The living/dining area has designer-embellished wood tray ceilings and flooring made from imported French roof tiles. It overlooks the large loggia and pool area.

Presenting a European villa aesthetic, this elegant six-bedroom, 8½-bath estate includes guest quarters. It has 9,744 +/- total square feet and has recently been reimagined completely. Its location in east Delray Beach is within a small, private enclave where homeowners share a tennis court and private beach access. Details throughout include pecky cypress finishes and stunning brick-clad accent walls. Handsome glass double doors with wrought-iron grillwork open to the foyer that flows to the great room. There is a library with requisite wood built-ins. There is a home theater with eight reclining theater seats and plush leopard-print velvet walls.

ABOVE: The estate is enveloped in tropical landscaping, shaded by mature Florida gumbo limbo trees and palms. A Chicago brick driveway leads to the courtyard entry and garage space for two cars plus golf cart. RIGHT: The cook-island kitchen has a charming breakfast bay. Wood Mouser cabinets, Taj Mahal quartzite countertops and two large sinks with Rohl faucets are part of the gourmet amenity lineup.

The first-floor VIP suite includes a bedroom that opens to the pool loggia, has an en suite bath and a private sunroom. The primary master suite is on the second floor, set apart in a wing of its own that features a morning bar, two custom-fitted walk-in closets and a quartz clad spa-inspired bath with dual sinks, a Jacuzzi tub and a steam shower.

Externally, the backyard is hedged, has a hurricane-tested screened loggia, a summer kitchen with DCS grill, sink and refrigerator. An adjacent putting green, conversation/dining firepit area and heated, saltwater pool with waterfall and spillover spa complete the outdoor entertainment features. Listed at $12,750,000.

The Pascal Liguori Estate Group, 561-789-8300. Premier Estate Properties, 900 E. Atlantic Ave., #4, Delray Beach; pascal@premierestateproperties.com

An intimate brick-clad, pecky cypress-topped wine room is completed with a 475-bottle, temperature- and humidity-controlled cellar.

Each month, The Coastal Star features a house for sale in our community. The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers with a peek inside one of our homes.

By Steve Plunkett

Paul Lyons Jr., a seven-year veteran of the Town Commission, vacated his seat on Dec. 8 with a simple “I resign, effective tomorrow” followed by a round of emotional thank-you’s to his colleagues on the dais, the town’s staff and its police officers.

“It’s been very rewarding,” Lyons said.

He and his wife, Susan, bought their home on Polo Drive in April 2007. When an opening popped up on the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board four years later, he submitted a letter of interest and got the seat.

After not quite five years on the ARPB, he was elevated to the commission on Mayor Scott Morgan’s recommendation.

Morgan said the town had delegated a number of projects to Lyons, which included plotting a path to pay for Gulf Stream’s ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan without raising taxes.

“Your financial acumen has been very helpful to the town,” Morgan said. “The town owes you a debt of gratitude.”

The mayor also said he hoped to involve Lyons further with the community.

Along those lines, before Lyons announced his resignation, commissioners elevated Robert Canfield from the planning board to fill the vacancy created when Commissioner Thom Smith resigned in November. Then they appointed Smith to fill a different ARPB vacancy.

Canfield, who lives in Place Au Soleil, joined the ARPB as an alternate in May 2021 and became a regular member in April 2022.

Lyons and his wife also have homes in Southampton, New York, and Vail, Colorado. Their daughter, Olivia, and her husband, David Endres, are building a new home on North County Road.

Jamie Daniels with his mother, Lisa Daniels-Goldman. She and Jamie’s father, Ken Daniels, created the Jamie Daniels Foundation to help young adults struggling with substance abuse. Jamie, 23, died in a Boynton Beach sober home. Photo provided by Jamie Daniels Foundation

By Pat Beall and Steve Plunkett

Jamie Daniels made it just 228 days in Palm Beach County’s fraud-ravaged addiction treatment system before overdosing in a local sober home seven years ago this month.

A college graduate and aspiring lawyer, Daniels landed in the heart of a $746 million scheme built on exploiting drug users and bilking insurance companies.

Delray Beach osteopath Michael Ligotti was a key player and profiteer who pocketed millions from it, prosecutors said. When he was sentenced to two decades behind bars in January, a Department of Justice press release heralded his arrest and conviction as the largest addiction fraud case ever brought by the DOJ.

Ligotti, though, was not locked up. Instead, he remained free as he worked with prosecutors on investigating and prosecuting other fraudsters. And his testimony that led to convictions in two key cases resulted in a federal judge chopping Ligotti's sentence in half, to 10 years, with the possibility of getting out of prison in 8 1/2 years.

"It is only right," U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II said of  reducing the prison time on Dec. 8. "Even the 10-year sentence is a significant sentence in this space."

Ruiz, Department of Justice lawyer Jim Hayes and defense attorney Jose Quinon agreed that Ligotti is a changed man since January.

"In retrospect I'm appalled at how I behaved. I put money before patients," Ligotti told the judge.

Jamie’s mother, Lisa Daniels-Goldman, attended the hearing in the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. federal courthouse in Miami via Zoom and pleaded with Ruiz "to please not make Jamie a victim again."

Debbie Howland, whose daughter Ava died in a West Palm Beach sober home in 2018, also spoke via Zoom.

"I got a life sentence of pain, grief and endless tears," she said.

One test, millions of dollars

It would be hard to overstate the scope and toll of the addiction treatment fraud sweeping through Palm Beach County by 2013.

The county was an international for-profit treatment destination. Posters plugging addiction help in Palm Beach County greeted arriving passengers at Orlando International Airport. High-wealth drug users could access concierge care in beachfront homes with gourmet meals.

Estimates pegged the industry at $1 billion, making it one of Palm Beach County’s largest industries.

And it was rife with abuse.

A urine test that will detect drugs is cheap. It can be bought for as little as $25 at local drugstores.

By contrast, a single, sophisticated “confirmatory” urine test could reap thousands of dollars from a patient’s insurance company.

People in sober homes and treatment centers were needlessly tested multiple times a week, generating staggering insurance payouts. In one case reported by The Palm Beach Post in 2015, nine months of urine testing totaled $304,318. In another instance, the parents of a young woman who overdosed in a sober home after four weeks received urine test bills topping $30,000.

But insurance paid only if a doctor would green-light the expensive test as medically necessary.

As medical director for dozens of facilities, Ligotti obliged, said prosecutors. In addition to ordering millions of dollars in needless tests, they said he prescribed addictive drugs to patients from his Whole Health clinic in Delray Beach. That included benzodiazepines, a drug lethally mixed with opioids by people who are addicted.

The scheme reached into the pocketbooks of employees at Amtrak, Bank of America and the state of New Jersey who sought treatment and found fraud, an attorney for Aetna Insurance testified at Ligotti’s sentencing hearing. Aetna and organizations using Aetna paid $24 million to providers in the scheme, he said, but worse was the continuing fallout once it was exposed: It created distrust of addiction treatment by people who might need it the most. 

Even after a federal subpoena issued in 2016 put Ligotti on notice that he was under investigation, he continued ordering tests, an FBI agent testified.

He was indicted in 2020 on 12 counts of health care fraud and money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.

He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count in 2022. Other charges were dropped.

Fallout beyond fraud

Like many other physicians arrested in local treatment fraud crackdowns, Ligotti was never charged with the overdose or death of a person seeking help for addiction.

