Pre-Halloween revelers came early for a costume contest and stayed late to dance the night away
at the town’s second annual Haunted Nature Preserve. ABOVE: Zombie cheerleaders (l-r) Janevia Collin, 7,
and Kaliyah Hugger, 8, of Lantana, react to a scary pumpkin creature. BELOW: Christian Denton,
dressed as a deranged psycho, runs through the preserve to scare people.
Photos by Taylor Jones/The Coastal Star
It was a reunion at the island school as 500 family members, faculty and students kicked off its 95th year
with a barbecue and a celebration of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math curriculum. The evening
ended with a performance by sixth-grade percussion students accompanied by members of the Palm Beach Symphony.
‘It’s a new year and new possibilities for Palm Beach Day Academy as it enters its 95th year,’ Head of School
Edwin Gordon said. ABOVE: Holly, Teddy and Andy Wamser were among the guests at the festival.
Photo provided
Austin Seidman, 21, did a lot of boating and fishing while growing up in Highland Beach.
The catfish spine removed from his calf muscle.
Stitches show the size of the wound after the spine was extracted.
Photos provided
By Willie Howard
Austin Seidman grew up on Highland Beach and spent a lot of time fishing and boating on the waters of south Palm Beach County.
The pre-law student at the University of Central Florida knows a fair amount about South Florida fishing.
But as he discovered while fishing with a friend from a Delray Beach dock in August, even a small, innocent-looking catfish can pose significant hazards.
Seidman was fishing at night with friend Xander Cohen and was using the small catfish as bait, hoping to catch a tarpon or snook near the dock where they were fishing just north of Linton Boulevard.
As Seidman tried to cast the catfish out into the water, it slapped the back of his leg, thrusting one of its venomous spines deep into his calf muscle.
“It felt like a scorpion,” said Seidman, who wanted to share his story so others don’t make the same mistake with catfish.
Cohen used cutters to cut the spine and release the fish, but the damage was done. A serrated catfish spine remained embedded in Seidman’s leg.
Seidman began to feel light-headed. Within 15 minutes, he felt shooting pain in his leg.
Cohen helped him limp into the emergency room at Delray Medical Center. After a few hours, the emergency room doctor stopped trying to remove the catfish spine and scheduled surgery, Seidman said.
Surgery was performed the next day at Delray Medical Center.
After the spine was removed, Seidman was stitched up and given pain medication and antibiotics. He spent the night in the hospital.
“The following week, it was like I got shot in the leg,” Seidman said. “I wasn’t walking. My leg was twice its normal size.”
Months later and studying at UCF, Seidman said his left leg remains weaker because of the catfish-spine injury.
“I wouldn’t even feel strong enough to play basketball,” Seidman said in early October. “If I ran a 5K, I know it would hurt.”
Seidman is not sure what species of catfish caused his injury. A common marine catfish in South Florida is the gafftopsail catfish, so named for the tall dorsal fin on its back.
Gafftopsail catfish have hard, venomous, serrated spines on their dorsal and pectoral fins. They’re difficult to handle in part because they excrete a slippery slime coating.
“Always wear gloves when removing your hook and watch out for the spines,” advises the fishing website www.Floridagofishing.com.
Small catfish pose the greatest hazard because their spines are smaller and more likely to puncture the skin than those of larger catfish, according to the catfish fishing website www.catfishedge.com.
Handle small catfish by sliding a hand up from the back of the fish so that the part of the hand between the thumb and forefinger rests securely against the back of the catfish’s dorsal fin, then hold them firmly, advises www.catfishedge.com.
A Manatee County man’s encounter with a catfish earlier this year was worse than Seidman’s.
While fishing on Sarasota’s Lido Beach, he set the hook hard. The catfish flew out of the water and hit him in the face. Its spine pierced his eye, leading to four surgeries and three months of recovery, according to a report by St. Petersburg television station Bay News 9.
Austin’s mother, Peggy Gossett-Seidman, said it was hard for her to believe the hazards of catfish until she saw the pain a catfish spine inflicted on her son.
“We get preoccupied about gators, morays and mosquitoes, yet a common footlong catfish [caught] off a neighbor’s dock caused great harm,” she said. “I never imagined catfish were so harmful.”
Palm Beach might restrict shark fishing near beach
If the Palm Beach Town Council gives final approval Nov. 8, shark fishing and chumming will be prohibited within 300 feet of town beaches and beach-access points.
The council approved the shark-fishing ordinance on first reading Oct. 10.
In addition to using bait and chumming to attract sharks, the ordinance prohibits “the use of shark lures and rigs” within 300 feet north and south of town beaches and beach-access points.
Sharks caught by accident in the restricted areas of beach “must be released and unharmed,” says the ordinance, which would take effect immediately if approved.
Deputy Town Manager Jay Boodheshwar said the shark-fishing and chumming prohibitions would be in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lifeguards, code enforcement officers and town police officers would enforce the regulations.
Signs explaining the shark-fishing rules should be posted at town beaches by January if the ordinance is given final approval.
Courtesy warnings are expected to be issued before beach anglers are issued citations, Boodheshwar said.
Fort Lauderdale boat show
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show continues through Nov. 7 at multiple waterfront locations.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. except on Nov. 7, when the show closes at 5 p.m.
Fishing seminars, free with the price of admission, will be offered at the Broward County Convention Center.
Adult fishing seminars produced by the IGFA School of Sportfishing continue through Nov. 6.
Kids fishing seminars produced by Hook the Future will be Nov. 5 and 6.
Admission is $28 for adults and $12 for ages 6-15. Ages 5 and under are free.
For details, call 954-764-7642 or visit www.flibs.com.
Coming events
Nov. 5: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Fee $35. Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
Nov. 12: Third annual LagoonFest, a celebration of the Lake Worth Lagoon. Environmental exhibits, casting practice for young anglers, kayak paddling, paddle races and water taxi rides will be offered. Hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. along Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach. It’s free. Call 233-2400 or go to www.LagoonFest.com.
Nov. 26: Coast Guard Auxiliary offers basic boating class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom next to the boat ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $40. Register at the door. Call 331-2429.
Bob Pfeil of Boca Raton caught this bonefish in September while fishing
from the beach in Delray Beach. Pfeil saw two bonefish cruising in a trough near the beach on a calm afternoon
and made a long cast with a soft-plastic lure, which landed in front of one of them. He released the bonefish.
Photo provided
Tip of the month
Thinking about buying or selling a boat?
BoatUS, the recreational boating organization, offers two free template forms for boat transactions: the purchase agreement and the bill of sale.
The purchase agreement outlines the buyer’s intention to purchase a boat contingent on several factors, such as completion of a satisfactory marine survey and the ability to obtain financing and insurance. It’s usually accompanied by a refundable deposit.
The bill of sale serves as proof of purchase and is used by the buyer to register the boat in his or her name.
The BoatUS forms include notes about what to check while filling in the blanks, such as making sure the boat’s hull identification number matches the number listed on the title and registration.
The forms can be downloaded from the BoatUS website at www.boatus.com/consumer/purchase-and-sale-forms.asp.
Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.
