This frame grab from video shot by Wavy Boats, an online video producer, shows the trash dumping. Two teenagers on the boat surrendered to law enforcement. Photo provided

By Mary Hladky

Boca Bash always is a wild event, but this year’s April 28 bacchanal on Lake Boca drew national and international attention when two teenagers attending it were captured on video dumping trash into the ocean.

The two boys, from Gulf Stream and Boynton Beach, turned themselves in after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged them with causing pollution that can harm human or animal health, a third-degree felony. The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office will make final charging decisions.

The teens aged 15 and 16, whom The Coastal Star is not naming because they are juveniles, attend Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton High School, according to the FWC’s arrest reports. They were identified by teachers at their schools and by other juveniles who were on the boat.

The incident was captured on video by Wavy Boats, which uses drones and zoom cameras to capture boats facing rough waters across Florida, and posted on social media platforms. The video became an instant hit.

The teens were on a boat named Halcyon out of Gulf Stream that carried about 13 young people, the FWC reports said.

The video shows that as the vessel exited the Boca Inlet in roiling waters, one teen left the helm, picked up a large basket and dumped its contents into the water. He then held the basket over his head, “pumping the basket up and down as if he was celebrating the dumping of the trash into the water,” the reports state.

The second boy followed suit, picking up a trash bin and dumping it. The basket and bin contained plastic water bottles, cans, beverage cartons, food bags and other items.

They then headed back to Boca Bash, an unsanctioned, loosely organized annual event that draws as many as 10,000 people and hundreds of boats on the last Sunday in April.

“The illegal dumping of trash into our marine environment is a serious crime,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a news release. “Callous disregard for Florida’s environment will not be tolerated.”

In all, the FWC made 20 arrests largely on charges of boating under the influence or drug possession.

Boca Bash organizers immediately denounced the trash dumping.

“We cannot be more angered or disturbed by these actions,” they said on a Boca Bash Facebook page. “By no means do we believe this is a representation of the gathering. We implore and expect boaters to keep the waterways clean, uphold proper boating etiquette and follow state laws on the water.”

When FWC investigators spoke to the father of one of the boys, he said, “This is not a representation of who we are,” the arrest reports said.

“We take the responsibility of caring for our oceans and our community very seriously, and we are extremely saddened by what occurred last weekend at Boca Bash,” the parents of one of the teenagers said in a statement. “We want to extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who has been impacted and rightfully upset by what occurred.”

A spokeswoman for those parents said they were not granting interviews. Their son’s attorney did not respond to an email and a voicemail seeking additional information.

Juvenile court records are not made public, and a spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office said the office doesn’t comment on the outcome of juvenile cases. The office can choose to make a statement, but had not done so as of May 24.

The FWC takes the law enforcement lead for Boca Bash because Lake Boca, actually a wide section of the Intracoastal Waterway, falls under state jurisdiction. The Boca Raton Police Department and other law enforcement agencies assist its investigators.

By Anne Geggis
 
The proliferation of newer homes looming over the area’s more traditional style — a trend emerging throughout South County coastal communities — has the Ocean Ridge Town Commission looking for ways to encourage new, one-story homes.

Like other municipalities, Ocean Ridge is on the hunt for how to encourage new investment in the town while preserving its small-town charm. The issue was front and center at the commission’s May 13 workshop.

Commissioners hit on the idea of loosening some aspects of the town’s building code to encourage the low-rise look.

“If you want more one-story houses, you have to throw those people a bone … so how do you want to do that?” Mayor Geoff Pugh said. “Why not let the rear (of the house) encroach further into the setback and then put a deed restriction on (it) so they can’t, in five years, add a second story?”

It would mean loosening the town’s current minimum requirements for green space and impervious surfaces, Pugh explained. Side and front setbacks would stay the same, he proposed.

Vice Mayor Steven Coz agreed: “I like the concept. I wonder how it would actually work?”

Commissioner David Hutchins raised the question of how it might engender complaints if a lot slated for a new home abuts the rear of a neighbor’s home, but also said, “I think I like the solution.”

A consensus emerged to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to propose loosening restrictions on a planned home’s footprint in return for a one-story promise.

Similar conversations are happening throughout South Palm Beach County. It’s because property owners paying sky-high prices for barrier island property are looking to maximize the amount of square footage under air conditioning they can stack on one lot. 

The resulting new look — big, boxy behemoths — has led to a chorus of complaints in Delray Beach, Gulf Stream and other municipalities.

Delray Beach earlier this year passed new regulations looking to curb sheer walls that extend to the second floor. Gulf Stream is conducting a “massing” study about what can be done. 