But the fallout from urine testing schemes extended far beyond financial fraud.

That’s because unscrupulous local sober home owners and addiction treatment operators didn’t need people seeking treatment to stay drug-free.

They needed people with a drug use diagnosis, insurance and a supply of urine, not a commitment to sobriety. As a result, some sober homes advertised as safe and drug-free turned a blind eye to drug use. People hoping for help wound up overdosing.

Jamie Daniels was among them.

The Michigan State University graduate clerked at a law firm and was studying for his law school entrance exam.  

But he had struggled to stay sober since at least college, where his family believed he had easy access to opioids.

In July 2016, Jamie, 23, did what thousands of others had done and flew to Palm Beach County for treatment.

On Dec. 7,  he overdosed here.

Then came a wave of insurance bill records totaling tens of thousands of dollars for urine screens and blood tests, including those ordered by Ligotti for Jamie when he was in Michigan, not Florida.

“It's one thing to have an addiction and not being able to overcome it because the addiction overtakes you,” Jamie’s father, longtime Detroit Red Wings play-by-play broadcaster Ken Daniels told ESPN. “But then when bad people get involved and they contribute to it, it makes you sick.”

ESPN produced a documentary on the testing fraud and Jamie’s death. When the production crew showed up at Ligotti’s Delray office, he denied ordering the tests. His identity had been stolen, he told reporters: “I’m the victim.”

Paying a price

It’s not clear how many other schemes Ligotti has helped prosecutors identify and take to trial. However, records show he offered evidence in one Central Florida case involving rural hospitals and high-priced bogus drug testing that led to multiple convictions. And the judge in that case found that Ligotti had information on people not yet arrested in “a large number of healthcare facilities across the country.”

“I want them all to have to pay a price for what they did,” explained Daniels-Goldman of her reluctant acceptance of Ligotti’s freedom while he helped put two others behind bars.

But other aspects rankled Daniels-Goldman and others. It was late May before Ligotti finally surrendered his license to practice medicine and another three months before the state’s Board of Osteopathic Medicine formally accepted the relinquishment. In June, his expected prison entry date was pushed back to December in part because he was providing testimony in the Central Florida case.  In July, he received court permission to take his family to an upscale resort hotel at Universal Studios.

Ligotti surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service on Dec. 1.  Defense attorney Quinon asked Judge Ruiz to recommend that Ligotti be sent to a prison close to home and not to the Atlanta Penitentiary.  

"He's done everything (that prosecutors asked) and he's done it from the heart," Quinon said.

By Joel Engelhardt

As Palm Beach County’s population grows, the share of public beaches for every resident drops.

And that makes it hard for the county to meet its target to have 0.18 acres of developed beach access for every 1,000 residents.

In fact, the county is hovering at 0.19 per 1,000 residents. Just over its goal.

And even though the county has three potential beach properties to add to its holdings — including the 5.6 acres at Milani Park in Highland Beach — the objective written into the county’s comprehensive growth plan is under review.

“We are on the cusp of being deficient on developed park acreage,” said Jennifer Cirillo, the county’s director of parks and recreation.

Referring specifically to Milani, which Highland Beach has asked to be sold off for private development, Cirillo added: “At this point everything we have will be needed.”

But applying an arbitrary standard to justify a public beach, whether merited or not, does not make sense, said state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach. 

“It appears they’re just playing with numbers to achieve an arbitrary goal that doesn’t really serve the population in a commonsense way,” Gossett-Seidman said. “This park isn’t going to make that big a difference. It’s tiny. It’s a drop of water in a bathtub of parks.”

Palm Beach County has 296 acres of developed beach park with the potential to top 390 acres. The biggest county-owned beachfront property that has not yet been developed, Karen Marcus Park in the Jupiter area, would add about 70 acres.

County staff has lined up money to design improvements to the park but not the estimated $10 million to do the work.

The Milani property, which straddles State Road A1A, offers a great opportunity, said one Highland Beach resident who lives nearby and opposes a public park on the land.

“Better to sell it and use the money elsewhere,” said Ron Reame, president of the condo association at neighboring Dalton Place. 

Residents have voiced concerns about safety and privacy, and Town Manager Marshall Labadie says he has “not met a single person in town who is in favor of this project.”

The public will get a chance to speak out Feb. 1, when county leaders including Commissioner Marci Woodward will host an outreach meeting at the Highland Beach library.

What future might hold
While some counties have no real standard for developed beachfront, Palm Beach County has kept a standard even after the state Legislature made such thresholds optional in 2010.

The figure provides a benchmark, county officials say, for comparing the county’s level of service against other cities and counties nationwide. 

Broward County doesn’t specify how it is doing in providing beachfront parks but instead loops beaches into its count of overall parks, both small and large. Broward’s goal is 3 acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents.

Palm Beach County has 471 acres of beachfront parks, of which 296 acres are developed. That means the county has done construction, often to install bathrooms or showers, and continues to maintain those amenities.

The county’s acreage calculations do not include city or state parks.

It’s possible to add more beachfront — with money. Beachfront makes up some of the most expensive land in the county and it would be cost prohibitive for the county to start buying up huge swaths of beach now. 

Yet the population continues to grow, topping 1.52 million and projected by the University of Florida to hit 1.64 million in 2030 and 1.77 million in 2045.

So that leaves the county with the land it owns now: Milani Park’s 5.6 acres, the 70 acres at Karen Marcus Park and the 21-acre Coral Cove South in Tequesta.

Once those three parks are developed, barring a gift of waterfront land or a shift in spending practices, the county would have about 393 acres of developed beachfront land. 

Just adding Milani and Karen Marcus Park would push the ratio to 0.24 acres per 1,000 residents at today’s population and to 0.20 based on the 2045 population.

Adding Coral Cove South would push the number even higher in 2045, to 0.22 acres per 1,000 residents.

But those numbers could shift because county officials plan to weed out beachfront acreage that no longer can be counted as developed.

The county also has the option of lowering its target or eliminating it altogether.

There’s risk involved in that approach as well. 

“Beaches are the most important feature of Florida’s brand, accounting for 25.5% of the state’s attractiveness to visitors,” a 2015 study by the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research found.

The variables make it hard for those opposing Milani Park to sympathize with the county’s position.

“If the population doubles in 20 years and there is no more land available, I guess what we’ll do then is we’ll change the standard,” Highland Beach resident Reame said. “What really makes sense here?”

The county bought the property from the Milani family in 1987 for just $4 million with the family’s proviso that it become a park. It has remained vacant for decades, first tied up in a legal battle and settlement and then remaining dormant as county leaders kept deferring decisions on development. 

Rich Pollack contributed to this story.

Diane Pohanka of Gulf Stream reacts to stretching exercises during therapy at Miller Physical Therapy in downtown Delray Beach, where she has become a regular since her August accident. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi

Diane Pohanka, 63, is learning to walk again, one painful step at a time.  

She uses a cane and the going is slow, which is to be expected. Her broken leg bones were surgically fused together with metal rods just a few months ago.

But despite the grueling physical therapy sessions, 90 minutes three times a week, the Gulf Stream woman has aspirations beyond walking.

She wants to get on her bicycle again. 

That day will come, she said. And when it does, she knows where she won’t be riding — State Road A1A. The scenic oceanfront route for years had been her favorite until the August afternoon she was hit by a pickup truck in Boca Raton.

