By John Pacenti

The Manalapan Town Commission on Sept. 24 passed a $19.2 million budget for fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1, carrying over the same tax rate as the previous year.

However, because property values increased 5.7% over the last year, there will be a slight increase in taxes for homesteaded residents in the wealthy enclave.

The average home in Manalapan is worth $4.2 million, according to Zillow.com. Using a tax rate of $3.00 for $1,000 of taxable value, a homesteaded property worth $4 million last year will pay $360 more in town property taxes.

Under state law, homesteaded property values cannot go up more than 3% each year.

For properties not homesteaded — commercial, rental and second homes — a property worth $4 million a year ago will pay up to $1,200 more in town taxes, as the annual taxable property value cap for those properties is 10%.

Fire rescue services have the biggest impact on the new budget, increasing $189,902. Manalapan has an interlocal agreement with Palm Beach County to provide firefighters and paramedics.

The budget includes funds for 24/7 security guard coverage at the entrance to Point Manalapan, but the commission debated whether to try to save taxpayers money by having the guards no longer carry firearms.

Town Manager Eric Marmer said a new vendor, Florida Protection & Consulting, has been chosen for the five-year contract at the guardhouse. Armed guards would cost Manalapan $1,104,000, while unarmed guards cost $884,200 — a saving of nearly $220,000.

“Describe a scenario where we would want a guard to need a gun, to have a gun, to use a gun,” Commissioner Cindy McMackin asked Town Attorney Keith Davis.

Other commissioners worried that if a guard used a firearm the town could be held liable.

“If something happened — while the contract will certainly have indemnification language — make no mistake we will be dragged into that,” Davis said.

Former Mayor Keith Waters, during public comments, said there was a method to the madness of arming the guards — and it had nothing to do with the guns.

“The armed guards provide us with a different caliber of personnel,” Waters said. “You have to go through that training.”

The commission then voted, at the suggestion of Commissioner Elliot Bonner, to approach the vendor to see if it was amenable to allowing the town to try out the unarmed option but be able to switch to the armed option if it desires to do so in the future.

By Mary Thurwachter

The last couple of years have brought a steady stream of residents to Town Council meetings with complaints about Lantana’s green, yellow or dingy water.

Some lamented the olive-green water that filled their swimming pools. One woman arrived to present the mayor with a cookie tin full of yellow water. Another said her Invisalign trays had turned yellowy from tap water. There was even a complaint from a pet owner who resorted to bottled water after her doggie turned up his snoot at the tap water.

Officials assured them that Lantana’s water was, despite its hue, clean.

But now, after millions have been spent to update the water treatment plant, the tide has turned, and taxpayers, including the mayor, are singing a different tune.

“My water’s clean,” said a happy Mayor Karen Lythgoe at the Sept. 23 meeting. “It’s clear,” she corrected herself. “It was always clean, now it’s clear.”

Community advocate Media Beverly of Hypoluxo Island sent a text to Town Manager Brian Raducci conveying her appreciation.

“What happened?” Beverly wrote sarcastically. “I sorely miss seeing the brown stains in my white sinks now that our water is clear. On behalf of everyone who contacted me with the good news, thank you for finally getting it done after all these years.”

The road to water clarity has been long and costly.

Eddie Crockett, public services director, says the drinking water has always been safe and that the clarity of the water is not related to the quality. It has always met all state and federal requirements.

The clarity has come as the town continues to work on the water treatment plant, which was last refurbished in 2003.

A plant filter and media replacement project began in 2021 with an original budget of $1.24 million. Supply chain issues slowed the progress. Once the project started, consultants and engineers quickly realized that it was more involved than initially anticipated. As a result, an additional $1.26 million was included in the town’s fiscal year 2023 budget for the project.

This year in February, the town approved about $2.4 million for the replacement of the filters and rehabilitating three verified vessels. “There are five vessels: two ion and three anion (negatively charged),” Crockett said in September. “One of the anion vessels is being rehabilitated and there are two of the ions that control the color of the water.”

The filters are making all the difference. The vessels that hold the filters have also been rehabilitated.

“We have all that under control, as you have witnessed,” Crockett said. “We now have three ion vessels which control the hardness and they need additional rehab.” 

“It has made a marked improvement, and we have seen a marked decrease in complaints,” Raducci said.

Crockett said he hoped to have the project complete by the end of the year.

Town secures LEED designation — Town Council members congratulated Development Services Director Nicole Dritz and other staff for their efforts in achieving a silver LEED designation for the town.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a green building-rating system. The silver certification level indicates that a project has surpassed the basic LEED requirements, achieving more than 50% of the available points. The designation was officially made on Sept. 17.

Besides bragging rights, the distinction can help the town attract new businesses and grant money, Dritz said. The town received points for, among other things, having walkable parks and EV charging stations, and banning balloon releases.

Leadership Lantana returns — Natalie Stolbach, president of the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce, and Lee Bersch, the executive director, appeared before the Town Council in September to promote the return of the chamber’s Leadership Lantana program after a break during the pandemic.

“It’s all about firsthand experiences and behind-the-scenes access,” Stolbach said. “You’ll get an intimate look at how all facets of our community work and the challenges they face.”

Rates are reasonable compared with similar programs in other municipalities, Bersch said.

For more details or to register, call 561-585-8664. 

Council reappoints planning commissioner — Michelle Donahue was reappointed to a three-year term on the planning commission. Donahue lives on Hypoluxo Island and was the lone candidate after Steven J. Madson, who has worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 40 years, withdrew his application before the vote. Donahue is a Realtor and a history buff.

— Mary Thurwachter

Aside from scattered power outages, downed tree limbs and beach erosion, south Palm Beach County survived Hurricane Helene with minimal impact. ABOVE: (l-r) Donna Johnson makes a mock Weather Channel video of her brothers Eddie Catapane and John Catapane as they vacation from Long Island at Berkshire by the Sea. The video was for friends in New York, amid severe beach erosion and pelting wind and rain from the passing storm. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

A 26-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to five charges stemming from a 2021 fatal hit-and-run crash along North Ocean Boulevard in Boca Raton that claimed the life of a New York federal judge.