Coz credited former Mayor Ken Kaleel, now on the planning panel, with Ocean Ridge’s idea. Coz said the workshop was one of the most productive in the four years the commission has held them to hash out its long-term growth and development issues.

“If people are going to plunk down millions of dollars for land, they want to maximize their investment,” Coz said. “Our job is to figure out how to be fair to the homeowner and retain the quaintness of the town.”

Consensus for land acquisition — Negotiations are underway for Ocean Ridge to purchase three parcels. A consensus emerged at the May 6 commission meeting for Town Manager Lynne Ladner to proceed with talks about acquiring 6470 N. Ocean Blvd., located on the north side of Town Hall. It could be used to provide more Town Hall parking and park amenities. Two other “mangrove parcels” are also under discussion for purchase. Those two pieces of land near Town Hall are currently zoned for residential development and the town is seeking grants to help defray the cost of purchasing them.
 
Town manager gets cost-of-living increase — Town Manager Lynne Ladner received a 5% cost-of-living increase to bring her annual salary to $149,625. She might get another bump in pay this year, pending one-on-one commissioner meetings and the results of a study of what other town managers earn, it was decided at the May 6 commission meeting.
 
Town meeting announcements move from print to online — The commission unanimously agreed to stop putting its required public meeting notices in The Palm Beach Post and move to online announcements. Town Manager Lynne Ladner said that this will save money: The cost of putting in print advertisements for the budget hearings alone is a little more than the annual cost of publishing it online, she said. Legislation effective in 2023 allows local governments to advertise meetings online instead of in print media.

Street name stays — Whitney Way resident Franklin Hoet’s idea that his street should be named Hoet Way — due to how the current name confuses Google Maps because of all the similarly named drives, avenues and streets in Palm Beach County — was not a winning one with the Town Commission. Commissioners unanimously rejected it.
 
Unforgiven — Spencer Blank is buying 23 Coconut Lane and he’s cleaned up the issues that started accruing fines of $150 a day for 509 days starting Dec. 1, 2022, he told the Town Commission May 6. And he said the seller, James Cooksey, would be willing to drop his lawsuit against the town if the commission agreed the $85,000 in fines, administrative costs and interest would go the same way. The request was unanimously rejected.

— Anne Geggis

Proposed  historic district hits setback  — Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney said at a May 3 goal-setting event he does not support making a nine-block stretch of Atlantic Avenue the city’s sixth historic district. 

Carney, who campaigned for election on preserving the city’s “Village by the Sea’’ image and reining in development, said the proposed district and its new rules for development are not the way to achieve that goal.

His view would mean a majority of the commission is against it. Commissioners Angela Burns and Rob Long both oppose requiring that any proposed changes to the avenue undergo additional review for their historic appropriateness.

The effort to make a new historic district has been underway since 2017. But Carney says he wants to find a middle ground that stops short of adding a review for historic appropriateness to new development.

“Everybody has the same idea that they want to keep the charm of Atlantic … and nobody wants to kill the golden goose,” Carney said, noting that most business owners there oppose the historic district. “I’m going to be the first to say I’m not sure that doing an actual historic district is the way to do it because it creates a whole level of regulatory burdens.”

Water credits run higher than expected — Water bill sticker shock that customers experienced in December and January due to malfunctioning city meter readers spread to the City Commission with the revelation that more than $571,000 worth of billing was forgiven because of the breakdown.

“I don’t see anywhere we’ve discussed giving credit adjustments of $571,000,” Mayor Tom Carney said at the commission’s May 7 meeting. That’s about 2.3% of the revenue the city budgeted to take in from the sale of water.

The commission in January agreed to credit customers who received erroneous bills, some of them as much as $5,700, according to then-Mayor Shelly Petrolia.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale noted that the city staff’s account of how many people were getting estimated bills instead of manually read ones has not been consistent since the alarm about the faulty billing emerged. At their May 21 meeting, commissioners were presented with an entire list of the credits that were given because the total amount of credits given exceeded the city manager’s spending authority. Casale voted against paying the credits.

“I’m really concerned about this whole situation,” she said.
 
New DDA board member resigns after being chosen — Damara Cohn, who owns Mangrove Realty downtown, got a nod at the May 7 City Commission meeting to take the place of Richard Burgess on the seven-member Downtown Development Authority board. But she never took her seat and resigned instead.

Days after the appointment, it was discovered that Cohn’s business lease does not include taxes that would qualify her to serve on the board. That lack of qualified residency was also an issue with Burgess and triggered his removal from the autonomous board that oversees marketing, business development and merchant promotion for the central business area.

The City Commission removed Burgess from the DDA board April 16 in the wake of the Palm Beach County Ethics Commission’s finding that Burgess lied about the location of his business on his application to get appointed.