“My active life came to a screeching halt,’’ said Pohanka, who suffered breaks to the fibula and tibia in both legs and a broken right femur. 

Tasks like getting out of bed required a pair of nurses during the early days of Diane Pohanka’s recovery. RIGHT: An X-ray shows the multiple rods and pins required to repair her leg bones. Photos provided

“I will get on a bike again,’’ she said, “but never on A1A.’’  

Before her unsolicited encounter with the truck four months ago, Pohanka rode the same A1A route three times a week, from the driveway of her Gulf Stream home south to Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton and back — 20 miles round-trip. 

“I’ve done that ride 200 to 300 times,’’ she said, describing a routine that started in 2020 when the pandemic reignited her lifelong passion for biking. 

She usually went riding with her husband, Chris. And unlike those pack cyclists who often whizzed past them, they were not road warriors. They were leisure riders out for exercise and scenery, a craving they often satisfied abroad on bike tours to places like Bali, Italy, Croatia and France. 

Wherever they pedaled, they were mindful of cars and trucks, especially ones entering their path from side roads and condo entrances.

“We always are cognizant of cars pulling out and we always establish eye contact and wave,’’ she said, “and 99% of the time we get the wave back.’’ 

From bike to roadside
Around 3:30 p.m. Aug. 2, a week before she and her husband were scheduled to go on a bike trip in Portugal, Pohanka hopped on her trusty brown Specialized hybrid and took off from her driveway on a solo ride. It was a brilliant sunny South Florida day.

About 30 minutes into her ride, as she pedaled south in the bicycle lane past Red Reef Park, just north of her Palmetto Park Road turnaround spot, she approached the entrance to the Sun and Surf Club, a gated community on Coquina Way. 

Just ahead on her right, she noticed an eastbound white Chevy Silverado approaching the Coquina Way stop sign at A1A, preparing to turn north. She looked toward the driver and waved, expecting him to slow down and wait for her to pass. 

Knowing she had the right of way, and assuming the driver had seen her, she kept pedaling. 

“My memory is his windows were tinted too dark for me to see him, and that was my mistake,’’ she said. 

When she looked to her right again, she saw the truck’s massive front coming right at her.

The driver never hit the brakes, she said, and the truck broadsided the right side of her bike, including her leg. The impact ejected Pohanka off the bike saddle and onto A1A. 

She said she remembers lying on the road, unable to move, for at least two minutes, wondering if anyone would come to her aid, before a motorist looking out a car window asked her if she wanted him to call 911. 

Moments later, another stranger arrived to help, a man Pohanka would call “my angel.”  

Boca Raton Ocean Rescue Lt. Frank Ganley was on his way to work when he got caught in a line of traffic backing up on A1A. Wondering what was going on, he flipped on his truck’s emergency lights, drove up the shoulder of the road and found Pohanka sprawled across the pavement not far from her damaged bike.

“I first made sure she was conscious and breathing and had a pulse,’’ he said. “I knew she had some serious injuries. I knew rescue was coming so I stayed with her.’’
Ganley, a certified EMT, immediately sensed how scared she was.

“She latched on to my one arm with two hands. I was just trying to keep her calm. Rescue got there and we were putting her on the backboard and she wouldn’t let go of my arm,’’ he said. 

Reflecting on that day months later, Pohanka said she is disheartened that she lay on the road for what felt like too long before someone stopped to help her. 

“I was trying to understand why nobody was coming for me. I could not move. I didn’t know if I was dying,’’ she said. “I think it’s really a sign of the times. People don’t want to get involved. It’s not instinctual in people, it wasn’t that day, to go help somebody.’’

When Ganley knelt on the pavement next to her, he offered the compassion Pohanka desperately sought. “He was my lifeline, my angel,’’ she said.

Pohanka lay on the pavement facing north, unable to move her body or her head in the direction of the truck that hit her. Worried that she’d be the victim of a hit-and-run driver, she kept telling Ganley, “Is the driver still there? Don’t let him leave.’’ 

The driver of the truck, Omar Miranda of Boynton Beach, stayed at the scene and spoke to police. But Pohanka said he never came to her aid. 

Miranda, 46, was cited for running a stop sign, according to a police report. He told police he was watching for an opening in traffic before he pulled out to turn left on A1A. He said he never saw Pohanka, according to the report. 

Charges dismissed
At a Nov. 8 traffic court hearing held via Zoom, Pohanka, under questioning from Miranda’s attorney, admitted she never saw the driver of the truck that struck her. A judge dismissed the charge against Miranda, court records show. 

Pohanka said the dismissal was as emotionally devastating to her as the accident. 

“I never saw him because I couldn’t move. I never saw him because he never came to my aid,’’ she said in an interview after the hearing.

She hopes to get justice from a civil lawsuit filed Oct. 6 against Miranda. 

Court records show Miranda has been cited for at least 25 traffic violations since 2001, including speeding, driving with a suspended license, running a red light, and improperly driving in an HOV lane. Most of the citations, 23, were issued between 2001 and 2014, including a charge in 2008 that the windows of his vehicle were too dark. 

In October 2022, Miranda was cited for texting while driving in a school zone, court records show. He pleaded no contest and agreed to go to traffic school. But four months later, his license was suspended and his plea changed by the judge to guilty when he failed to show up for traffic school. His license was reinstated on July 7, a little less than four weeks before Pohanka was struck.   

Pohanka spent three weeks at Delray Medical Center before starting rehab exercises at Miller Physical Therapy in downtown Delray Beach. 

“It’s painful. I’m hoping it’s helpful,’’ she said. “I feel like I’m quite robotic in my walking. It’s like I’m talking to my legs to get them to walk, but I’m doing it.’’ 

Around the house, she uses a wheelchair and cane, constant reminders of how radically her life has changed. 

“I used to work out seven days a week. Now, there’s no morning beach walks. There’s no rushing to get anywhere. It’s just way different. Every step I take is calculated and almost mechanical,’’ she said.

“I’m a gimp,’’ she added. “It really has changed my life.’’ 

Before Pohanka and her husband moved to Gulf Stream in 2015, they racked up more than 20,000 miles on the treadmill in their Virginia home, a testament to the five miles she used to run every day.

Now they have no idea when, or if, she will be as active again.

“You’re only as strong as your weakest link and right now her legs are her weakest link,” Chris Pohanka said. “She is sore a lot. She is doing what she can but it is very limited.”

Then there are the psychological scars the accident has left. Chris said just riding in a car down A1A makes Diane nervous, especially when she sees cyclists.

“You hear people saying, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t ride on A1A,’” he said. “Well, it’s just a matter of time and when something does happen, you’ve got no idea how much it changes your life. Things change in a second.”

Accident numbers on the rise
Despite the pain of her recovery, Pohanka knows she is lucky to be alive, especially as bike crashes in Palm Beach County have been trending in an alarming direction since 2020. 

According to state records as of Nov. 28, there have been 620 bike crashes in Palm Beach County this year, including 11 fatalities. Last year, there were 486 bike crashes and 14 fatalities. The county recorded 424 bike crashes (eight fatalities) in 2021 and 373 (12 fatalities) in 2020.

Pohanka said she knows there’s always a chance for an accident when bikes share the road with motor vehicles. But what surprised and frustrated her is the location of where the truck struck her. 

