Pastor Andrew Hagen of Advent Lutheran also writes online under the moniker ‘The Faster Pastor,’

in part because he loves to ride his Harley-Davidson Sportster.

Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

    That very creative Pastor Andrew Hagen of Advent Lutheran Church in Boca Raton is at it again.
    He’s written another musical version of a Bible story for his congregation, and he’ll perform it with other actors on May 22.
    Hagen’s first project focused on the Gospel according to Paul. This one, called In These Last Days, was written from Peter’s perspective.
    Hagen, who was born in 1960, has been writing songs since he was a child. He was just the right age when two major Christian musical masterpieces premiered. The first was the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. JCS was released as an album soundtrack (a vinyl LP) before the show was staged on Broadway in 1971.
    The second was the musical Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. That opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and became one of the most popular shows. Two productions are planned in 2016, in Guatemala City and New Zealand.  
    Both inspired the kid, but “Godspell was my highest inspiration,” Hagen said. “It was the most important, single religious piece of music for me. I love hymns, but Godspell was more.”
    Hagen’s new musical has nine original songs and tells the story of the Pentecost, the important moment when the Holy Spirit appears to the apostles, about seven weeks after Jesus is crucified. It’s based on the story as it’s told in the Book of Acts, the pastor said.
    “As much as possible, I keep the words Biblical, but you do have a certain amount of license.” For example, in this story, the composer created a role from Mary Magdalene.
    Hagen is a self-described Apple freak, and its user-friendly recording software has enabled him to do things he wouldn’t have been able to do 10 years ago.
    “God gave us music to use in a lot of ways,” he said. “Preaching is two dimensions, but musicals are three-dimensional.”
    The performance, In These Last Days: A Musical Worship Experience, will take place from 8:30 to 10 p.m. May 22 at Advent Lutheran Church, 300 E. Yamato Road, Boca Raton. For more information, call 395-3632 or visit www.adventboca.org.

Bill signing at Zinman Hall
    On April 6, Gov. Rick Scott ceremonially signed a state bill (SB 86) that prohibits the state Board of Administration from investing in companies that boycott Israel. The signing took place in Zinman Hall at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.
    Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera; Lior Haiat, the new consul general of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico; and federation President and CEO Matthew C. Levin spoke.
    State Sen. Joe Negron and state Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who sponsored the bill in the Legislature, also attended.

Car wash can help kids
The Avenue Church youth group — called The Pursuit — is raising money for its summer mission trip with a car wash from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 7 at Carver Middle School, 101 Barwick Road, Delray Beach.
    The Pursuit, for students in grades 6 through 12, meets on Tuesdays at a private home in Delray Beach. For information, call group leader Chad Kelker at 886-8726 or email youth@theavechurch.com. The Avenue Church is at 2455 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Visit www.theavechurch.com.

New rector named
    The Chapel of St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Boca Raton welcomed the Rev. Charles A. Browning II as its new permanent rector on April 12. He’s the chapel’s third rector. The Right Rev. Peter Eaton, the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, presided over the ceremony.
    Praised for his passionate preaching style, Browning, a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and Palm Beach Atlantic University, served as assistant rector at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach from 2011 to 2013.
    The Chapel of St. Andrew Episcopal Church is at 2707 NW 37th St., Boca Raton. For more information, call 210-2700 or visit www.chapelsta.org.

Woman’s escape from Iran
Author Sima Goel will speak to women about her experiences detailed in her book, Fleeing the Hijab: A Jewish Woman’s Escape From Iran, at Women’s Spring Education Day, hosted by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County on May 10.
    Goel’s book chronicles her arduous fight for freedom, which began when, as a teenager, she escaped from the oppressive Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini by crossing the desert into Pakistan. As a homeless refugee, she fought all the way to Canada, where today, Goel is a successful chiropractor who enjoys giving inspirational talks about her life’s journey.
    Women’s Spring Education Day will be from  9:30 a.m. May 10 in Zinman Hall, 9901 Donna Klein Blvd., Boca Raton. Tickets are $45 and include breakfast (dietary laws observed). Reservations are required to Frannie Watt at 852-6058 or francescaw@bocafed.org.

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

Boca resident Lisa Huffman holds her son Harrison while keeping an eye on her golden doodle

and a friend’s greyhound at Bark Park Dog Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Arden Moore

    My dogs, Chipper and Cleo, remind me to never stereotype canines — especially when it comes to water play. Cleo, a 12-pound poodle-terrier mix, and Casey, a 60-pound husky-golden retriever mix, share a love of racing along beach shorelines, swimming in oceans and even coasting to shore on surfboards.
    When we pull into a dog-welcoming beach parking lot, I take note of the enhanced excitement they display — at rates far above what they exhibit for daily neighborhood leashed walks or trips to local dog parks.
    Got a dog who really digs life at the beach? Who leaps for joy at the opportunity to race into the ocean? Fortunately, Boca Raton is home to the Bark Park Dog Beach at Spanish River Park. The beach in the north end of the park, between lifeguard towers 18 and 20, is designated as the place for canines looking to make a splash.
    Also within easy reach is the 2.5-mile stretch of the dog beach in Jupiter at Ocean Cay Park, just north of the Juno Pier.
    Here’s your chance to be your dog’s personal lifeguard by following these safety rules:
    • Sign up for swimming lessons. Not every dog is a canine version of Michael Phelps. Examples of breeds that may face challenges in learning to swim include barrel-chested dogs (great Danes, German shepherds), short-nosed breeds (pugs, bulldogs) as well as those with short legs and long backs (dachshunds, corgis). Fortunately, there are a number of qualified professional dog trainers in Palm Beach County who offer swim lessons.
    • Fit your dog with floatable safety gear. Play it safe by fitting your dog with a canine life jacket or other gear that keeps him afloat. I rely on life jackets featuring easy-to-grip handles when Chipper and Cleo want to go surfing. I like the well-designed ones made by EzyDog, Kong and Outward Hound.
    Or, to protect your dog from water fatigue, consider a new product called the WaterCollar by Hedz Up Pets. This donut-shaped, brightly colored item is designed to keep your dog’s head above water to minimize the risk of drowning.
    • Protect your dog from the sun’s rays. Before heading to the dog beach, dab canine-safe sunscreen on your dog’s tip of the nose, abdomen, legs and ears. Make sure your dog has access to shade.
    • Dodge the double-D dangers. Bring plenty of bottled water for your dog to drink to stay hydrated. Dogs that swallow salt water are at risk for dehydration and diarrhea (due to salt water pulling fluids into the intestinal tract) and the water can trigger projectile vomiting as well. Before heading home, rinse your dog at the beach shower to remove saltwater from his coat.
    • End the water activity before your dog becomes overtired. Many dogs are motivated by fetching or so want to please their people that they can be at increased risk for drowning if they play too long and too hard.
    • Be on the lookout for jellyfish. The tentacles contain toxins. If your dog does get stung, never attempt to remove the tentacles off his body with your bare hands. Instead, wear rubber gloves or scrape off the tentacles using a credit card or large seashell. Then soak the wound in salt water — never drinking water — and use hydrocortisone cream and dog-safe antihistamines. Seek immediate veterinary care.
    • Enroll in a pet first aid class. Learn how to perform canine CPR and rescue breathing and what to do if your dog is drowning. As founder of Pet First Aid 4U, I incorporate water safety in our classes that feature a real dog and cat. Knowing what to do — and what not to do — in a pet emergency when minutes count is truly the best way to be your dog’s best health ally.
    Fortunately, the weather in Palm Beach County is conducive to year-round beach opportunities with your dog. Play it safe — for your dog’s sake — and you can make a day at the beach generate lifelong happy memories. Right, Chipper and Cleo?

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.

If You Go
    Since late 2013, water-loving dogs have enjoyed the sand and the calm surf at Bark Park Dog Beach at Spanish River Park at 3001 N. Ocean Blvd. in Boca Raton. The dog section is located on a stretch of beach in the north end of the park between lifeguard towers 18 and 20. To ensure a safe, fun visit, heed these rules:
    Respect the hours of operation. Dogs are welcomed Fridays through Sundays from 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to sunset from March to November, and from 3 p.m. to sunset from November to March.
    Pay the beach fees. If you live in Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District or city resident, the annual permit fee is $30 per dog (effective between Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 and not pro-rated). The annual permit fee for nonresidents is $165 per dog. Single weekend passes are $10 per dog and are available at the Spanish River gatehouse. Residents must provide a city or county tax bill, utility bill, rental or leash agreement, current Florida driver’s license or notarized letter from their condo association.
    Pack the permit. You must carry the beach permit and be ready to show it during the beach visit with your dog.
Honor the dog limit. Each person is permitted to bring up to two dogs to the beach. Dogs must be leashed when entering and leaving the dog beach.
    For more information, visit www.patchreefpark.org/
bark-beach-permits.

Informal Japanese gardens from the 9th to 12th centuries featured lakes and islands

and were intended to be viewed from a boat. At the Morikami, lush trees and shrubs

have been selectively pruned to create the impression you’ve been transplanted to a historical Japanese garden.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The Paradise Garden is a representation of the Pure land, or Buddhist heaven.