Honoring our K-9 military heroes (l-r): military working dog Bond, Sarah Browning, Sgt. Wess Brown, MWD Isky, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Gen. Robert B. Neller, MWD Matty, Spc. Brent Grommet, Cpl. Nick Caceres, contract working dog Fieldy, American Humane President Dr. Robin Ganzert.
The dogs earned Lois Pope’s K-9 Medal of Courage.
Photos provided
By Arden Moore
Hundreds of military men and women fighting in Afghanistan owe their lives to dogs answering to the names of Fieldy, Isky, Bond and Matty. And philanthropist Lois Pope is making sure that these military dogs — as well as those that served in past conflicts and those to serve in future ones — will never be forgotten.
Working with American Humane Association officials, Pope, a Manalapan resident and founder of the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation, is launching a coast-to-coast campaign to create the first American Military Hero Dog Monument to be built in Washington, D.C.
But she isn’t stopping there. She also recently honored Fieldy, Isky, Bond and Matty as recipients of the inaugural American Humane Lois Pope LIFE K-9 Medal of Courage in a ceremony held on Capitol Hill.
“The sad fact is that our military dogs are easily forgotten,” says Pope. “They don’t come home to parades down Main Street. It is estimated that each American military dog saves the lives of 150 to 200 American soldiers. I knew I had to do something to honor them.”
Robin Ganzert, president of the American Humane Association, adds, “Soldiers have been relying on these four-footed comrades-in-arms since the beginning of organized warfare. Today, military dogs are more important than ever in keeping our service men and women safe.”
Let’s take a closer look at these four canine heroes and their human partners:
Isky is a 6-year-old German shepherd who teamed up with Army Sgt. Wess Brown in 2012 in Berlin, where they made sure that the hotel where President Barack Obama was staying was free of any bombs. In 2013, the pair was deployed to Afghanistan, where Isky was on task to sniff out deadly improvised explosive devices and hidden weapons. One of his biggest finds was a 120-pound bomb.
“Together, we had about 30 IED and weapon finds, but the 120-pound bomb was the biggest,” says Brown, now living in Catlett, Va., and in the processing of retiring after serving 10 years.
Unfortunately, Brown and Isky were wounded during a combat patrol, requiring the amputation of Isky’s right front leg to save his life. Isky now serves as Brown’s post-traumatic stress disorder service dog.
“In combat and now today, the intuition between us is strong,” says Brown. “We seem to be able to read each other’s minds without speaking a word. We are lucky to come back together and be responsible for helping a lot more people to come back home to their families.”
Fieldy is a nearly 9-year-old black Labrador retriever who served four combat tours in Afghanistan as a bomb detection dog. He was paired up with four handlers, including Marine Cpl. Nick Caceres. The pair clicked so well that Caceres worked nearly three years to be able to adopt Fieldy when his military duties ended.
“He would go off leash and sniff for bombs about 100 to 200 yards in front of me with everyone else in our unit behind me and out of harm’s way,” recalls Caceres, who served four years and is now a federal game warden in McAllen, Texas. “I have a lot of pride in being a Marine and in being a dog handler, so I feel doubly blessed. Today, Fieldy lives with us and our chocolate Labrador named Bailey. He has and always will have my back.”
Matty is a 6-year-old German shepherd paired with now-retired Army Spc. Brent Grommet as a bomb detection team in Afghanistan. During an enemy ambush at a bazaar, the duo raced to clear a helicopter landing zone of IEDs to escort out the wounded. They returned to the front line and were hit with a rocket-propelled grenade that injured and knocked them both out.
They were flown stateside for medical treatment, but then after they recovered, it took Grommet about 18 months to find and adopt Matty. Today, they live in De Soto, Mo.
“Matty helps me every day as my mobility and PTSD dog,” says Grommet. “Having Matty has helped me to be able to be independent again. He is a loving dog, smart and mischievous at times. He is always happy and ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
Bond is a Belgian Malinois who completed more than 50 combat missions during his three tours of Afghanistan. He was partnered with a still active-duty Special Operations Unit serviceman whose name is not being revealed for security reasons. With the help of the AHA, Bond was recently reunited with his handler, who is in the process of returning to civilian life.
After learning about these brave military dogs, Veterans Day on Nov. 11 will carry more meaning to me. And I hope to you, too.
“Veterans Day is one of the most important days on our calendar,” says Pope. “I created the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, the nation’s first and only permanent public tribute to the 4 million living disabled American veterans and all those who have died. Similarly, we need to recognize the heroism of our military dogs. These dogs have done so much to protect our freedoms, as well as their human soldiers.”
As an animal advocate and proud member of a military family, I couldn’t agree with you more, Lois Pope.
Learn More
Designs for the American Military Hero Dog Monument are being accepted until Dec. 31. A panel of judges will choose the finalists, whose designs will be unveiled at the American Humane Association’s annual Palm Beach luncheon on March 8.
To learn more, visit the Lois Pope Life Foundation Inc. at www.life-edu.org and the AHA’s site at www.americanhumane.org/program/military.
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.
By Jane Smith
Delray Beach fared very well when Hurricane Matthew brushed by the coast on Thursday, said Mayor Cary Glickstein.
“There were no serious injuries or property damage, including our beach, and only minor power outages,” he said Friday. “Despite being lucky with a late inning wobble, the city was well prepared — both residents and business owners took the storm seriously.”
He and City Manager Don Cooper also commended city staff and public safety personnel for “an excellent job before, during and after the storm with no interruption in any essential city services.”
Early Friday, the National Hurricane Center discontinued Palm Beach County's hurricane warning.
Delray Beach staff spent the day preparing the city for regular operations. Its Emergency Operations Center was closed early Friday. The mandatory curfew from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday also was lifted. City staff removed branches and trees that were blocking roadways or in the public right-of-way.
John Morgan, the city’s Environmental Services director, said water came over the city sea walls along the Intracoastal Waterway at high tide Thursday.
“A damage assessment team was out there looking at the sea walls to assess their structural integrity,” Morgan said Friday. He did not think the sea walls received more damage.
The city plans to increase the height of its sea walls and will urge nearby property owners to do the same when that project is started next year.
City staff is monitoring the forecast because the hurricane may loop back and “possibly hit us next week,” Morgan said.
“We will leave most of the city storm preparations in place until we have a better idea of what round two may look like,” Glickstein said Friday. “In any event, we're prepared.”
The quick path of the hurricane cleansed the dune plants, said Rob Baron, the city’s dune management consultant. “The plants are happier and will look remarkably better in just a few days,” Baron said Friday at the north end of the city’s beach.
He also said the beach’s high-water line receded 40 or 50 feet, meaning wave action created escarpments or steep slopes.
City facilities will reopen Monday, as will schools within the city limits.
The Downtown Roundabout trolley service began operating at 2 p.m. Friday. Parking was free Friday along the beach, although parking regulations were enforced in other parts of the downtown. Old School Square and Federspiel parking garages were reopened Friday.
Residents of the Municipal Marina were able to return home Friday, along with barrier island residents and others who were evacuated.
The city’s Municipal Golf Course reopened early Saturday.
Some helpful numbers to call:
Banana Boat co-owner Luke Therien, left, inspects the massive 3,000- square-foot awning his crew took down before the storm and put back up the morning after. Steven J. Smith/The Coastal Star
By Steven J. Smith
BOYNTON BEACH — Local business owners breathed a collective sigh of relief in the wake of Hurricane Matthew’s too-close-for-comfort visit to the area.
