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.

By Jane Smith
    
    City commissioners kept the property tax rate the same, but most property owners will likely pay more in taxes because taxable values increased by 7.9 percent in Boynton Beach, according to Assistant City Manager Tim Howard. Homeowners with a homestead exemption will see their property values increase by .7 percent for tax purposes.
    The tax rate of $7.9 per $1,000 of taxable property value is 7.02 percent higher than the rollback rate of 7.38 percent, Howard said. The rollback rate is the tax rate needed to generate the same amount of property tax income as in the previous budget year.
    The general fund for the next budget year is $79.4 million, a 3.8 percent increase over this year’s level. The public safety departments account for more than 65 percent of the budget.
    To bring Fire Station No. 1 up to staffing level standards of six employees per shift, the city won’t dip into its reserves. Instead, it will postpone hiring the extra six firefighters until April, saving $210,000 while adding the same amount in the general fund.

Rob Steele, who is one year into his job as president and chief executive officer of Old School Square

in Delray Beach, stands with ‘Field of Blue’ at the square. The sculpture, unveiled in 1996,

is of a boy holding a U.S. flag and honors people in uniform.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Lucy Lazarony

    It’s been a year since Rob Steele took over as president and chief executive officer of Old School Square. He came from the 2,100-seat Williamsport Community Arts Center in Pennsylvania, where he was executive director for 10 years.
    His goal for the Delray Beach landmark and arts center was to transform it into a multidimensional arts and entertainment park.
    So how’s that working out, and what’s new this year? And what’s this we hear about moving the Christmas tree off campus? Here’s what Steele had to say during a Q&A with The Coastal Star.

    Q. What was your vision a year ago for Old School Square and what is it now? Has it changed?
    A. My vision a year ago was to evolve Old School Square into a multidimensional arts and entertainment park, and the vision has come into a clearer focus with each passing day. The first phase of landmark renovations are underway. Improvements to the landscape, buildings, lighting, and functionality of this historic campus will be the talk of the town. Rebranding the campus from the Delray Beach Center for the Arts to Old School Square has been embraced by everyone, and we believe the change will go a long way in helping our market to understand the multidisciplinary nature of our organization.
    Q. What new events can we expect in the 2016-17 performance season?
    A. In the 2016-2017 season, I would be remiss if I did not share my insider knowledge and draw your attention to a few sleeper shows: One Funny Mother, VoicePlay, Kobie Boykins, The Doo Wop Project, Shades of Bublé, the State Ballet Theatre of Russia and the Rhythmic Circus.
    Q. Are there changes/renovations to the Cornell Museum being planned? 
    A. The Cornell Art Museum is going through what can only be described as a comprehensive metamorphosis.  When the transformation is complete … I believe the Cornell Art Museum will be one of the most significant attractions in Delray Beach. By year end, the museum will have a new roof and fresh coat of paint. By the end of July 2017, the interior of the museum will have been completely transformed.
    In this landmark renovation of the Cornell Art Museum, it is our expressed intention to carry forward the intrinsic charms of a 1913 elementary schoolhouse into a unique and inviting space to enjoy visual art. We hope to leverage the good bones of this historic building … to allow the natural light from the enormous windows to shine in concert with the echoes of children’s dreams … to create an unforgettable museum experience for our guests. 
    We are committed to assuring that the space is designed and constructed to be practical and flexible to meet the present and future needs of the museum.
    Q. What can we expect in the upcoming season in the field house venue and outdoor pavilion?
    A. The Old School Square 2016-2017 season includes a number of events that will be held in the field house venue and the outdoor pavilion stage.  Acoustics in the field house have been dramatically improved, and this unique space will play host to a wide variety of acts throughout the season. Seating configurations will change to match the entertainment and the venue is absolutely charming.
    The pavilion stage affords us the opportunity to feature some larger scale acts for much larger audiences. We are very keen on making sure that people who have traditionally only visited one corner of Old School Square have the opportunity to discover everything we have to offer.
    Q. Is the city’s 100-foot Christmas tree destined to be moved from its previous location this year?
    A. We are very keen on moving the Christmas tree to the core area of the Old School Square Park by December 2017. The construction/erection process of building the Christmas tree lasts at least two months and the site is, well, unsightly during much of the construction. The precise location has not yet been determined. It will be located in the green area, which is directly south of the parking garage. This is the space where the green market is on Saturdays.
    Q. What have you enjoyed most in your first year as president and chief executive officer at Old School Square?
    A. I am truly very blessed to work with such a talented and committed staff and board of directors. They have embraced change and redoubled their already dizzying efforts to advance the mission of Old School Square.

