By Sallie James
and Steve Plunkett

    It’s not over yet.
    Despite a court ruling that Boca Raton city officials erred in giving the Chabad of East Boca Raton permission to build a new synagogue and museum, Chabad officials aren’t giving up the fight.
    Spiritual leader Rabbi Ruvi New on June 27 said the synagogue will appeal.
    “We are going to appeal to the 4th District Court [of Appeal in West Palm Beach],” he said. “We have very strong grounds for an appeal and we are prayerfully optimistic for a positive outcome and for our appeal to be upheld and reverse the current ruling.”
    New acknowledged the setback, admitting that the route to building Chabad of East Boca Raton’s facility has been more challenging than expected.
    “It’s definitely … a more scenic route to our destination than we anticipated, but our resolve to build a center is as strong as ever,” New said. “We’re absolutely not discouraged as much as the opposition would like to delay and derail the project. That will not succeed.”
    He said the deadline to file an appeal is July 8, and he expected Chabad to file its appeal very soon.
    A three-judge panel of the county’s Circuit Court made the ruling on June 6 regarding the proposed building, set to be constructed on Palmetto Park Road east of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    City Council members should have disallowed the My Israel Center museum outright or followed a city code requirement for 239 parking spaces for the facility, the judges said.
    “The city may not pick and choose which sections of the City Code will apply to the ‘My Israel Center,’” they wrote.
    David Roberts, the owner/broker of Royal Palm Properties across the street from the proposed synagogue, at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road, asked the court in August to review the City Council’s approval of the site plan, saying its resolution “departed from the essential requirements of the law.”
    Roberts could not be reached for comment for his reaction to the ruling despite several phone calls.
    The council approved the Chabad’s plans in May 2015, despite the fact that zoning in the area does not permit a museum, Circuit Judges Meenu Sasser and Lisa Small and County Judge Ted Booras wrote in their opinion. Even granting the property owner’s contention that a museum in this case is a “place of public assembly,” they said, officials should have insisted that the .84-acre site have 239 parking spaces, not the 81 approved.
    New earlier had told neighbors that a Chabad providing 81 parking spaces would be “unprecedented” in coastal Florida. The downtown space his congregation leases at 120 NE First Ave. has just five parking spaces, he said. An 11,000-square-foot synagogue in Palm Beach has four and a 35,000-square-foot Chabad in Sunny Isles has 22.
    The Chabad has been trying to find a larger place to meet for years. This is the second time parking has tripped up its plans.
    In 2008 the congregation wanted to move into a 23,000-square-foot building near Mizner Park but was unable to meet parking requirements there.

By Dan Moffett

    Elected officials from six coastal communities will have some difficult decisions to make in evaluating the results of a study that examines the feasibility of creating a barrier island fire district.
    The revised 130-page report from Texas-based Matrix Consulting Group paints a complicated picture of how the six towns — Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and South Palm Beach — might unite to provide their own fire-rescue services.
    Tradeoffs between cost and levels of protection permeate consultant Robert Finn’s analysis of what an independent district might look like and what is needed to create and run it.
    A key issue for officials is deciding how many stations are needed to effectively cover the proposed 20-mile district that runs along A1A.
    The plan envisions using existing stations in Manalapan and Highland Beach, with a new station to be built somewhere between Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge.
    Some officials believe the district will need a fourth station, however, or at least the capability to deploy a fourth rescue unit — added expenses that could make the plan too costly.
    Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher, who has led the exploratory group for the district proposal, says he expects the elected councils and commissions in the six towns to consider the findings this month and then decide whether to move forward.
    “For this to work, we need all six communities to stay involved,” Thrasher said. “That could be difficult considering some of the concerns about cost.”
    South Palm Beach Town Manager Bob Vitas has said his council is unlikely to approve any plan that raises costs.
    Highland Beach may be nearing an agreement for fire service with Delray Beach that could lead the town to pull out of the district group.
    Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf says the town’s current long-term arrangement with Palm Beach County will be hard to beat. Manalapan has its own station and pays a relatively low rate for services that is linked to property values in neighboring South Palm Beach.
    “We have the Cadillac of all deals,” Stumpf said. “No one will ever see that deal again.”
    Still, Thrasher says he expects officials from all six towns to take a hard look at the study and formally support or reject the district plan.
    Among the study’s key findings:
    • The six towns currently pay a combined $6.93 million for their fire-rescue services. The estimated annual cost of operating an independent fire district with three rescue units is $6.15 million, suggesting a potential savings of about $781,000 per year. Adding a fourth rescue unit would cost about $800,000 more and amount to a $33,000 increase over current operating expenses.
    • It would take roughly $7.4 million in capital expenditures to get the district started. This includes about $3.6 million for trucks, vehicles and equipment, as well as another $3.8 million to renovate the Manalapan station and build a new station somewhere near the middle of the district.
    • Mutual aid agreements with mainland providers would be important to “ensure an effective response force can be assembled on structural fires.” Cooperation with mainland providers would help ensure coverage throughout the long, narrow district. The report says a close relationship between Delray Beach and Highland Beach would be necessary to cover the southern end.
    • The cost of buying services from the mainland continues to rise — up a combined 7 percent for the six towns over the past three years. Gulf Stream’s costs rose the most (10.25 percent) and Manalapan and South Palm Beach shared the lowest increase (5.15 percent).
    • Current response times vary significantly — from a high of nine minutes, 20 seconds in Gulf Stream to lows of roughly five minutes, 10 seconds in Manalapan and South Palm Beach.
    • The district would provide coverage to residents in the unincorporated county pocket and recover fees for service through an agreement with Palm Beach County.

By Steve Plunkett

    Boca Raton’s environmental advisory board supports moving quickly on getting money from the Florida Inland Navigation District and the county to restore Lake Wyman.
    Steve Alley, chairman of the panel, showed City Council members a map of the Intracoastal Waterway with the estuaries marked in red for areas lost to dredging of the ICW and to urbanization over the decades.
    Green marked the remaining estuaries; most of the map was red.
    “Right now we have an opportunity at Lake Wyman to put some green back on this map. This is really environmentally significant,” Alley said at the council’s June 13 workshop.
    The project, proposed in 2011, was derailed in 2012 by neighborhood concerns. The environmental advisory board said the concerns were largely answered before they were raised.
    The basic plan is to remove four spoil islands in Lake Wyman, clean out canoe trails in Rutherford and Lake Wyman parks, extend a boardwalk and add some amenities.
    Concern that the county’s Environmental Resources Management Department is not up to the task is unnecessary, Alley said. ERM has a long track record of turning spoil islands into seagrass and mangrove habitat, including projects at Fullerton Island in Jupiter and the Ocean Ridge Natural Area.
    “We’re not launching a space shuttle here. We just need to make a good habitat. That’s exactly what this is doing,” Alley said.
    The advisory panel also discounted worries that the end of the new boardwalk will be 1,700 feet from a restroom, noting that the fourth hole of the Red Reef Golf Course is 1,800 feet from the closest facility.
    Alley said the board supports having a launch area for nonmotorized boats but is against moving the proposed seagrass area north to create an upland hammock area.
    The council should embrace the Lake Wyman plan, Alley said, and not delay improvements by seeking more studies or making major changes to the proposal. Such tweaking would raise costs and allow the area’s mosquito and homeless populations to grow, he said.
    In 2011, the estimated cost of the restoration was just more than $3 million, with FIND contributing $2.1 million and the county and city $450,000 each. This time, a developer from Highland Beach has volunteered to pay for constructing of a mangrove ecosystem at the north end of the project as well as its continued maintenance. The developer needs mitigation credits for mangroves.
    To get the deal done, FIND would want all permits in hand by September 2017. Boca Raton needs to reapply for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which will take a year if there are no big changes to the original plan, more time if new options are chosen.