“This little stretch of A1A where he hit me was the safest part of the whole road,’’ she said. “No obstacles, along a golf course, no trees, no visual impairments.’’

She is determined to ride her bike again, but she said her rides will be exclusively in parks and natural areas, on paths without any motor vehicles. Pohanka said she has “asked Santa for a bike rack” for her car. 

Pohanka stopped by to thank Lt. Frank Ganley, who came to her rescue: ‘He was my lifeline, my angel.’ Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

One person who is confident she will achieve her goal is Ganley. He has stayed in touch with Pohanka since the September day she showed up at Ocean Rescue headquarters to thank him for the compassion he showed in the immediate aftermath of her accident. 

“I received a call on the radio from one of the guys at headquarters. He said, ‘There’s a woman here, Diane. She’s the one who got hit by the truck. She’d like to see you and thank you,’’’ Ganley recalled. 

“I’m walking back thinking she’s going to be in a wheelchair, kind of preparing myself. I walk in and she’s there with just a cane. I was like, ‘Wow!’ The injuries she had were really serious. It was great to see her,’’ he said. 

“I walked over, she stood up and gave me a hug and thanked me and started crying.’’

Pohanka and Ganley said they hope her story encourages motorists and bicyclists to be more careful on the road. 

“I’ve been doing this for 31 years now and I really hate seeing people having the best time of their lives and then something tragic like this happens,’’ Ganley said.

“I was just amazed how far she has come. It was really good to see her moving around. She’s not going to let this stop her from living her life.’’

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and Hanukkah)! From tree lightings to holiday bazaars, boat parades and more, the month will be filled with festive events.
ABOVE: Children are dazzled during Boca Raton’s tree lighting Nov. 18 at Mizner Park, which has been transformed into a holiday wonderland, with 50,000 LED lights and festive 2D light displays. RIGHT: Alida Bowden arranges her display at the Southern Handcraft Society show Nov. 17 at Old School Square.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Witnessing the aurora borealis is on my bucket list. In general I understand the science, but those wavering colored lights in the northern sky to me are nothing short of magical — and magic has been in short supply lately. Too much hate in the world. Too much anger. Too many calls for retribution, for blowing things up. All with alienating results.

During the holiday season when loneliness and sadness can mar an otherwise lovely day, a random act of kindness may just help a stranger through a difficult time. Maybe we should all give it a try. What’s needed to get through the hectic holidays are empathy, compassion and humor. And a sprinkling of magic.

If we look around this month, it’s easy to find magic: children running and laughing at public holiday displays, music performed with skill and love to grateful audiences, voices raised in song, prayer and celebration, and all those twinkling lights wrapped around palm trees swaying in the tropical breeze.

Regardless of faith or belief, the month of December brings a celebration of light. Everyone can embrace the magic of candles flickering, Christmas trees glowing, a full moon rising from the ocean, a night sky filled with stars.

And maybe some day, if I travel north, the northern lights.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Michelle Rubin continues to teach life skills to her son Scott, 31, who works two jobs. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Sallie James

When Michelle Rubin’s son Scott was diagnosed with autism three decades ago, doctors told her the condition was extremely rare and to expect few options for him in school and work.

Rubin refused to embrace that grim outlook. Instead, the Boca Raton resident dedicated her energy to helping Scott and others like him live productive lives filled with independence.

Rubin founded the nonprofit Autism After 21 in 2011 out of frustration stemming from a lack of services for her own son, who is now 31. She has since provided life skills training to hundreds of young adults with spectrum disorders, giving them hope for brighter futures.

“I always tell families, it’s not as bad as you think,” said Rubin, who has two other sons. “At 21 years old I realized rather quickly that any kind of support or structured work opportunities for Scott were gone. There was just nothing available. My friends suggested I do something.”

So, she did. Now Rubin is in the business of changing lives.

Last month, the University of Florida honored Rubin with an Outstanding Alumni Award for Community Impact from the school’s College of Public Health and Health Professions.

She was selected from a field of more than 100 candidates.

Her friends weren’t surprised at all.

“Michelle is one of the most impressive people I know. She made sure that her son Scott … had every intervention possible. Now, he holds down two part-time jobs and is so proud of himself, as we all are,” said Debbie Abrams, a PR professional and a close friend who nominated Rubin. “She is an inspiration to me and to everyone that knows her.”

Autism After 21 promotes physical and mental well-being through therapy, mentorship, employment, education and social opportunities. The organization focuses on those transition years when young adults leave school and begin looking for jobs.

Rubin collaborates with the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to help clients needing transition services so they can join the workplace and learn independence.

The nonprofit also offers the Summer Opportunity for Adult Readiness (SOAR), a college campus-based residential and job skills program, as part of the groundwork for successful futures. The program, established in 2015, operates at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and at Florida International University in Miami, with plans to expand into Tampa.

“Students get an opportunity to live in the dorm and start to learn what it’s going to be like to be away from home as an adult and what it could be like to establish your career,” Rubin explained.

The independence can be life-changing, she said.

Rubin’s son Scott was also born with an intellectual disability so she knew his only chance at work would be some kind of hands-on training. Today, Scott works part time at All-Tag Manufacturing and Rocco’s Tacos in Boca Raton.

Part of what Autism After 21 does is educate employers about what it’s like to have someone on the spectrum in their workplace, Rubin said.

“This generation of employers are now much more open to giving it a try than they’ve ever been,” she said. “When I speak to a public group and ask people in the room if they know someone with autism, most people’s hands go up.”

Scott was diagnosed at age 2. At 18 months, he began developing repetitive behaviors like the hand flapping often associated with autism and he didn’t speak at all, his mother said. Rubin taught him sign language and he communicated that way until age 14, when he suddenly began to speak.

“He started saying ‘mom’ and ‘dad.’ And then he asked for pizza,” she recalled.

“I was constantly pushing him out of his comfort zone. It was just intuitive to me that he could not have a life the way he was. Probably the other best thing I ever did for Scott was to have two more children,” Rubin said. Scott’s brothers accepted him and pushed him to be his best self, she said.

“For my husband and other two kids, the positive impact has far outweighed the negative,” Rubin added.

Today Scott rides his bicycle to the bus stop every day and takes public transportation to his job at All-Tag, where he helps sort anti-shoplifting security tags. He has worked there 11 years.

Joe Sirak, director of finance at All-Tag, said Scott was the first special needs person the company hired. It worked out spectacularly well.

“A light clicked on, and we realized this could be really useful,” Sirak said. “Now we have a 500-square-foot room where we have 10 people on any given day doing all the sorting. It turned into a very big project.”

Scott is probably the company’s most dedicated employee, Sirak said. “If he ever misses a day of work, he is usually upset about it. He is a great guy and works very hard.”

The skills taught at SOAR make such experiences possible, Rubin said. The hands-on, job-coaching program teaches participants self-determination skills that are life altering.

“They move in on a Monday and by Wednesday, they are different people, because they’re empowered,” Rubin said. “They realize they can do it. They can be on their own.”

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Ocean Ridge Police Officer Debra Boyle watches Dash, a trained police therapy dog, interact with residents Martha Stanfield and Marion Moon. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Related story: Paws Up for Pets: Not all cats are aloof; in fact, some make purrfect therapy animals

By Larry Barszewski

Ocean Ridge police now have a dog on the force — one that is more likely to jump onto your lap and nuzzle up to you than take down a criminal suspect.