Gardens like this were intended to be walked through, not viewed from a boat.

Historically this garden design dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Landscape using well-maintained gravel is a classic Japanese technique from the 17th or 18th century.

It is sometimes referred to as borrowed scenery.

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

    Feel the breeze on your skin, inhale the aroma of bushes and flowers, fill your ears with the gentle sounds of flowing water and singing birds. This is just some of the beauty you’ll experience at Morikami Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach.
    Sure,the garden has plenty of plants, such as podocarpus, Mexican petunia, ficus, azalea, pentas, slash pine, sable palm, plumbago, as well others less familiar.
    But this is not a botanical garden with signs identifying each plant. In fact, the individual plants don’t really matter.
    “What is important is that you experience how the garden appeals to your senses so that you can be in harmony with nature,” says Freya Homer, who is the docent on our walking tour.
    This Japanese garden, which first opened in 1977, was re-envisioned in 1999 by noted Japanese landscape architect Hoichi Kurisu. He was engaged to create “Roji-en: Garden of the Drops of Dew”— described as “a garden complex for the new millennium.”
    These 16 acres are such a special place that the North American Japanese Garden Association hosted about 150 people here at its March conference focusing on creating “havens for healing.”
    And no wonder. Just stepping into this garden you can’t help but relax and unwind.
    Every time you come to the garden, it will look different, because it grows according to the cycles of nature. Sometimes you may see blooms, sometimes trees will wear their finest greenery and sometimes a dry spell may turn things a bit brown.  
    “It’s all about man and nature; nature’s beauty and man’s skills,” says Homer, who has volunteered here for 22 years.
    Gravel trails wend their way through six gardens created by Kurisu. He took his inspiration for each from a different period of Japanese political and cultural history, ranging from the ninth century to the early 20th century.
    “The Japanese culture is like a huge jigsaw puzzle. The more you learn, the more you see how all its pieces fit together in one,” Homer says.
    For example, the Paradise Garden represents the 13th and 14th centuries, which was a time of prolonged civil war in Japan and portrays Kurisu’s vision of Buddhist heaven. Set in its own time, it would have served as a place for war-weary samurai to escape combat and center themselves.
    Today it is a place for people to contemplate carefully placed rocks and a pond in the shape of the Japanese character representing “heart.”
    Along the way, you’ll also find yourself in more modern gardens such as the one inspired by life at the beginning of the 18th century, when Tokyo was the largest city in the world with 3 million inhabitants, says Homer. People needed a place to escape but space was at a premium.
    This, the Hiraniwa Flat Garden, is designed to fool your eyes. The gravel is raked to make the space look larger and a tall tree adds depth.
    The garden designer also uses the element of shakkei or “borrowed scenery,” to trick your perception of space. You can see the main Morikami building that is actually a half mile across the lake. But from this vantage point it looks like it’s part of this garden, making the space seem grander than it is.
    But words are not enough. You will have to visit Morikami to discover these carefully crafted gardens for yourself — where it’s not about the plants per se but the wisdom, beauty and peace you’ll discover within.

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a master gardner who can be reached at debhartz@att.net.

What to look for  in the Morikami Japanese Gardens

    Age: Age is revered in Asia for its stability, endurance and wisdom. That’s why you’ll find older trees with their gnarled roots and trunks covered with lichens. Also notice the yin and yang of these trees’ delicate lacy leaves and sturdy deep roots.
    Bamboo: It’s an important part of a Japanese garden because it propagates itself and grows quickly. You can hear it rustle in a breeze. When bamboo grows thickly it can actually darken the area; when thinned, it brings in light.
    Bridges: The bridges do more than join pieces of land. For example, in the Shinden Garden you’ll notice a side-by-side bridge that slows you down so you can’t run and miss what the garden designer wants you to see. And, as you go from one part of the bridge to another, you are provided a new perspective on the scene in front of you.
    Deer Chaser: Many years ago, someone came up with this ingenious solution for chasing critters from streams. The combination of bamboo “pipes” filling with water and then periodically depositing it into the stream creates a monotonous and repetitive sound that becomes almost hypnotizing. Although Western children viewing a deer chaser often drop pennies into the water thinking it is a wishing well, it is not.
    Ferns: They, like humans, have the ability to grow and prosper in dark times.
    Rocks: Rocks can survive the elements of nature, an attribute that also is important in man. The samurai would use rocks to barter for goods. And when they received a new rock, they would name it and have a party. Many of the rocks you see at Morikami were brought in 17 rail cars from Texas; others are the limestone rock native to Florida.
    Water: Moving water adds life to the garden. When it is still, it can act as a mirror reflecting what’s around it. You will notice the water in the lake at Morikami is always moving because of the shape of the islands and the fact it’s fed by a sluice. Many of the trees are angled toward the water, providing energy to the landscape and reminding us that we, like trees, need water.
    Water Iris: From a bridge in the Shinden Garden (ninth to 12th centuries) you may be lucky enough to see yellow and purple irises growing in the water. The leaves of these water irises each resemble the shape of a samurai’s shield. On May 5 of each year, Japanese mothers take the leaves and grind them to put in the bath water of their baby boys. This is to make the youngsters strong and brave like samurai.
Source: Freya Homer, docent at Morikami Museum and professor of Japanese culture at Nova Southeastern University.
If you want to learn more about specific plants used in the garden, resources are  available in the Morikami library.

The Fish Rules app is location-specific and works on either an Android or an iPhone.

By Willie Howard

    Remember the correct slot size limit, bag limit and open seasons for snook?
    What about the bag limit for pompano or the minimum sizes for mutton, yellowtail and vermilion snapper? Can you keep bonefish or a tarpon?
    Not sure? You’re not alone.
    Florida has way too many saltwater fishing regulations to memorize — and they change based on the angler’s location.
    Different regulations apply in federal waters (more than three miles off Florida’s east coast) and in the Gulf of Mexico than in state waters along the east coast.
    Three different bag limits (number of fish anglers are allowed to keep per day) apply for spotted sea trout, depending on which part of Florida you’re fishing in.
    In the old days, anglers carried crumpled fishing regulation brochures in plastic bags that eventually succumbed to the sun and salt water.
    Now there’s a simple way to keep fishing regulations at your fingertips: the Fish Rules app for smartphones.
    Fish Rules is free. And it’s “smart.”
    The app uses your smartphone’s GPS and calendar to show the regulations that apply based on the date and your location. (Users who lose their signals can manually set their locations to show which regulations apply.)
    The location system in Fish Rules is so sensitive that an angler could stand on the Atlantic Ocean side of a bridge in the Florida Keys and see the Atlantic fishing regulations, then walk across the bridge to the Gulf side and get the Gulf of Mexico regulations, said Albrey Arrington, a Jupiter fisheries scientist who developed Fish Rules with app architect Rick Blalock.
    “The fact that regulations are sorted by your location is the most awesome feature of the app,” Arrington said. “Few people understand all the location complexities of fish regulations in Florida.”
    A note to users: Location services must be enabled for the app to take into account the angler’s location. Those who choose to set their locations manually should do so using the map or their GPS coordinates, Arrington said.
    Fish Rules made its debut in 2012 and has since been upgraded to include saltwater fishing regulations for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Texas — plus the Bahamas. The app updates itself every time it is opened.
Fish Rules works on iPhone or Android platforms. It’s available in the app store or through the company’s website, www.fishrulesapp.com.
    Anglers can browse saltwater regulations on the website. There’s also a Fish Rules app page on Facebook for those who enjoy viewing or posting fishing and boating photos.
    Arrington said Fish Rules operates on a small amount of advertising revenue along with grant money from the Fish Florida (sailfish) license tag, from the Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation and from NOAA Fisheries.
    “We want people to understand and abide by fishing regulations,” Arrington said.

FWC incentives encourage divers to take lionfish
    The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission approved incentives in April that encourage divers to harvest more lionfish — the non-native fish with venomous spines that eats native fish, steals their food and is taking over Florida fish habitat.
    Divers will be able to harvest an additional lobster each day during the two-day spiny lobster sport season — if they qualify by first documenting the harvest of 50 or more lionfish.
    Divers can qualify for the extra mini-season lobsters by taking at least 50 lionfish between Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day (May 14) and the mini lobster season, set for July 27-28 this year.
    If they remove 50 or more lionfish between May 14 and Sept. 30, divers will each receive a commemorative coin and T-shirt, be featured in the FWC’s Lionfish Hall of Fame (on the FWC’s website) and be entered into drawings for prizes such as fishing licenses, lionfish harvesting gear, fuel cards and tank refills.
    Lionfish harvests must be documented through an FWC-approved process, such as a lionfish derby or an approved check-in station.
    The FWC is working to establish lionfish check-in stations before May 14. Check-in stations will be listed on the website.
    The diver who checks in the most lionfish between May 14 and Sept. 30 will be crowned Florida’s Lionfish King (or Queen), will receive a lifetime saltwater fishing license and will have his or her photo featured on the cover of the January 2017 saltwater fishing regulations brochure.
    For details about lionfish and the Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival set for May 14-15 in Pensacola, go to www.myfwc.com/lionfish.