Nastasia Snape was sentenced on Sept. 26 to four years in state prison followed by 26 years of probation by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Caroline Shepherd for leaving the scene of a crash causing death, vehicular homicide, DUI causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of a crash causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident causing damage, court records state.

Snape, who lived in North Lauderdale at the time, was driving northbound on State Road A1A in a red Honda when she crossed the southbound lane and continued onto the sidewalk near the Spanish River Boulevard intersection, striking 75-year-old Sandra Feuerstein, according to a Boca Raton Police Department arrest report.

Feuerstein, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2003 by President George W. Bush and served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, later died at Delray Medical Center.

Snape drove off at high speed, and hit a 6-year-old boy as he was crossing Ocean Boulevard in the crosswalk at Spanish River Boulevard. The boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was released from Delray Medical Center, Boca Raton police said.

Snape’s vehicle crashed at the intersection of Southeast 10th Street and northbound Federal Highway in Delray Beach.

A Delray Beach police officer at the scene said Snape at first appeared to be unconscious, but then began to convulse. Once inside an ambulance, she screamed and fought with medics, stating she was “Harry Potter.” Snape’s last name is the same as Severus Snape, a prominent character in the Harry Potter books.

Among her possessions were containers labeled “THC Cannabis” and a synthetic drug called “T salts,” which the arrest report stated is known to cause excited delirium. As a condition of probation, Snape must make a $6,000 donation within the first two years of probation to the Feuerstein scholarship fund at the Cardozo School of Law, and a $500 donation each month to the fund beginning in the third year of probation and ending when probation is completed.

Feuerstein was a graduate of Yeshiva University’s Cardozo law school.

Snape also must attend DUI school and have a substance abuse evaluation, with successful completion of any recommended treatment.

News of Feuerstein’s death deeply saddened members of New York’s legal community.

“Judge Feuerstein was a treasured member of our Eastern District bench,” District Court Executive Eugene Corcoran said in a statement at the time. “Her eccentric style and warm personality lit up the courtroom. She will be missed by her colleagues and litigants alike.”

Delray Beach’s new fire rescue chief comes from Louisiana but is no stranger to Florida, previously serving in the fire department in Fort Myers Beach for two decades.

Ronald Martin will start on Oct. 7, taking over a department still in turmoil after the city fired its last chief, Keith Tomey, in May for allowing on-duty firefighters to participate in a charity softball game. The participation put an engine out of service for more than four hours. Also, one of the firefighters got hurt during the game and sought worker’s compensation.

Tomey filed suit in June claiming he was fired because City Manager Terrence Moore made unwanted sexual advances toward him. An investigation found no evidence to support the accusation.

On Sept. 20, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Carolyn Bell denied the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Since Tomey’s dismissal, Kevin Green has served as interim chief. Moore thanked Green for his “invaluable service and support” in his statement announcing Martin’s hiring.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale said the city manager is looking for new leadership in the department.

“I think the general understanding is the interim chief is winding down his career. I think Mr. Moore wants somebody who will come in and address some of the long-standing issues in that department,” she said.

Martin most recently served as chief of safety for the Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal. Before taking that position in November 2023, Martin served as the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District fire chief/district manager, moving up through the ranks. He resigned for personal reasons in March 2023.

— John Pacenti

Finance chief leaves after 2½ years — Delray Beach Chief Financial Officer Hugh Dunkley was leaving to take a job “out of municipal government” in waste management, he confirmed after the Sept. 10 City Commission workshop.

“I consider it an opportunity for advancement,” Dunkley said.

His last day on the job was Sept. 20. Laura Thezine, the city’s assistant finance director, is running the department in the interim.

Before coming to Delray Beach as chief financial officer in March 2022, Dunkley held similar positions at Tequesta and Deerfield Beach.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale said she liked Dunkley personally and is sad to see him go, but she did have some issues with the Finance Department.

“There have been different things that have happened that I thought were, let’s say, not necessarily amazing. I’ve asked for an audit of the Finance Department,” said Casale, who ran as a fiscal hawk in the election in March.

More money for beach sand — Delray Beach has secured an additional $9.7 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to help in its upcoming beach renourishment, the city manager told commissioners in his Sept. 13 information letter.

The money is in addition to the $3.8 million the state previously committed, according to a Sept. 10 email from Public Works Director Missie Barletto to City Manager Terrence Moore.

The federal government has pledged $11.2 million to the project, while Palm Beach County has said it will contribute $3.78 million.

In total, $28.5 million has been secured for the project, expected to take place next year, Moore told commissioners in his memo.

Manager gets pay boost — The City Commission voted unanimously Oct. 1 to give City Manager Terrence Moore a 3.5% merit raise. The increase is related to a 3.5 out 5 aggregate score on his evaluation by the five commissioners.

The raise, roughly $8,380, brings Moore’s salary to $247,809.

Moore was graded in 16 areas, including leadership, decision-making, and his relationship with the commission. “I gave Mr. Moore a very high score,” Commissioner Rob Long said. “He has risen to the occasion.”

Mayor Tom Carney said he approved of the 3.5% raise but said he has had issues with Moore, such as on his failure to provide more details about the proposed budget. Carney said he feels Moore understands his expectations better now.

Moore’s biggest critic on the commission, Vice Mayor Juli Casale, said she gave the city manager a score below 3.0. However, she met with Moore in the last week and said she was hopeful her concerns — which she didn’t elucidate upon — will be addressed.

— John Pacenti

By Brian Biggane

The South Palm Beach Town Council addressed its lingering vacancy at its September meeting, but it’s likely to be some time before a fifth member is added.

Vice Mayor Monte Berendes said near the end of the meeting that the vacancy — in place already for six months — should be addressed at the October meeting. That suggestion produced another from Mayor Bonnie Fischer: that the town hold a special election rather than rely on the council to make an appointment.