“We’ve gone from K-9 dogs that sniff out drugs and bombs and bite people, to ones that give hugs,” Police Chief Scott McClure says.

Meet Dash, police therapy dog, sidekick to community policing Officer Debra Boyle.

Officer Deb had no doubt her 3-year-old Dash could do the job, as he has helped her through tough times of her own since she got him as a puppy.

“He brought comfort to me and brought my anxiety down,” she says — exactly the on-the-job talent Dash displays whether he’s visiting a town resident in the hospital, tagging along on a wellness check to the home of a sick or elderly resident, or just hanging his head out the open window of Officer Deb’s patrol vehicle, greeting passersby on Old Ocean Boulevard.

“He’s just got such a gentle soul. He’s great with the elderly. He’s great with everybody,” Officer Deb says.

Dash graduated at the end of October from the Paws & Stripes College of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, part of its second graduating class of police therapy dogs.

He gives new meaning to “backing the blue.” He’s a purebred blueblood — a Cavalier King Charles spaniel — and he works for blueberries.

“He loves blueberries,” says Officer Deb. With so many people feeding him treats throughout the day, the blueberries are a healthy alternative and help Dash — all 20 pounds of him — stay fit and trim.

At the Portofino condominiums, Dash makes regular visits to the home of Marion Moon and Martha Stanfield.

“Can he have a T-R-E-A-T?” Stanfield asks as Dash arrives with Officer Deb. “I won’t say it out loud because I know that’s what he wants.”

Quickly, Dash is in the lap of Moon, who turned 96 in November, and he’ll stay there for most of the visit as Moon lavishes him with affection.

“I just love him. He’s so sweet,” says Moon, who gets by using a walker. Her husband died in 2017, as did Josephine, the precious poodle the couple had for 16 years. “He just makes me so happy,” she says of Dash.

Though Dash primarily visits Moon, he makes time for Stanfield, too.

I think he’s got the softest fur of any animal,” Stanfield says. “It’s just so soft, like silk.”

It’s not so much the breed as the dog itself that matters most when determining which are cut out for therapy dog work, Officer Deb says.

She also has a 6-year-old shepherd mix named Gunner and a 1-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Tucker.

“All three have different personalities,” she says. “This one, I call him the king of the house.”

Unlike Tucker and Gunner, who are content to play with their toys, Dash will jump right into Officer Deb’s lap at home.

“He’s a people person,” Officer Deb says. And you know what she means.

“He loves to come to work,” she says. “He knows when I put the uniform on” and he’s ready to go himself.

Dash will have other emotional support duties as needed. Police therapy dogs can work with victims of crimes, making them feel more comfortable talking about what they experienced. They can be in the courtroom at the foot of a victim testifying on the stand, helping that person through what can be a traumatic experience.

“Dash is there for a number of reasons: the mentally ill, victims of violence, kids, the sick, our elderly population,” McClure says.

Teaming up with Dash also helps Officer Deb break down barriers or discomfort people may have with police.

“It initiates conversations,” she says. “It just bridges the gap between law enforcement and the public.”

Dash’s eating habits could be a good influence on kids in town.

“I give him frozen vegetables with his dinner. He loves peas and carrots and green beans. He loves fruit,” Officer Deb says.

Dash isn’t the first police therapy dog in the area. Boynton Beach added a therapy dog in 2016 and now has Elliott, who graduated from the PBSO program in 2022. PBSO has 10 therapy dogs on its force, and Delray Beach had two therapy dogs graduate the course along with Dash.

Officer Deb says the goodwill that therapy dogs deliver can’t be measured.

“If I can leave somebody with a smile on their face, that’s made my job worth it,” she says.

By Larry Barszewski

Manalapan is down to only two town commissioners — not six — as four have resigned rather than submit to a more detailed disclosure of their personal wealth that the state is requiring of elected municipal leaders starting in 2024.

Mayor Stewart Satter said he, too, will be leaving the commission.

“Regrettably, due to the new financial disclosure rules requiring that I disclose my net worth publicly, I am resigning from my role as Mayor effective this December,” Satter wrote in a Nov. 27 email to The Coastal Star.

Fortunately for the town, the massive shake-up underway isn’t as dire as officials first feared, as enough town residents have stepped up and offered to fill the commission’s new vacancies.

While the two remaining commissioners and the town’s nonvoting mayor aren’t enough for a quorum to run the commission’s next scheduled meeting on Dec. 18, the Town Charter allows that as few as two commissioners can vote to approve replacements for the commissioners who have left, Town Attorney Keith Davis said. Once that’s done, the commission can get back to business.

Commissioners Aileen Carlucci, Kristin Rosen and Richard Granara announced in October their intentions to resign, and Commissioner Chauncey Johnstone announced Nov. 13 that he was leaving for the same reason.

But the commission found out at its Nov. 14 meeting that there are still residents willing to be appointed, even with the new financial reporting disclosures, known as Form 6.

Thanks to a Nov. 1 town email blast seeking residents willing to serve, Vice Mayor John Deese and Commissioner Simone Bonutti will be able to restock the dais on Dec. 18.

The expected commission appointees are:
• Orla Imbesi to replace Johnstone
• Dwight Kulwin to replace Carlucci
• David Knobel to replace Rosen
• Elliot Bonner to replace Granara

Three of the appointments would end in March, while Knobel’s appointment would be until 2025.

Only two of the planned replacements — Imbesi and Bonner — filed papers in November to run in the March election. Because no one else filed for the two seats, Imbesi and Bonner are automatically elected to the term that begins in March, Davis said.

Because Kulwin didn’t get his qualifying papers in on time, the town is expected to hold a second qualifying period Jan. 2-12 for that seat, which would give Kulwin time to file his papers if he is still interested, or allow for others who may decide to run.

If the four appointments are made as expected Dec. 18, the four can be sworn in and begin serving immediately.

However, if Kulwin does not file qualifying papers in January, his service would end in March — unless no one else files and the commission were to reappoint him to the seat.

Satter hedged at the November meeting about whether he would resign.

“I would not comply with Form 6. So, if I decide to stay, I would just willfully not comply,” Satter said at the time.

But he is now set on leaving after the Dec. 18 meeting.

“Given how things have fallen into place, I think we’ve found some good candidates,” Satter said. “I feel much more comfortable that we’ve left the town in good hands.”

Once Satter’s resignation takes effect, the commission would be able to appoint someone to finish his term, which ends in March 2025, Davis said.

Some of those resigning are still willing to volunteer time if needed. Rosen, a former member of the Architectural Commission, said she would be willing to return to that board and replace Knobel, a current member who will have to step down if he is appointed to the Town Commission.

Assistant town manager hired — The Town Commission on Nov. 14 approved a three-year contract for Eric Marmer to be assistant town manager, with the understanding that he would take over for Town Manager Linda Stumpf after her planned retirement in September 2024. The contract provides a $150,000 salary. While it is expected that Marmer will succeed Stumpf, the contract says that is a decision the commission will have to make when Stumpf retires.

Police chief gets a contract, too — Police Chief Carmen Mattox has been in his position for more than 10 years, all that time without a contract. That changed Nov. 14 when the commission approved a five-year deal for him. Mattox said he never felt the need for a contract, but he and other town officials agreed it made sense with all the changes taking place in town government. His salary is $145,821.