DDA Executive Director Laura Simon said that the DDA intends to propose that the city change its rules so that applications to serve on the DDA board are separate from applications for other city advisory boards.

Meanwhile, court records show that Burgess filed suit May 2 against the city, looking for his removal from the DDA board to be quashed. His complaint alleges his removal was a “political witch hunt” that newly seated Commissioner Juli Casale orchestrated. 

Water treatment plant plans advance — Replacement of the city’s 72-year-old water treatment plant at 200 SW Sixth St. will start involving more than diagrams and signatures on contracts, with actual bricks and mortar construction starting in 2025. Completion is scheduled “by circa late 2027,” according to a May 10 memo from City Manager Terrence Moore.

Fire rescue employees being reassigned — The 22 Delray Beach Fire Rescue employees who had been providing Highland Beach’s fire rescue services will be absorbed into vacant positions in the department, according to a May 10 memo from City Manager Terrence Moore.

Highland Beach started its own fire rescue department May 1 and the Delray employees stationed there by interlocal agreement are being reassigned, as the city budget had 25 vacant fire rescue positions.

Wanting more control over costs and more services, Highland Beach became the first Palm Beach County community to start its own fire rescue department in 31 years.

Sunrise lovers get an extra hour — Metered parking along State Road A1A is now free until 9 a.m. on weekdays. Mayor Tom Carney proposed the extra hour of free parking along the beach — up from an 8 a.m. start — and it was quickly approved.  — Anne Geggis

Body-in-suitcases detective honored — Delray Beach Police Detective Mike Liberta was recognized as Detective/Investigator of the Year by the First Responders Appreciation Foundation at an event that drew more than 1,000 attendees at the organization’s annual awards banquet in May.

Liberta received the honor for his role in cracking the case involving suitcases containing body parts found along the Intracoastal Waterway last August.

The remains were later identified as those of Aydil Barbosa Fontes. Her husband, William Lowe, is accused of first-degree murder and abuse of a human body. His next court appearance is scheduled for August.

Liberta is scheduled for recognition in front of the City Commission June 4.

— Anne Geggis

By Anne Geggis

Less than 24 hours after an investigation concluded no evidence supported his accusation the city manager touched him inappropriately, Delray Beach Fire Rescue Chief Keith Tomey was terminated May 1 for “willful, insubordinate behavior” in numerous incidents.

City Manager Terrence Moore ended Tomey’s seven years of city employment “effective immediately,” replacing him with interim Fire Rescue Chief Kevin Green.

The letter firing Tomey principally cites the chief’s decision to allow on-duty firefighters to participate in the annual Guns ‘N Hoses charity softball game last November. It put Engine 112 out of service for more than four hours, Moore wrote.

“Your poor decision making could have endangered the lives of our residents and the public and created a risk of liability to the city,” Moore’s letter says.

That investigative report on the softball tournament came out as Tomey’s allegations of inappropriate touching by the city manager surfaced. A third-party investigator the city hired found there was no evidence that Moore touched Tomey inappropriately, however.

The softball game episode was one of a number of incidents that Moore said had forced him to question Tomey’s leadership and managerial skills.

Neither Tomey nor his attorney, Isidro Garcia, who sent the letter making the allegations of the city manager’s inappropriate touching, returned calls or emails seeking comment.

Garcia, however, told the Sun Sentinel that he intended to sue the city on Tomey’s behalf.

The allegations that Tomey made about the city manager were not cited in the firing letter. The investigative report did say no specific city policies were violated in Tomey’s involvement in the softball game. But investigator Christopher Bentley dinged Tomey for his “poor decision-making which ultimately resulted in inequities and liabilities for the city.”

The investigation into the charity softball tournament started when a firefighter in the game was injured and filed a workers compensation claim, Bentley’s report says.

Tomey had alleged, however, that the softball tournament would not have been investigated if Tomey hadn’t rebuffed Moore’s sexual advances in August 2022 as the two drove to and from an exhibition of city employee art, including Moore’s, at the Arts Garage. He said that Moore “rubbed up his thigh and just briefly made contact with his groin area,” according to a third-party investigator’s telling of Tomey’s allegations.

Moore wrote that Bentley, during his investigation into the softball tournament, noticed the same thing Moore had about Tomey’s attitude regarding city resources and official duties.

“[Bentley] remarked in his report your cavalier attitude regarding these serious concerns, something that I, too, have witnessed in my interactions with you when forced to address your issues in management, fiscal responsibility and accountability,” Moore wrote.