By Jane Smith

    City homeowners will enjoy a slight reduction in next year’s property tax rate under a $110 million budget passed on Sept. 20.
    A Delray Beach owner of a home valued at $550,000 with a $50,000 homestead exemption will pay $50 less in property taxes next year under the plan.
    The current property tax rate is $7.06 per $1,000 in property value, and for the next budget year the rate will slide to $6.96 per $1,000. The tax rate needed for debt service also fell slightly, to 25 cents.
    The assessed value used for the debt service is $3.3 million higher than the $8.8 billion value used for the operating budget. The difference comes from the tax exemptions the city gives for improvements on historic properties. The exemptions apply only to the city’s operating budget.
    Even so, at $6.96 per $1,000 in property valuation, the proposed tax rate is higher than the rollback rate of $6.53 per $1,000 by 6.36 percent. At the rollback rate, the same amount of property tax revenue would be generated as during the prior budget year.
    Two commissioners, Mitch Katz and Shelly Petrolia, wanted to reduce property taxes even more.
    Katz worked with the city manager to devise a plan to reduce the tax rate another 0.1 percent. The city coffers were strong in August, allowing Delray Beach to pay in cash for two fire engines needed and passing the $300,000 saving to property owners.
    But City Manager Don Cooper did not recommend changing the budget. He wanted to keep the money in his contingency budget for emergency expenses.
    The two other commissioners and the mayor agreed.
    “We gave marching orders to our staff in October at the goal-setting session,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said. “If those sessions are to have any meaning, we need to stand behind our staff.”
    He also asked his colleagues to remember the need for revenue when the parking meters expansion comes up next year. “That is a game changer that doesn’t penalize residents in the way property taxes do,” he said. “You want to park for convenience, you pay for convenience.”
    The commission also took the following actions:
    • Approved historic property tax exemptions for improvements on three historic homes: a 1937 frame vernacular-style single-family home in the Marina Historic District, a 1941 single-family home in the Nassau Park Historic District and a 1950 ranch-style single-family home in the Nassau Park Historic District.
    The exemptions are for the improvements and last 10 years regardless of who owns the property.
    • Renewed an agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that calls for a city police officer to work on a DEA Task Force to disrupt the illegal narcotics traffic in South Florida. The city will pay for the officer’s salary, benefits and overtime.
The DEA, subject to availability of money, will pay up to $17,753 in overtime.
    • Approved purchase of 65 bulletproof vests for fire-rescue personnel to use in the event of a mass shooting.
The vests, at a cost not to exceed $79,000, will be purchased from Municipal Emergency Services Inc. at the state’s contract price.
    • Approved stainless steel showers and drinking fountains made by Most Dependable Fountains as the city standard and approved purchasing them for the beach master plan in an amount not to exceed $138,000.
    • Agreed to pay $200,000 to Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. consultants to determine whether the city’s streets and sidewalks are wheelchair accessible.

