assuage his obsessions.

“And then there was the boom box phase. We had 150 boom boxes,” his wife recalled. “You couldn’t fall down in here.”

Nor was his love of invention limited to woodworking.

“He created electrical vehicles from scratch with parts he found in junkyards,” Jennifer Peri said, “and then camouflaged them to look as if they were gas-powered.”

In Briny Breezes, she said, he loved most of all woodworking and the beach.

Their neighbor Mikee Rulli became used to a knock on the door almost every day.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Mr. Friedman would tell her. “I invite you to the beach. I’ve saved a spot just for you.”

Ira Friedman was eccentric, but he was no crackpot. One look at the talent and vision it took to create that all-wood, rotating airport baggage carousel, or those puzzles, or that Briny-Go-Round and you knew he had a touch of genius.

“His father was a doctor, and his brother is a doctor, but Ira didn’t like the sight of blood, so he became what he became,” Joanne Friedman concluded. “He was a mensch. A real mensch.”

In addition to his wife and stepdaughter, he is survived by a daughter, Jessica Friedman Hewitt of Providence, Rhode Island; his brother, Robert Friedman of Lakeville, Massachusetts; and six grandchildren.

He was predeceased by a son, Benjamin, in 2014.

A celebration of Mr. Friedman’s life will be held April 14 from noon to 5 p.m. in the Briny Breezes Clubhouse with a lunch of hot dogs and burgers, followed by a paddle-out organized by the Nomad Surf Shop. His ashes will be scattered at the same location as his late son’s.

All County Funeral Home And Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

OCEAN RIDGE — William James “Bill” Hebding of Ocean Ridge died March 13, surrounded by his wife and children. He was 78.

Born Oct. 16, 1945, in Decatur, Alabama, Mr. Hebding spent most of his life and career in northern Alabama.

Mr. Hebding was a loving father and husband, known for his generosity toward everyone.

As a young man Bill enjoyed walking the Tennessee River, hunting for artifacts. He was an excellent swimmer and diver. Lifeguarding was his summer job for years. In between time, you’d find him playing tennis or golf.

Later in life when he wasn’t on the water piloting his boat, he was in the air piloting his plane.

Mr. Hebding enjoyed traveling with his wife, Julia. He particularly loved Germany and Italy. Bill and Julia also loved sitting and talking and listening to the beauty of nature in their own backyard. Mr. Hebding embraced retirement in Florida — his definition of success being the ability to wear shorts and flip-flops every day.

He was an avid Alabama football fan and watched every game with his son, Bill Jr. He cherished his daughter, Layne, who was the apple of his eye.

He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

Mr. Hebding graduated with honors from the University of North Alabama in Florence. He was a CPA, business owner and entrepreneur.

Mr. Hebding is survived by his wife, Julia Ruth Hebding; son, William Hebding Jr.; daughter, Carmen Layne Gehris; brother, Daniel Eugene (Nevie) Hebding; sister, Barbara Hargrove, and brother-in-law Jim Compton.

Mr. Hebding is also survived by his former wife and mother of his children, Merilyn Mote, and grandchildren, William Chancellor “Chance” Hebding; Brooke Lauren Gehris; Taylor Layne Gehris; and Savannah Paige Gehris; stepchildren Emily (Sean) Jamea and Eliza (Drew) Reinking, and four step-grandchildren.

He also leaves behind nieces and nephews Steve Hargrove, Dave (Liz) Hargrove, Kimberly (Jay) Dernovsek, Sonia (Morgan) Churchman, Jim (Beverly) Compton, and Chris (Angie) Compton. He was preceded in death by his father, Daniel Paul Hebding; mother, Addie Reese Hebding; sister Margaret Hebding Compton, and his wife Pamela Marie Hebding.

A private memorial service will take place. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his honor to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

He will be interred at The Gardens of Boca Raton.

— Obituary submitted by the family