Fischer was not aware that the Town Charter does not allow council members to be chosen by a special election, so the onus still falls on the four current council members to make that decision. The alternative is to leave the seat open until the next regular election, which doesn’t occur until March 2026, when the current unexpired term is set to end.

Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the situation has become awkward since the terms of council members were extended from two to four years.

The council lost two members in the past year, the first in December when Robert Gottlieb resigned because of health concerns and an unwillingness to release more details of his financial situation, which was part of a new state mandate for all elected municipal officials. That requirement has since been put on hold statewide due to a court challenge of its constitutionality.

Three candidates were interviewed to replace Gottlieb, and after the council tied 2-2 at its February meeting, Elvadianne Culbertson won the seat on a 3-1 vote in March when Ray McMillan switched his vote to her.

That prompted former Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy to resign, citing health reasons, leaving the council again with four members. Jennifer Lesh, who had been nominated by LeRoy and garnered the other two votes in the initial runoff, was no longer interested in a seat on the council. A third candidate at the time, Arnelle Ossendryver, withdrew from consideration to care for her ailing mother.

The council agreed unanimously to table a decision on a fifth member indefinitely; Berendes’ raising of the question in September means it will be on the agenda at the council’s October meeting.

“It’s an interesting case because when you only have four members on the council the calculus is different,” Titcomb said. “Two people can block anything, (while) it normally takes three to approve or disapprove. We have a lot of things coming up, and if they have a 2-2 vote a tie is a fail in the calculus.

“Based on my conversations with the vice mayor, he would rather see us with a full contingent of council members. But to get that they have to follow their own (charter).”

Berendes said he won’t be adamant about filling the vacancy right away.

“Tell me the rules and I can play the game,” he said. “I’m OK with four, but optics would be better if we have five.”

Berendes said he went into the September meeting expecting to have the vacancy filled by the end of the October meeting.

“I didn’t know we had to do it the way it is; I thought we could just put it on the docket and (make the decision) the next month, but I guess not.”

It would take longer than that to enlist applicants, for example.

Berendes said word around town is that someone has “put their hat in the ring” for the vacancy, though he wouldn’t name names. He said the laid-back nature of the town, which has no retail or commercial entities but has been working for years toward building a new Town Hall and community center, has instilled a sense of apathy among residents.

“Everything seems to be working, so there’s no sense screwing up what works,” he said.

As for the decisions coming on the Town Hall project such as hiring contractors and finding an alternate space for town employees when construction gets underway, Berendes said the situation won’t be urgent for some time.

“It’s not going to happen for a while,” he said. “I would hope we break ground in the spring and hopefully they can finish by the next spring. It’s gone on too long, but it’s a small enough building it shouldn’t take a year to build.”

Budget passed, tax rate set — Helped in great part by a 10% increase in property values, the Town Council passed a $2.412 million budget at its final budget hearing on Sept. 16.

The council has agreed to keep the property tax rate at $3.40 for each $1,000 of taxable value, the same as the one in place for the past year.

The town’s largest expenditure of $1.136 million is for public safety, as reflected by the town’s contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. That represents only a 2% increase over a year ago.

Online permitting — The Building Department reported its new registration module and ability to pay and upload paperwork are up and running after several months of work.

Discussions on new Town Hall — The four members of the Town Council held one-on-one talks with representatives of CPZ Architects to exchange information on the Town Hall project. A meeting between the architects and town residents is in the works, but a date and time have not been set.

One-student bus stop — PBSO Sgt. Mark Garrison reported that a bus-stop traffic post has been set up for the one student in town taking a bus to attend public school. One citation was issued in August for failure to stop for a school bus.

— Brian Biggane

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the approved tax rate and the increase in property values in South Palm Beach. The approved property tax rate is $3.40 for each $1,000 of taxable value. Property values increased 10% in the town this year.

By Mary Thurwachter

An interlocal agreement to add sand to the beaches in Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and Lantana this winter may be losing one municipality: Lantana.

It’s all about money.

When the dune restoration was hatched a few years ago, South Palm Beach, which has no public beach, agreed to pay for sand to be placed on Lantana’s beach in exchange for sand truck access via the town’s Dorothy Rissler Lane. A new plan will have dump trucks coming across Lake Worth Beach’s shoreline, south of the pier. As a result, Lantana beach access is no longer needed and because of that, Lantana would need to pay for the sand it would receive.

Lantana Mayor Karen Lythgoe says she doesn’t have an estimate for how much it would cost, but “it would be quite high.” She said the town “has a number of projects in flight this year so that would have to be incorporated into our visioning session in the future.” 

Town Manager Brian Raducci “is exploring a potential opportunity, but it’s not gone further than that,” she said.

One council member, Lynn “Doc” Moorhouse, shared his thoughts on the change in plans at the Sept. 23 town meeting — and he wasn’t liking it.

“There’s going to be some beach restoration money that they’re going to be asking us for and it’s not going to be there because they’re wanting us to pay for something that they said was going to be free earlier,” Moorhouse said, “and that’s putting a burden on our town manager.

“I don’t want it to reflect in any bad light that we’re not willing to pay. It was supposed to be free. We were going to work with Palm Beach. We were going to let them use the beach, let them do all their stuff and we were going to get free sand.

“Not happening,” Moorhouse continued. “I don’t believe our town has the money to just go yippie-ki-yay. … I just want the public to know why we aren’t joining the beach project. Well, it was free before and now it’s not. This is stupid stuff. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to like me. But that’s dumb, in my opinion.”

Raducci, in his report for September, didn’t rule out the town’s involvement.

“The Town of Palm Beach is now requesting reimbursement from the Town for sand costs only and is obtaining estimates for sand rates and quantities needed,” he wrote. “Since the sand was originally going to be provided in exchange for Dorothy Rissler access (which is no longer required), they will seek funds from Palm Beach County’s ERM (Environmental Resources Management) for sand placement in the Town.