Tomey’s five-day suspension for failing to follow city policy after a Broward County accident in October 2022 involving his city vehicle was also included in Tomey’s contention he was being retaliated against. But city policy requires employees to take a drug test immediately following an accident whether they are at fault or not, which Tomey did not do until three days after the accident, Moore said in the termination letter. And Moore did not hear about the wreck until he received a request to approve a rental for Tomey. 

“I recall that during that disciplinary procedure you refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing …” Moore wrote. “This appears to be a pattern of willful, insubordinate behavior coupled with poor decision making that despite repeated counseling and a five-day suspension, has worsened.”

Moore cited another incident that occurred before the arts show allegations. In July 2022, Tomey distributed a memorandum that went to fire rescue personnel that disclosed the medical condition of an employee. The employee sent a “demand letter” and the city had to pay $25,000 to settle the claim, Moore said.

Tomey’s termination was effective immediately, according to Moore’s letter, and his health benefits continued through May. Tomey’s departure does not involve a financial settlement, a city spokeswoman said.

Since he was terminated “not in good standing,” there are no payouts, the spokeswoman said. Tomey had been earning an annual salary of $179,587.

Green, Tomey’s replacement, has been with the city’s Fire Rescue since 2012.

By Anne Geggis

A $1 million county study of what might replace the 75-year-old George Bush Boulevard bridge is underway and a state review awaits as the bridge’s replacement cost keeps rising.

The bridge — one of Delray Beach’s three spans across the Intracoastal Waterway — is experiencing “increased maintenance concerns and infrastructure failures,” according to county officials.

That’s a reference to when the bridge became a poster child for the country’s troubled infrastructure in 2022 when it was stuck in the upright position for two months because of equipment issues.

It’s operating correctly now, but the future is clear.

“Right now, that bridge definitely needs to be replaced,” David Ricks, Palm Beach County engineer, told county commissioners last November.

Still, the only certainty is the replacement’s rising cost.

In 2022, replacing the bridge was projected to cost $45 million but the latest cost estimate Ricks presented shows it would be more like $75 million to design and replace the bridge. The county’s five-year capital improvement plan shows no more money than the $1 million budgeted after this fiscal year through 2028.

“We’re definitely going to be looking at the state or federal level to help us with the cost of that,” Ricks said.

A U.S. Department of Transportation report in May found that the projected five-year increase in highway construction costs could mean that the $673 billion the federal government allocated for transportation projects — roads, bridges, transit, airports and rail — will buy only 60% of what was originally intended when it passed in 2021.

When the replacement happens to the George Bush Boulevard bridge, it will be a long time coming.

Hal Stern, president of the Beach Property Owners Association, said he’s not expecting that reconstruction anytime soon.

“The design phase could last as long as three years,” Stern said. “The challenge is that it’s such a low bridge. How can they raise the bridge without impacting the areas on either side of the bridge? It’s challenging.”

The Intracoastal bridges at Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach, Ocean Avenue in Lantana, and in Lake Worth Beach were all reconstructed with higher spans over the years, according to the Delray Beach Historical Society.

Both Atlantic Avenue’s Intracoastal bridge, which was built in 1952, and the George Bush Boulevard bridge were designated local historic sites in 2000 by the City Commission.

Increasing bridge height can be fraught with complications, as can designating a bridge as a historic one.

“In Boca Raton, the Camino Real bridge was given historic status by the city in order to avoid making the bridge higher, which would have significantly changed access to the Boca Raton Club, the Royal Palm community and businesses east of that bridge,” Tom Warnke, archive coordinator at the Delray Beach Historical Society, wrote in an email.

Meanwhile, the Linton Boulevard span over the Intracoastal Waterway needs $20 million in repairs, Palm Beach County’s Ricks said.

By Steve Plunkett

The water level below the surface in Gulf Stream’s Core district is higher than anyone expected and stalled the onset of road work for weeks while the contractor sought an additional permit.

Residents were quick to notice that not much progress was being made.

“I see six guys here one day and nobody the next, and I’m just wondering … are they doing … what you expected to be done at this point or what?” Bob Burns, a past president of the Gulf Stream Civic Association, asked town commissioners at their May 14 meeting.

“We’ve had two or three residents call because they didn’t see an update on the website that they said we’re paying so much money for that’s supposed to be updated weekly,” added Town Clerk Renee Basel.

Construction was supposed to begin the week of April 22, but workers soon discovered how high the water table is.

That meant the town would need a “dewatering” permit from the South Florida Water Management District to pump water out of the way and a change in how the pipes would be put in.

“Typically water mains are installed about 3 feet below grade in dry conditions. We’re going to allow them to bring them up slightly, about a foot or so,” said Jockey Prinyavivatkul of Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers. “And then during the backfilling process we use flowable fill, which is a concrete material which can be excavated in the future.”