By Steven J. Smith

    BOCA RATON — Jacqueline Becker led a remarkably active life, marked by a spirited determination to make a difference in the world, according to her grandson, Jon Becker.
    “She was a very driven person, independent and quite headstrong,” Becker said. “She was always in charge, trying to do the right thing and was very focused.”
    Mrs. Becker died on June 12 in hospice at the age of 90, but lived a life rich in accomplishments, he added.
    “Even in her later years in Boca, she sold real estate — but only the best properties between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway,” Becker said. “Work was her pastime and she was a very successful Realtor.”
    Born in New York City in 1926, Mrs. Becker attended prestigious Vassar College, where she majored in music and dramatic production. After graduation, she worked for Decca Records’ artist relations department, accompanying performers Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Jolson on personal appearances around the U.S.
    “She acted as their liaison,” Becker said. “And during one of those trips, she met my grandfather, Herman, and married him in 1950.”
    The Beckers moved to her husband’s hometown of Terre Haute, Ind., where they raised their two children. It was there she developed a keen interest in community affairs.
    In 1960, however, her life changed at the behest of fellow Vassar alumna Jacqueline Kennedy, who solicited her aid for John F. Kennedy’s successful presidential bid.
    “That served as a springboard for her to found Housewives Effort for Local Progress,” Becker said. “That organization was formed in conjunction with the school system of Terre Haute and served as a predecessor of the PTA, raising money for important educational programs.”
    In 1972, the Beckers moved to Highland Beach and she got active in local government, serving as a member of the Community Appearance Board until they moved again in 1982, to Boca Raton.
    Tragedy struck in 1997, when Mrs. Becker’s son, Rick, died of a sudden heart attack at 44. That spurred the creation and funding of the Rick Becker Memorial CPR Award, which provides annual recognition to a local individual who promotes, saves a life with CPR or provides CPR education to the community.
    “Unfortunately, CPR would not have helped in Rick’s case, but they felt this was something they wanted to do in his memory,” Becker said. “She also funded the Jacqueline L. Becker Award in Political Science at FAU, which is given yearly to a deserving student there. She loved following politics and in her 80s she even helped President Obama’s campaigns, making cold calls to get the vote out for him.”
    In addition to her grandson, Jon Becker, Mrs. Becker is survived by her daughter, Susan M. Becker; a granddaughter, Traci Bartow; and a great-grandson, Max Becker.
    Instead of flowers, please send donations to the Rick Becker Memorial CPR Fund, c/o Boca Raton Firefighter and Paramedic Benevolent Fund, P.O. Box 565, Boca Raton, FL 33429 or the Jacqueline L. Becker Award in Political Science, FAU Foundation Inc., 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

By Steve Plunkett

    Two commissioners of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District each drew two challengers for the Aug. 30 election.
    Incumbent Dennis Frisch, a podiatrist, will face one-time City Council candidate Craig Ehrnst and medical physicist Shayla Enright.
    Commissioner Earl Starkoff, an information technology services executive, will face John Costello, an accountant, and Erin Wright, who co-owns a home inspection service.
    Steve Engel, the commission’s vice chair, was re-elected to his second four-year term without opposition when no one filed to run against him by noon June 24.
    Ehrnst, 52, is corporate treasurer at NCCI in Boca Raton and has a master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan. He is on the board of directors for the Boca Raton YMCA and the Boca Raton Children’s Museum and spent three years on the city’s Financial Advisory Board. He lost his only run for a City Council seat in 2014.
    “Put residents first! Protect and cherish our most valuable assets,” Ehrnst said.
    Enright, 26, earned dual bachelor’s degrees in physics and chemistry at Florida Atlantic University in 2011, then received a Professional Science Master’s degree in medical physics at FAU in 2014 followed last year by a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami.
    This is Enright’s first run for office, but elections are nothing new to her family. Her mother, Jean, is running for her fourth term on the partisan Port of Palm Beach Commission.
    “Unfortunately, there is a discord between the beach and park district and the city of Boca Raton, which prevents things from getting done. I would work to make the communication between the district and city more fluid, and make sure the voices of the residents are heard,” Enright said.
    Frisch, 61, is a graduate of Boca Raton High School and the University of Florida. He earned his medical degree from the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in North Chicago. He has been a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board since 2007 and was first elected to the beach and park commission in 2008.
    “Any reported differences between the city and the district are really quite narrow in comparison to the achievements made together. We must seek continued opportunities to expand green space and facilities for our children and our grandchildren.” Frisch said.
    Costello, 47, who was born and raised in Boca Raton, has a degree from the University of Florida in forest resources and conservation. This is his first run for office.
    “I’d like to bring some fresh ideas and new blood to the commission,” Costello said.
    Starkoff, 67, has an MBA from the University of Miami and is finishing up his 12th year on the commission. He is also past president of the Soccer Association of Boca Raton.
    “I will continue to lead with sound, debt-free fiscal management as a grass-roots listener and voice to protect, preserve and provide all of our residents with the beautiful beaches, open green spaces and parks that define Boca Raton,” Starkoff said.
    Wright, 37, who moved to Boca Raton when she was 6, has a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion from FAU. She was an environmental health and safety specialist at the university before opening her home inspection service with her husband, a city firefighter. Wright was also a member of the city’s Green Living Task Force/Green Living Advisory Board for almost two years.
    “This commission needs a breath of fresh air … someone who is extremely familiar with the beaches and parks and the needs of the young families and citizens of Boca. I am ready to improve the lines of communication between the commission and the city, which I believe is vital to making our beaches and parks the best they can be,” Wright said.
    Beach and park commissioners are paid $80 for each meeting they attend and usually meet twice a month. They oversee a $46 million budget. The elected term begins Jan. 1.
    Aug. 1 is the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 30 contest.