“We are currently evaluating the need for a new interlocal agreement to proceed if the project is financially feasible for the Town.”

The project is expected to begin this winter and sand would come from a stockpile in Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach.

By Mary Thurwachter

After two public hearings in September, the Lantana Town Council adopted a $29.5 million total budget with the same tax rate as last year — $3.75 per $1,000 of assessed taxable value.

Property tax revenues are estimated at $6.95 million. That’s an increase of $538,000 from last year and makes up 39.4% of the town’s anticipated revenues. The taxes are used to support the town’s $17.8 million operating budget, which covers the day-to-day costs of government. The town’s total budget also includes its water and sewer fund and stormwater improvement fund.

In presenting the budget, Town Manager Brian Raducci said Lantana “continues to be financially healthy and stable due to a fiscally conservative approach in maintaining its operations.”

The general fund’s reserves are $15.9 million, which is about 96% of the FY 2025 operating budget that took effect Oct. 1 and exceeds the town’s adopted fund balance policy, which includes reserve funds for emergencies, according to Finance Director Stephen Kaplan.

In accordance with priorities set during a council visioning session in April, the town will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain infrastructure, including $250,000 to put hurricane windows on Town Hall.

Residents can expect more twinkling lights around Town Hall this Christmas, thanks to a beautification project that will cost $30,000 for holiday decorations and another $20,000 for lighting to support holiday decorations around Greynolds Circle.

Other beautification efforts include $20,000 for landscaping and trash receptacles throughout town and $20,000 toward benches, landscaping and trash receptacles in parks.

Another priority will involve supporting the library, with $19,000 for books, computers and carpet panels. The library will be adding a full-time community engagement and outreach coordinator and adding 14 hours to a part-time staffer to permit Saturday hours.

Police are due to get new firearms and three SUVs, two new laptops for road patrol and money for license plate reading cameras.

Town employees will receive 4% cost-of-living raises and could get merit raises of up to 5% based on annual evaluations.

Lantana’s budget is broken down into three categories, including 67% for personnel, 26% for operating expenses and 7% for capital projects. The town has no debt.

Ocean Ridge resident Rich Mascolo has been pouring his efforts into volunteer work at the Soup Kitchen of Boynton Beach since his retirement. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The fact that 12% of Palm Beach County residents live below the poverty line probably doesn’t come as a shock to most people. But Ocean Ridge resident Rich Mascolo has a statistic that is more of an eye opener.

“There’s an acronym that’s come about called ALICE households, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, which identifies all the people who have a hard time making ends meet,” said Mascolo. That’s 32% of the population.

“These are people that if the car breaks down, they get a rent increase, the spouse loses their job or they have a big medical emergency, they’re in really tough straits,” he says.

One place they may turn for help is the Soup Kitchen, just off Boynton Beach Boulevard west of Florida’s Turnpike.

Mascolo, 70, a retired marketing and communications expert who in years past has been lauded for his work with the YMCA, has more recently turned some of his philanthropic efforts to the Soup Kitchen. The nonprofit is the No. 1 daily distributor of meals and groceries in Palm Beach County and possibly in all of South Florida, according to Mascolo.

“In the last two years since the pandemic, the Soup Kitchen’s demand has grown 40%, from 1,000 hot meals a day to 1,400,” Mascolo said.

Having only six full-time employees means the operation relies on volunteers, but Mascolo said those six employees “could run a master class in volunteer-driven organizations.”

Unlike other charities that have their “guests,” as the Soup Kitchen calls them, line up in cars and do a drive-through pickup, the organization has people park, enter the building and not only pick up meals but also receive a box filled with supplies such as chicken and vegetables to hold them longer.

“It’s remarkable how it works,” Mascolo said.

Donations come from grocery stores such as Publix and restaurants, but also resorts such as the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. Feeding South Florida, another nonprofit, helps make many of the connections.

Mascolo’s career in marketing has helped the Soup Kitchen get the word out as it embarks on its inaugural fundraising drive.

“They’ve punched so far above their weight class in terms of community impact, so we’re trying to sort of take their seat at the big philanthropic table of Palm Beach County,” he said. “Because they are there, and people need to know they are there.”

Mascolo, who has served on the board of the South County YMCA for the past nine years and the board of the Soup Kitchen for seven months, enjoys playing guitar, going to concerts and taking beach walks with his wife of 16 years, Bebe.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: My wife, Bebe, and I grew up on Long Island. We were high school sweethearts. I was lucky, growing up there was wonderful: near the water, almost idyllic. Then for college, I went to Penn in West Philadelphia, where I quickly saw that other people’s lives — especially in the inner city — were very different from mine. Where my wife and I grew up was pretty insular; I didn’t have a lot of exposure to how the less fortunate lived, what people had and most notably didn’t have. I grew up wanting for very little, and there were people living within a few blocks of this university that had very little. It was a shock to me.
 
Q: What professions have you worked in? What accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I had a double major in marketing and anthropology at Penn, and obviously took the right career path with marketing and communications. I was a senior executive at a global ad agency, Grey, in New York City, that is one of the largest in the world. I then founded a consulting firm that served prominent Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, General Motors, Coca-Cola. The kind of work I was doing was attractive to the big agencies. I was working directly with the people at what you would call the top of the house: CEOs, CFOs. I later sold that firm to a different global ad conglomerate.  

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: One’s first job is likely not a career. But do the best job you can, no matter how mundane, and good things will come your way. And secondly, smarts and background don’t make you a success. Focus and drive do.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A: Bebe knew people who lived in the area and we had visited many times. So, when we became empty-nesters in 2013, we were happy to move down and make a life in Ocean Ridge. We still spend our summers with family in New York.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A: It runs along A1A, so of course it’s beautiful. But it’s the neighborliness that stands out most to me. That’s great.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I’m rereading To Kill a Mockingbird. In addition to being a classic, it’s a parable about the need to protect our community’s most vulnerable. That’s become an important theme for me, especially later in life. 
  
Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: To relax, I usually listen to jazz and to be inspired, it’s classical. But as an aging boomer, I’m also a diehard rock ’n’ roll fan. I’ve even been to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We planned to spend an hour or so there and we were there several hours. It’s fantastic. As for groups, the usual ones like the Allman Brothers, of course the Beatles, and the Who.   

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: It would have to be my parents. It’s a cliché but true. They were teachers. My mom taught K-6 and my dad was a high school teacher, then superintendent of schools. It’s like the movie My Cousin Vinny. My uncle was a teacher (awarded Teacher of the Year by Bill Clinton) and my aunt was a superstar reading teacher who shaped the New York state curriculum. They wanted to help everyone. I was the black sheep that went into advertising. 

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: Matt Damon. Not the megawatt action hero in The Bourne Identity but the introspective, problem-solving Matt Damon from The Martian. 

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: I love the New Yorker magazine cartoons, but I’m a total sucker for silly humor, especially if it’s a little edgy. The TV show Modern Family was one of my faves.

By John Pacenti

While art classes are set to start in November at the Crest Theatre, the theater itself remains somewhere between a modest work in progress and the problematic house in the movie The Money Pit.

The latest concern is whether its balcony is unsafe.

“We have not done a structural analysis on that balcony to see exactly how sound it is,” Public Works Director Missie Barletto said at the Sept. 16 City Commission meeting. “So we will be doing that.”

Commissioner Tom Markert had asked for an update on the renovation of the theater, which turns 100 next year.

Originally a high school auditorium, the “enchanting” 323-seat venue will eventually provide a boutique-style entertainment experience, the city says. It’s been dark since at least 2021.

“It needs sprucing up. It needs new carpet and paint inside the theater. We need to look at the electrical consoles and the dimmers and the rigging inside the theater,” Barletto said.

One contractor estimated the work would cost $5 million, while another said it would be $3 million, she said.

There will also be costs associated with rigging and the electrical room — the connectivity for the theater, Barletto said. It’s specialized work and getting the rigging company to assess the Crest has taken more time than originally thought.

“There’s one company statewide that does it and there’s a number of historic theaters that are actually under renovation right now,” Barletto said.

A contractor is expected to be in place by May, Barletto said, “at which point we’ll be coming back to you and seeking some funds.”

The city last year budgeted $1.2 million for renovations, primarily to the building’s classrooms and kitchen space.

Delray Beach got into the theater business when former Mayor Shelly Petrolia and then-Commissioners Juli Casale and Shirley Johnson voted to end the lease in 2021 with the nonprofit that ran Old School Square — the theater, the museum, and the outdoor concert venue downtown at Swinton and Atlantic avenues.

Petrolia said Old School Square Center for the Arts had not been forthcoming with its finances.

The decision opened up the San Andreas Fault. There was a lawsuit and countersuit. Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns came into office opposing the canceling of the lease.

The commission had decided to turn over operations to the Downtown Development Authority only to give back control of the theater to city staff.

Old School Square Center for the Arts ended up taking out equipment, lighting and other things that make theaters operate when it left the premises, said Vice Mayor Casale, who voted to oust the nonprofit during her first stint as commissioner.

Mayor Tom Carney has said he wants to monetize the Crest for the city.

In that respect, classrooms in the building for art classes are set to start in November. Photos shown to the commission by Barletto displayed glossy lacquered wood floors and drawing desks — called art horses — ready for students.

The city’s communication department has relocated to the Crest with Director Gina Carter heading up the creative arts school project by basically doing at least two jobs at present.

Casale said the Windmill Theater Company had inquired about using the Crest to do a Christmas show, “but, obviously, if you don’t think it’s structurally sound, that’s a no.”

“Well, the balcony portion, I don’t know that it is ‘not’ structurally sound, but I also don’t know that it is,” Barletto said. “So we would err on the side of caution for that, for sure.”

The commission remains gung-ho on the Crest. “I just want to get it finished. So then we all have an opportunity up here to decide what the next step is going to be. And it sounds like you’re on course,” Carney said.

Markert is focusing on the bird in the hand: the art school — which he said got a deal on its furniture.

“I’ve been over there and I’ve seen it and it looks great,” he said.

The home in The Money Pit, by the way, was absolutely stunning when completed, even if it nearly cost Tom Hanks’ character his sanity.

The remains of a hedge that Ocean Ridge ordered Jay Wallshein to trim to 6 feet in response to a complaint. It
turns out the town has no such ordinance. Coastal Star staff

Related: Ocean Ridge: Route to beach becomes path of much resistance

By John Pacenti

When the smoke cleared on the Hedge War of 2024, Ocean Ridge apologized to a resident who was forced to unnecessarily cut his beloved hedges. In turn, the resident exposed the erratic nature of how the town enforces its code violations — or whether it even knows its code at all.

“We’ve been talking about a 6-foot hedge code for 20 years, and it turns out it was never put on the books,” said Vice Mayor Steve Coz. “Unbeknownst to the enforcement people and unbeknownst to everybody in town, there is no code.”

Poet Robert Frost once pondered if indeed good fences make good neighbors. But what about the hedge, that South Florida way of keeping prying eyes diverted through the use of ficus, clusia, areca palm or yew pine?

Enter one Jay Wallshein of 119 Marlin Drive.

“How else can I look at it, but that I was targeted? How else can I see it?” said Wallshein, who has been living at a nearby property while he rebuilds his dock for the 6,000-square-foot house.

On Aug. 20, a neighbor across the canal on the back of his property complained about what she said was unsightly construction debris. He received a violation notice that was at his doorstep — not just for the debris but for the height of the hedges.

Wallshein was given seven days to remove the debris and cut his clusia hedges on the sides of his house from 16 feet to 6 feet. That’s a tall order — literally and figuratively — so he contacted Town Hall and asked for a few more days to comply, “so I can do this properly.”

Resistance is futile
He felt it odd that his hedge was too tall considering what he saw towering around other Ocean Ridge homes. He told Town Clerk Kelly Avery as much.