Cindy Shi, manager of a massage salon in Ocean Plaza at 640 E. Ocean Ave., was taking down the plywood that protected her windows on Friday, the day after the storm passed. She said her business suffered no damage.
“I was closed [Thursday] and [Friday], and I will open up for business [Saturday],” Shi said. “All of my clients knew the hurricane was coming, so they rescheduled their appointments for the weekend after.”
Most of Shi’s neighbors in Ocean Plaza remained boarded up except for Café Frankie’s Restaurant, which was open for business Friday and looking to lure locals who were slowly emerging from their homes after the storm, said owner Anthony Calicchio.
“We boarded up the windows and I was expecting to go through a few days without electricity,” Calicchio said. “I was also planning on selling pizzas to everyone while they had no electricity. We did a lot of preparation for that, but no one lost electricity, so no one ordered pizzas and I lost some money there.”
Calicchio added business was “still a little slow” while area residents busied themselves taking down their storm shutters.
“We’ll be back to normal soon,” he said.
Eddie Olsen, captain and mate of the Sea Mist III, a charter fishing boat docked at 700 Casa Loma Blvd. in Boynton Beach, said he left nothing to chance in getting ready for Matthew.
“We definitely prepared properly,” Olsen said. “We tied the boat up as well as we could and hoped for the best. Our prayers were answered. Everything worked out great.”
Olsen added some storm surge came in over the sea wall and flooded the adjoining parking lot for a while, but there was no damage to report.
“We dodged a bullet,” he said.
Luke Therien, co-owner with his brother, Gilles, of Banana Boat Restaurant at 739 E. Ocean Ave., said bitter experience taught them to take down the enormous 3,000-square-foot awning that covers their outside bar and restaurant area.
“Our family has owned this restaurant for 38 years and we’ve been through every hurricane since 1978 — Andrew, Jeanne, Frances, and Wilma,” Therien said. “That awning crashed down on us during Wilma in 2005 and we had to have the whole thing replaced. We even installed some support posts afterward. It’s like a circus tent. We didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, so when we heard about Matthew’s 130-140 mph winds, we decided we had to take this thing down. It took about 15 guys to take it down before the hurricane and another 15 guys to put it back up again the day after.”
Therien added the restaurant sustained no damage except for a palm frond that fell in the parking lot.
“We’re very thankful for that,” he said. “We’ve got a nice crowd here right now and we’re expecting more later. We’re a lot luckier than a lot of people to the north.”
By Mary Hladky
After sustaining minimal damage from Hurricane Matthew, Boca Raton was well on its way to returning to business as usual by midday Friday.
“We prepared for the worst and are pleased we came though it unscathed,” said Mayor Susan Haynie, who rode out the storm in the city’s Emergency Operation Center.
Residents with storm-related questions could call the Citizens Information Center at 982-4900 before and during the storm. Haynie said most of questions were about evacuation and shelter locations.
While Palm Beach County had ordered evacuations of people living in Zones A (manufactured and mobile homes) and B (barrier islands and high rises along the Intracoastal Waterway), Boca Raton did not enforce the evacuations, leaving residents free to decide for themselves whether to leave.
The closest county-operated storm shelters for Boca Raton residents were at West Boca High School and Atlantic High School in Delray Beach.
Regularly scheduled garbage pick-up resumes on Monday.
Libraries reopened at noon Friday.
All park and recreation facilities, including the Municipal Golf Course, will resume normal operating hours on Saturday. Beach parks also will reopen Saturday with lifeguards on duty.
City offices will be closed through Monday because of the Columbus Day holiday.
The National Hurricane Center dropped the hurricane warning for Boca Raton at 5 a. m. Friday and tropical storm warnings for the city were canceled at 7:57 a.m.
For many South Florida residents, the biggest problem caused by Hurricane Matthew was loss of power.
Florida Power & Light reported that as of early Friday, more than 60,000 South Florida customers remained without power. Palm Beach County fared the worst in the tri-county area, with 44,850 customers still without power.
Most Palm Beach County customers could expect power to be restored by the end of Friday, and the remainder would have power again by the end of Saturday, FPL said.
Related story: Boynton chief says Yannuzzi’s Briny role to differ from past
By Dan Moffett
Briny Breezes council members say choosing the right police department to serve their town didn’t come down to questions about performance. The deciding factor was cost.
“It was a tough decision. Either Boynton Beach or Ocean Ridge would do a good job for us,” said Council President Sue Thaler. “It was dollars and cents that made the difference between them.”
With a 3-2 vote on Sept. 8, the council approved a three-year contract with Boynton Beach, ending a long-running relationship with the Ocean Ridge Police Department.
“We tried to make an apple-to-apple comparison between them,” Alderman Bobby Jurovaty said. “And the one apple that stood out was price. It’s sad, really. There was nothing wrong with what Ocean Ridge did.”
Jurovaty joined Thaler and Alderman Allen “Chick” Behringer in voting for the switch to Boynton; James McCormick and Christina Adams voted to stay with Ocean Ridge.
Boynton Beach offered Briny Breezes a three-year contract that was roughly 10.6 percent lower in cost than Ocean Ridge’s: $618,792 compared with $691,965. Ocean Ridge also offered a five-year plan that came in higher than Boynton’s at $665,352 for the first three years.
Thaler said that, other than price, the contracts are “virtually identical” in services. Boynton officially takes over on Oct. 1.
The contract with Boynton Beach returns Chris Yannuzzi as primary law enforcement contact in Briny Breezes.
Yannuzzi was forced to resign as Ocean Ridge’s police chief in 2015 after a dispute with the town’s vice mayor, Richard Lucibella. Yannuzzi then joined Boynton’s Police Department as both volunteer reserve captain and as a contract employee in charge of code compliance.
He will become the department’s “primary contact” for Briny residents and a deputy town marshal.
“He is intimately familiar with the town and the people here,” said Boynton Police Chief Jeffrey Katz, who told the Town Council his agency was committed to delivering the policing the town wants.
Ocean Ridge police have covered Briny Breezes for most of the past three decades, except for a three-year period between 2007 and 2010 when Boynton Beach had the contract. Briny residents were not happy with Boynton’s performance then and switched back to Ocean Ridge, many believing a smaller neighbor delivered better service. Boynton Beach has 155 sworn officers who police roughly 70,000 people; Ocean Ridge has 16 full-time officers who police 1,700.
Katz said he has overhauled the department since taking over as chief three years ago and assured the council that performance will be better than before. He promised improved response times despite his mainland base, saying his officers typically beat the Boynton Beach Fire Department — with which Briny just signed a new long-term contract for service — to emergency calls.
Katz said his department can work with bridge tenders to ensure they can get to the island for emergencies and that Boynton will call on Ocean Ridge police for help if needed.
Mayor Mike Hill, who participated in the meeting by phone and under the town charter didn’t have a vote, said he had concerns that the larger department might not understand “that a soft touch often is the best way to deal with people in retirement communities like Briny Breezes.”
Hill said when he lived in Highland Beach the town ran into trouble when it started hiring retired New York officers.