Delray fishing exhibit set to open June 17
    Fish Tales!, the Delray Beach Historical Society’s fishing history exhibit, is scheduled to open with a kickoff party set for the evening of June 17.
    The opening party will feature food and music and will be held on the grounds of the historical society at 3 NE First St. in Delray Beach.
    The historical society still is looking for fishing photos, newspaper clippings, trophy fish mounts and fishing memorabilia (especially from the Delray Beach area) for the Fish Tales! exhibit.
    Anyone with something to be considered for the fishing history exhibit should call the historical society at 274-9578 or email archive@delraybeachhistory.org.
    May 13 is the deadline for submissions.

Team GAFR shows off the 35.8-pound bull dolphin, at left, that won heaviest dolphin

in the April 23 Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament. From left are GAFR team members

Keith Bach, Greg Schatz, Chris Cooney, Brandon Thomasson and Tim Thomasson.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

Boynton Firefighters event
    Kingfish dominated the weigh-in scales during the April 23 Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament & Firehouse Chili Cookoff, but anglers also managed to catch a few nice-sized dolphin and small wahoo.
    Alex Burgess of Lake Worth and his team on Seapremacy boated the heaviest fish of the 122-boat tournament — a 53.4-pound kingfish — by slow-trolling live bait in 145 feet off Juno Beach.
    Burgess said he and team members Mike Wood and Jim Wood also caught 25- and 40-pound kingfish before the really big kingfish hit a live goggle-eye around 12:30 p.m. to win his team $1,500.
    “This time of year, there are a lot of big kingfish around,” Burgess said, noting that his team had to put its time in to catch a fish over 50 pounds. “It’s just a waiting game.”
    Tournament veteran Bill Wummer and his team on Spiced Rum III placed a close second in the kingfish category with a 49.9-pound kingfish, caught on a slow-trolled blue runner in the same area Burgess was fishing off Juno Beach.
    The kingfish bite was so strong in the firefighters’ tournament that it took a kingfish over 40 pounds to win money and earn a spot on the scoreboard.
    Keith Bach, fishing with team GAFR, caught a 35.8-pound dolphin (mahi mahi) in 850 feet of water off Lake Worth to win the dolphin category.
    The GAFR team stopped near a patch of floating Sargassum and pitched out a jig to catch a smaller cow, or female, dolphin.
When the big bull dolphin followed the cow to the boat, Bach pitched a live goggle-eye out, hooked up and fought the fish for 25 minutes before it was close enough to gaff.
    Wahoo brought to the scales were small. The winning ’hoo, caught by team Double Ds, weighed only 17.4 pounds.

Coming events
    May 7: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary in Boca Raton. Class is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd. Fee: $35. Register at the door. Bring lunch. 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
    May 7: Grand Slam KDW fishing tournament, Riverwalk Events Plaza, Jupiter. Captain’s meeting and kickoff party 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 6 at Riverwalk Events Plaza, 25 S. Coastal Way, Jupiter. Entry fee: $250 per boat. 847-2090 or www.fishgrandslamkdw.com.
    May 14: Lantana Fishing Derby for kingfish, dolphin and wahoo. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. May 12 at Lantana Recreation Center, 418 S. Dixie Highway. Weigh-in at the Old Key Lime House in Lantana. Awards party 11:30 a.m. May 15 at recreation center. Entry fee: $250 per boat. 585-8664 or www.lantanafishingderby.com.
    May 14: Sail Inn Tavern KDW fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin and wahoo. Captain’s meeting 5 p.m.to 8 p.m. May 12 at Sail Inn, 657 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach. Weigh-in at Boynton Harbor Marina. Entry fee: $225 per boat. 703-1907 or www.sailinnkdw.com.
    May 14: Palm Beach Paddlefest featuring exhibits and demonstrations of paddleboards and kayaks, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Currie Park, 2400 N. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach. Paddle race. Guided kayak tours. Live music. Food, drinks and paddling apparel for sale. Free admission. 863-0012 or www.palmbeachpaddlefest.com.
    May 21: Downtown Showdown KDW fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin and wahoo. Captain’s meeting 6-10 p.m. May 19 at West Palm Beach waterfront, 101 S. Flagler Drive. Weigh-in at West Palm Beach waterfront docks. Entry fee: $250. 248-1439 or www.downtownshowdownkdw.com.
    May 28: Coast Guard Auxiliary offers basic boating safety class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee: $40. Register at the door. Call 334-2429.

Tip of the month
    National Safe Boating Week is held in May every year to remind boaters to check their boats’ safety gear and review their boating skills.
    Basic gear includes: a Coast Guard-approved life jacket of the correct size for each person onboard; a fire extinguisher; emergency flares; a sound-producing device (horn or whistle); running lights in working order; and a throwable flotation device.         On May 21-22, the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 54 will conduct free vessel safety checks at the Sportsman’s Park boat ramps in Lantana and the Harvey E. Oyer Jr. boat ramps in Boynton Beach. (Call Bruce Parmett at 818-7905.) The flotilla also will man a safety table set up at the West Marine store, 2275 S. Federal Highway in Delray Beach.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

Colleen Paul-Hus hosted a small educational farm-to-table gathering at her home

in Gulf Stream, and she addressed those attending (below).

Max, one of the four children in the household, interacts with neighbor Brenda Medore.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

    Sea Star Initiative, a private school that follows the structure, philosophies and curriculum established by German educator Rudolf Steiner, is tucked away in central Boca Raton. About 75 children attend the Waldorf school, which emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning. Teachers use art, music and expressive movement to enhance teaching.
    The goals sound modern.
    “We are preparing children to be conceptual thinkers whose self-understanding, compassion, expressiveness and creative problem-solving skills equip them to take on life to its fullest potential while providing an antidote to violence, alienation and cynicism,” according to the school’s website, www.whywaldorfworks.org.
    The school’s fresh focus is catching on. Waldorf is among the fastest-growing independent school movements in the world, with more than 1,000 schools in more than 60 countries. New schools are opening all the time, driven by parental demand.  
    Sea Star was founded in 2006 by local parents who wanted to provide a holistic education for their children. Waldorf schools are not directed by a principal or headmaster, but rather by two main groups: the teachers and the parental board of trustees. At Sea Star, the board has eight members; six are parents and two are teachers.
    Administrator Vera Swift said Waldorf schools have been popular in Silicon Valley and New York City for years, but are just now catching on in Florida. Because the schools are governed by parents, they must have parents who are deeply committed to the program and willing to serve on the board.
    Colleen Paul-Hus, 32, of Gulf Stream, joined the board in January. Her four children attend Sea Star.
    “My role is development liaison, and I am on the site committee to help find a permanent home for our school,” she said. The school is leasing its current location.
    But Paul-Hus is also a sort of self-appointed PR rep for Sea Star. She loves to tell anyone who is interested about the school. “I truly enjoy standing up and speaking to everyone about how Waldorf education has impacted our family life.”
    In April, she and her husband, Richard, hosted a farm-to-table dinner for more than 50 parents and friends of the Sea Star Initiative. She invited 10 local farmers to meet parents and teachers before serving them a gourmet meal prepared by celebrity chef Cindy Barbieri, the author of Paleo Italian Cooking and a frequent guest on The Dr. Oz Show.
    Paul-Hus is a “clean food” supporter who grows much of the family’s food in the home garden she started when she was pregnant with Max, their first child. Now their little garden produces so much, Paul-Hus donates it to the school to sell at the weekly bake sale. They also have about 50 fruit-bearing trees, six chickens, and an indoor beehive, specially built so kids can observe the progress of worker bees.
    Crops include Okinawan and malabar spinach, hoja santa (a Mexican herb), strawberries, golden berries, tomatoes, pigeon pea, sweet potatoes, peppers, rosemary, tarragon, mint, comfrey and marigolds.
    “We also have two papaya trees, 10 mango trees, two fig trees, and more than 30 sea grape trees,” she said. “Did you know you can eat sea grapes? We make jam from the grapes.
“I also have a soursop tree, two miracle fruit trees, six banana trees, passion fruit and many native plants around the pool.”  
    The Waldorf curriculum embraces gardening and growing your own food, as part of being self-sufficient.
    Swift, who has been at the school for 10 years, says she discovered Steiner’s philosophy about 30 years ago when someone asked her to translate a document from German to Portuguese.
    “It was a revelation,” she said. “I started looking into it and it changed the way I looked at education.” The biggest difference, she said, is that “there is a joy in learning here that is absent in many schools.”
    Keeping kids engaged is not the challenge. Because the curriculum is focused on the student and individualized, doing what engages the student becomes the goal. The school provides the access and structure the child needs to explore his or her curiosity in a variety of ways.
    “We are able to keep that love and joy of education and the kids do well as a result,” Swift said. “I feel bad when I hear about a child who doesn’t like school.”
    Classes are small — there are only 75 students in the whole school, early childhood through eighth grade. Teachers are top-shelf. Most teachers have graduate degrees and special training in the Waldorf methods.
    Paul-Hus says she’s constantly surprised by the questions her children ask her. Lincoln recently asked, “Mom, why are we here?”
That kind of thinking, she says, is inspired and encouraged by the Waldorf system.
    One thing they don’t ask? “Where does our food come from?”
    They already know.