“I say, ‘Well, if mine’s over 6 feet, then the whole town is over 6 feet.’ She says, ‘The whole town’s not my problem. The complaint’s against you.’”

Wallshein said he was told to comply by Sept. 11 or face up to a $500 daily fine.

Well, you can’t fight Town Hall and all that. A barge removed the construction debris and he chopped his hedge.

“I planted them when I moved in, I would say, like in 2009 or 2010. I think it took me five years, six years, maybe seven years to get them that tall, to get them to privacy height like everyone else has, right?” said Wallshein, clearly still in mourning.

A Bobcat tractor had to be brought in to remove what was cut down, tearing up his yard and destroying his sprinkler system, he said. Wallshein estimates he spent at least $4,000 to remove the construction debris, $3,000 to remove the clusia cut down — and now he must re-sod and redo his sprinkler system, an expensive endeavor.

Fighting back
In the meantime, he went to work, filing complaints with photographic evidence of any hedge in Ocean Ridge that was over 6 feet tall. He then moved on to public rights-of-way, taking photos of obstructions on town property in front of homes.

Wallshein said town officials told him that code enforcement officers are obligated to cite residents if they see violations.

“How could code enforcement miss all these rocks and stones that people put along their property so that people can’t park on their lawn?” Wallshein asked.

He started filing the complaints. About a dozen were provided to The Coastal Star in response to a public records request, but Wallshein said he found 150 violations.

The complaints certainly got the attention of Mr. Wallshein’s fellow residents — one who went in front of the Town Commission and asked it to suspend the height requirement.

“Ocean Ridge has been hesitant to enforce this ordinance unless a neighbor files a complaint, which pits residents against each other,” Victor Martel said at the commission’s Sept. 9 meeting.

“As a result, many residents are unknowingly in violation of this and other ordinances. This specific ordinance has been on the books for well over 20 years.”

At the time the code was adopted, most of the homes in Ocean Ridge were one story, Martel said. Now many residences are two or more stories. “By selectively enforcing this code the town is stripping individual residents of their right to privacy which we all want to enjoy,” he said.

Martel wanted the commission to use a 2023 state law that allows parties to challenge municipal ordinances and get enforcement suspended while they are under review.

Misreading the code
Now the commission took notice of the hedge war and put Town Attorney Christy Goddeau on the case. Goddeau discovered Ocean Ridge never limited the heights of hedges at all — that Wallshein’s hedges were more than legal at 16 feet.

“Our code enforcement, called community standards, is driven by complaints. So when he (Wallshein) submitted the complaints, I told the clerk, ‘Well, start looking them up. We’ll have to go cite those people whose hedges are over,’” Goddeau told The Coastal Star.

Then she started looking into the 64-44(c) and found that though it starts out saying that hedges are regulated — it never gets back to them.

“Where it sets a maximum height, it just has walls and fences,” she said. “So, if you don’t read it closely, you would miss that they took out hedges.”

Goddeau sent Wallshein a Sept. 16 letter, saying that in fact, the town has no code on the heights of hedges — just fences and walls.

Oops.

“Since it appears the hedges violation was issued to you under mistake of fact and in violation of subsection 64-44(c), the town has advised me that it apologizes for any inconvenience,” Goddeau wrote.

Now Wallshein is contemplating legal action, but it seems more of an afterthought to him. His concerns are about the true victim in this story, the clusia hedges — one of which hid the window of the master bathroom.

“It will still take me three years to get them back up,” he said. “I mean they grow fast but not that fast.”

By John Pacenti

Some summer blockbusters deserve repeated viewings. The Delray Beach City Commission is no summer blockbuster.

At their Sept. 16 meeting, commissioners again bickered over the budget and proposed tax cuts before finally approving a “no new taxes” budget and tax rate that will mean savings for many property owners. The acrimony spilled over to other topics, such as allowing a one-minute window for public comments during workshops.

“Democracy is a bitch,” Mayor Tom Carney said when Vice Mayor Juli Casale pressed him on why have public comments at all if speakers are given only one minute each.

“Oh, my goodness, gracious,” Casale responded.

Carney gave a long monologue on the tax cuts. Commissioner Rob Long displayed exasperation. Casale tore into City Manager Terrence Moore on his wishy-washy position on the amount of reserves needed in case the city gets hit with catastrophe, like a hurricane.

They bickered and bickered well into the second half of Monday Night Football.

In the end, it was a fait accompli because the budget and tax rate had already been decided before the Aug. 13 workshop, giving residents the no new taxes outcome promised by Carney.

The commission formalized the rollback millage rate on Sept. 16, which, combined with the payment for voter-approved debt, means taxpayers will pay $5.94 for each $1,000 of taxable value to cover city taxes. A homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1 million last year will pay about $352 less this year.

Property values in Delray Beach increased 10.9%, but under state law the values of homesteaded properties are capped at 3% a year. For commercial and rental property — and second homes — the cap is 10%.

Because of the higher cap for non-homesteaded properties, a commercial property valued at $1 million last year would see its city tax bill go up, but only about $36.

The commission approved the rollback rate with Carney, Casale and Commissioner Tom Markert voting yes. Long and Commissioner Angela Burns voted no.

The commission also voted 4-1 to approve the $187 million fiscal year 2025 general fund budget, which took effect Oct. 1. Casale was the dissenter as again she objected to the city’s not putting an amount equal to 25% of its operating budget in reserves.

Testy exchanges on the issue of reserves occurred between Carney and Casale — usual allies on other topics — at both the Sept. 3 and Sept. 16 commission meetings. Casale was frustrated that somehow Moore and the mayor had selective amnesia when it came to a policy set in December 2022 that the city would have the 25% threshold.

“It is disappointing that there was a policy direction at a meeting in 2022 and somehow that did not get memorialized in writing,” Casale said.