Katz said he has raised hiring standards in Boynton and only 1.2 percent of applicants have gotten jobs.
“It just so happens that none of the officers hired in the past three years have previously worked in New York,” he said.
The chief told council members his department understands the type of community policing Briny Breezes wants and recognizes concerns they may have with the perception of big-city cops.
Adams and McCormick said they were comfortable with the decision despite voting the other way.
Adams said she thought Ocean Ridge was better equipped to keep the town safe and the cost difference didn’t matter.
“When you pan the money out over five years, it’s really not that much,” she said.
McCormick said he supported Ocean Ridge “out of loyalty and because of the experience they have working here.”
Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins said his department will continue to have a close working relationship with its counterpart in Boynton Beach, and that he will do what it takes to ensure the transition goes smoothly.
Towns could improve drainage, roads, parks
By Stacey Singer,
Dan Moffett and Jane Smith
When Palm Beach County voters go to the polls Nov. 8, they will be asked to consider something beyond the hard-fought presidential election. They also will be asked to consider something much closer to home: whether to increase the sales tax rate here from 6 cents to 7 cents per dollar for the next 10 years.
Adding a temporary, local-effort penny to the sales tax would generate an estimated $2.7 billion in new revenues over the decade. That money would be targeted locally to improving school buildings; infrastructure such as roads, bridges and drainage, and amenities such as parks and fire stations, according to Todd Bonlarron, assistant county administrator.
Palm Beach County is one of the few areas in the state not currently taking advantage of the local option penny tax, according to the Florida Department of Revenue. County commissioners and School Board members say it’s needed now to recover from many years of delayed maintenance brought on by the state’s budget cuts and property value shrinkage during the economic downturn.
“Cities, counties, the state of Florida — we went through a recession recently that was pretty difficult. Everyone was forced to tighten their belts,” Bonlarron said. “Capital budgets were reduced pretty significantly, contributing to the ongoing issues that we are having with upkeep and maintenance.”
The newfound tax revenue, if voters approve, would go into three buckets — Palm Beach County schools would receive half; county government would receive 30 percent, and individual municipalities would share the remaining 20 percent.
The county has set up a website to explain the proposal at www.onecountyonepenny.org/. An interactive map on the site enables voters to zero in on specific neighborhoods to see the targeted projects.
In the coastal communities, those projects include:
• Improving swales and drainage along roads in Gulf Stream that are prone to flood during heavy rains.
• Helping pay for concrete groins along the wave-battered coastline in South Palm Beach, where erosion is threatening the ground beneath some condominiums.
• Replacement of the public safety radio system in Boynton Beach, along with the Kids Kingdom playground at the popular East Ocean Avenue park.
• Replacing sewer and water lines along Marine Way in Delray Beach, as well as making improvements to Pompey Park, Hilltopper Stadium, the Teen Center Skate Park, the Tennis Center and Old School Square.
• Work on the parking lot at South Inlet Park in Boca Raton.
Cities’ share of the new tax revenue will depend on a formula based mainly on population, Bonlarron said. As a result, the county’s biggest cities will receive considerably more than small towns.
Boca Raton could receive about $6 million a year for 10 years, Boynton Beach around $4 million, Delray Beach would receive around $3 million, Lantana would receive around $500,000, Ocean Ridge would receive about $105,000, South Palm Beach would receive about $82,000 and Briny Breezes would receive about $25,000 per fiscal year, beginning in 2017.
Many of the maintenance and infrastructure projects must be done whether voters OK the penny tax or not, several officials said. Without the extra revenue, the projects could be delayed, or the municipalities will have to borrow money, typically financed by property taxes at greater local taxpayer expense, Bonlarron said.
“I think when people start hearing that this is a funding source that isn’t just hitting property owners and renters, but even our visitors are going to contribute, they are like, ‘OK, I understand that. I get that,’ ” he said.
Not all communities are enthusiastically counting their potential windfall. Skeptical that the referendum will pass, Highland Beach officials say they are not budgeting for the penny sales tax.
Boca Raton officials said they have not discussed what they might do with the potential influx of money.
And in South Palm Beach, Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello doubted voters would be in a mood to increase their own taxes.
“I can almost guarantee you it’s not going to pass. We shouldn’t count on spending that extra money because it’s not going to be there,” he said.
Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein favors the penny tax. He said having that additional source of revenue would help the city better weather fluctuations in the economy. Property values have seesawed during the boom-bust-boom cycles of recent years, he noted.
“The sales tax will help soften the edge of negative economic cycles,” he said.
The increase would bring the county’s sales tax rate up to the state average. Bonlarron said a citizens oversight board would be appointed by the schools and the county to oversee spending of the sales tax money. Something similar may be assembled jointly by the cities as well, he said.
“There will be multiple committees,” Bonlarron said, “just to make sure that we are spending the money on what we said we would spend the money on.”
Mary Thurwachter and Rich Pollack contributed to this report.
Towns consider where to apply tax funds
The general election is Nov. 8, with early voting beginning Oct. 24. On the ballot will be a referendum asking voters to raise Palm Beach County’s sales tax by 1 cent, to 7 cents per dollar, for a 10-year term. Half the revenue raised would go to the school district. The county would receive 30 percent and cities and towns would share the remaining 20 percent, distributed according to a formula based mainly on population. Here are details on what several communities expect to do with the new revenue, if the measure passes:
Boca Raton: $6 million
The penny sales tax would raise city revenues by about $6 million per year. The county plans to do minor line-striping work in the parking lot at South Inlet Park, but the city has not discussed what to do with its share of the money, according to city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson. In general, the money is to be set aside for “infrastructure needs,” according to the county.
Boynton Beach: $4 million
The penny sales tax, if approved, would raise city revenues by about $4 million per year. The money could help speed up completion of many pending repairs and capital projects, Mayor Steven Grant said. That list includes replacing a citywide public safety radio system at a cost of $2.5 million; replacing the boardwalk at Mangrove Park for $1.6 million; replacing generators and switchgear at City Hall for $750,000; replacing the play area at the Kids Kingdom for $300,000; adding playground equipment at the Congress Avenue Barrier Free Park for $200,000, and improving streets for $600,000.
Briny Breezes: $25,000
The Town Council recently passed new ordinances governing golf cart use and truck traffic. The additional sales tax money could help pay for signage and new crosswalks to improve safety.
Delray Beach: More than $3 million
Mayor Cary Glickstein said the extra tax revenue would help the city improve roads, fire stations, parks and other city facilities, and generally enable it to more smoothly weather the economic ups and downs that have whipsawed property values. Pending projects that would benefit from the extra sales tax revenue include $3 million to replace sewer and water lines on flood-prone Marine Way; $1 million for repairs on Seacrest Boulevard and Northeast Eighth Street; $640,000 for upgrades at Hilltopper Park; $470,000 for improvements at Pompey Park; $425,000 for upgrades to the Tennis Center; $410,000 for upgrades to the Teen Center Skate Park, and more.
Gulf Stream: $60,000
The town has several low-lying areas where water collects on streets after rains. Money would go toward rebuilding swales and improving drainage.