Runners hit the pavement along A1A on June 25 for Cason United Methodist Church’s

Cason Color 5K Fun Run in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

    Cason United Methodist Church held its first Cason Color 5K Fun Run, a fundraiser for the church and three other charities, on June 25 at Anchor Park, 340 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
    David Schmidt, the youth minister at Cason, spearheaded the planning of this event with the support of the 30 kids in his youth group.
    “We wanted to do something fun but a little bit athletic, but also spiritual,” Schmidt said.
    Schmidt got the idea from The Color Run organizations’ sanctioned events, which feature people throwing colored powder on the racers as they run by. In 2011, they held their first race. In 2015, The Color Run hosted more than 225 events in more than 35 countries. The original race was called “the Happiest 5K on the Planet,” because it “celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality.”
    Schmidt combined the spirit of that race and a brainstorming session with the church’s congregation to come up with the Cason Color Fun Run.
    Runners and their families met at Anchor Park at 7 a.m. The children from Schmidt’s group ran the color stations. Some people, they found, didn’t want to get messy. Others couldn’t wait.
    But no one wanted to breathe (or have their little ones breathe) in the colored powder used at the official races, so organizers came up with a plan to have face painting and temporary hair dye or hair spray, and the older kids in the youth group manned super-soakers filled with washable paint. They were happy to take aim at any anyone who wanted to be colorful.
    The registration fee of $35 at this timed 5K event benefited Cason United Methodist Church and Habitat for Humanity, as well as two children’s service agencies, the Achievement Center and the Delray Beach Campaign for Grade Level Reading.
    For more information, call 276-5302 or visit www.casonumc.org.

Attendees at the Create a Jewish Legacy event May 23

included (l-r) Mark Schaum and Dale and Ed Filhaber.

Photo provided

Create a Jewish legacy
    $33 million. That’s the amount of money pledged by South Palm Beach County’s synagogues, Jewish agencies, schools and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County in the first year of their “Create a Jewish Legacy” planned giving campaign.
    The $33.2 million in declarations of intent was the highest amount pledged of any of the 28 “Life & Legacy” participant communities around the country.
    Create a Jewish Legacy is a public awareness campaign designed to help individuals and families support Jewish causes and to build a strong, vibrant community with these future bequests for permanent endowments, according to the federation’s website.
    The 11 CJL organizations in South Palm Beach County secured 293 legacy commitments from 235 individuals.
    On May 23, representatives from the 11 CJL partner agencies celebrated the success of the program with a reception at Zinman Hall on the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County campus. The evening featured live music, gourmet bites and a photo booth.
    The 11 local Life & Legacy participants are the Adolph and Rose Levis JCC, B’nai Torah congregation, Boca Raton Synagogue, Congregation Shaarei Kodesh, Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Katz Hillel Day School of Boca Raton, Jewish Association for Residential Care, Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, Temple Beth El of Boca Raton and Yeshiva High School.
    Four additional Create a Jewish Legacy partners assisted: Congregation B’nai Israel, Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, Jewish Education Center of South Florida and Torah Academy of Boca Raton.
    For more information about CJL or the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, visit jewishboca.org.

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

Lori Mizell, executive director of the accreditation commission; Highland Beach Town Manager Beverly Brown,

Lt. Eric Lundberg and Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Eric Aronowitz, department accreditation

and training manager; and Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar, chair of the commission.

Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

    After months of carefully reviewing and realigning its practices and policies to ensure they are as effective as possible, the Highland Beach Police Department late in June received a prestigious certification from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.
    The end result is that the department will be better at fighting crime, likely resulting in a safer community, said Chief Craig Hartmann.
    “The accreditation is a validation that your agency is being operated as a professional law enforcement agency that meets the same standards that the biggest and best departments in the state meet,” Hartmann said.
    Hartmann said that as a result of going through the arduous accreditation process, the department has developed a comprehensive collection of policies and procedures that will serve as a foundation for its operations, not just for now but for many years to come.
    “It’s a very involved and in-depth process but a very valuable one,” he said. “It creates uniformity and consistency and is a yardstick to measure the effectiveness of your agency.”  
    While earning the accreditation, the town’s Police Department examined a variety of procedures. They ranged from hiring and training, use of computers and day-to-day functions to make sure they met the criteria established by the commission as being the best law enforcement practices.
    “By becoming accredited you’re making sure your policies, protocols and practices all meet standards set by the industry,” Hartmann said.
    He added that because law enforcement is a high-liability, local-government function with unique challenges, many law enforcement agencies of varying sizes are choosing to go through the accreditation process.
    “It’s becoming more and more common for agencies of all sizes,” he said.
    According to the state commission responsible for the certification, the process not only benefits departments that have attained the high standard, it also benefits their communities and officers.
    On its website, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation says that accreditation helps an agency in its “ability to prevent and control crime through more effective and efficient delivery of law enforcement services.”
    The website also states that accreditation can improve the morale of a department’s employees by increasing confidence in its effectiveness and efficiency.
    Hartmann said prior to the department’s receiving the accreditation, a three-member team of law enforcement professionals visited the department for three days, inspecting everything from the condition of the police vehicles to the way the department uses computers. Inspectors also accompanied officers on patrol.
    “Through the accreditation process, we’re creating the best and safest working environment for our officers and ensuring the best level of service to our residents,” he said.

The latest plan for Mizner 200 has buildings connected on only the first two floors.

Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

    The developer of Mizner 200 has made substantial changes to its design since initially submitting plans, but the luxury condominium project continues to draw opposition.
    Investments Ltd., the largest owner of commercial properties in downtown Boca Raton, is siding with residents who complain the project is too massive and does not comply with a city ordinance governing downtown development.
    Investments Ltd., led by James Batmasian, is hardly a neutral observer. It is planning a complete makeover of its Royal Palm Place, a 14-acre shopping and dining destination that also includes luxury rentals and office space. Located between Federal Highway and Southeast Mizner Boulevard south of Palmetto Park Road, it sits just west of the proposed Mizner 200.
    The two developments are very different. Mizner 200 would be entirely residential, with between 340 and 384 units. The revamped Royal Palm Place would continue to be mixed use, but its residential component would compete with Mizner 200.
    Representatives of Mizner 200 developer Elad National Properties and architect Garcia Stromberg/GS4Studios have met with Royal Palm Place representatives, said Royal Palm Place architect Doug Mummaw.
    “We voiced our concerns at that meeting,” he said. “We talked about how to make good connectivity between the two properties. We had a good dialogue but … there is some work to be done.”
    Mummaw cited Mizner 200’s length of about 900 feet and contends it does not comply with design elements of the development ordinance. It also will block water views for neighboring property owners, including Royal Palm Place.
    “It is a very massive building,” he said.
    Investments Ltd. may be ready to submit plans to the city in August for two of the seven project phases it plans for Royal Palm Place, Mummaw said.
    Investments Ltd. submitted plans in 2014 but withdrew them in December. The revised proposal will be “really similar” to the earlier plan, with the project components, density and scale largely unchanged, he said.
    The seven buildings would vary in height from three to 14 stories, Mummaw said. The project would fall under the city’s interim design guidelines for that part of downtown, which allow buildings to rise to 140 feet, with an additional 20 feet for decorative features.
    Elad has radically changed its plans for Mizner 200 since it first proposed four towers that rose as high as 30 stories, greatly exceeding the 100-foot height limit at its location.
    Faced with an outcry from downtown residents, Elad reduced the project in January to nine stories — exactly what the city allows.
    Three months later, it cut square footage by 10 percent, decreased the average size of units to 2,000 square feet, increased setbacks and added more green space.
    It also divided the building, in effect, into three sections connected only on the first and second floors, which softens the building’s appearance and opens sight lines to the east.
    Many residents were pleasantly surprised by the redesign, but opposition has not melted. Downtown activists drafted a “white paper” faulting the building’s size and design.
    The strongest complaints are coming from residents of Townsend Place condos, including Boca Beautiful President John Gore, who object to the size of the project and say it will block their water views. Their condos are immediately to the south of Mizner 200.
    A number of critics attended a June 7 meeting of the city’s Community Appearance Board where architect Peter Stromberg presented the changed design. Because this was a preliminary presentation, board members took no action, but several offered suggestions to improve aesthetics, said Vice Chair Mark Jacobsen, a landscape architect.
    “Two or three architects on the board would like the façade to be stepped back from (Mizner Boulevard) a bit,” he said. “For the most part, I think it was relatively well received by the board.”
    While Elad has submitted its plans to the city, further changes apparently are still being made.
    “They said they were in the design process and continuing to refine things,” Jacobsen said.
    Elad did not answer questions from The Coastal Star about any more design changes, except to say, “We are working together with city staff in order to finalize our plans.”

By Steve Plunkett

    Relations between the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District and the city withered in June like an unwatered lawn in the hot Florida sun.
    • District Chairman Robert Rollins listed a year’s worth of failed efforts to get the city to agree to build four more sports fields at the Spanish River Athletic Facility, then urged commissioners to sideline that proposal and finance installing three artificial-turf fields at Patch Reef Park next spring.
    “I don’t believe that we’ll get our [Spanish River] project … underway this fiscal year,” Rollins said.
    • Boca Raton took over development of the master plan for oceanfront Red Reef Park. The district’s consultant, which started on the master plan in July 2014, had prepared three alternatives for commissioners to consider.
    “And as we discussed, it makes sense to hold off the master planning process until the completion of the comprehensive waterfront plan,” Assistant City Manager Mike Woika said in an email to the district.
    • Commissioner Earl Starkoff ended the district’s more than five years of silence on the city’s controversial Wildflower site, saying he thought the city-owned parcel on the Intracoastal Waterway should remain green space instead of housing a Hillstone restaurant.
    “I am pro-park; I am not anti-restaurant,” Starkoff said.
    Rollins updated commissioners June 6 on what he has done since the June 9, 2015, joint meeting between the district board and the City Council intended to speed up projects and improve communications.
    “You’ll have to indulge me because I have a prepared statement that I need to read so that I don’t miss the details,” he said.
    Right after the joint meeting, commissioners sent the council contracts for the fields at Spanish River and beach renourishment. The city said the contracts needed modifications and in November sent back a contract consolidating the Spanish River proposal with all the other agreements the two governments have. District commissioners did not like the city’s revisions and asked Rollins to go to a City Council meeting to explain.
    “The city manager’s office requested that I first meet with the mayor, so on Feb. 24 we met and I went over our request,” Rollins said. Mayor Susan Haynie agreed with the concept of having a separate agreement for Spanish River, he added, and told him to meet with the city manager, “which I did and the first available date was April 4.”
    But when he asked Woika and City Manager Leif Ahnell to support signing a separate agreement, “there was no response,” Rollins said.
    He then went to the May 9 council workshop but “was unable to obtain any positive feedback regarding the … project moving forward.” Instead, Haynie asked that the district submit changes to the proposed global contract.
    Rollins said he also met separately with four City Council members. Jeremy Rodgers was out of town when Rollins tried to reach him.
    “I wanted you to know the time and effort that’s gone into trying to sell this program to our partner. I’m disappointed that at this juncture I have to report to you that I’ve been unsuccessful in getting any commitments,” Rollins said.
    Moving money budgeted for the Spanish River fields to Patch Reef will enable the district to begin construction next spring, Rollins said. The district agreed at last year’s joint meeting to install artificial turf at Patch Reef in a compromise so it could build four grass fields at Spanish River.
    At Red Reef Park, Woika said, the district could finish the first phase of repairing the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s boardwalk but the city would oversee subsequent phases as well as the development of a park master plan and fixes to Gumbo Limbo’s sea tank pumping system.
    “For a number of reasons the city has decided to run all capital projects on city property,” Woika said in his June 12 email. “Therefore, we are looking for transitioning these capital projects to the city.”
    On the Wildflower property, Starkoff said he has refrained from commenting but that it was time to address the issue and asked that commissioners discuss it at their July 11 meeting.
    “The highest and best use of that property is as a public space,” Starkoff said at the June 20 meeting. “We need to define the context for any commercial component that exists within the space, rather than have a plan for a restaurant or any commercial space that leaves public space as a secondary consideration on public land.”
    Commissioners were not entirely sour on their relationship with the city. “I’ve had good conversation with several of the City Council members” Rollins said. “I’m hopeful that with this revised [global contract] we’ll have a favorable response to it.”
    Commissioners also decided to send the council two possible dates for a joint meeting. They had asked to meet together July 25, but the council said it has a full workshop agenda that day.

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s interim executive director will stay on the job an additional three months.
    Arthur Koski, who is also the district’s longtime attorney, said in May he would step aside as interim director on Oct. 1 and recommended that Briann Harms, his assistant executive director, take over the top spot.
    But at the June 6 meeting, Harms said the timing was not right.
    “In light of the upcoming elections, I think it would be more appropriate for us to address this at our management meeting in January when we elect officers,” she said after thanking Koski for his recommendation and the district’s commissioners for supporting it.
    Two commission seats are being contested in the Aug. 30 election. The five commissioners customarily pick their chair, vice chair and secretary-treasurer at the first meeting of the calendar year.
    “As long as Art’s good with continuing with the Sunday phone calls [from commissioners] coming in, I think we can wait until then,” Harms said.
    No commissioner has suggested looking for other job candidates.
    “Briann knows how we feel about her,” District Chairman Robert Rollins said. Boca Raton city officials have been pressuring the district to hire a full-time director for months. Officials in December included a clause in a proposed contract between the two governments requiring the district to have a full-time director. City Council member Robert Weinroth made a similar demand in a March email to the district.
    Koski became the district’s interim director after Robert Langford retired in 2012. Koski also has a private law practice downtown.