Casale also wrote a Sept. 20 letter to her fellow commissioners, reminding them that reserves are designed to help the city run in case of a hurricane or other emergency. The reserves are also crucial to its bond rating, she wrote.

In what was her latest broadside against Moore, Casale said commissioners at the December 2022 meeting directed the city manager on a 25% minimum reserves policy.

“What is unclear is why City Manager Moore failed to perform his duty,” Casale wrote.

By Steve Plunkett

Town officials are looking past the looming presidential election to next March, when voters will decide who will fill Seats 1, 3 and 5 on the Briny Breezes Town Council.

Mayor Ted Gross on Sept. 26 proclaimed March 11, 2025, as the town’s next election date. The qualifying period to become a candidate will be from noon Nov. 12 to noon Nov. 26.

The seats are currently held by Alderman Keith Black, Council President Liz Loper and Alderman Bill Birch.

Also on Sept. 26, the Town Council renewed its lease with Briny Breezes Inc. for the Town Hall meeting room and offices for five years. The town will pay the corporation $1,742 a month in rent the first year, with the monthly payments increasing by $50 each year in the second through the fifth years.

The town and Briny Breezes Inc. also extended their one-year agreement for the corporation to again pay 70% of the cost of police and fire rescue services rather than the usual 30%. The arrangement lets the town levy a property tax of only $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value instead of the maximum $10 per $1,000.

That, in turn, will allow the town possibly to raise taxes to pay back a loan if it decides to go that route to rebuild its sea walls and improve its stormwater system.

The net effect to property owners of having the corporation pay more for public safety so far is a wash, because the corporation raises its assessments to shareholders to make up the difference.

Ocean Ridge provides police patrols to the town, and Boynton Beach handles fire rescue duties.

“You guys have been living healthy or nobody’s here, because (in July) we got no medical calls and we only had two in August,” Police Chief Scott McClure said while making his monthly report.

New beach lighting rules — The Town Council on Sept. 26 approved amendments updating its ordinance on sea turtles and beach bonfires after discussing the matter at three monthly meetings and a workshop and a “second first reading” of the changes in August.

The amended code allows amber, orange or red lights, which sea turtles cannot see, to be visible from the beach instead of insisting only that lights be shielded or aimed away from the sand.

The dates of sea turtle nesting season were corrected to say March 1 to Oct. 31, and fires on the beach are prohibited during nesting season and require a town permit at other times of the year.

— Steve Plunkett

By John Pacenti

A budget resolution put in front of the Ocean Ridge Town Commission by the town manager on Sept. 20 failed to deduct cuts made by elected officials at the previous meeting earlier in the month.

It was Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy who discovered the error before the commission approved the correct budget of $13,506,409.

The resolution put forth by Town Manager Lynne Ladner had the budget at $13,551,484 — a difference of $45,075.

But the commission adjusted that figure at the Sept. 9 budget meeting, making cuts by eliminating a part-time front desk position in the Building & Zoning Department and decreasing the money allocated for outside counsel.

Cassidy noticed the figure didn’t align with the spreadsheets in the agenda packet. Ladner, who was not physically at the Sept. 20 meeting, was contacted by text by Town Attorney Christy Goddeau and Ladner said indeed the amount on the budget resolution was wrong.

“You’re welcome. We just saved $45,000,” Cassidy quipped.

Ladner, contacted later by The Coastal Star, said she didn’t review the resolutions the clerk loaded into the packet that went to commissioners. The clerk had carried over the numbers from the tentative budget resolution used at an earlier public hearing in September, Ladner said, while the commission made two changes at that meeting that needed to be reflected in the final resolution.

Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr., who was attending the meeting telephonically, was livid.

“I don’t understand why these numbers keep, you know, moving around like that,” Aijala said. “This is the budget that our town manager sent out to us and then the very same resolution. It’s embarrassing.”

At the Aug. 5 commission meeting, it was Cassidy who was livid. She said Ladner kept using net values of property rather than gross values as the state requires to determine property taxes to be collected. The commission last December had to have a special meeting to approve last year’s budget and tax rate for a second time because of the same error. It did end up leading to $58,738 more in tax revenue.

At the Sept. 20 meeting, Cassidy said that the net taxable value again was used in the narrative to the commission on revenues. Cassidy said she had Ladner correct the figures before the meeting.

“She reverted to using that net taxable value number. I don’t know why,” Cassidy said.

In a separate resolution on Sept. 20, Ocean Ridge commissioners voted to keep the same tax rate as the town had the year before, at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Still, taxes will go up a little for homesteaded properties because property values in the town increased 10.3%.

The average home in Ocean Ridge, according to Zillow.com, is worth $1.5 million.

So for a homesteaded property that was worth $1.5 million last year, Ocean Ridge property taxes would increase by $243. Under state law, the taxable value of a homesteaded property used for a primary residence can increase only 3%.

This is not the case for commercial real estate, second homes or rental property, where the cap is 10%.

So for a non-homesteaded property worth $1.5 million last year, the tax increase will be $810.

This fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the town will hire a lobbyist to help secure grants, and it will continue to upgrade valves on the town’s water pipes, among other capital improvements.

By Jane Musgrave

State environmental regulators want Boynton Beach utilities to pay a $182,000 fine for a July 2023 sewer line break that caused 22 million gallons of sewage to spew into the Intracoastal Waterway.

The proposed consent order, which is to be discussed by city commissioners on Oct. 15, would end the investigation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection into lapses that caused the six-day spill. It fouled the waterway, caused some businesses to close and spurred no-swimming advisories during the busy Independence Day holiday.

In the proposed order, state regulators said the utility, and ultimately its customers, could avoid the fine if it instead chose to do a project that would benefit the environment.

The so-called “in-kind penalty projects” would have to cost at least as much as the proposed fine. But, some types of projects would have to cost at least 1½ times as much as the proposed fine, or $273,000. Whether the city pays the fine or does an in-kind project, it also must pay $1,000 to cover the state’s investigative costs.

The fine is on top of the $1.6 million the city said it spent cleaning up the spill.