Want to check out the school?
    Sea Star Initiative is hosting its annual May Faire from 10:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 at the school, 251 SW Fourth Ave., Boca Raton. A traditional May pole dance and other children’s springtime activities are planned.
    Recognizing and celebrating the changing seasons is an important tenet of the school. A favorite school quote is from Festivals, an essay by Marilyn Pelrme: ‘Through various festivals and rituals we acknowledge and celebrate our connection to and our responsibility toward each other and the world.’  
    For more information: 452-3618 or seastarinitiative.com

By Rich Pollack

    After months of study and research, the Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department has submitted a draft report to City Manager Don Cooper, recommending a six-month pilot program for a dog beach at the city’s Atlantic Dunes Park.
    While the proposal is good news for proponents of a dog beach, it has not received the approval of the city manager, who is recommending city commissioners reject the plan — in large part because it would be implemented at a time when two other beach projects would be underway.  
    “My big concern is we’re going to have a lot of things going on at the beach,” Cooper said, explaining that construction of portions of the beach master plan and installation of new parking meters would likely be taking place at the same time as the pilot project. “If we’re going to do it, I want to do it correctly.”
    The final decision will rest with city commissioners, who are expected to discuss the plan during a May workshop.  
    The proposed pilot project would restrict the dog beach to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only with two hours in the morning — from 7 to 9 a.m. — and three hours in the afternoon ending at sunset.
    Under the proposal, the dog park would be supervised by a park ranger, and users would be required to show proof that dogs have a current license and have received all required shots.
    Although the future of the proposal is still up in the air, the plan is drawing praise from dog beach advocates.
    “This is going to end up being a win-win proposition for the city and for dog owners,” said Bob Brewer, who leads the Friends of Delray Dog Beach, a group that has been working with the city on the proposal.
    In making the recommendation to go forward with a dog beach pilot project, Parks and Recreation Director Suzanne Fisher pointed out that supervised dog beaches have been successful in other cities throughout South Florida.
    “This program would increase our services provided to city residents and visitors alike,” she wrote. “Similar programs have been done in local municipalities, including Boca Raton, and have been shown to be successful.”
    Under the proposal, Delray Beach residents would be able to obtain an annual permit for $30 per dog. That cost, however, would jump to $165 a year for nonresidents, the same fee Boca Raton charges for nonresidents. A $10 per dog visitor weekend pass would also be available.
    While Brewer is pleased overall with the proposal, he thinks the recommended annual fee for nonresidents could be adjusted.
    “I think it’s excessive,” he said.
    In the proposal, the parks and recreation department staff estimates that revenues to the city could exceed $50,000 annually, while expenses — including the hiring of a part-time park ranger — could be as low as about $25,000.
     In his memo to commissioners recommending against approval, Cooper said he believes the staffing needs and the costs associated with them are underestimated.  
    Under the proposal, a 100-  to 300-yard portion of Atlantic Dunes Park — just north of Linton Boulevard — would be reserved for dogs. The pets would be required to be leashed until they reached the dog park and then could be off leash within the boundaries.
    Fisher said the area would be marked off by temporary fencing that could easily be installed and taken down twice a day by the park ranger. The ranger would also be responsible for making sure owners pick up after their pets, she said, and would be charged with removing anything left behind.
    Advantages to the site, according to the report, include two nearby metered parking lots, restrooms and a single entry point where a ranger could check for permits.
    Parks and recreation department staff wrote that after the six-month pilot program is concluded, several criteria could be used to determine whether to extend or end the project. Among those would be the amount of usage, how well the program was received by the public and whether there were compliance issues.
    The evaluation would also explore whether or not the dog park helped reduce the number of people bringing dogs to other parts of the municipal beach, which is prohibited.
    Cooper said he is concerned that some members of the public will believe that the beach is open to dogs all the time and that additional resources would be needed to enforce the ordinance.
    “Right now we still have people bringing their dogs to the beach,” said City Commissioner Mitch Katz, a proponent of creating a regulated and supervised dog beach. “Having a dog beach is one way to regulate that and to keep dogs in a section by themselves. This may be the only way to stop people from bringing their dogs to other parts of the beach.”
    Should commissioners give the proposal a green light, Cooper said it would be several months before it could be implemented.
    “I expect there will be significant pressure to proceed with the pilot program and because of the costs, procedures necessary to implement and the required personnel, the pilot program would not be ready until Oct. 1, if the commission directed such a program,” he wrote.

Gulf Stream School students get a lesson
in geometry and statistics from a day at the ballpark

Marc Bonutti cheers for a Marlins run the day Gulf Stream School students

went to Roger Dean Stadium to watch a baseball game.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Students examine baseball cards and statistics during the game at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

By Ron Hayes

    Take them out to the ballgame.
    Take them out with the crowd.
    Buy them some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and they’ll learn about statistics, a little geometry, and why Babe Ruth is still considered the greatest baseball player of all time.
    At the Gulf Stream School, baseball isn’t just America’s national pastime; it’s how some teachers make numbers fun, history exciting and an annual trip to a spring training game a visual aid.
    “No one is ever sick on this day,” Dave Winans boasted, seated in the stands at Roger Dean Stadium one sunny March afternoon as the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals played their first official training game of the season.
    Filling the rows before him, Winans’ entire fifth-grade English class cheered, pondered autographed baseballs and feasted on the kind of treats that make nutritionists shudder.
    Some were passionate about the game. Some were passionate about the hot dogs. None had been passionate about baseball longer than their teacher.
    Winans came to the school in 1982. He was 24 then, a Rhode Island native and so, of course, a Red Sox fan. In those days, he taught both English and American history and worked a little baseball into the lesson plans.
    And then a problem arose.
    The sixth-graders went to St. Augustine for their end-of-year trip. The seventh-graders went kayaking in the Everglades. The graduating eighth-graders went to Washington, D.C. The fifth-graders needed a field trip, so Winans stepped up to the plate.
    “How about if we take them to a baseball game?” he suggested.
    “Is there any way to make it educational?” the Head of School asked.
    “Well,” Winans said, “they could learn the national anthem…”
    Over the ensuing three decades, the idea has grown into a Gulf Stream School tradition.
    Winans’ students learn Casey at the Bat. They learn that baseball evolved from two English games called cricket and rounders. They learn about the Negro Leagues and Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball. They hear Abbott and Costello’s fabled “Who’s On First” routine and Yogi Berra’s delightfully sensible non sequiturs.
    Several years ago, math teachers Larry Handler and Bryan Cook joined Winans’ teaching team. Now students learn the math of batting averages and baseball’s geometric shapes.
    And then they climb aboard a bus and spend an afternoon watching the pros.
    But first they play a game of their own.

•

Gulf Stream School students face a pileup at third base during a softball game at the school.

Nobody was injured.

Gulf Stream School fifth-grade teacher Dave Winans uses baseball as a teaching tool

in class and outside during a softball game at the school.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

    On Feb. 26, a week before their trip to Roger Dean Stadium, Winans’ fifth-grade boys and girls gathered on the school’s playing field and split into four teams.
    The Barracudas and Vipers would play on the north field, the Neanderthals and Bongo Boarders on the south.
    Actually, Winans’ class numbers 25, so each team had six players, except the Bongo Boarders with seven. This was deemed a mathematical necessity, not an unfair advantage.
    Science teacher Rick Craig pitched softballs to the Neanderthal/Bongos and Winans to the Barracuda/Vipers. Underhand.
In between their turns at bat, the players discussed what they’d learned in class.
    “In baseball, there’s a lot of geometric shapes,” said Andrew Dagher, 11, of Ocean Ridge. “Like, the field is a diamond.”
    Marc Bonutti of Manalapan overheard him.
    “Even though it’s really a square,” he said.
    Andrew wore a Red Sox T-shirt and Marc a Cardinals jersey with “10” on the back.
    “I’m a Cardinals fan and I don’t have a shirt that says Barracudas,” Andrew said. “And I’m No. 10 because I’m 10.”
    By the end of the second inning, the Barracudas were leading 6-1. By the end of the third, 8-1.
    “We learned quotes from Ty Cobb,” reported Tori Wheat, 11, of Delray Beach.
    Not quite. They learned what famed sportswriter Arthur Baer once said about Cobb: “He’d climb a mountain to punch an echo.”
    Fourth inning, Barracudas, 12; Vipers, 4.
    Ethan Scala, 11, of Boynton Beach now knows just how many stitches there are in a baseball.
    “Two hundred sixteen.”
    Fifth inning: Barracudas, 12; Vipers, 5.
    They learned all this and, for some, the agony of defeat.

Alivia Roth hit the ball her fourth time up to score a run.

    In January, Alivia Roth, 10, of Gulf Stream was one of only 300 students in the state chosen out of 8,000 applicants to sing at the Florida Music Educators Conference in Tampa. But by the fifth inning she’d struck out three times.
    “I’d pay a million dollars just to hit it once,” she vowed, downhearted. “Well, maybe not a million, but … I’m never going to hit it.”
    And then she did. Not out of the park, and it rolled a bit, but far enough and fumbled enough for her to make first base. And then, as other batters got hits, second, then third, and home.
    “I’m surprised and shocked,” she said through a wide smile. “I actually got a home run!”
    Well, no. Not really. Some of the kids haven’t learned the difference between a home run and running home, and today no one’s going to tell her.
    Final Score: Barracudas, 13; Vipers, 12.
    The game was called because of sunshine. And the last bell.
    “Nice comeback, Vipers,” Winans told the departing teams. “Down by six and in the last inning you came back.
    “Nobody got hurt and we had some fun.”