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach residents living on one of the town’s six publicly owned side streets off State Road A1A are welcome to attend a public information forum on the upcoming water main replacement project that will impact their neighborhoods.
    The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 13 at the town’s public library. Residents will have a chance to learn more about the $2.7 million construction project, which could begin as early as October.
    Hosted by the town and the consulting firm on the project, Mathews Consulting, the forum will provide residents with information about the project’s schedule and which streets might be affected when.
    “Our goal is make sure there are as few inconveniences for our residents as possible,” said Public Works Director Ed Soper.
Soper said no complete road closures are anticipated as crews dig up public rights of way to install new water mains.
    The project is estimated to take about seven months to complete, with crews working on one street at a time.
    The project, designed to improve water quality and volume, will include the replacement of water mains installed as long ago as the 1940s and which are nearing the end of their life expectancy.
    Voters approved funding for the project in March 2015.
    For more information, contact the town of Highland Beach at 278-4548.

INSET BELOW: Prokos and Ursini (left); Sember and Massimino (right)

By Sallie James

    When it comes to saving lives, some Boca Raton Fire Rescue members stand out.
    City Council members recently recognized four of the department’s finest, lauding them for heroism, fast action and dedication while off duty.
    Among the honorees: firefighter/paramedic Randy Prokos, firefighter/paramedic Paula Ursini and Lt. Mike Sember, whose quick thinking and skill all saved lives in critical situations.
    Lt. Mike Massimino was honored as the city’s Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year for 2015.
    Prokos provided emergency medical care to a woman who had collapsed from cardiac arrest inside Renegades Night Club in West Palm Beach. Prokos, who was there off duty, began cardiopulmonary resuscitation until West Palm Beach rescue workers arrived.
    West Palm Beach police said the woman would not have survived the July 18 incident without the CPR Prokos gave.
    Ursini was recognized for saving a woman who was trapped in a sinking car. Ursini was on her way to work when she saw a car veer off Florida’s Turnpike and into a canal. Ursini jumped in, swam out to the sinking car and freed the trapped driver, whose leg was caught under a seat.
    Even though she was in water over her head, Ursini was able to calm the frantic woman and swim her back to shore safely during the Dec. 1 incident.
    Sember, a recreational diver, helped save the life of a friend with whom he was diving July 29, when a problem occurred with the air system they were using. The main airline kinked, causing the duo’s masks to suck into their faces upon inhalation.
    Sember rescued his friend, who had blacked out, and was able to remain calm and get to the surface. Sember, relying on his training, helped rescue workers route his friend to the appropriate medical facility and pinpoint what was wrong.
    Massimino was recognized for his overall professionalism, numerous contributions to the emergency medical service, knowledge of specific medical protocols and overall dedication.
    Boca Raton Fire Rescue spokesman Bob Lemons said it’s all in a day’s work. “These are the kind of things we do all the time, obviously not only while we are on the trucks,” he said. “It’s really not a job you ever leave 100 percent. The skills we have are with us all the time.”

By Steve Plunkett

    Mayor Susan Haynie used her State of the City 2016 speech to cement her place as Boca Raton’s biggest booster.
    Gaining her highest marks are the thriving business community and the explosive growth of Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Regional Hospital. She said the city now provides “destination health care.”
    “They used to say if you got ill you had to go to the airport to get on the plane to go to the Mayo Clinic or the MD Anderson [Center],” she said. “And for an aging population of baby boomers, I think that’s a really important community asset for us.”
    FAU has transformed from a single building to a campus accommodating 30,000.
    “This is what’s fueling the attraction of so many quality businesses here in town, because we have an educated workforce,” Haynie said at the June 7 meeting of the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations.
    The mayor had the statistics to back up her claims: Boca Raton has 30 of the 62 corporate headquarters in Palm Beach County.
    “So we’ve done a great job as far as attracting businesses here,” she said.
    The city also has 12 million square feet of office space, more than West Palm Beach — “That’s been our challenge, to fill vacancies up,” Haynie said — and has created and retained more than 8,400 jobs in the last six years.
    “That’s an amazing number for a city of this size — 8,400 jobs,” Haynie said. “And the wonderful thing is, these people come and they find homes and they shop in our stores and patronize our restaurants, send their children to our schools. It’s really making us a much younger and more vibrant community.”
    Haynie said the top concerns today are the same as those a local newspaper listed in 1966: traffic flow, speed limits, zoning, high-rise apartments, architectural review standards that relate to community appearance, disposal of city-owned land and parking problems in the downtown business area.
    In the ensuing 50 years the city’s population has swelled from 20,000 to about 93,000.
    “I don’t see us ever going much higher than that. … I never, ever see us exceeding 100,000,” Haynie said.
    That means not annexing the mostly gated communities between the western edges of the city and Florida’s Turnpike, which would dissolve the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.
    State lawmakers set up the district to disband if the city annexed all the district land out to the turnpike.
    “I don’t ever see the city annexing the beach and park district out of existence,” Haynie said.
    The mayor said the City Council’s top priority this year is developing and evaluating a master plan for the City Hall campus. The first floor of City Hall is still off limits during repairs from the rainfall soaking it got in late March.
    And the Community Center, built in 1968, also is showing signs of age.
    “We love our Community Center, but when you travel to other cities in our county, this is a very sad building,” she said.
    Haynie said there are no plans to move the City Hall and Police Department elsewhere in the city and said an off-the-cuff comment at May’s strategic planning sessions sparked the rumor.
    “I have no intention of relocating City Hall from beyond the campus where we stand today.”
    She also said the council hopes to complete a comprehensive waterfront plan this year.
    In the meantime, she is eagerly waiting for the Hyatt Place hotel to open in a few months at Federal Highway and Palmetto Park Road, giving downtown its first hotel in years. Haynie recalled when the only hotel downtown was the since-closed Howard Johnson’s.
    “It’ll be nice to have more of a business-type hotel in our downtown,” she said. “That is something we have wanted for a long time.”