Highland Beach: $250,000
Town officials have said they don’t think the referendum will pass and have not made any plans for the money
Lantana: $500,000-$600,000
Mayor Dave Stewart noted that since the money must be used for infrastructure, the town would use it for water lines and road improvements.
Manalapan: $25,000
The money would likely help rebuild swales on Point Manalapan or help finish the Audubon Causeway bridge project.
Ocean Ridge: $107,000
Town commissioners are considering repaving all streets in the town over the next four to five years and adding traffic-calming devices, so the money would likely go there.
South Palm Beach: $82,300
While the money couldn’t be used to replace beach sand, it could be used to help pay for installation of concrete groins to help reduce beach erosion, said town attorney Brad Biggs. It also could be used to upgrade lighting along A1A.
Jackie, Tommy and Eva Tyghem, 5, watch Biscuit, a yellow Labrador retriever,
fetch her ball under the light of the full moon in the ocean near the Colony Cabana Club in Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Members and guests at the Colony Hotel’s Cabana Club appear to be pulled to the beach
by the harvest moon as it rises in Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Each month, a group gathers at the Colony Hotel’s Cabana Club to watch the full moon rise
By Ron Hayes
Any other summer night, you might get 40 people at the Colony Hotel’s Cabana Club, sipping wine, nibbling cheese and gazing out beyond the Delray dunes to savor a gorgeous sunset sky.
“But we’re expecting about 90 tonight,” says Jayce Swentzel, checking in a steady stream of members and guests. He’s 24, an FAU student from Lexington, Ky., by day, club attendant by night. “During the season, it’ll be 120. We have a specific crowd of members we almost never see except for nights like this.”
On this night — Friday, Sept. 16 — the Colony Cabana Club will welcome a very special guest, a beloved entertainer who’s dazzled men, woman and children longer than anyone can remember.
Showtime is 7:32 p.m.
“These full moon parties used to be the only thing I did here,” says Anita Holland, a 10-year member from Boca Raton. “But then I thought I can’t really ask my husband to pay the membership when I only come once a month.”
Tonight she has four tables pushed together for about a dozen friends, and enough food to feed a dozen more. Fresh mahi tacos, chips and dips. “Plus I have lots of vegetarian friends, so we’ve got veggie salads with kale and quinoa and all that boring stuff.”
And wine, of course.
“It’s amazing,” Holland says. “We’ll howl at the moon, we’ll dance at the moon, but when it comes up I sneak away from all my friends and go down in front of the private bungalows to be alone with the moon.”
Not far away, Paul and Lynn Freeman, 14-year members, have scored a front-row table at the edge of the deck.
“We come every month,” Lynn says. “It’s like we’re on vacation, even though we live here.”
“It’s old-fashioned Florida,” Paul adds.
“And the moon’s a constant,” Lynn muses. “Throughout time, it’s always the same, even as the world’s changed around it. It changes your mood.” Suddenly she remembers. “Oh, and there’s so many songs about the moon!”
Blue Moon. Moonglow. Moondance. Moonlight In Vermont. And of course, Shine On, Harvest Moon.
Tonight, a harvest moon will shine on the Cabana Club. It probably was named by Yankee farmers for the bright light that let them work after dark. Native Americans called it a corn moon, and it’s also known as an elk call moon or a wine moon. The Chinese call it a chrysanthemum moon.
Call them what you will, full moons appear every 29.5 days, when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun and all three are in a straight line.
A harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, Sept. 22 this year, and tonight’s harvest moon will look even bigger because it will be closer to Earth in its orbit, a mere 227,000 miles away, a “supermoon.”
At 7:23 p.m., the sun officially sets. A gentle blue dusk lingers on the deck, the sand, the sea, and a frisky anticipation flits among the crowd — except perhaps around Noah Pesso, 65, who joined the club in November.
“I’m thrilled,” he says, not sounding especially thrilled. “You know, it’s like you see one movie and they tell you’ve got to see the same movie again and again and again. Moon after moon.”
Then he turns on his phone to show off all the photos he took at July’s full moon party.
“Oh, I joke around a lot,” he says, dropping the pessimistic pose. “I like to enjoy life. I like to have fun, and the moon’s a part of that. It’s part of everything.”
The moon also is prompt. At precisely 7:32 p.m., the first tangerine sliver comes over the horizon.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome to the sky ...
Men and women line the deck, aiming smartphones out to sea while others grab their drinks and children and hurry down to the shore.
“It’s beautimous!” Jimmy Howard exclaims, scurrying over the sand.
“It’s beautimous maximus,” his friend Michelle Farina agrees, and indeed it is — a huge orange globe sliding up the sky, so perfectly round and splendidly bright you can understand why full moons inspire myth and superstition.
As everyone knows, the moon and madness have always been best friends. The very word “lunatic” comes from Luna, Roman goddess of the moon, who rode her silver chariot across the sky every night.
In 18th-century England, criminals could argue for a lighter sentence for crimes committed during a full moon, and London’s Bethlehem Hospital — the “lunatic asylum” from which we get the word “bedlam” — shackled and flogged patients to curb outbursts when the moon was full.
Even as recently as the 1990s, a two-year study at England’s Bradford Royal Infirmary reviewed 1,621 cases of dog bite over two years and concluded your chances of being bitten double during a full moon. Unfortunately, a later study by the University of Sydney found a slightly lower incidence of dog bites during full moons.
But we still want to believe there’s magic in the moonlight.
Tommy Tyghem of Boca Raton is wading in the ocean with his wife, Jackie, and their children, Roman, 7, and Eva, 5.
“I can’t sleep during a full moon,” he says as Roman and Eva frolic in that glimmering path of moonshine stretching over the sea to shore. “From about two days before to two days after. It’s probably the light coming in the windows, but even if I close the blinds, it doesn’t matter.”
How long has he noticed this? He considers. “I’ve never not noticed it.”
The moon doesn’t dawdle. In minutes, it’s risen high in the sky. The orange glow has paled to a very bright white, and the orb is decidedly smaller. Smartphones disappear, the beachgoers wander back to the club, and before long the crowd begins to disperse.
“Now it’s just another moon,” Noah Pesso says, resigned. “When you’re at the beach, you see just a little bit, and then a half, and then it’s big and red. But when it gets up high again, it’s just like I’m in my backyard. It’s just another moon.”
And then he turns on his smartphone, to show all the pictures he took tonight.
Note: For anyone who missed last month’s show, the full moonrise will return by popular demand at 7:38 p.m. Oct. 16.
Something is in the air. There is a cloud of consternation lingering over our coastal towns. This past month our reporters found themselves uncomfortable as they endured berating from the dais and strained encounters with and between government officials. In most of these situations it was because someone either didn’t like how we said something, or were concerned about how we might say something.
Here’s a tip: If you don’t want people to know you’ve said or done something, don’t say or do it in a public meeting.
That you don’t want people to know what you said isn’t our problem. And just because you’re in a small town, don’t assume there won’t be a reporter there to hear you say it. As long as this newspaper publishes, there will be.
And just because we are a small publication, don’t assume you can control what we publish. You are welcome to make suggestions, and we are open to neighborly advice. But when you demand to control the message, it raises our First Amendment hackles.