The schedule had already been changed to begin construction in the north end of the Core district, along Wright Way and Old School Road, instead of on Golfview Drive in the south because the north end is the lowest part of Gulf Stream and more susceptible to fall’s high king tides.

Adding to the high water table was a faulty check valve on an outflow pipe on Wright Way that was letting water come in from the Intracoastal Waterway instead of blocking it, Prinyavivatkul said.

“There’s definitely some issues going on that we are working with the contractor on. And hopefully once we begin to progress, basically the procedures of how they’re going to do the construction work will start to smooth out and the pace will increase,” he said.

But, he said, it usually takes the SFWMD a month or so to issue such a permit.

The town’s original permit was to increase the amount of stormwater runoff it can discharge into the Intracoastal.

Basel said she relayed concerns about updates on the website, corearearoadwork.com, and was told Baxter and Woodman had been waiting on the dewatering permit. An update with a photo was posted the next day, and the engineers promised weekly additions.

Demolition equipment tears apart the home at 2900 Avenue Au Soleil in mid-May. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

The new owner of 2900 Avenue Au Soleil has leveled the decrepit home on the Intracoastal Waterway and its detached, multi-vehicle garage, but had not completely demolished the structures by Memorial Day.

Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said owner David Willens asked for extra time to finish the demolition after workers encountered huge blocks of concrete to remove.

“This has been a long-standing issue that’s going to result in significant improvement for Place Au Soleil,” Mayor Scott Morgan had said on April 14 as town commissioners approved an agreement to vacate easements that run the length of the property.

The legal maneuvers involved new owner Willens, former owner Bhavin Shah and his 2900 AAC LLC, the town and the Gulf Stream Golf Club, which also had easements on the parcel for an irrigation line from its well near the Place Au Soleil guardhouse to the Intracoastal.

“The contract purchaser, he is probably the only person happier than I am to get this finally approved,” Nazzaro said of Willens.

Shah and his group bought the property for $3.3 million in October 2021 and were the target of several code enforcement actions as the house fell into further disrepair. Willens, a lawyer who lives on the Intracoastal in Highland Beach and founded dental service company Sage Dental Management LLC, paid $5.15 million in April for the property, according to county property records.

The long driveway to 2900 Avenue Au Soleil opens up just behind the guardhouse at Federal Highway and weaves east behind nine homes on Orchid Lane and Avenue Au Soleil on one side, and seven homesites on Bluewater Cove on the other.

Bluewater Cove’s developer originally wanted to buy the parcel and incorporate it into its new subdivision. But Cary Glickstein, president of Ironstone Development Inc., said in 2021 that he had abandoned that idea partly because of the property’s “tortured” legal past.

The home’s previous owners, heirs of the late Anthony Turner, the first code enforcement target there, racked up $200,000 in fines. The Town Commission reduced the amount due in 2019 to $20,000 in an effort to get new owners for the property.

Shah later faced $200-a-day code enforcement fines for not keeping the principal building or the sea wall in acceptable condition. As part of the latest agreements, Willens will have the sea wall rebuilt and connect what will become the town’s main drinking water line to a line running under the Intracoastal.

Bluewater Cove, which has sold one of its planned 14 homes, built two others and is starting construction on four more, already installed an alternate main under the street it built to accommodate the drinking water line.

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream has taken a $52,333 step toward flipping from Delray Beach to Boynton Beach for its drinking water.

Even without a formal agreement, town commissioners authorized spending that amount to pay for the engineering costs of extending a main water line from Seacrest Boulevard east along Gulfstream Boulevard almost to the FEC railway tracks.

Boynton Beach city commissioners approved a contract with their consulting engineers for the work on May 23. A second phase will cover the pipe from the railroad tracks to a connection point at Gulf Stream’s Place Au Soleil neighborhood.

Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said Boynton Beach estimates both phases will cost Gulf Stream $1.8 million “with a wonderful swing of $1.3 to $2.3 million anticipated.”

The town will also have to pay a $400,000 “capacity facility fee,” he said.

Boynton Beach and Gulf Stream traded draft agreements about two months ago for a 25-year pact on drinking water. Boynton Beach already was the town’s backup supplier in case Delray Beach’s water system had a problem.

Delray has been the main supplier since at least 1976.

Boynton Beach officials drew up the details for the extra engineering work and then obtained a quote from consulting engineers Calvin, Giordano and Associates Inc.

“So, based on all those efforts, it’s pretty clear that they want to bring us on as a customer and generate some additional revenue,” Nazzaro said. “And then of course there will be cost savings to the town over time with some immediate benefits,” including higher water pressure at the tap.