•

    The game hasn’t even started yet at Roger Dean Stadium, and already the students are learning another important baseball lesson: Ballplayers scribble illegibly.
    Dorothea Zarcadoolas, 11, of Ocean Ridge, is very proud of the ball she’s just had autographed, but she has no idea who signed it. He was number 81, though. Or maybe 18?
    Alivia Roth is still beaming from her run a week ago.
    “I feel good,” she said. “All the food you think is at a baseball game there actually is. It’s a big amount to eat but I don’t eat a lot because I’m a vegetarian.”
    So far today she’s had a hot dog and Cracker Jacks. “And I’m going to have nachos,” she promised.
    Ethan Scala, who knows there are 216 stitches in the ball, is enjoying a box of Sour Patch Kids while his ice cream melts in the cup.
    “Math is OK,” he observed, “but it’s not super, super fun.”
    Will the lessons he learned in class help him enjoy today’s game more?
    Ethan considered. “It’ll help me understand it more,” he decided, “but not enjoy it more.”
    And Marc Bonutti, Cardinals fan No. 10, has a prime seat in the front row.
    The Cardinals will win today, 7-4, he predicts with confidence.
    “I feel good because I know the Cardinals are good right now,” he said.
    “And the Marlins never win,” added his pal, Andrew Juliano, 11, of Delray Beach.
    Now Bruce Springsteen fades from the loudspeakers, the game announcer welcomes the crowd and a young woman named Debbie White sings a very professional rendition of the national anthem.
    Play ball!
    Dee Gordon, No. 9 and the first Marlins player at bat steps to the plate, swings — and Joseph Ghostine, 11, of Boynton Beach, suffers a food-related, near-death experience.
    Gordon’s foul ball flies over the baseline netting, soars above the Gulf Stream students and strikes the counter of a food concession behind the stands.
    Joseph returned to his seat with that ball.
    “I was at that steak and cheese place, getting my steak and cheese dog, and it hit the counter so they gave me the ball,” he said. “I didn’t catch it, but it nearly killed me.”
    To be honest, having the ball is fine, but he seems more impressed by his brush with death.
    “Well,” Joseph agreed, “it’s a story to tell.”
    By the third inning, the Cardinals were leading, 3-1, and Dorothea Zarcadoolas had consumed a hot dog, some Dippin’ Dots ice cream, half a lemonade, half a pretzel and was starting in on a cup of blue raspberry Italian ice.
    “We learned all about how to use a scorecard and figure out batting averages,” she said.
    How do you figure out batting averages?
    “Oh,” she confided, “it’s very complicated.”
    (You divide the player’s hits by his number of times at bat.)
    In the end, the Cardinals won, 4-3, but the Gulf Stream students weren’t there to see their triumph. Baseball has nine innings, but school has dismissal bells, so they left in the middle of the sixth to be back by 4 p.m., filled with hot dogs, ice cream, Cracker Jacks — and a greater appreciation of the game.
    “I knew nothing about baseball,” said Heidi Schneider, 10, of Gulf Stream, “and now I know everything about it.”

Andrew Dagher invokes the spirit of Babe Ruth before getting a single.

Baseball quiz

    Here are some of the baseball-related questions teachers at the Gulf Stream School present to their students:

    1. What did Jackie Robinson promise Branch Rickey?    

    2. What does it mean if a ballplayer has a batting average of .300 or better?

    3. Why is Babe Ruth considered the “greatest player ever”?

    4. Name three spots in which you can find circles on a baseball field.

    5. Why should the baseball diamond really be called a square?

    6. An example of a cylinder found at most ballparks is the foul pole. If a ball strikes the foul pole above the top of the outfield wall, what ruling does the umpire make?

Answers:
    1. Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in major league baseball, promised he would not fight back against players taunting or trying to hurt him.

    2. A player with a .300 batting average is considered a premier player, i.e. a better than average hitter.

    3. Babe Ruth was and still is considered the greatest ever because he was both a masterful pitcher and a great hitter. No one else has been both a great pitcher and a great hitter.

    4. The pitcher’s mound, the on-deck circle and the cross section of a baseball.

    5. The base paths are all 90 feet, so the diamond has congruent sides. The angles formed by the paths are all 90 degrees. A quadrilateral with 4 congruent sides and 4 right angles is the definition of a square. A diamond, also called a rhombus, is a quadrilateral with four congruent sides. The angles are not necessarily right angles.

    6. He rules the hit a home run. The foul pole should be called the fair pole.

By Dan Moffett

    Publix Super Markets and Manalapan are in the final stages of negotiations that appear likely to bring a store to the town’s Plaza del Mar shopping center by 2018.
    “It looks like there’s a 95 percent chance that this will happen,” said a source close to the talks. “There are some details left to resolve, and the company has to complete its due diligence. But there’s nothing major left to work out.”
    Publix has told the town it intends to build a 25,000-square-foot store — roughly half the size of a typical Publix, but larger than the 20,000-square-foot store the chain built on Dixie Highway in downtown Lake Worth five years ago.
    During its March 22 meeting, the Town Commission voted to change an ordinance that prohibits displaying large trademark signs in the plaza, effectively making way for the familiar green-and-white Publix logo to come to Manalapan.
    “The arrangements between Publix and the shopping center are in the final stages,” said Mayor David Cheifetz, “and we expect that they will be consummated very shortly. There are a few little technicalities that have to be dealt with, but other than that, it looks like we’re going to be having a Publix in Plaza del Mar — which we’re thrilled about.”
    The plans would require demolition of buildings currently occupied by businesses, perhaps including The Palm Beaches Theatre.
    Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf said she expects Publix to submit design plans to the town’s architectural committee this summer, with the hope of beginning construction in early 2017.
    Talks between the town and the supermarket chain began in the middle of last year and have gathered momentum in recent weeks. The new store would be the only Publix on the barrier islands between the town of Palm Beach and Pompano Beach.
    Demographics are always a factor when Publix decides to build, and the decision to build at the Manalapan location is no exception. Slightly more than 150,000 people live within a five-mile radius of Plaza del Mar, and their average annual household income is about $75,000, according to U.S. Census statistics.
    The Manalapan store figures to attract barrier island shoppers from as far south as Gulf Stream and even draw traffic from across the bridge. The roughly 1,500 residents of South Palm Beach would be within walking distance of a neighborhood Publix.
    “I think most residents are driving to the Lantana Road Publix now,” said South Palm Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “I think everyone here will be going to this one instead.”
    Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello said this is something South Palm Beach has been waiting for.
    “People have been talking about a supermarket coming there for a long time,” Flagello said. “This is very exciting for the community.”
    Matt Buehler, a representative from Kitson & Partners, the developer that runs the plaza, told Manalapan commissioners that the changes to the town’s sign rules that Publix wanted wouldn’t transform the look of the 103,000-square-foot center on the corner of East Ocean Avenue and A1A.
    “It’s a requirement of the lease in order to allow them (Publix) to install their trademark sign,” Buehler said. “We’re not trying to change the appearance of the rest of the shopping center. We’re trying to keep it consistent with a nice, clean look.”
    The commissioners didn’t hesitate to give their unanimous approval to the small concession for the supermarket giant.
    Publix Super Markets Inc. is based in Lakeland and operates some 1,120 stores through the Southeast, with more than 180,000 employees. Last year, Consumer Reports ranked Publix the second-leading supermarket in the country for customer satisfaction, trailing only Rochester, N.Y.,-based Wegmans.
    Publix did not return calls seeking comment.