Our job isn’t PR. News media are surrogates for the public, reporting information people want to know to make informed decisions. We take our profession seriously. And we do our best to stay fair.
At the same time, we are your neighbors and sometimes we find ourselves sympathetic to some sensitive issue or another in our cities and towns. At these times we may feel a need for velvet gloves — and we will wear them. At other times we feel obligated to tighten up the laces on our boxing gloves to assure the sun shines on the actions of government officials.
Our Constitution guarantees us this freedom of the press.
We believe, as Woodrow Wilson said, that “light is the only thing that can sweeten our political atmosphere and open to view the innermost chambers of government.”
That’s why the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government all have adopted so-called sunshine laws. These laws make the sausage-making of government available for all to view.
Since watching this process often is not pretty, our job is to take on the mantle of a free press and demand the right of public access to government proceedings (including records). We need to do our job of informing readers without government interference.
I’m hoping that all the consternation in the air is just trickle-down from the national political scene and that after Nov. 8 we can shed our petty differences and return civility to our coastal towns.
— Mary Kate Leming,
Editor
Jeannine Morris, left, and Bonnie Boroian are co-chairs of the fourth annual Hope Bash Boca on Oct. 28.
Photo provided
By Maria Puleo
Jeannine Morris and Bonnie Boroian, Highland Beach neighbors and friends for more than 10 years, have a common passion. They are committed to Place of Hope, a faith-based children’s organization with campuses in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties that provides a nurturing home environment for foster children and young adults who have aged out of foster care.
“These kids are right here in our community,” Morris said. “I think it’s really important to show them that people care and that there’s hope out there.”
At Place of Hope on the Leighan and David Rinker Campus in Boca Raton, Boroian and Morris are Angel Moms, working to raise awareness, sponsor events and offer hands-on help, such as cooking meals for the kids and mentoring.
The two were tapped to be co-chairwomen of the fourth annual Hope Bash Boca, a gala fundraiser that will be held at the Boca West Country Club on Oct. 28 to benefit the programs and operations of the Boca Raton campus, which is an expansion of the Palm Beach Gardens-based Place of Hope.
Boroian, 58, having been a professional performer, brings her artistic side to the bash, while Morris, who has a background in investment services, brings her financial understanding for the many dollars that are needed for the growth and upkeep of the Place of Hope mission.
The theme of the bash, “From Broadway to Boca,” was an opportunity for Boroian to enlist the help of a friend who had been in a Broadway show with her years ago, and is now a teacher at Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. She worked with him to select song and dance numbers that are “full of hope” and will be performed by students of the school, and other local children.
About 500 people are expected to attend the event, which costs $250 per person, and includes a live and silent auction. Last year, net profits from Hope Bash Boca were $135,000. The profit goal this year is $200,000.
Morris, who did not wish to share her age, first got involved with the organization more than a decade ago, when a friend invited her to a luncheon to support the Place of Hope campus in Palm Beach Gardens.
“I knew there was a great need, and was so intrigued and impressed by what they were doing,” she said.
Several years ago, Morris invited Boroian to a “Party with a Purpose” that she hosted, and as a result, Boroian got involved.
“It’s incredible to see the growth of the Angel Moms, and the momentum that is occurring as a result of each person trying to get involved in their own way and inviting a friend,” Morris said.
There are about 150 Angel Moms. Boroian chairs member development for the Angel Mom Leadership Board.
The campus also continues to grow. The children reside in three homelike cottages, one of which had its ribbon-cutting ceremony just last month. Another cottage will open later this year, and money is being raised to build a fifth cottage, as well as a building with apartments for young adults.
Both Morris and her husband, Leland, who have three grown children, have been supporters of Place of Hope. Earlier this year, an Art, Education and Wellness Center, for which they gave the lead gift, was dedicated on the Boca campus in their name.
Recently, Morris and her husband became licensed respite foster parents, providing short-term care for children when their full-time foster parents need to deal with a life event, or taking in newborns directly from the hospital until a longer-term foster family can be found, or the babies can be reunited with their biological parents.
“That really was kind of the icing on the cake for me,” Morris said. “Being able to go through the process with Place of Hope to become licensed is really what I’m most thrilled about and feel the best about doing.”
Morris’ other charity work includes her involvement with the cooking ministry of Spanish River Church, which delivers meals to people in need; and the Best Foot Forward Foundation, which focuses on the educational needs of foster children.
Boroian, a mother of five, as well as the founder and CEO of Blissfully Better, a Boca-based company that makes chocolate confections using organic and low-glycemic ingredients, has also been a volunteer for Boca Helping Hands. She still lends financial support to several organizations, including Career Transition for Dancers and The Actors Fund in New York.
Now, both women devote the majority of their charity work to Place of Hope.
“Initially, we volunteered to try to make a difference in the lives of the children at Place of Hope, yet through our involvement, Place of Hope has made a beautiful difference in our friendship,” Morris said.
By Dan Moffett
Briny Breezes’ decision to end a longstanding relationship with Ocean Ridge and approve a contract with Boynton Beach for police services brings Chris Yannuzzi back to the town as a deputy marshal.
But Boynton Beach Police Chief Jeffrey Katz says residents should be aware that Yannuzzi’s role in Briny Breezes will differ from when he was the police chief in Ocean Ridge.
Yannuzzi will be Briny Breeze’s primary contact with Boynton Beach and will brief the Town Council at meetings. But it will be Katz who holds the statutory authority as the town marshal.
“Chris Yannuzzi is a volunteer reserve captain for the Boynton Beach Police Department,” Katz said in a statement to The Coastal Star. “He is also a civilian code compliance manager who was hired as a contract employee. The contract with Boynton Beach does not return Yannuzzi as the face of law enforcement in Briny Breezes. There will be 155 faces of law enforcement in the town as every single sworn Boynton Beach police officer will serve as a deputy marshal.”
Katz said Yannuzzi is “intimately familiar” with Briny Breezes, and that made him the logical choice to work there.
“In light of his unique understanding of the town, Yannuzzi will attend the monthly council meetings as my designee, and make reports to city leaders about the police department’s activities on the island,” Katz wrote.
“There are six other captains who may also be called upon at any time to attend those same meetings on my behalf.”
Lynda Hunter, then the Children’s Services librarian, plays guitar and performs singalong tunes
at the Delray Beach Public Library in June 2015. Hunter is moving from the city.
File photo
Forty-one years ago, I fell in love with Delray Beach. Ten years later I began a love affair with the Delray Beach Public Library.
In 1985 I became the Children’s Services librarian. Little did I know that the position would allow me to become a staunch advocate of early literacy, an avid supporter of community outreach and a proponent of any individual under 3 feet tall.
My first summer reading program had a budget of $40 and was attended by 11 children. During the seven weeks of the 2016 summer reading program, we served 700 children, with 149 in-house and outreach programs resulting in a total attendance of 6,776 children.
Perhaps I am missing something, because I have been hearing that libraries are becoming obsolete. The numbers I cited tell me that this is not the case, and was most likely a rumor circulated by the publishers of e-books (which, incidentally, are available at the library).
The Delray Beach Public Library has grown because it had a city that respected and supported it, parents who brought their children and grandchildren and recognized the great need for supplemental education through literacy programming. I am proud to say that our little library offers some of the best programs in the country, not only for children but for adults and teens as well.