Boynton is offering a rate of $3.75 per 1,000 gallons of water, slightly less than the $3.81 per 1,000 that Delray Beach is currently charging. But Delray plans to raise its rates to $4.49 in October and $5.20 the following year.

Delray, which is designing a new water plant, told Gulf Stream in April that it will stop providing the town with drinking water in June 2025.

Calvin, Giordano said the first phase of the work to connect Boynton Beach and Gulf Stream would be complete in July or August 2025, with the second phase being finished by the end of 2025.

“Countless hours have gone into these discussions with both Delray Beach and Boynton Beach officials, and once the timing becomes more certain, I know we can work amicably on a transition plan with both cities,” Nazzaro said.

The work will be done in conjunction with a road project on Gulfstream Boulevard, which separates Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. Both cities are sharing the cost of improving the road.

Town Manager Greg Dunham said he has begun discussions with Seacoast Bank on borrowing money to pay for the water main extension as well as an expected $5 million shortfall on Gulf Stream’s road and drainage improvement project.

The Florida League of Cities, which could link the town with low-interest loans, recommended he contact local banks first to see what rates are available.

Pick up your poop bags — Gulf Stream resident P.K. Murphy, who lives in the Core district, is concerned about poop bags being littered “all over the roads,” Town Clerk Renee Basel told Gulf Stream commissioners at their May meeting.

“She says they’re throwing them in yards. She said it’s getting unhealthy and she just wanted to know if there was anything that could be done about it. She said it’s never happened in all the years she’s lived here and now all of a sudden they’re everywhere,” Basel said.

Vice Mayor Tom Stanley said the town would send a note to residents. “Obviously it’s an extremely dog-friendly neighborhood,” he said. “We may have to do a little self-policing too.”

— Steve Plunkett

By Mary Thurwachter

Mat Forrest was a rock star with Lantana officials last year when he helped secure a $1.2 million appropriation from the state for the town’s water main replacement project.

Last month, the Town Council rewarded his efforts by renewing its $60,000 contract with Ballard Partners Inc., the state lobbying firm where Forrest works. The contract extends until Sept. 30, 2025.

During this year’s legislative session, Town Manager Brian Raducci said, Forrest was instrumental in the town’s submission of two projects totaling $2.5 million in state appropriation funding requests, though neither made it into the state’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget. Forrest, who lives in West Palm Beach, said attempts to get state funding to Lantana this year were not successful because the $117 billion budget was a $2 billion reduction from the current fiscal year, which made it tough to get projects through for local governments.

“We did file two water projects and I think those are great projects. I think we continue to push them,” he told the council. “You did all the right things. You gave compelling reasons.

Next year, we’re going to really work on the grant side of things. I would like to file a few more projects for the town and kind of spread our options, perhaps looking in the parks area, possibly looking into things for public safety and of course, continuing in the water area.”

Mayor Karen Lythgoe said that other than the financing, Forrest is a contact for the town when “we need to get a hold of somebody in state office to put a case before them that we need some help to get some action, so it’s intangible as well as tangible with the money he brings back.”

Going forward, barring any major changes to the service requested or in terms of fees, the council also gave Raducci the ability to sign the agreements with Ballard Partners administratively without council discussion.

Demolition of Key West-style cottages on the north side of Ocean Avenue began in mid-May. Mayor Karen Lythgoe is optimistic that a developer will negotiate a long-term lease with the property owners. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

Some of the tiny, colorful cottages on the north side of Ocean Avenue between Oak Street and Lake Drive in downtown Lantana have been around since the 1920s. The Key West-style bungalows have been home to an assortment of businesses, from restaurants and fruit stands to dress boutiques and real estate offices, but fell into disrepair, with many vacant for years.

The dilapidated buildings are part of history now. The bulldozing began in mid-May as town officials hope to develop the property owned by the sister-and-brother team of Marsha Stocker and Steven Handelsman. Their parents, the late Burt and Lovey Handelsman, previously owned the cottages, which are on four contiguous parcels of land.

“The town does have some significant code enforcement fines (more than $900,000) on the property and foreclosure authorization,” said Nicole Dritz, the town’s development services director. “The agreement between the town and the property owners includes the property owners’ demolishing the buildings, sodding the properties and actively pursuing redevelopment in good faith.”

Once the demo is finished and the site is sodded, that would put the properties into compliance in terms of code enforcement, she said.

“The town is prepared to work with the property owners on the fines, if/when the site is redeveloped into a project that benefits the downtown,” Dritz said. “We are working closely with their attorney and town staff is ready and willing to discuss preliminary or conceptual plans with potential developers.”