Utilities Director Poonam Kalkat declined to say what recommendations she would make to the commission.

“We have the option of picking which way we want to go,” she said. “All of the projects are on the table. I can’t say what the commission will do.”

During a meeting with regulators in May, Kalkat suggested various projects, including upgrading air conditioning units in city buildings, planting trees along the waterway to create a living shoreline, or restoring coral reefs, according to minutes from the meeting.

She also suggested some system improvements, such as installing an advanced leak detection system, lining pipes in some parts of the city, or replacing valves in lift stations.

Regulators said they needed more information before approving the living shoreline project and others designed to improve water quality, enhance marine habitat or reduce the city’s carbon footprint. They also cautioned that the projects can’t duplicate those the utility is being required to do under the proposed order.

Regulators didn’t respond to an email, asking which projects, if any, they have signed off on.

In addition to the penalty, under the order the city would have to continue to provide the agency proof that it is taking steps to reduce the chance for sewage spills and has taken steps so it will respond more quickly if one occurs.

The utility would also have to submit a plan to improve lift stations and another one describing how it will maintain or improve the decades-old system.

The utility would have to report its progress to the state every six months. Failure to do so would result in $1,000-a-day fines. If any discharges occur, the city would agree to pay up to $15,000 for each day the spill went unchecked.

During the May meeting, city officials balked at regulators’ claims that they didn’t quickly begin critical water testing at the spill site at the end of Boynton Beach Boulevard east of Federal Highway.

“For sampling, it didn’t start Day 1 because the spill was still leaking,” said Kathryn Rossmell, an attorney at the West Palm Beach law firm Lewis, Longman & Walker, representing the utility. “Once the leak stopped the sampling started.”

Bridjette Bucell, an environmental manager at the state agency, said that wasn’t an excuse.

“Sampling is required once (the) spill is discovered so we know how far out the spill was impacting,” she said, according to minutes of the meeting.

Paul Polito, another Lewis, Longman & Walker attorney, said the city did everything it could to stop the leak and alert the public.

“On Day 1 they checked the outfall, notified citizens, added buoys, had boats out collecting solids, were contacting emergency vendors to get parts to fix on the same day, and posted signage,” he said, according to the minutes. “They took other actions the same day to prevent this from happening again.”

In a report to the commission in December, Kalkat described what she called her staff’s Herculean efforts to stop the leak and repair the lines after the spill was discovered on July 3, 2023.

The breach occurred when an estimated 50-year-old pipe failed. The pipe ran through a concrete box that was designed by the Florida Department of Transportation for stormwater drainage. The so-called conflict box regularly filled with water, including corrosive saltwater, weakening the pipe, Kalkat said.

By city rules, it should have been in a casing to protect it, but it wasn’t, she said. Kalkat said divers spent hours, battling unusually high tides in the cramped box, to secure the damaged pipe with a clamp.

“After trying for over 10 hours the divers were unsuccessful as the back pressure in the pipe, and the tidal water, did not allow the repair clamp saddle to be tightened completely,” she told commissioners.

To reduce back pressure, crews then installed a 20-inch line stop downstream of the break. By alleviating the pressure, it was hoped that divers, working at low tide, could secure the clamp. Again, their efforts failed.

The leak, which came as the city was preparing to advertise for bids to replace the line, came at a particularly bad time, Kalkat said.

With people on vacation for the July 4 holiday, the city scrambled to find parts and help from other municipalities, she said.

Ultimately, the spill was stopped when a 900-foot above-ground bypass hose was successfully connected to the damaged pipe.

She said the spill was stopped in three days. State regulators said raw sewage continued to flow for six days. The records don’t offer a reason for the disagreement.

On July 20, two weeks after the breach, the Florida Health Department announced that fecal-bacteria testing of the Intracoastal Waterway showed that the water was again safe and the public could “resume water-related activities.”

The announcement was good news for nearby businesses, particularly those at the marina.

At the time, Fernando Melo, who works for Boynton Beach Boat rentals, said the business was shuttered for three days. “The water was not clean and it didn’t smell good, so we didn’t want to expose our customers,” he said.

By mid-September, a new pipe had been installed — this one outside the conflict box, Kalkat said.

“It was a perfect storm,” she said. She praised city workers, contractors, state agencies and nearby municipalities for helping the city with the repairs and cleanup.

Since the spill, the city has thoroughly reviewed the system and updated its operational plans for dealing with a breach.

There is only one other pipe in a conflict box. It is covered in casing, she said.

“Still,” Kalkat said, “we’re going to be keeping a close eye on it.”

Ditto other parts of the system. “We’re going to keep checking and preempt anything like this that can happen,” she said.

Property taxes, fire assessment on the rise — Boynton Beach city commissioners on Sept. 23 unanimously approved a property tax rate of $7.80 per $1,000 of taxable value to support the city’s $130.3 million general fund budget.

That budget will pay for the city’s day-to-day government operations in fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1. The city’s overall budget, which also includes water and sewer, solid waste and capital improvement funds, is $327.8 million.

The general fund budget is 9.5% — $11.3 million — more than last year.

While the tax rate dropped less than 1% from last year, homeowners will still be paying more because property values rose 8.7% in the city this year.

The commission also increased the annual fire assessment flat-fee to $145, a $25 jump from last year. The vote was 3-2, with Commissioners Angela Cruz and Thomas Turkin opposed to the increase.

Oyer Park protected from development — Commis-sioners passed a restrictive covenant for Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park on Oct. 1, which would prohibit any residential, hotel or restaurant uses there. Approved uses at the park include commercial and recreational fishing, public safety uses, and the sale of bait and prepackaged snacks.

Regulating recreational marijuana (quickly) — With the potential legalization of recreational marijuana on the state ballot in November, commissioners are looking at placing limitations on where it can be sold if the constitutional amendment passes. The city would have to pass any restrictions before the amendment — if approved — could take effect in January, City Attorney Shawna Lamb said.

— Larry Barszewski