By Sallie James

    It’s finally settled. Boca Raton voters will get the chance to decide two issues on the Aug. 30 primary election ballot: Whether unexpected City Council vacancies should be filled by special election and whether council members should get a raise.
    First, it took the pleas of nearly 20 residents to finally persuade the council to vote “Yes” on the council vacancy issue.
    Resident Geraldine Allerman told council members the charter change was essential.
    “I strongly support this ordinance and I would like to see it changed. We really need a more democratic process,” Allerman said at the June 14 City Council meeting.
    What city officials approved is a slightly revised version of an earlier proposal by council member Scott Singer that tanked in May amid a barrage of criticism. Singer remained adamant about the proposal, saying voters needed the ability to choose someone for an open council seat rather than watch an appointed member serve until the next regularly scheduled city election.
    He reintroduced the measure with revisions. The revised charter change would require council vacancies be filled by special election no later than 90 days after the vacancy occurred. The new version also includes language that outlines the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of holding special elections concurrently with previously scheduled elections.
    “I think the fact there were 17 speakers from the public all unanimously in favor of the change shows how the public feels about this role in government. I am pleased there was unanimous support for this good government provision,” Singer said after the vote. “I am pleased that the council supports the concept of letting the people always choose their elected leaders.”
    Singer first presented the proposal to the council in early May, but it failed after council members expressed concerns about unknown costs, among other things.
    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.
    Cost has always been a concern. According to 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 stand-alone special election — which would include all actual costs incurred by the county supervisor of elections — would cost between $120,000 and $135,000.
    Mayor Susan Haynie said the revised charter change covered all the bases.
    “I think we have heard from the public. I think all the different combinations, scenarios have been addressed here,” Haynie said. “This isn’t something that happens on a frequent basis. This addresses the stand-alone elections and I intend to support it.”
    City activist Betty Grinnan called the charter change a “no brainer.”
    “It’s a vote for democracy,” Grinnan said.
    The council at the meeting also unanimously approved putting on the Aug. 30 ballot proposed salary increases for the mayor and City Council members, but they changed some of the original proposals made in late April.
    The revised ordinance removes proposed automatic salary increases tied to the County Commission 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.
    Boca Raton’s mayor is now paid $9,000 a year, while council members are paid $7,200 a year.
    The April proposal from council member Robert Weinroth 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 percentage.  
    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.
    “In the time that has passed I have heard from voters who had misgivings that this salary could continue to rise without their input,” Weinroth said.
    If voters approve the measure, the pay hikes would become effective in October 2017. Previous attempts in 2004 and 2006 to increase the salaries both failed.
    City resident James Hendrey supports the salary increases and thinks they are necessary to attract quality City Council candidates.
    “We are only going to make that happen if people are compensated fairly for the effort you put forward,” Hendrey told council members. “It should not be a windfall, but recognition that you folks are giving to your community in a very great way. I am in favor of this and I think it’s really important.”

By Dan Moffett

    Recent advances in technology could enable Ocean Ridge to move forward with a plan to install license plate recognition cameras along State Road A1A without the blessing of the Florida Department of Transportation.
    Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins says newer versions of the LPR cameras are capable of scanning tags from greater distances, which means the town could install the devices on private property off the roadway and still get satisfactory results.
    In 2014, DOT officials prohibited putting the cameras on state rights of way. But the cameras are used on local roads in many communities across Florida. The state also has allowed communities that installed cameras before the ban — among them Manalapan and Palm Beach — to continue using them.
    Hutchins told town commissioners during their June 6 meeting that he has received assurances from camera vendors that the devices can operate with 92 percent accuracy from a distance of 130 feet, making installation on private property feasible.
    License plate recognition camera systems are not used for surveillance but work by scanning tags of passing cars and comparing that information with tag numbers in databases set up by law enforcement agencies.
    Hutchins said the town would need to place the cameras at the northern and southern boundaries on A1A and at the two bridge sites at East Ocean Avenue and Woolbright Road.
    He said installing the system would cost between $199,000 and $225,000, and annual operating expenses would run between $9,000 and $11,000.
    Putting camera poles on private property creates other complications and legal expenses, however. The town would have to get easements from property owners.

    BOCA RATON — Diane Gates Benedetto took her place in heaven on Feb. 26, less than two months shy of her 100th birthday. Diane was born in West Palm Beach on April 20, 1916, to Harley D. Gates and Harriette P. Gates, both early pioneers in Boca Raton.
    She was raised on a plantation on Palmetto Park Road where they grew bananas, tangerines, guava and other fruit. The plantation was named Palmetto Park Plantation by her father. Palmetto Park Road was named after the family’s plantation.
    She and her brother, Harley, had many adventures living in a bungalow called Morada Bonita, at 741 E. Palmetto Park Road near the Intracoastal Waterway in Boca Raton. She even had a pet raccoon named Petey.   
    Diane was married to Joseph Benedetto in the late 1940s. She was a burlesque dancer and performed as a headliner for more than 27 years. She traveled all over the world performing.
    The Benedettos owned Chez Joey restaurant on Federal Highway in Boca Raton for many years. They also owned the Eagle Cab Co.
    Diane lived in Miami from 1945 until she returned to Boca Raton in 1971. She lived in her home in Boca Raton for more than 45 years. She would often be seen walking her dogs throughout the neighborhood.
    She loved working in her garden, potting her orchids, oil painting, tending to her pond and spending hours reading, writing letters and keeping in touch with her friends. She was also an excellent artist, often seen about town painting the ocean and palm trees.  She had a special place in her heart for her many dogs, cats, frogs and critters that crossed her path in life.  
    Diane was an active contributing member of the Boca Raton Historical Society for many years. The photographs and archives she donated are vital to research about Boca Raton’s past.
    Her recorded memories and charming drawings help paint a picture of the tropical paradise that was Boca Raton 100 years ago. (Some of those memoirs can be seen on the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum’s website, Spanish River Papers, October 1975.)  
    She is a major feature of the museum’s 2000 documentary, The History of Boca Raton, on view at the museum. In later years, she also wrote children’s books for the Boca Raton Children’s Museum and appeared in several local plays in Boca Raton.   
    At 93, she moved to Miami, where she resided with her daughter for three years. She then moved to the Swankridge Care Center in Homestead, where she received excellent care and was loved by many. At the time of her death, five generations of family were at her side.
    She is deeply mourned and will be missed by her family and friends.
    Diane is survived by her daughter, Dianne Chapek of Miami; stepdaughter, Kathleen Edmonds of Lake Park, Ga.; stepsons, Patrick Benedetto of Lake Placid and Frank Benedetto of Jacksonville; seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Steve Plunkett