Delray Beach resident Alan Rose has become a strong supporter of the Caridad Center in Boynton Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    Until a few years ago, Alan Rose had never heard of the Caridad Center in Boynton Beach, which provides health-related services to uninsured, working-poor families of Palm Beach County.
    Then one day in 2014, Rose saw an announcement about the center’s “Come Celebrate 25 Years with Caridad” gala.
    Without knowing anyone else attending, Rose and a date — along with another couple — went to the gala, where they soon discovered the outstanding work done by the nonprofit organization.  
    Since then Rose, of Delray Beach, has become a strong supporter of the Caridad Center, making financial contributions and even hosting a party earlier this year that raised several thousand dollars for the organization and introduced more than 80 guests to its mission.
    “They’re doing really good things at the center,” Rose said. “The Caridad Center provides free health-care services for those in need. There’s nothing better in life than to have your health.”
    As Rose quickly learned after meeting representatives of the center, Caridad also provides a wide variety of other services to those in need, including college scholarships, baby supplies, crisis intervention services and back-to-school supplies.
    But it is the medical, dental and vision services largely provided by volunteer doctors, dentists and other health-care professionals that attract thousands of patients who visit the center each year. It is the largest free health-care clinic of its kind in Florida.
    This month, Rose will once again be supporting the center, one of several organizations that benefit from the Boca West Community Charitable Foundation’s annual “Concert for the Children” on April 5 at Boca West Country Club.
    Rose will be attending a concert featuring Patti LaBelle and encouraging other supporters of the Caridad Center to purchase tickets, which are $175 each.
    Money raised from the concert — which will include the Atlantic City Boys — and from the foundation’s annual $200,000 golf challenge will benefit 21 organizations in south Palm Beach County that provide services to at-risk children, including Caridad.
    For Rose, 59, supporting charitable organizations such as the Caridad Center is something he’s been doing for quite some time.
    An entrepreneur at heart, Rose grew his family’s parking lot construction and rehabilitation business in the Chicago area into a nationwide company with more than 200 employees before selling it in 2014 and coming to South Florida.
    While up North, Rose and his company supported several organizations, including the Asthma and COPD Center at the University of Chicago, to which he committed more than $1 million through financial support and volunteer services provided by employees over the course of several years.  
    Rose and the company also supported the South Suburban Cancer Center in Chicago along with numerous other nonprofits.
    Now semi-retired and living in South Florida year- round, Rose is focusing his philanthropic efforts on local organizations.
    Rose also supports Delray Citizens for Delray Police and is sponsoring an awards ceremony that will be held on April 19.  “I have a soft spot in my heart for the police,” he said.
    Rose is a strong believer in assisting others, such as those served by the Caridad Center, who just need a helping hand.
    “I’ve been blessed with success,” he said. “I believe people who have been blessed with success should share at least a small portion of their wealth and give to charity.”
    Looking forward, Rose said, he hopes to make the February party he hosted to benefit the Caridad Center an annual event, with a goal of raising more than $10,000 next year.
    In recognition of his semi-retirement and move to Florida, Rose called the event the “Next Adventure” party.
    “This is chapter two of my life,” he said.

The eight-piece Solid Brass band rocks out during a Dinner & Dancing concert presented by the town of Lantana.

Guests enjoyed a buffet-style meal under the stars, then danced to classic rock and R&B songs

from the ’60s through the ’80s while enjoying gorgeous water views. The menu included

salad, an Italian main course, rolls and iced tea. There also was a cash bar.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Atlantic Crossing’s revised site plan sailed through a city advisory panel in early March and will be reviewed by the City Commission on April 5.
    The proposed $200 million Atlantic Crossing project sits stalled on 9.2 acres at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and East Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach.
    The latest plan shows a circular valet path with two lanes, instead of a horseshoe-shaped one, that aligns with an exit driveway leading to North Federal Highway. Vehicles also can enter the underground garage from North Federal Highway.
    The city’s planner described the roads as driveways, primarily because of their width and lack of landscaping. Scott Pape told the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board the driveways are structurally sound and able to handle the weight of delivery and garbage trucks.
    “It’s the best configuration that we can agree on,” Danielle Joyce, a traffic consultant hired by the city to review the latest site plan, told the review board’s chairman. “Without a major site modification,” she added.
    Joyce, of Greenman-Pedersen’s Tampa office, was questioned by review board member James Chard, who wanted to know about the 11,000 vehicles entering the project daily and whether that would create a traffic problem for the surrounding neighborhoods.
    She explained that her firm redid the trip calculations and found the existing trips to be 65 percent to 70 percent lower than the Atlantic Crossing developers had estimated. But she believes signal synchronization at Northeast First Street and Northeast Fifth Avenue could take care of the westbound traffic during peak hours, allowing it to be at or near stable flow level at build-out. Both levels are acceptable for traffic performance standards in an urban area.
    Other site plan changes are improved for the two loading docks and a safer pedestrian crosswalk, moved north in the project.
    Bruce Leiner, president of Harbour House Homeowners Association, said for a site plan, “process matters.” He pushed the City Commission on March 1 to allow its review board to weigh in on the revised site plan.
    He still thinks the city needs to hold an abandonment hearing on two alleys needed for the project, but since that was not in the board’s purview, it chose to focus on the changes in the revised site plan.
    The special review meeting was held six days after the City Commission meeting, with only four review board members; Jose Augilar and Brett Porak were absent.
    The board approved it unanimously with five conditions, including monitoring the valet queues and truck deliveries so that vehicles do not back up onto Northeast Seventh Avenue, and adding way-finding signs for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
    A suit filed by the Atlantic Crossing developers in June claimed the city had not issued a site-plan certification that was approved in November 2013 and affirmed by a previous City Commission in January 2014. In the fall, the lawsuit was moved to federal court. The lawsuit is on hold until April 5.
    The project, developed by a partnership between Ohio-based Edwards Companies and Ocean Ridge resident Carl DeSantis, will contain 343 luxury condos and apartments plus 39,394 square feet of restaurants, 37,642 square feet of shops and 83,462 square feet of office space.

    Spring? Already? It seems too soon for hurricane predictions, rising humidity and transport trucks heading north. But here it is April. Where did winter go?
    It was a busy season along the coast, filled with the usual array of lovely philanthropic and cultural events, gatherings of friends and family and outdoor leisure time at the beach, patio or pool — when it wasn’t raining. Seems like it rained a lot this winter.
    Now, it’s time to embrace April and brace for summer.
    May-October is no longer the slow season. The local economy is booming and, as a result, there’s a lot of change afoot in our community.
    This is Florida, after all. Boom times always bring change. And much of that change happens over the summer, when municipal budgets are set and fewer people are around to challenge (or support) the decisions of their local officials.
    We owe it to our piece of paradise to stay plugged in and involved to assure the inevitable changes benefit everyone, not just those who profit or make the most noise or file the most lawsuits.
    We’ll be here reporting on those changes. Stay in touch.
    Here are a few ways you can do that: Subscribe to The Coastal Star while you are away. There is a form on Page 10.
    Join our website at www.thecoastalstar.com: You’ll then receive email blasts about breaking news and events, plus an advance look at each month’s news.
    Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheCoastalStar/ for updates throughout the month, and I even tweet once in a while at @A1Astar. Check it out on Twitter.
    These are places where you can expect to find continuing updates on Boca Raton’s downtown and beachfront development, Highland Beach’s public safety concerns, the several large developments likely to be breaking ground soon in Delray Beach, Gulf Stream’s buried utilities project and ongoing legal and legislative battles over public records lawsuits, Briny Breezes’ need for road enforcement, Ocean Ridge’s ongoing discussion about growth in Boynton Beach, South Palm Beach’s continuing battle with beach erosion, Lantana’s efforts to increase its tax base yet remain a small fishing village and the recently announced plans for a Publix in Manalapan!
    We will be here reporting all this and much, much more all summer long.
    Whether you are staying or going north, I hope you have a great summer — and that you’ll stay involved.

— Mary Kate Leming, editor

By Dan Moffett

    Faced with a staggering cost increase and continued delays, Gulf Stream commissioners are scrambling to get their much-troubled and long-awaited underground utilities project back on track.
    Danny Brannon, Gulf Stream’s engineering consultant, had nothing but bad news to deliver at the March town meeting. He said the bids have come in for phase two of the project and they’re about 33 percent, or roughly $954,000, higher than expected.
    Work that was supposed to cost about $2.8 million now will approach $4 million, raising the total cost of moving all the town’s power, telephone and cable lines underground to about $6.5 million.
    “Absolutely stunning,” said Vice Mayor Robert Ganger.
    But forget about phase two for a moment, because there still is no telling when phase one will be completed. Brannon said he has had trouble getting Comcast to take down its lines so Florida Power & Light can come in and remove its poles.
    Neighborhoods that were supposed to be fully transferred to the underground system by now still resemble construction sites.
    Mayor Scott Morgan said the town’s south end “looks like a Benghazi suburb” and lamented the continued inability of the utility companies to work together.
    Brannon said it’s been impossible to get FPL, AT&T and Comcast to commit to a timeline.
    Even the project’s accounting has come into question. Commissioners told Brannon they couldn’t make sense of the numbers he brought them.
    Ganger called the bad bookkeeping “a rookie mistake” that had to be cleaned up before the commission can decide how to proceed. “You’re asking us to make a decision when someone can’t even do the math,” Ganger said.
    Morgan proposed consulting with town residents who have experience in finance and construction to draw on their expertise for ideas about righting the foundering project. He said he would bring recommendations for discussion at the town’s April 8 meeting.
    Commissioner Joan Orthwein said there is no choice but to move forward, because the town is too far into the project to turn back. “That would be like stopping building a house halfway through,” she said. “What have you got? Nothing.”
    The commission decided to conditionally award the contract for phase two to low-bidder Wilco Electric, with the hope that the contractor can find ways to take some of the cost out of the project.
    Gulf Stream’s problems with the project should send an ominous signal to surrounding communities. On March 15, voters in the town of Palm Beach approved a plan to move utilities underground that is roughly 15 times the size and cost ($80 million) of Gulf Stream’s.
    Palm Beach may want to take a second look at the Gulf Stream timeline. The idea for burying utility lines was born in the aftermath of the three hurricanes that struck Palm Beach County in 2004 and 2005.
    Gulf Stream started setting aside prepaid assets for the project in 2010. Construction was to have started in May 2012 but didn’t get going until late in 2013. The original completion target for both phases of the project was somewhere in the first half of 2015.
    Cyclical economic factors have contributed to the delays and overruns. Coming out of the recession, contractors were looking for work and gave low bids. Material prices also were low. Utility companies downsized their staffs, pushing into early retirement experienced workers who knew how to handle complicated projects.
    Now with the national economy rolling again, the cost of most everything has gone up and companies are understaffed.
    Despite the rising price tag, Town Manager William Thrasher told commissioners there is money in the town’s budget to pay for the project if they decide to proceed.