Mayor Karen Lythgoe is optimistic that a developer will express interest and will be able to negotiate a long-term lease with the property owners.

“Several of them have expressed interest so it remains to be seen,” she said. “I would love to see some restaurants and small shops to create a downtown. That will likely mean residences as well, due to the costs involved in development. And the master plan market study demonstrated the need for more housing in Lantana.”

Lythgoe said parking is an issue that will need some creative solutions, which is why the Town Council, at its visioning session, expressed openness to five-story buildings, if that addresses the situation. She said the town is “not expressly wanting that, but doesn’t want to turn away plans before the council can evaluate them. That got misinterpreted by some in the town.”

Less optimistic is Vice Mayor Mark Zeitler, who has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. He’s concerned that the owners are “not actually wanting to sell the property, and just leasing it may be a hurdle,” he said. “I don’t think we should get the five stories just because these people don’t want to sell their property, that they only want to lease it. I think we would be hurting the town more that way.”

Zeitler said he doesn’t expect anything to happen quickly, especially since the lease idea may hamper interest from developers who might prefer to own the property.

Related: Hurricane season: What to expect 

Critically eroded beaches make coast more vulnerable as storm season arrives

If disaster strikes, municipalities may need millions ready to spend  

By Anne Geggis

An effort to shore up the facts about Manalapan’s coastline — and form a committee to study the state of the town’s sandy stretch — won the unanimous approval of the Town Commission May 28.

The action follows a May 16 workshop at which commissioners heard conflicting opinions from a county official, a beach raker and advocates for taming human involvement in the town’s shifting landform on which much of its property values are built.

Commissioner Elliot Bonner volunteered to organize the committee, noting he has no stake in the outcome of this fact-finding mission: His property is not on the beach.

“There’s a lot of information presented on both sides, so I thought I’d bring sort of an impartial view to sort out and pull all the information together,” Bonner said.

Photographs presented at the workshop, for example, showed tire tracks over what appeared to be turtle nests. The new beach committee will look at whether the photos have timestamps. Also, the sand transfer plant that sits on the north side of the Boynton Beach Inlet, also known as the South Lake Worth Inlet, was presented as illegally robbing Manalapan of sand for the benefit of Ocean Ridge — even though the transfer plant operates under an agreement that was the result of a lawsuit Ocean Ridge filed against Manalapan that contended not enough sand was coming Ocean Ridge’s way.

But officials from the county, which operates the plant with the state’s say-so, say it’s a necessary part of the system that compensates for the effect of the manmade inlet.

“Some people were saying, ‘Hey, this is the worst thing ever,’ and others were saying, ‘Hey, this is the only way to do it,’” Bonner said, recalling the workshop. “So I want to get down to the facts.”

Bonner said he envisions including both commissioners and everyday people on the committee. It’s yet to be determined whether those who don’t live in Manalapan are eligible to serve on the committee, which will have announced public meetings open to all.

“It’s going to be boots on the ground, like let’s go walk out, then sort of talk to people,” Bonner said.

Turtle advocates say that, when it comes to beach raking and turtle nest patrols, the actual policies that sound reasonable in theory — like not raking west of the high-tide line on private beaches — are not being followed. And it’s all too rare that policymakers experience what’s happening on the disappearing shore, they say.

“It’s a step in the right direction and much appreciated,” said Kim Jones, an Ocean Ridge resident who was among those who spoke at the workshop warning about the effects of raking and urging the commission to prohibit it during turtle nesting season.

Also, at Manalapan’s monthly meeting: Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer gave his first manager’s report, a preview of when he’ll be taking over from longtime Town Manager Linda Stumpf.

By Steve Plunkett

The town’s $1.38 million grant from the federal government comes with an unexpected hitch: Briny Breezes has to complete what Town Manager Bill Thrasher called a “somewhat complicated” application process by June 28.

The money will be used to secure a state grant enabling the town to pay for a new $3.5 million stormwater system.

But first it has to get the federal money, which will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a “pre-disaster mitigation” grant.

“My concern is that I may not have enough technical expertise … to complete this application by June 28,” Thrasher told the Town Council on May 23.

FEMA, he said, has a list of agents throughout the United States who can help.

“But they don’t do this for free. And I believe that the cost of their services will extend beyond my purchasing authority, which is $5,000,” Thrasher said, asking for authorization to spend up to $10,000 to hire a grant specialist for the “strenuous and difficult” application process.

“I will do my best to do it on my own, but I do not want the town to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for funding,” he said.

The council agreed.

“We definitely don’t want to lose this one,” Council President Liz Loper said.

The council also decided not to hold a budget workshop this year.