By Jane Smith

    When Delray Beach passed the final version of its special events policy, no residents tried to sway the City Commission to vote for or against it.
    “You won’t get a lot of people coming out to speak about it,” said Commissioner Shelly Petrolia. “But if you don’t do what they want, they will vote against you.”
    The commission chamber was calm on Sept. 20 compared with the raucous scene in June when teens wearing dance or band uniforms pleaded to save the Garlic Fest. During the festival, they earn money that allows them to pay for outfits needed to participate in the Atlantic High School band or jazz dance team.
    Garlic Fest has since found a new home in a county park that will allow it to be larger but still gated.
    The same organizer hosts the Wine and Seafood Fest for November and the Bacon and Bourbon Fest in March. They were canceled when faced with increased costs and short lead time.
    Two crafts festivals, run by promoter Howard Alan Events, also were canceled because of increased costs. But the organization kept its fine arts festival that shuts down East Atlantic Avenue over a January weekend.
    Faced with increased public safety expenses related to the addiction crisis, Delray Beach is trying to recoup the costs of city services for special events. Its Finance Department devised a way to calculate the true costs, including staff time for public safety workers that covers hourly wages, benefits, overtime and pensions.
    Most private promoters saw at least a doubling of their costs. To offset the sticker shock, the City Commission agreed to phase in the costs over three years.
    For nonprofit events, such as the AVDA 5K/10K run, city commissioners will consider providing in-kind security services so that most of the money raised can go to the organization.
    AVDA is Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. By supporting the runs, the city also will help promote healthy activities, said Commissioner Jordana Jarjura.
    “When you boil this down to those not benefiting by the events, residents and business owners, they appreciate the reduction,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said.
    The policy was approved by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Mitch Katz voting no.

By Jane Smith

    City leaders and railroad officials want to prevent another pedestrian from dying while illegally cutting across the tracks in downtown Delray Beach.
    In early August, a woman left Johnny Brown’s on Atlantic and took a well-used shortcut across the FEC tracks. She was killed by a southbound freight train.
    The group met in early September to discuss the situation and the need for pedestrian barriers in the four blocks north and four blocks south of Atlantic Avenue.
    “It was a very productive meeting,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein. “They are open to just anything.”
    The city wants pedestrian barriers installed in time for the expected start next summer of the Brightline express passenger rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach. Brightline trains will reach up to 79 mph between the two cities. There is no estimate for the number of trains passing through Delray Beach in this phase.
    The second phase, which will end in Orlando, will feature 32 trips daily.
    The city’s engineers will bring design proposals to the City Commission workshop in January. The group may meet before then, Glickstein said, “subject to how well we can generate a feasible, responsible strategy. The ball is in our court.”
    The county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization head, Nick Uhren, attended the group meeting. A week later, he told his board of elected officials that Delray Beach is taking the lead and working with Brightline and FEC to prevent another tragedy.
    “The MPO would walk alongside them and share the information with coastal communities,” Uhren said.
    The barriers also please Delray Beach safety advocate Patrick Halliday. As vice chairman of Human Powered Delray, he pressed for them.
    “I made an issue out of it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to have something terrible happen before we wake up.”
    A check with city police showed no citations or warnings issued to pedestrians for trespassing along the FEC rail lines near Atlantic Avenue for the first eight months of this year and the first eight months of 2015. It’s possible that pedestrians may have been cited or warned because the city Police Department keeps records by street names and not the FEC lines, said its spokeswoman.
    The types of barrier were not decided at the group meeting. The barriers could be as elaborate as fence with landscaping or done for a lower cost where the railroad owns most of the land.
    “There are examples in West Palm Beach by the courthouse where a mature bougainvillea hedge is enough of a deterrent,” Glickstein said.
    “Most people do not realize much of the paved roadway between the west side of the tracks, just north of Atlantic — where the recent accident occurred — and the commercial establishments are within the FEC right of way,” he said.
    All Aboard Florida, the precursor to Brightline, is working with the city as it “determines the next steps and preferred improvements,” said Ali Soule, All Aboard spokeswoman.
    She provided its track maps to the city’s Environmental Services Department for engineers to use to determine where the pedestrian barriers can sit.
    “They prefer us to stay off of their land,” said John Morgan, head of Environmental Services. “But they are open to it if we can show them it can’t be done otherwise.”
    Morgan also said they discussed having a Volpe Center study done in Delray Beach, similar to the one finished two years ago in West Palm Beach. Volpe leaders reviewed trespasser incidents along two railroads from 2009 to 2013 in the city and made recommendations about what to do to prevent pedestrians and bicyclists from trespassing.
    Delray Beach does not have the time to do the study, Morgan said, if it wants the barriers in place for the start of the Brightline service. His staff will review the Volpe recommendations and use the best ideas for Delray Beach.
    The Volpe Center, named for former Secretary of Transportation John Volpe, is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
    Later this year, a Brightline train will be tested between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, after the repair facility is finished in West Palm Beach, Soule said.
    Who will pay for the barriers is to be determined. It could be the city, its Community Redevelopment Agency, grants through the MPO, federal grants or a combination of the sources, Glickstein said. A legislative aide from U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel’s office attended the group meeting.
    Florida ranked second last year for trespasser deaths along rail lines nationwide. Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit public safety organization based in Virginia, works to raise awareness of the dangers of being near the tracks, said Libby Rector Snipe, communications director.
    Its “See Tracks? Think Train” national campaign has radio and TV public service announcements designed to prevent trespassing along the rail lines. In Florida, the organization ran an anti-selfie digital ad in April. The ad was geared to teens and young adults about the dangers of taking selfies along the tracks, Rector Snipe said.
    Soule agreed about the importance of safety.
    “All Aboard Florida is working on a comprehensive plan to educate all communities along the corridor about the importance of train safety,” she said.