    This is a pivotal time in Delray Beach history, so I want to make a few comments on the Atlantic Crossing project, which the city sent back to the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board on March 1.
    I want to thank Commissioners Shelly Petrolia and Mitch Katz for being concerned about the lack of proper process on abandonment of the two-way road.
    Where is the abandonment proceeding? It never happened. So a two-way road and an alley are in danger of being given away by the city with no respect for the legal procedure set forth for such action. All because this developer has filed a lawsuit against the town.
    So the precedent being set here, as some say the city did with the iPic theater, is giving away public land.
    In this case the developer has sued so the game they are playing is to threaten the city with millions in damages and the city rolls over in a settlement agreement.
    And what happens after that? Every developer in this town and on the east coast of Florida and beyond knows all they have to do is sue and the city rolls over. It becomes a cost of doing business and they do it again and again.
    Liability insurance costs go up and the deductible goes up. Before too many years you have more lawsuits from developers than you can shake a stick at and no public trust. In the town from which I moved, our deductible went up to $100,000 for a 1-mile-long, two-block-wide town and we still couldn’t find insurance.
    You all know a bully and how to deal with one. If someone is threatening you, they are a bully and there’s no pretending otherwise. You have each shown courage in dealing with bullies in your life; we saw it in your eyes when we elected you. Draw on that courage now.
    There are developers who are good and will work with a town, its people and its laws to create quality developments that make them money and enhance the town. We need to find those developers or tell this one to become one if they want to do business in Delray Beach.
    The message we need to send is we want respectful development in Delray Beach. Respect our laws, respect our hardworking city staff and elected officials, respect our town and respect the people of Delray Beach. Then we welcome you to work with us to make Delray Beach the best beach town in Florida.

Joy Howell
Delray Beach

    This legislative session demonstrated a political will to reform the Florida’s Public Records Act. However, that will was misguided in both SB 1220 and HB 1021.
    Those bills targeted the attorney’s fees provision of Chapter 119 and attempted to change that reward to successful litigants from mandatory to discretionary. The zeitgeist: Judges punish lawyers for not vetting clients. Since very few people will pay tens of thousands of dollars for an email, the lawyers will ultimately determine who will come across well in the histrionics of court.
    Here is the problem: What government is not going to label the requestor an abuser?     
    Any government lawyer worth their salt would label every requestor an abuser or risk malpractice. Since intentions are the only metric to distinguish abusers from non-abusers, the government will have subpoena power to discover your most intimate thoughts about public officials and government policies. The government will be allowed to subject you, your friends, family and coworkers to videotaped interrogations in search of anti-government sentiments. The government could read your emails, texts, and phone searching for evidence of frustration.
    The government will have the full power of the court to prove that you dislike the administration and are acting upon that dislike. Take a second to think about that; you sue the government for hiding information and the next thing you know you are being investigated for sedition: Orwellian.
    Thankfully, that situation fell through. 
    In that universe, attorneys would not be anti-abuser policemen. They would be cash-up-front. Even the most righteous-minded is not certain to have the mettle to see litigation through, ensuring the attorney’s payment. 
    Without enforcement, governments revert to their natural state of oligarchical secrecy.  There is, however, an answer to the public records question and it lies not in substance but procedure.
    First, the law must designate a responsible records custodian and mandate the government to clearly designate the identity of the custodian as well as the proper channels to make a request. Then, a request will only count if it is given to that designee, but requestors will not have to guess where to send requests or get the run-around. 
    Also, there should be a fixed time to respond to requests; that time can reasonably be enlarged by the custodian unilaterally, but only after attempts to work with the requestor on a mutual production date have failed.
    Custodians should also be asking for clarification and feedback in every correspondence and seeking clarification in writing. When both parties are on the same page, the system works and a culture of trust is promoted. In addition, “gotcha” litigation becomes impossible.
    But what about abuses in the number of requests? Be wary of the officials who seek to limit requests, they peddle snake oil.
    First, the government can charge; costs will become prohibitive.
    Second, a hard limit on requests is futile; friends and organizations can defeat any limitation. The only way to truly limit the number of requests is to build trust with citizens.
    Some ask for public records to keep them; most people ask because they are looking for answers to questions on which public officials have prevaricated. The more a government is perceived as dishonest or evasive, the more requests it generally receives. When dealing with citizens, it pays to answer questions today, not requests tomorrow. Although a government cannot limit requests by edict it may exercise control by engaging with civility and respect. 
    If Florida wants to sensibly address the public records question, the panacea lies not in substantive but procedural reforms and building trust. 

Jonathan O’Boyle,
Deerfield Beach

Jonathan O’Boyle, an attorney licensed in Florida and Pennsylvania, is the son of Gulf Stream resident Martin O’Boyle. During the last three years, the O’Boyles have filed dozens of lawsuits against the town over hundreds of public records.

    Two days after the Florida Legislature completed the 2016 session, a Sun Sentinel editorial headlined “Open government under attack,” indirectly referred to a failed bill that attempted to address abuse of the Public Records Act by a cottage industry of scam artists who have conspired to fleece Florida taxpayers of many millions of dollars.
    With some irony, the Florida Press Association had worked with bill sponsors to craft language to assure that only abusers of open government laws were targeted, and not the press or ordinary citizens. Perhaps someone missed the memo.
    The alleged public records “scheme” is virtually foolproof. It starts with the Sunshine Law that grants citizens and the press unfettered access to the inner workings of taxpayer-funded public agencies (municipalities, school boards, law enforcement, etc.) When requested records are not produced in a timely fashion, the requestor has a right to sue the agency. If the court finds that the request was actually denied, attorney fees must be awarded to the plaintiff.  
    Sounds reasonable. Except that hustlers have figured out how to game the system, either by overwhelming the agency with excessive requests, or by rigging the requests in a manner that makes it impossible to comply.
    Quick money is made by threatening or actually filing a lawsuit, then offering a settlement for a fraction of trial costs. The victim is in a lose/lose situation. Most settle, and the taxpayer foots the bill.
    The Florida League of Cities, representing all 410 state municipalities, got wind of the scam several years ago. In establishing  priorities for the 2016 legislative session, confronting abuse of the Public Records Act was the top choice of League policy makers. As a FLOC committee delegate from Gulf Stream, I was in the unenviable position of defining the problem that legislation needed to solve.
    Our tiny town endured 2,500 public records requests in 18 months, overwhelming a four-person administrative staff. Over 40 compliance lawsuits have been filed, some within hours of receipt of the request. Town annual legal costs escalated from $25,000 to $1 million. Almost 5,000 annual staff hours were spent processing records requests.
    Sadly, the Gulf Stream situation was neither unique nor more repulsive than the experience of similar agencies throughout the state. One mayor said, “We are facing an epidemic.”
    Rep. Greg Steube and Sen. Rene Garcia agreed to sponsor public records reform bills. It was a daunting task, involving: the mechanics of crafting bill language; assigning and coordinating six required committee reviews; educating and motivating 160 legislators; appearing at hearings and amending language as needed.
    League lobbyists coordinated the effort, and elected officials throughout the state personally testified in support of conscientious efforts to give courts discretion to withhold attorney fees from frivolous litigants.
    Florida Tax Watch, a respected watchdog whose research on government waste is based upon access to public records, filed a report asking Legislators to support sensible reform.
    The proposed bills passed all committee hearings almost unanimously. During testimony, the most ardent defenders of the Public Records Act acknowledged the damage caused by abusive practice, calling the perpetrators “cockroaches” and “gotcha guys.”
    The Florida Press Association and First Amendment Foundation worked with Garcia to amend bill language to not impose a chilling effect on legitimate exercise of open government rights.  
    Apparently, one influential  member of the House (who is a public records attorney), was not convinced. Rather than put SB 1220 to a vote on the House floor where it was certain to pass, the bill was buried.
    However, the genie is now out of the bottle. We’ll be back in 2017.

Robert W. Ganger
Vice Mayor, Gulf Stream

Robert W.  Ganger is a Florida  League of Cities committee delegate and a longtime Gulf Stream resident and commissioner.