Surprise landing on Lands End— Police Chief Carmen Mattox received a one-hour heads-up the morning of Nov. 14 that a private helicopter would be landing at a vacant lot at 1475 Lands End Road, where it was picking up some “VIPs.” The landing was unusual in town, but appeared to be legal and no complaints were received. Mattox had a fire truck stationed nearby just in case, because of overhead power lines in the area and the smaller size of the lots on The Point.

Cul-de-sacs getting some loving — The planned reconstruction of the cul-de-sac island at the end of Lands End Road is underway. Manager Linda Stumpf told commissioners Nov. 14 that fresh landscaping will also be coming to the two other cul-de-sac islands in town.

— Larry Barszewski

Four candidates qualify for three spots on March ballot

By Larry Barszewski

The Ocean Ridge Town Commission has appointed David Hutchins and Ainar Aijala Jr. to fill two upcoming vacancies on the commission.

Hutchins, a retired airline pilot who currently sits on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and Aijala, a retired longtime executive with the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, will be sworn in at the commission’s January meeting.

“I would like to thank you guys for putting some faith in me,” Hutchins said after the 3-0 vote for him at a special Nov. 9 commission meeting. “I think the experience I got at P&Z will be helpful and I’ll do everything I can and I’m sure I will learn a lot more.”

Aijala was not present at the meeting. He was appointed on a 2-1 vote. Former Commissioner Robert Sloat, who served for three months in 2019 in an appointed capacity, also received a vote.

The two appointees will replace Commissioners Ken Kaleel and Philip Besler, who turned in their resignations effective Dec. 30.

Their seats, as well as Mayor Geoff Pugh’s, will be up for election March 19. Candidate qualifying for the election closed Nov. 17, with four candidates in the running for three open seats.

Hutchins, Aijala and Pugh have all qualified to be on the ballot, as has Nicholas “Nick” Arsali, who handles real estate development, investment, portfolio management and brokerage for Southern Engineering and Construction.

The top two vote-getters in the election will fill the two, three-year term openings on the Town Commission and the third-place finisher will receive the remaining two-year term.

Kaleel is resigning rather than be forced to submit a more comprehensive financial disclosure form that the state will be requiring from elected municipal officials beginning in 2024. Besler said he was resigning for personal reasons.

Kaleel and Besler were appointed to their positions in May, following the resignations of Commissioners Martin Wiescholek and Kristine de Haseth. Both had previous experience as commissioners.

This time around, Sloat was the only applicant to have served on the commission, a three-month appointment in 2019 to finish former Mayor James Bonfiglio’s term.

Kaleel and Besler were not allowed to vote for their replacements, so the decisions fell to the same three members who appointed them: Pugh, Vice Mayor Steve Coz and Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy.

The three made their selections from eight applicants — five who originally applied when the two seats were open in April and three who submitted their names in October.

The other applicants were Arsali, Craig Herkert, Victor Martel, Mike Mullins and Peter Wolf.

Aijala served 38 years at Deloitte, including four years as CEO of its world leading global consultant practice. He retired in 2020 and has lived in town since 2019.

Aijala has served on the global board of Junior Achievements Worldwide. He has also served on the board of governors at The Little Club in Gulf Stream.

“I have always been committed to serving the communities in which we live, but until my recent retirement I was only able to fulfill this commitment through my involvement with charitable and not for profit organizations. I am now able to serve the residents of Ocean Ridge without conflict and would be eager to do so,” Aijala wrote in his application for the position.

Hutchins has been a town resident since 1990. He has been a member of the planning commission since 2017 and was an alternate member 2015-17.

By Larry Barszewski

One of two deep injection wells at Ocean Ridge’s largest wastewater package treatment plant has been out of service for more than a year, which officials say could leave three communities uninhabitable were the plant’s second well to malfunction.

The Colonial Crown Manor Wastewater Treatment Facility services 290 residential units in Crown Colony, Colonial Ridge and Ocean Manor.

Wastewater issues are not new in town or in some other barrier island communities, which have grappled for years with whether or how to replace package plants or septic systems — which potentially threaten the coastal environment — with some type of sewer system.

“If a failure did occur, we would need to abandon the three communities, all 290 units, making $100 million worth of property unusable,” said Ron Kirn, president of Colonial

Crown Manor Disposal Systems Inc., in a statement read by Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy at the Nov. 6 Town Commission meeting.

Kirn’s statement said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection may yet approve the necessary permits to replace the injection well, but that within a decade the department may require an upgrade to an “Advanced Waste Treatment” status, which Kirn said could cost about $1.5 million. The failed injection well was originally completed in 1984.

Other communities with injection wells or plants that use drain fields could “experience this same nightmare” in the future, he said.

“It is clear that the FDEP does not want these plants or septic systems in either single or multifamily homes. These outrageous costs and bureaucracy is hoping that towns will be pressured into installing municipal sewer systems where mandates have yet to be issued,” Kirn said.

Ocean Ridge has discussed the possibility of hooking up to Boynton Beach’s sewer systems or finding another alternative. Kirn was a member of a septic-to-sewer committee the commission appointed to investigate the issue. That committee’s chairman made a report to commissioners at their May 1 meeting, but the commission took no action at the time.

“We really need to start considering Boynton Beach sewers and getting away from septic systems,” said Paul Smith, who lives at Crown Colony Club, at the Nov. 6 commission meeting. “I installed septic systems in New Jersey, so I know a lot about them and I just think it’s time. I mean, this whole town is built out, so every home is on a system. It’s just mind-boggling to me that we haven’t considered this earlier.”

The town has set aside $924,943 from the county’s local infrastructure sales-tax proceeds as a start to dealing with a septic-to-sewer conversion, but there have been questions about whether or when the state will mandate such a conversion.

Cassidy said the town of Sebastian is now under orders by the state to convert.

A new law called the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program is requiring residences still on septic tanks in Indian River County, including Sebastian, to hook up to available sewer lines or to install enhanced nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems by 2030.

Coastal construction rule changes approved — The Town Commission gave final approval Nov. 6 to a pair of ordinances that relax some restrictions the town placed on coastal construction in 2020, eliminating the need for homeowners to get a variance in many situations where construction only involves changes to non-living spaces, such as patios and pools.

It also changed the status of older homes on Old Ocean Boulevard between Anna and Corrine streets built east of the 1979 Coastal Construction Control Line, moving them from “non-conforming” to “conforming” structures. That change will make it easier for homeowners there to rebuild.

Minimum flood elevations levels in limbo— The town can’t enforce the preliminary FEMA maps it adopted in 2019 because they won’t be official until after Palm Beach County’s ongoing litigation over the maps is concluded. The state preempted local governments from using preliminary FEMA maps for any rules for permitting.

Commissioners are concerned some property owners in a high hazard flood zone could build to a lower height than would be allowed under the FEMA maps, putting their homes at greater risk of flooding. Commissioners asked to have the town send notices to affected property owners seeking to build, warning them of potential consequences of building lower than the levels in the contested maps.

Limit sought on bridge openings — Vice Mayor Steve Coz, who lives near the Woolbright Road bridge, wants to see limits on how often the bridge opens and has asked Town Manager Lynne Ladner to bring up the issue with the county. Although the drawbridge opens “on demand” and timed openings — such as on the hour and half-hour — aren’t permitted, Coz said the county bridge tenders should make sure at least 15 minutes pass between openings.