A complex of 14 three-story townhomes is being proposed for the vacant 1.5-acre parcel

on the south side of Briny Breezes Boulevard.

Photo from Google Maps

By Jane Smith
    
    The small oceanfront parcel that once housed the Pelican Apartments along the informal Dog Beach could become the spot for 14 three-story townhomes, with construction to start next year.
    One of the landowners, Joseph Basile Sr., said representatives from 30 Ocean met with the county zoning staff in June to see whether they could revive plans from 2005.
    “We are just going through the process,” Basile said on Sept. 23. “We are not asking for any approvals, so there won’t be public hearings.” He estimated it would take another six to nine months to receive the permits needed to start work on the site, which is 1.5 acres, according to the county Property Appraiser’s website.
    But the potential owner’s land-use law firm, Dunay Miskel and Backman of Boca Raton, estimates the property size at 1.98 acres with 16 townhomes allowed. The parcel was approved for 12 townhomes and the potential landowner wants to build 14 townhomes. Sitting in a county pocket east of Ocean Boulevard, the parcel is bordered to the north by the mobile-home community of Briny Breezes.
    James Arena, a Briny Breezes resident and Boynton Beach real estate broker, said he can’t imagine someone building high-end townhomes without getting control of a segment of Old Ocean Boulevard that splits the east side of the parcel, leaving a sliver along the beachfront.
    “Maybe as they start going through the process, they will see they really need the road,” Arena said.
    But using Old Ocean Boulevard was never part of the plans, Basile said recently.
    However, in spring 2014, he met with the Villas of Malibu owners in the county pocket and discussed the abandonment of Old Ocean and the eastern half of Seaview Avenue.
    If the landowner follows the county zoning code and doesn’t request any waivers or roads to be abandoned, the project can be approved administratively without public hearings, according to Maryann Kwok, deputy zoning director.
    She said as many as 16 county agencies will have to review the application after it’s submitted. One-third of the project’s land sits east of the state’s coastal construction line. Any buildings erected there would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
    The 30 Ocean land-use law firm submitted a pre-application letter for a contract purchaser, Guardianship Properties LLC, which is not active, according to state records. They show the company listed Daniel Azel as president. He also is president of the Miami construction firm Andale Group.
    Azel could not be reached for comment by press time.