    Boca Raton will add left-turn lanes on eastbound Palmetto Park Road at Mizner Boulevard and Northeast/Southeast Fifth Avenue and buy a train detection system so it can better time traffic signals at the Palmetto Park crossing.
    The turn lanes, which were taken out six years ago, should be operational by November, City Manager Leif Ahnell said.
    “Something we talked about back in 2010 when we put the islands in to slow down traffic, we’re here now to tell you that that was effective,” consultant Jim Sumislaski of Kimley, Horn and Associates told the City Council at its June 13 workshop. Indeed, the islands were too effective, he said, and contribute to current traffic congestion.
    The relatively quick improvements were among a slew of recommendations from Sumislaski and a second consultant, Diana Rivas of Calvin, Giordano and Associates, to reduce traffic congestion.
    Mayor Susan Haynie said the discussion on longer-term projects was just a jumping-off point.
    “We’ll have lots of conversations about these improvements,” she said.
    Sumislaski, who lives in Boca Raton, said the bridge on Palmetto Park Road opens on the half-hour and causes an eight-minute delay each time. It takes two cycles at the Fifth Avenue signal to clear traffic, he said.
    It should take 6.5 minutes to drive the 3.1 miles from Interstate 95 to A1A for a vehicle going 30 mph and encountering no red lights, no train holdups and no bridge opening, Sumislaski said.
    He theorized that with seven traffic signals on the route, 11 minutes would be a good time, and then had his staff test his theory.
    In 20 trips from noon to 5 p.m. May 25, the average time was 13.2 minutes, he said. Only one trip was held up by a train and only one by the bridge, he said. He recommended earlier detection of trains and changing signals to clear east-west traffic.
    Council member Scott Singer was enthusiastic when he heard such a system has a minimal cost.
    “I’m ready to make a motion now to amend our budget to approve $100,000. I mean that,” Singer said.
But Ahnell said he could order the equipment without changing the budget or having an official motion.
    Sumislaski also recommended changing the signal’s cycle at Palmetto Park Road and A1A.
    “I’ve been stopped waiting to make a left-hand turn to go northbound on A1A waiting for the cars to come around that circle [in South Beach Park]. Sometimes I get stymied and there’s a long line of cars,” he said.
    He also said Boca Raton should hire a full-time traffic monitoring operator, study making Federal Highway and Dixie Highway a pair of one-way roads and look at widening Palmetto Park Road to six lanes from I-95 to Dixie.
    “We’ve looked at that over the years. The time might be right for that,” Haynie said.
    Longer term, Sumislaski said the city could make a traffic bypass route on Second Street through the City Hall campus.
    Rivas was following up from a Calvin, Giordano presentation in March that offered four options for the intersection at Palmetto Park Road and Fifth Avenue.
    “From that meeting, we came [up] with a combination of [two] alternatives turned into one hybrid [alternative],” she said.
    The solution calls for left-turn lanes on Palmetto Park east- and westbound, the addition of buffered bike lanes on Fifth Avenue, and right-of-way acquisition and sidewalk connectivity on the northeast corner. Adding the turn lanes might cost $200,000, Rivas said. Buying the land on the corner might be $1 million to $2 million, she said.
    Rivas also recommended the city extend the bike lanes along Northeast Fifth Avenue all the way to U.S. 1 and enforce the existing valet agreement at the Trattoria Romano restaurant.

From fishing queens and charter boats

to tackle and trophies, Delray show reels in

history in a catchy way

Fishing around Delray Beach was portrayed in an alluring way to motorists who spotted this billboard.
The Wueppers, Smiths and others on Delray Beach in 1917.

Delray Beach Historical Society
Young Ray Priest of Delray Beach

receives a fishing trophy in this photo.

Old spear guns and a mounted dolphin (mahi mahi) are part of the ‘Fish Tales!’ exhibit

through December at the Delray Beach Historical Society.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

    The Delray Beach Historical Society has plunged into a subject that has tied families together in this waterfront community together for more than 100 years: fishing.
    The Fish Tales! history exhibit opened with a kickoff party June 17 and will remain on display through the end of December at the historical society’s campus in downtown Delray Beach.
    “The response from the public has been spectacular,” said Howard Ellingsworth, historical society president and co-chairman of the exhibit, noting that more than 80 families and individuals contributed items to the exhibit.
    “This is all about telling the story of where we came from that I think will have broad interest and appeal,” Ellingsworth said.
At the exhibit, visitors will find more than 1,000 fishing-related photos and more than 200 objects — memorabilia that show how intertwined fishing and diving were, and still are, with daily life in this oceanfront city.
    Visitors also get a glimpse into the happy years following World War II, when bathing beauties competed for the title of “fishing queen” and charter boats helped popularize fishing for sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, wahoo and other ocean fish along the coast of southern Palm Beach County.
    Ellingsworth said his father told him of the days when Delray Beach merchants would close their doors and go fishing during bluefish runs.
    “The bluefish run was so massive that it looked like an enormous dark mass moving through,” said Ellingsworth, whose late father was Ken Ellingsworth, a former vice mayor and longtime executive director of the city’s Chamber of Commerce. “Almost the entire town would shut down, and all would go down to the beach to catch bluefish.”

Clyde Smith, Norma (Miller) Brown, Henrietta (Wuepper) Frieberg, John “Dude” Miller Sr.

and Bob Miller on Delray Beach in the early 1930s.

Delray Beach Historical Society

    John Miller, who co-chairs the exhibit with Ellingsworth, said his father, the late John “Dude” Miller, spent most of his boyhood fishing and especially liked to catch snook at the old Atlantic Avenue Bridge.
    The elder Miller spent so much time fishing at the bridge, in fact, that the bridge tender would let him raise and lower the bridge when he wanted to take a break.
    Miller’s grandfather, Albert Miller, was a former Delray Beach mayor and barbershop owner who did a lot of fishing (mostly along the beach in rowboats). He owned a tackle shop on Atlantic Avenue and called together a group of men in 1947 to start the Delray Beach Boating and Sportsmen’s Club.
    Today, Miller owns two boats and enjoys fishing for snook and reef fish, often with his two sons in tow — an example of the families who have fished around Delray Beach for multiple generations.
    Miller said the Fish Tales! exhibit should help raise awareness about Delray Beach’s history because so many people are interested in fishing.
    “We’ll have people at the historical society who didn’t even know the historical society existed,” Miller said.
    Winnie Edwards, the historical society’s executive director, said the fishing history exhibit should be “a binding experience” for the many families who enjoy fishing in and around Delray Beach.
    “I think it will bring people together,” said Edwards, whose father, Roy Diggans, fished from the beach “almost every day of his life.”
    Although the exhibit focuses on fishing around Delray Beach, it includes stories, photos, tackle and trophy fish from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach.
    A second phase of Fish Tales! will be announced at the historical society’s annual autumn harvest dinner, set for Oct. 20.
Fishing skills workshops, environmental education and fishing stories told by the anglers are expected to be part of the fall lineup.