— Larry Barszewski

By Larry Barszewski

Nine candidates have qualified for Delray Beach’s March 19 municipal elections, with three each running for mayor and two other City Commission openings.

Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston has raised more than $110,000 in his bid to become mayor, far outpacing the other five candidates who have filed campaign treasurer reports through September, the latest period available. Not counting any personal loans to campaigns, Boylston has raised about $35,000 more than the five others combined.

The remaining three candidates opened their campaign accounts since September and won’t have to file a treasurer’s report until January.

“I can’t really take credit for raising the funds that I raised. I announced and checks started rolling in,” said Boylston, who announced in May. “I don’t refuse money.”

Boylston said he’s shooting for $150,000 to $200,000, which he said is typical for a mayoral campaign in the city. He said he’s not being bought.

“I have a voting record,” said Boylston, who founded 2TON, a creative marketing agency. “I’ve voted against my supporters as many times as I’ve voted with my supporters.”

Mayor
Boylston is in the race along with Shirley Johnson, who served six years on the commission before being term-limited this year, and Tom Carney, who served on the commission from 2011 to 2013, including a short stint as acting mayor.

Mayor Shelly Petrolia was term-limited from seeking re-election.

Through September, Boylston had raised $111,140, which included a $1,000 personal loan. Johnson, who retired from IBM, reported raising $23,690, but most of that — $20,000 — was a personal loan. Carney, an attorney, won’t have to file a campaign report until January.

Boylston reported 98 contributions of $1,000 each so far, the maximum amount an individual can contribute. More than 40 of those contributions were from outside Delray Beach.

By category, Boylston has received more than $18,000 from real estate professionals, at least $15,000 from contractors and other development-related businesses, at least $12,000 from hoteliers, restaurants and other hospitality-related businesses, and $5,000 from local car dealerships.

Boylston has also raised $3,860 from 66 contributions of $100 or less.

Seat 1
The current commissioner, Adam Frankel, is term-limited and is planning to run instead to be Palm Beach County’s next public defender.

The three candidates who qualified to run for the seat are James Chard, Tennille DeCoste and Thomas Markert.

Chard, a retired business executive, was elected to the commission in 2017, but served only a year when he resigned after an unsuccessful attempt to become mayor. DeCoste is a former human resources director for the city who now holds the same position in Boynton Beach. Markert is a market research industry executive who previously worked for AC Nielsen; he also served as a senior vice president at Office Depot.

DeCoste raised $27,490, which included a $500 personal loan, through September. Chard raised $20,117, partially funded by a $2,792 personal loan. Markert isn’t required to file a contributions report until January.

Seat 3
Looking to move into Boylston’s current commission seat is former Commissioner Juli Casale, along with Anneze Barthelemy and Nicholas Coppola.

Former Commissioner Christina Morrison, who was appointed to fill a short stint on the commission in 2013, had opened a campaign account to run for the seat, but in the end opted not to qualify. Morrison said she decided against running after Casale’s late entry into the race, saying she feared having too many candidates would split the vote and give

Casale a chance at returning to the commission.

Casale, an ally of Petrolia, served for three years beginning in 2020 before losing to newcomer Rob Long in March. With that election, the working commission majority switched from Petrolia, who had been aligned with Casale and Johnson on many key votes, to Boylston, Long and newly elected Commissioner Angela Burns, who replaced Johnson.

Coppola, a retired electrical contractor, held the early fundraising lead in the race with $39,370 — including a $20,000 loan from himself — through September. He is the chairman of the city’s Code Enforcement Board.

Barthelemy, who has 23 years of experience as a social worker, reported raising $10,708, which included a $1,300 loan.

Casale, a community activist who has also served on other city boards, does not have to file a campaign treasurer’s report until January.

By Larry Barszewski

The latest plans for Delray Beach’s Veterans Park tweak past proposals for the site. They would expand the park by absorbing the existing parking lot to its west. New parking would be made possible by sacrificing the park’s shuffleboard and lawn bowling courts.

The new parking lot construction work is to be done and paid for by Atlantic Crossing developer Edwards Cos., which projects to have the new parking lot design completed by January and — after receiving the necessary city approvals — for construction to begin in March and for the new lot to be completed in August.

City commissioners were supportive of the plans presented at their Nov. 7 meeting, directing staff to put together an agreement with the developer for the project.

“I’m super-excited about this. I can’t believe we’re going to have the opportunity for what is kind of a public-private partnership, in a way, to fund this,” Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston said. “One of the rare jewels that we don’t really talk about is that we have green space like this on the Intracoastal. Not every city can say that.”

The company, in a written offer to the city, said “in exchange for this significant private investment in the park we would ask that the city fund the balance of park improvements pursuant to a plan to be developed.”

Once the new parking spaces are added and available, Atlantic Crossing construction crews will move their heavy equipment staging to the old spaces on the west side of the park. The park expansion into that area would have to wait until the Atlantic Crossing construction is finished and the equipment removed.

The new design includes almost the same number of parking spaces as currently, 92 vs. 94, but adds a drop-off spot close to the park’s community center. Boylston said a drop-off would be helpful.

“Sometimes when you park in that parking lot, you’re very far away from that community building. It’s a long hike for some of our residents,” he said.

In addition, there’s the possibility of adding spaces designated for golf cart parking on Northeast First Street on the north side of the park.

“We have talked about taking some of the on-street parking that exists now and will continue to exist, and dividing that up into golf cart parking, which will double the amount of parking spaces available in that area and resolve some community requests for additional golf cart parking in the downtown area,” Public Works Director Missie Barletto said.

Mayor Shelly Petrolia supported having those spaces.

“I think there are a lot of people within the town, the city, that use golf carts,” Petrolia said. “That’ll actually be a positive, a net positive for us.”

The new parking lot will also have a direct connection to the park’s walkway along the Intracoastal Waterway. The expanded park to the west is expected to have paths connecting it to Atlantic Crossing’s retail, residential and restaurant spaces.

“There is slightly more green space as a result of this reallocation of asphalt than there is in the park now,” Development Services Director Anthea Gianniotes said. “It’s not a tremendous amount, but it is a more vegetated area than previously. Part of that is because the courts [to be removed] certainly are not green. They’re recreational area, though, to be fair.”

A construction worker died Nov. 9 when an excavator toppled over onto him at a home demolition in Delray Beach. Photo provided by Delray Beach Fire Rescue

By Larry Barszewski

A construction accident that killed a worker during a home demolition Nov. 9 on Lewis Cove was still under active investigation by Delray Beach police late in the month.

In a report released Nov. 30, police identified the victim as Eric Edward Guthrie, 56, of Loxahatchee. Guthrie is listed as owner of Guthrie Hauling Co. of Loxahatchee on the company’s website.

Around 8:50 a.m., an excavator being used to move debris with its claw teetered over and fell onto the cab of Guthrie’s nearby grappler dump truck, where Guthrie was operating the grappler’s controls from behind the cab, according to the police report. Guthrie was pinned unconscious under the claw arm with severe trauma visible to his right thigh, police said.

Guthrie was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he died. The medical examiner determined Guthrie died of “multiple blunt force injuries” and ruled the manner of death an accident, the police report said.

Police identified the excavator’s operator as William James Malkemes, 63, of Delray Beach. Both Guthrie and Malkemes had been subcontracted to remove debris from 1041 Lewis Cove, on the west side of State Road A1A a couple of blocks north of Atlantic Dunes Park. The property sold for $2 million in March.