This is accomplished with less funding than larger systems, because our library team takes the time to listen to residents when they tell us what they need.
As I make plans for my relocation to another area of the South, I ask parents to continue to bring their children to our programs, support the library and the librarians in their endeavors, and continue to give children the experiences that I know change lives for the good.
I see wonderful, innovative programming continuing to grow in our new Children’s Services Department. Please take advantage of what we have to offer.
Finally, I would like to tell you how grateful I am. I was able to raise my children in this beautiful city by the sea. I have been given the honor of teaching your children and in some cases, your children’s children, the art of loving to read. For this I am supremely grateful. Much love to our library, city and all who dwell within.
— Lynda Hunter
Children’s Services librarian
By Henry Fitzgerald
The Coastal Star took home 17 individual awards in the Florida Press Association’s 2015 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest. The monthly newspaper, based in Ocean Ridge, competed in Division A: Over 15,000 circulation.
The awards were announced on Sept. 16 during the FPA/FSNE Annual Convention at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota.
The Coastal Star’s haul includes five first-place awards, including one for General Excellence; five second-place awards, which includes one for Serious Column; and seven third-place awards, which includes one for First Amendment Defense.
The contest judges gave the newspaper high marks in all phases, saying: “This paper is stunning. The depth of coverage is remarkable. Each edition features strong enterprise coverage backed by pages and pages of community news. The photography is sharp, the design is consistent and the writing is clear and straightforward. A fantastic paper from Page 1 to Page 92.”
Here is a list of the first-place winners:
First Place, General Excellence
• Entry: February, October, November; Credit: Staff
First Place, Best Obituary
• Entry: Robert and Evelyn Kraft; Credit: Emily J. Minor
First Place, Editorial Award
• Entry: Contracted phone services skirt public records law; Credit: Mary Kate Leming
First Place, In-Depth Reporting (Non-investigative)
• Entry: When the monster came over the bridge; Credits: Randy Schultz, Mary Kate Leming
First place, Local Government Reporting
• Entry: Check the law before heading off-course in golf cart; Credit: Rich Pollack
Second-place awards went to Thom Smith, in the Serious Column category; Tim Pallesen, in the Community History category; Rich Pollack, in the Outdoor and Recreation category; Ron Hayes, for Sports Feature Story; and Dan Moffett, for State and Local Reporting.
Third-place awards went to Tao Woolfe, for Sports Feature Story; Scott Simmons, Jerry Lower, Bruce Borich, Mary Kate Leming and Tim Stepien, for Front Page Makeup; Lucy Lazarony, for Education reporting; Ron Hayes, for Feature Story: Profile; Mary Kate Leming and Dan Moffett, for First Amendment Defense; Bruce Borich, for Informational Graphic; and Ron Hayes, for Community History.
By Dan Moffett
A Palm Beach County circuit judge will decide whether Gulf Stream owes resident Martin O’Boyle as much as $500,000 in legal fees after finding against the town in a 2-year-old public records lawsuit.
Judge Donald Hafele ruled on Sept. 6 that the town failed to satisfy the state statute in responding to O’Boyle’s requests for records concerning the town’s removal of his campaign signs during the 2014 municipal election.
The case is one of dozens O’Boyle has filed against Gulf Stream over the last four years, and the disputed public records are among thousands of records requests he has made to the town.
O’Boyle’s lawyer, Elaine Johnson James, says he is entitled to compensation that could amount to $500,000 — a figure that’s roughly 10 percent of the town’s total budget — because the town violated the law, then contested his suit at every turn, running up the legal bills.
“We’re coming after the town for every dime Mr. O’Boyle spent to pursue his claim,” Johnson James said. “What a waste of the taxpayers’ money.”
Mayor Scott Morgan said the town had no choice but to fight it out in court. Morgan said the town’s lawyers tried to settle the suit but O’Boyle wanted “an exorbitant amount,” so the town opted to defend the case and let the court determine compensation.
“This should have been settled, but O’Boyle demanded so much money — a number that was so shockingly high — we decided to let the judge try the case and award attorney fees, rather than accede to O’Boyle’s demands,” Morgan said.
Neither side will disclose specifics from the settlement negotiations. But a source close to the talks said the number $500,000 came up.
The suit grew out of O’Boyle’s unsuccessful run for the Town Commission in March 2014. Town Manager William Thrasher believed several dozen O’Boyle campaign signs were placed illegally on public rights of way and ordered police to remove them. O’Boyle objected and requested public records from the town, including police correspondence.
Morgan, a lawyer, said the town acted in good faith in trying to fulfill O’Boyle’s requests but was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of public records requests he made — “a technical violation” of the records law, he said.
“O’Boyle is looking for a mistake to use for a ‘gotcha case,’ ’’ said Morgan. “We were inundated with requests. We obtained most of the documents but inadvertently didn’t produce two of them.”
The judge’s ruling appeared to turn on O’Boyle’s requests for records of police radio transmissions that are recorded and stored in Delray Beach. Morgan said the town believed they were not Gulf Stream’s records because they “are not generated by us or maintained by us.”
Johnson James doesn’t see it that way, and neither did the judge, during a trial that lasted less than two hours.
“Basically, the town not only failed to turn over the records to Mr. O’Boyle, the town failed to even tell him that the records existed,” she said. “The judge specifically said that the town’s duty to turn over records wasn’t removed because the town had so many public records requests.”
Johnson James said the bill for legal fees would be much lower had the town stopped fighting a losing cause.
“Gulf Stream’s a wealthy town, but wealthy people’s money shouldn’t be wasted either,” she said, and left a question: “Why do we keep doing these dumb things that are contrary to the law?”
Morgan said he expects Hafele to decide on the legal costs before the end of the year. The mayor said he believes Gulf Stream will end up spending less than if it had accepted O’Boyle’s “outrageous” settlement terms.
“When we do something wrong or feel we’re going to lose a case, we try to settle,” Morgan said. “But we couldn’t accede to O’Boyle’s exorbitant demand. I’m willing to let the court decide.”
In another case, a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge ruled in September that the Town of Gulf Stream violated the state’s public records law in handling a request from resident Christopher O’Hare in 2014.
O’Hare sued the town after claiming officials refused to turn over records of car wash services during a three-year period. The town withheld the records, saying it needed an advance deposit of $792.54 from O’Hare to cover the clerical costs of producing the documents.
In her ruling against the town, Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo wrote that the state law “is to be liberally construed in favor of open access to public records,” and officials should have given O’Hare the documents. Caracuzzo said she would allow O’Hare to seek court costs and attorney’s fees.
By Dan Moffett
Ocean Ridge commissioners are waiting until the eleventh hour to approve a final budget for the new fiscal year while Town Manager Jamie Titcomb recalculates the numbers to try to correct a series of accounting errors.
This is the first budget Titcomb has produced for the town — taking over the work that former Town Clerk Karen Hancsak handled for some three decades before retiring early this year.
The commission hired Titcomb last October with the specific requirement that he would prepare the annual budget. His new approach and new format have resulted in several frustrating meetings for officials, and numbers that haven’t yet added up.
Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella said he spent hours trying to make sense of Titcomb’s accounting and uncovered too many significant errors.