Ron London and his wife, Leona, sit in the garden of the Abbey Delray community

where they live. Ron London has had two kidney transplants and is active

with the Kidney Association of South Florida.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Lona O'Connor

    When Ron London found out that both his kidneys had failed, his knowledge was scant.
    “I knew I had a pair of kidneys, and that’s about it,” said London, 81, a retired businessman from Philadelphia who now lives in Delray Beach with his wife, Leona.
     They educated themselves on kidneys, health, nutrition and medical procedures. Now they are using what they learned to help others as volunteers for the Kidney Association of South Florida, an education and support group made up of kidney disease patients and their families.
    One day in a doctor’s waiting room, Ron London saw a brochure for the kidney association. “I thought, why not?” said London. “I’ll be better off the more I know.”
    The Londons started as volunteers and later became board members of their local chapter.
    They have lost count of how many dialysis centers they have visited, talking to nephrologists, social workers and patients — and always leaving brochures.
    “I have a list of every nephrologist and dialysis center in South Florida,” Ron said.
    Leona London shares cooking and health information with wives and other caregivers. She also watches out for the caregivers’ health and welfare.
    “The caregiver needs support too,” she said.
    Besides providing information and support to kidney patients and their families, the kidney association helps with the sometimes overwhelming expenses of kidney patients not covered by insurance.
     “We found one man who had lost his job, his wife and his house,” said Leona London. “He was living in his car.”
    Janice Symonette, past president of the Kidney Association of South Florida, is a big fan of the Londons.
    “They’re diligent workers, they’re giving people,” said Symonette, of Palm Beach Gardens, who got her kidney transplant 20 years ago. “Ron has raised so much money in his community.”
    The Kidney Association of South Florida, a nonprofit group formed seven years ago, runs monthly support groups and sponsors an annual fundraising walk.

Organ failure a surprise
    London is not sure why his kidneys failed. He had no history of high blood pressure or diabetes.
    Physically active all his life, including rowing in a one-man scull until recently, London made his living in the wholesale meat business, which included lifting 100-pound cases.
    He dates his problem to a serious auto accident 25 years ago, from which he developed a herniated disk in his back. He was given anti-inflammatory drugs for the pain.
    “I don’t know how you’re still standing,” London’s doctor said after examining him.
    A blood test showed a high level of protein, and shortly thereafter he got the news that both kidneys had failed. He went on dialysis, the long and uncomfortable process of mechanically cleaning the blood. Healthy kidneys process waste from the body; without them, the blood must be flushed to keep the patient alive.
    London began dialysis and joined a waiting list for a kidney transplant. One working kidney is all a person needs.
    “Every day waiting was like a month,” he recalled. That was 10 years ago. Soon after, he got his first transplanted kidney, which lasted 2½ years, then failed. His second transplant has been working now for five years and counting. He was getting dialysis for long stretches before and between the two transplants.
    London visits a nephrologist who checks his blood every four months. He will take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life and must be careful to avoid infections. He remains active and healthy.
    He only recently gave up his beloved 16-foot single rowing shell because he no longer has easy access to water. So he has switched to walking as a daily activity.
    Because of medical confidentiality, the Londons know only that Ron’s kidney donor was a 51-year-old man who was shot to death. So London had no one he could formally thank, but he often thinks about his donor. “That kidney is keeping the memory of someone alive,” he said.

Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.

A group of felines greets visitors near the entrance of the cat sanctuary.

(L-R) Ariel Milrad, Ulla Oest, Thomas Raabe and Benilda Milrad at God’s Creatures

Great and Small Sanctuary in rural Lake Worth.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Arden Moore

    Entering her retirement years in 2004, Ulla Oest enjoyed the financial security of having savings in the bank and a home with a paid-off mortgage.
    But then she learned of a cat sanctuary in Lake Worth that was about to be closed, with the dozens of cats residing on this five-acre property facing eviction — or worse, euthanasia. Feeling a strong desire to help, she persuaded her husband, Ronald, to sell their home in Pompano Beach and take out a mortgage to obtain what she calls God’s Creatures Great and Small Sanctuary in rural Lake Worth near U.S. 441.  
    A dozen years later, Oest, now 75, and her husband, who just turned 80, lack the same financial security, but feel blessed and enriched as they live on the property.
    “When I heard that 150 cats were about to lose their lives, I had to do something,” Oest says. “This is my Mount Everest mission. We applied the $390,000 from the sale of our place in Pompano Beach toward this property that cost $600,000. So yes, now at our ages, we have a mortgage again.”  
    Born in 1941 in Nazi Germany, Oest spent her first four years living in bomb shelters to keep safe. When her father, a firefighter, befriended a Jewish neighbor, he was deemed a traitor to the “fatherland” and shipped to the Russian front. He survived the war, but struggled to get jobs to feed his family.  
    “He was 20 pounds underweight with his ribs showing and then he managed to reach out to an uncle living in New Jersey, and in 1954, that uncle sponsored us to come to the United States,” recalls Oest.
    She did not speak a word of English when she stepped onto American soil, but by age 19, she had obtained American citizenship and felt pride for her adopted nation.
    “I love America and, for the first time in my life, I was not hungry anymore,” says Oest, who worked as a telephone operator, a gymnastics teacher and at other jobs throughout her life.
    Being saved — and saving others — has become Oest’s lifelong mantra.
    In 1989, she and her husband adopted a 10-year-old orphan from the Philippines. Their daughter, Benilda Milrad, is now married, with two children, Noah and Ariel, and lives in Coral Springs.
    The mother-daughter connection between Ulla and Benilda has been strong and solid since that adoption day.  
    “She is my miracle, my absolute joy,” describes Oest. “A Fallopian tube burst when I was seven weeks pregnant and I was never able to give birth. We were able to later on adopt Benilda and she has been such a blessing in so many ways.”
    For a dozen years, Oest has quietly championed the cause of strays and feral cats living safely at her animal sanctuary. Currently, there are about 60 cats on the property. Sitting on the table next to her is Morris, a big-headed orange tabby rescued from living under a car. Morris is missing some teeth and drools, but Oest loves his sweet disposition.  
    There is Bunny, a cat who spent her first four months of life trapped in a crate; Seummilla, a laid-back cat with a crippled tail; and Sidney, a handsome, all-black cat named in honor of actor Sidney Poitier.  
    Assisting the Oests in the care of the cats is Thomas Raabe, who lives on the property, and their daughter, who ensures the sanctuary’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status remains current.
    “I do not have email or use the internet, but my daughter does those duties and Thomas is a good cook and a nice, kind man,” says Oest. “We cannot afford to pay him, but we provide him with free rent and utilities. We are fortunate.”
    The sanctuary features many feeding stations and enclosures with a special type of nylon netting to keep the cats from wandering outside the property. Oest transports cats in need of vaccinations, spaying, neutering and other medical attention to the Animal Medical Clinic of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.  
    “Oh, yes, she has been bringing cats here for care for about 12 years,” notes Lisa Anselmo, the main receptionist. “Ulla is a nice person and any time her cats need help, like dental problems, abscesses or anything else, she comes here.”
    Oest candidly acknowledges that money is tight, but she has never regretted her decision to leave a paid-for home to run this cat sanctuary.  
    “I had a very hard childhood and then I lost my baby seven weeks into my pregnancy,” she says. “But I have a T-shirt that features the words, ‘Pursuing a dream heals a broken heart.’ This sanctuary, caring for these cats, has done much to heal my heart as has adopting our daughter. I feel lucky to pursue my purpose in life.”

    Arden Moore, founder of www.FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on www.PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.