Malkemes, president of Tip Top Tree Service in Delray Beach, told police he drove the Case excavator up the pile of demolition debris and he was using the excavator bucket to pick up debris when he felt the excavator shift, off-balance.

“As a result, Malkemes drove in reverse then forward in an attempt to regain equilibrium,” the police report said. “As Malkemes drove forward, the excavator lost balance and fell onto the grappler operation platform where Guthrie was sitting. Guthrie fell off the platform and onto the ground along the passenger side of the cabin.

“The excavator landed upside down with the arm on top of Guthrie and the bucket resting on top of the crushed cabin and platform of the truck.”

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating. An OSHA official said the office had no additional information to release. Investigators have six months to file a report, the official said.

The general contractor for the construction work being done was Matthew Wolf, police said.

Water treatment plant construction negotiations underway — Delray Beach received five proposals for design-build construction work planned for the water treatment plant and it is negotiating contract terms with CDM Smith Constructors Inc., the top-ranked firm.

Fire union contracts approved — Delray city commissioners approved two, three-year fire-rescue contracts, one for rank-and-file department members and the other for unionized supervisors, with modifications that will have a $20 million-plus impact on the city budget over the next three years. Only Mayor Shelly Petrolia voted against the contracts, concerned about their impact on the town budget.

The average work week for shift employees will go from one day on and two days off to one day on and three days off beginning in October 2025.

Planning and Zoning Board appointments made — Because of a revamping on how planning proposals are handled by different city boards, commissioners restarted the city’s Planning and Zoning Board from scratch, making new appointments for its seven seats.

Commissioners reappointed four members of the board — Christina Morrison, Chris Brown, Greg Snyder and Julen Blankenship — and named three new members: Alison Thomas, Morris Carstarphen and Aaron Savitch. Former Board Chairman Chris Davey, who filed an ethics complaint that was dismissed against Commissioner Rob Long earlier this year, did not make the cut.

Site Plan Review and Appearance Board appointments made — Commissioners also reconstituted the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board. Reappointed were the previous chair, Dana Adler, along with members Annette Gray, Linda Purdo and Steven Cohen. Newcomers to the board are Jose Alvarez, Keith Beal and Adam Nelson.

Let’s get digital — The city received a Top 10 Digital Cities Award for 2023 by Government Technology magazine and the Center for Digital Government. The city’s website, social media and other information technology ranked No. 4 in the country in cities with populations under 75,000.

— Larry Barszewski

Work to replace a privacy wall came too close to more than a dozen Australian pines and their roots. Photo provided

By Steve Plunkett

People living on State Road A1A will face a higher level of scrutiny in the future if they plan any kind of construction near Gulf Stream’s beloved Australian pines.

Workers replacing the privacy wall at 2817 N. Ocean Blvd. caused a near-disaster when they dug perilously close to more than a dozen Australian pines, prompting an emergency visit from the town arborist and a $5,250 bill to the homeowner to save the trees.

Making things worse, Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro had been assured the construction would cause no harm before the project got permission to proceed.

“I specifically asked the applicant whether or not there was enough distance between the excavation and the Australian pines and she was under oath and she said yes. So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to trust what you’re going to say’ and that ended up not being true.

“So obviously that was not enough. We need some additional review,” Nazzaro told town commissioners on Nov. 9.

In an email to the landscape architect in charge of the construction, Nazzaro bluntly expressed the town’s fears.

“In addition to the significant damage to the root system, much of the dirt from the excavation was just thrown on top of the trees, which as I understand may suffocate them over time,” he wrote.

The arborist, Jonathan Frank of Bartlett Tree Experts, gave Nazzaro a document titled “Tree Preservation Standards During Construction” that he had created for another client and recommended using “tree preservation language” relating to industry standards in any change to the town’s ordinance governing construction applications.

“He mentioned that with our water main project along A1A, the contractor working for the town implemented tree protection fencing that worked very well with a goal to keep any construction equipment and things away from the roots and trunks,” Nazzaro said.

He and Frank also talked about requiring a meeting with the arborist before any excavation if the digging would happen within 10 feet of existing Australian pines, “something that’s very innocuous and easy that gives us some leeway to sort of lean on his expertise.”

Commissioners told Nazzaro to continue working on an ordinance for them to consider at their Dec. 8 meeting.

The arborist pruned the affected pines to reduce their height by 25% to make them less susceptible to wind, pruned damaged roots and excavated the trees’ root collars. He also treated the trees with potassium phosphite when the damage was discovered in October and will return in January for a second dose.

Brian O’Neill bought the oceanfront mansion for $29 million in September 2022.

The state planted Australian pines on both sides of A1A in the early 1900s to address high winds along the highway. “The Town of Gulf Stream is the only remaining stretch where the Australian Pine Canopy still remains,” the town boasts on its website.

By Steve Plunkett

After 19 months as a Gulf Stream town commissioner, Thom Smith has called it quits, resigning his position at the end of the board’s Nov. 9 meeting.

“I have been honored and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to serve the town I feel so strongly about,” he read from his prepared resignation letter. “We have a very special place to live and recreate and I look forward to it remaining so for many years to come.”

Outside the meeting, Smith said he resigned to have more time to devote to his accounting business and to family members who live outside of town.

He was not worried, he said, about having to disclose his net worth and other financial details on the state’s Form 6 had he remained on the dais. Filing the Form 6 is a new requirement this year for elected municipal leaders in office as of Dec. 31.

“I could have handled it,” Smith said.

Smith, who was born and grew up in Gulf Stream, was appointed to the commission in April 2022 after serving as chairman of the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board. He replaced Donna White, who moved to Palm Beach Gardens.

Smith joined the ARPB as an alternate in May 2008 and became a full board member in March 2009. He took the reins as chairman in June 2018.

Also at the Nov. 9 meeting, town commissioners accepted the resignation of Jorgette Smith from the ARPB “for personal reasons” and elevated Michael Greene, an alternate member, as a full member of the board.

Jorgette Smith joined the planning board as an alternate in December 2017 and became a full member in June 2018.

Thom Smith’s departure will give the commission a chance to add someone from Place Au Soleil, whose residents filled a commission seat continuously from 1998 until Smith’s appointment last year. It’s up to commissioners to appoint someone to fill the seat, which isn’t up for election until 2026.

Though out of office, Smith was still expected to attend the December meeting and maybe more, lending his financial expertise to reviews of higher-than-expected bids for road and drainage work in the town’s Core District and of a proposal to make Boynton Beach the town’s provider of drinking water instead of Delray Beach.

“It makes sense to go to Boynton, but the costs seem very high,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.

Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said Boynton Beach’s water rates are lower than Delray Beach’s, but Gulf Stream would have to pay $2 million up front to connect to its system, making the break-even point seven years in the future.

Morgan also noted the September passing of Commissioner Joan Orthwein’s husband, Percy “Perk” Orthwein II, who Morgan hailed as a good husband, good father and a patriarch of one of the oldest families in town.

“What I remember best about Perk is that he was a remarkable raconteur,” Morgan said. “He was a wonderful man to tell a story. He could regale you with a story that (was) sometimes factual, sometimes apocryphal but always with a sense of humor. Sometimes a touch of sarcasm, but it always made for the most interesting story. And that’s how I like to remember my time with Perk.”