“This is embarrassing,” Lucibella said. “I shouldn’t have to play detective.”
What was to have been a final budget meeting on Sept. 21 ended with commissioners voting to go into recess until Oct. 3 to give Titcomb more time to correct the mistakes.
Mayor Geoff Pugh told the town manager the bottom line is that his future in Ocean Ridge is tied to his numbers.
“In my 14 years, I’ve never, ever had this situation occur,” Pugh said. “To postpone a meeting because of a budget? I’m appalled. If it’s not right at the next meeting, in my opinion, there’s going to be a problem with your job. I’m being point blank here. Because … this is the whole reason that we hired you. You sat there and told us you knew how to do this budget.
“It’s your responsibility. It’s on your shoulders.”
While acknowledging its errors, Titcomb says this is a “transitional budget” from old ways of doing things to new that ultimately will provide more transparency for taxpayers.
He asked the commission for more time, saying the problems Lucibella cited were too complex to solve during the meeting. He said the issues involve “thousands of computations” across many spread sheets.
“My concern is to execute (changes) while you all sat here and wait is probably asking for error,” Titcomb said.
Accounting issues aside, Ocean Ridge remains in robust financial health, with property values rising 7.5 percent over the last year. In July, commissioners approved a maximum tax rate of $5.35 per $1,000 of assessed taxable value, 7.2 percent above the $4.99 rollback rate that would hold revenues flat.
Ocean Ridge is hardening its defenses against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, the two mosquito species known to transmit the Zika virus.
During the Sept. 12 town meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a new $62,890 contract with Clarke Environmental Mosquito Management Inc. to provide no-see-um and mosquito control services with emphasis on the Zika breeds.
The contract calls for 36 backpack spraying treatments over the next year, and Clarke also will begin targeting the Zika mosquitoes with 26 scheduled truck spraying treatments between 3:45 and 4:45 a.m., street by street.
Robert Santana, a Clarke consultant, told commissioners the company will use chemicals and application techniques that do minimal harm to bees and other beneficial species. He said the chemical spray will dissipate by sunrise, when the bees become active and fly off to do their work.
Santana told the commission that the Zika mosquitoes are “container breeders,” meaning they do not like to breed in swamps and puddles but prefer to lay their eggs on the inside rims of containers such as buckets, cups and even bottle caps with standing water.
Clarke has worked extensively in Miami-Dade County neighborhoods, including Wynwood and Miami Beach, the first United States locations with active transmission of mosquito-borne Zika.
— Dan Moffett
By Dan Moffett
For the first time in its 53-year history, Briny Breezes is looking to hire a paid administrator to manage the town’s government business.
Until now, Briny Breezes has relied on the unpaid volunteer service of elected officials to do its administrative work. But over the years, the demands have grown more time consuming and more complicated.
Town Council President Sue Thaler estimates she puts in between 20 and 25 hours weekly, working for the town, often representing it in collaborative efforts with other groups and communities.
“I’m really not able to do that anymore,” she said. “We’re hoping to start advertising for an administrator within the next couple weeks and have someone hired before the end of the year.”
Of the 39 municipalities in Palm Beach County, Briny Breezes is the only one that does not have some version of a paid administrator, said Alderman Bobby Jurovaty — including the five towns that are smaller in population: Glen Ridge, Village of Golf, Cloud Lake, Jupiter Inlet Colony and Manalapan.
“We’re the last of a dying breed,” Jurovaty said. “Sue has done a great job, but she can’t keep putting in so much time. Some people actually thought Sue was getting paid to do all she does.”
Jurovaty said the new position will be part-time, perhaps 25 hours a week, and a combination job — part deputy clerk and part town manager.
Steve Cooper, the current clerk, is leaving the town later this year, so the timing is right for change. Thaler would stay on as an alderman.
No amendment of the town charter is required. Council members believe they can create the administrative job by passing a resolution.
Thaler said there’s $50,000 set aside in the new budget to cover the hiring. Briny Breezes is saving about $27,000 a year by switching from Ocean Ridge police service to Boynton Beach, so that will cover the extra cost above replacing Cooper as clerk.
By Dan Moffett
A Lantana resident and a Manalapan homeowners group have joined forces and filed suit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court to block construction of a Publix at Plaza del Mar.
The suit claims the town acted illegally in July when commissioners approved a site plan for the plaza’s renovation and new supermarket. A specific complaint is that the town did not require an adequate traffic study before advancing the plan.
The owners of the plaza, MSKP Plaza Del Mar LLC, are joining with the town to defend against the suit, filed by Barbara Federico and residents of La Coquille Club Villas.
“Do La Coquille residents really understand that they are the defendant and the plaintiff in this case?” Mayor David Cheifetz wondered during the Sept. 14 commission meeting.
Former Manalapan Vice Mayor Robert Evans, a homeowner at La Coquille behind the plaza, has made repeated appeals to the commission to rein in plans for bulldozing much of the plaza to accommodate the 26,000-square-foot Publix. Evans and other La Coquille residents said they favored a smaller grocery store, such as the one that operated on the property years ago.
“We would have preferred a market in the old space,” Evans said in one of his appeals.
Federico has lived on Beach Curve Road on Hypoluxo Island for 14 years in a home that’s 500 feet from the plaza. She says the proposed store is too large for the neighborhood and sure to cause traffic problems.
“My main motivation is the size of the store,” she said of filing suit. “It is inappropriate for the community and incompatible with the area.”
Town Attorney Keith Davis said the plaza owners intend to move forward with construction as they fight the lawsuit. He said the town’s legal fees “will be greatly reduced” because the owners are providing for most of the defense.
In other business:
• Many Manalapan homeowners will enjoy a reduction in their next tax bills as the town’s budget grows fatter from strong building fee revenues and higher property values.
Commissioners unanimously approved a final tax rate of $2.79 per $1,000 of taxable value for the new budget, roughly 0.7 percent below the rollback rate of $2.81 that holds tax revenues flat.
“This is the lowest it’s been since 2011-2012,” Cheifetz said, “and unassigned revenue is the highest it’s been since 2011.”
Property values in the town continue to rise faster than those elsewhere in Palm Beach County — up 9.9 percent over last year, compared with the county average of about 6 percent. The town has an assessed value of $1.1 billion, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office, with an average market price of $4.2 million, the county’s highest.
The new budget benefits from the impending completion of the Audubon Causeway bridge project, which drained close to $1 million from capital accounts. The town also has resolved several nagging legal matters and expects to have lower legal expenses.
• Commissioners are waiting on the results of another consultant’s study to decide how to go about negotiating a new water contract with Hypoluxo.
Town Manager Linda Stumpf said Kevin O’Donnell of Nova Energy Consultants of Cary, N.C., is doing a rate analysis of Hypoluxo customers, and also analyzing the potential impact on Manalapan’s system if Hypoluxo decides to go elsewhere for service. Stumpf said Boynton Beach’s water utility could offer Hypoluxo residents a deal with “very, very low rates.”
• Vice Mayor Peter Isaac said reconstruction of the Audubon Causeway bridge is on schedule to be completed by the end of November. “There will still be a lot of tidying up to do” through the end of the year, he said.