By Jane Smith

    For nearly a year, city staffers have toiled to create a special-events policy for Delray Beach.
    Gathering staff from various departments was a bit like herding cats, Assistant City Manager Francine Ramaglia told city commissioners at their March workshop. But with the policy in place, each employee will know what is required, she said.
    For the first time, the city will have a special event application fee of $150 and require contracts that call for a deposit and cover the true cost of city staff and services and the impacts on city grounds and roads.
    The policy also would create a special events office in the Parks and Recreation Department to provide a one-stop shop for festival organizers. No new staff would be hired.
    Ramaglia said her goal is to return to the commission in early May with a policy that can be approved and implemented in time for festival organizers to use for next season’s events.
    The discussion took place just 10 days before the second annual Bacon & Bourbon Fest on Old School Square grounds. This year’s fest boasted four more bourbon bars, extended hours and even a pig race — all on the city’s historic grounds.
    “It doesn’t benefit the merchants,” said Vice Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “It’s held in a caged-off area. People come for the festival and then leave.”
    Some commissioners were exasperated about having yet another discussion on special events when the topic was brought up at two separate goal-setting sessions in the past year.
    City commissioners have identified “hometown events” worthy of closing Atlantic Avenue: the Veterans Day Parade in November; the Holiday Parade and First Night in December; St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March; Delray Affair, grandfathered in because it was started to honor the city’s former role as the Gladiolus Capital of the World, in April; and the Fourth of July events.
    The commissioners don’t want to see any other major events in those months. Major events are now defined as those lasting one day or more, costing more than $20,000 in city services, requiring a road closure, attracting more than 10,000 people and serving alcohol.
    In addition, commissioners no longer want to hold special events on Old School Square grounds. They want the Garlic Fest and other festivals moved to other areas that need promotion, such as Congress Avenue and West Atlantic.
    “It’s premature to talk about Congress Avenue,” said Nancy Stewart-Franczak, whose Festival Management firm organizes the Garlic Fest, Bacon & Bourbon Fest and the Wine & Seafood Fest. She also sits on the special events task force.
    Without a new property identified, her firm is trying to lessen the impact of its events by offering parking and security solutions.
    Since June, Ramaglia and her two co-captains, Parks and Recreation Director Suzanne Davis and Economic Development Director Joan Goodrich, worked with staffers from seven other departments on the special events task force. The group also included event organizers such as the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Authority and the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative.
    They did try to get members from the community, but they stopped coming after a few meetings, Ramaglia said.
    Mayor Cary Glickstein said he appreciates the group’s focus on public safety and the full-cost recovery of the special events, but more work needs to be done to cull the number of large events. He wants to see “collective pain” on the part of organizers.
    He likened the objections to special events to the scale of complaints he receives about sober homes. “People want smaller events they can relate to,” he said.
    The Delray Beach Wine & Seafood Fest, held last November on A1A along the city’s beach, was “just another honky-tonk kind of event,” he said. Next time, the fest will be held on Old School Square grounds, Ramaglia said, much to the chagrin of Petrolia and Glickstein.
    Savor the Avenue, which closed four blocks of Atlantic Avenue on a Monday night in March, was deemed suitable. The event features Delray Beach restaurants.
    The Delray Affair will have 100 fewer booths this April because it will no longer set up on Old School Square grounds.
    The mayor talked about walking the event last year along Atlantic Avenue from Andrews Avenue west to Swinton Avenue, and seeing only one person he knew. “And I’ve been here for 30-plus years,” he said.

    Compared to the previous financial year, the city is seeing a reduction of two festivals from 67 to 65 during the season and a reduction of nine from 14 to five events in the summer months.
    Ramaglia said the full effect would not be seen until the fall when next financial year starts.
    “Special events have been a mainstay for so many years; we need everyone’s input,” she said. “We want to be careful in making a change that we do not pop the balloon that helped Delray grow.”

    Delray Beach voters overwhelmingly approved changing the city charter to give the City Commission authority to appoint an internal auditor. The vote was 9,318 to 3,144.
    The vote on a second referendum question, on allowing the City Commission to change its civil service code by local ordinance instead of by holding a referendum and submitting a local bill to the Florida Legislature, received a closer approval, at 6,402 to 5,569.
— Jane Smith

By Dan Moffett

    A positive report from Commissioner Clark Appleby has given the Manalapan Town Commission reason to take the next steps in exploring a water utility deal with Boynton Beach.
    Appleby, a financial adviser by trade, studied the potential impact of selling the town’s system and found that most of Manalapan’s customers would see their water bills decrease if the deal with Boynton goes through.
    “About 85 percent or more of the users would be saving money,” he told the commission during its March 22 meeting.
    Appleby said Manalapan cannot match those lower rates  if it keeps its water system because the town does not have a large enough customer base. He said the plant currently is running at only 49 percent capacity and there isn’t enough volume with 880 customers to drive down cost.
    Boynton Beach has more than 100,000 customers — size enough to keep rates low.
    Making matters worse, before much longer the town will have to replace its aging infrastructure of pipes, an overhaul that will cost about $5 million.
    “That’s a huge hurdle for us,” Appleby said. “I don’t think this town wants to take on $5 million in debt.”
    Appleby recommended continuing talks for a deal with Boynton Beach. The commission unanimously agreed.
    Commissioners also agreed that, after hearing former Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel urge them to get a more comprehensive study from an outside source, an additional analysis would be a good idea.
    “This is a huge, huge decision — it could be the biggest decision that you’ll make,” said Kaleel, a lawyer with clients in Manalapan. “Maybe this is good for the short term. But is it good for the long term?”
    Kaleel told the commission that Ocean Ridge made sure to maintain control of its pipes and delivery system when contracting with Boynton Beach for water. He said that keeping ownership of the infrastructure would give Manalapan more latitude to handle regional water shortages in years ahead.
    “We have a static customer base, and we’re faced with a fairly significant capital expenditure,” said Mayor David Cheifetz, who argued that the town should continue talking to Boynton while getting a consultant lined up for an independent review of the plan’s long-term impact.
    Commissioners said they would consider holding a public workshop once the review is done to get input from residents.
    In other business,Vice Mayor Peter Isaac said the Audubon Causeway bridge project still has a chance “to be substantially complete” before August.
    Isaac said he expects the south side of the bridge to be finished during the first two weeks of May, which will allow the removal of weight restrictions on traffic. Workers then will have 11 weeks to complete the north side.
    “There’s still a shot at the end of July” target date, he said.

Correction

      An April story about the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency’s goal-setting session gave the wrong attribution about the reasons behind a proposed tax rate reduction. The CRA executive director told his board members that the city wants the CRA to cover an additional $2 million in projects and services so that the city could reduce its overall property tax rate. 

By Jane Smith

    The city of Delray Beach is working with its Community Redevelopment Agency to make sure the agency’s spending aligns with city goals.
    An example of that new relationship was seen March 10 when the Delray Beach city manager and his two assistants attended the CRA goal-setting workshop for the first time.
    The city has dropped its efforts to reduce the size of the CRA or the amount of property tax money the agency receives. The city is concerned that reducing its share would lead to the county asking for a similar reduction, said Don Cooper, city manager. “I’ll take every dime,” he said.
    Instead, the city wants the CRA to cover an additional $2 million in projects and services so that the city could reduce its property tax rate by 3.42 percent, according to the city’s chief financial officer.
    The Delray Beach property tax rate is slightly more than double the rate paid by Boca Raton property owners, but it’s about 12 percent lower than the tax rate in Boynton Beach.
    The proposed reduction would result in the owner of a Delray Beach home, valued at $200,000 for tax purposes and with a $50,000 homestead exemption, to save about $38 a year on property taxes, CFO Jack Warner calculated.
    The extra items include two more police officers for the CRA’s Clean & Safe program in the downtown area, an additional code enforcement officer for the northwest and southwest neighborhoods, increased contribution to the tennis center tournaments and covering the cost of a tennis stadium study.
    CRA Chairman Reggie Cox asked his executive director to give the board options about what to pay for so that the agency sticks to its mission of curing blight.
    “The tennis center dollars could be used elsewhere,” Cox said.
    The City Commission and CRA board have a joint workshop planned for April 12.   
    “It’s not gloom and doom,” Cooper said. “It’s just a difficult time.”
    For Delray Beach, most of the property value increase happens in the CRA area, which covers 20 percent of the city.
    CRA board member Paul Zacks said, “I look forward to the workshop if it’s cooperative, but cooperation does not mean capitulation. I am for working with the city to work out solutions.”
    The subject of the downtown trolley also was discussed. Cox and board member Bill Branning were concerned about the CRA’s return on investment for the $400,000 annual operating cost. Both said ridership was too low to justify the amount.
    Board members asked whether the CRA can expand its office because it now has more staff and interns and an increased workload.
    Cooper suggested that they try asking the city library about its unused upstairs space since the children’s area moved.
    “It’s a balancing act with limited resources,” he said. “No one ever comes to me and asks for less.”
    The CRA received good news March 15 when the City Commission approved waivers and the site plan for the proposed iPic theater complex on CRA-owned land. The theater company needed those approvals to purchase the 1.59-acre site for $3.6 million. The sale will not close until October, which means the CRA will have to wait until the start of its next budget year to be paid.
    “We should be excited about where we are,” said resident Chuck Ridley, also vice chairman of the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition.
    For the past year, the CRA board members grew concerned that the agency’s area might be reduced or the amount of property tax money it receives would be cut. The money talk came up at nearly every CRA meeting since last April, when a joint workshop was held with the City Commission.
    “We should not be at this time in our evolution worried about reducing millage and whether we should have a CRA … If I would close my eyes, it reminded me of the Republican (presidential) debates,” Ridley said.