“I think that we don’t need to have a budget workshop in June because it’s already been set. I mean, you already went through it. There’s not going to be any changes that we know of,” Loper said to Thrasher.

Thrasher said there will be some individual changes, “but materially it will be unchanged. The millage rate will remain as it is this year. That’s pretty solid.”

The current property tax rate is $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.

The town’s first public hearing on its budget will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 12, with a final public hearing at the same time on Sept. 26.

By Steve Plunkett

Town Attorney Keith Davis’ first attempt to update Briny Breezes’ rules on sea turtles, lights and fires on the beach did not go smoothly.

Mayor Ted Gross wondered why the town even needed such an ordinance if Palm Beach County already has one. But the county’s rules don’t apply to towns and cities, he was told.

At another point the proposed ordinance said “no artificial light” can illuminate the beach. But Gross said that sea turtles cannot see certain hues of light and that the phrasing needed work.

“I’m not trying to be mean to the turtles,” he said.

Attorney Trey Nazzaro, filling in for Davis, said the proposed update was mostly to correct the dates of sea turtle season and to make Briny’s ordinance match other towns’ regulations. The current ordinance, for example, strongly encourages residents to position or shield outdoor lights away from the beach.

“Now we’re going from ‘you’re strongly encouraged’ to ‘you shall obey’ these rules,” Nazzaro said.

Another sticking point was changing “No fires shall be permitted” on the beach to “No bonfires or other fires shall be permitted.”

The concern is that a sea turtle digging a nest might be burned by hot coals covered by sand, or that a person might step on coals and sue the town.

But several people thought celebratory bonfires such as those often seen in Lake Worth Beach should be allowed.

Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc., said streetlights on Old Ocean Boulevard and lights at the clubhouse at the beach were already “turtle friendly” and would not need shields that the proposed ordinance would require. “There’s no glare from those lights on the beach and we’ve never been asked to change that,” he said. “I think we’re getting overzealous with this almost.”

Because Aldermen Bill Birch and Kathy Gross were absent, the council decided to table a vote on the ordinance changes until July. Nazzaro will write a memo for them summarizing the discussion.

Meeting scheduled for Town Hall redo — Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer said he’ll meet with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue officials in August to discuss how the town facility, which also houses county first responders, can be enlarged. Currently, only a three-person fire rescue crew can be accommodated there and new standards dictate four people on the crew.

Chorus grows for rein on bridge openings — Marmer said he heard from people in Lantana and Hypoluxo about the regularity of Lantana’s Ocean Avenue bridge openings following April’s meeting when he raised the issue. He urged them to go to their respective commissions and lobby for support for the U.S. Coast Guard to confine bridge raisings to scheduled times and halt bridge raisings weekdays during rush hours, 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.

— Anne Geggis

New crosswalk is still just talk — Mayor Bonnie Fischer gave an update on the status of building a State Road A1A crosswalk at the north end of Lantana’s beach parking lot, insisting that while the crosswalk would more benefit South Palm Beach residents, it would also be a plus for people who currently use the crosswalk at the Ocean Avenue traffic lights.

“There’s more interest in doing it from our side, but it would benefit them because it’s very dangerous right now to cross at Ocean Avenue,” Fischer said at the Town Council’s May meeting. “I’ve almost hit people driving through there.”

Fischer said she hasn’t scheduled another meeting with Lantana Town Manager Brian Raducci because she’s waiting on a cost estimate for the project before doing so.

Plaque to honor hit-and-run victim — Mayor Fischer said she received a phone call from Beckham Laiqi, the son of Hatixhe Laiqi, the Barclay condo resident who was struck and killed while crossing State Road A1A last November. He told her 2,000 people attended her memorial service in New York and that he would like to pay for a plaque in her honor. Fischer said the town would have one made and it likely would be placed on the bench in front of the town’s lift station.

Four on the council will do for now — After a brief discussion at its May meeting, the Town Council decided to carry on with four members following the resignation of Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy following the April meeting. The council members also did not appoint a new vice mayor.

Ironically, Jennifer Lesh, who had been nominated by LeRoy to fill the seat ultimately taken by Elva Culbertson in April, was the only one of five members honored for their work with the Code of Ordinance Review Committee who failed to attend the meeting.

Drivers observe lower speed limit — Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mark Garrison reported that only three traffic citations were issued in the month following the decision to drop the A1A speed limit in town from 35 mph to 30 mph. Garrison said he wasn’t surprised because traffic studies his department has done have determined the average driving speed to be well below 35 mph.

Garrison also introduced Capt. Byron Smith, who has joined PBSO’s South Palm Beach substation.

— Brian Biggane

Hundreds of people took part in the annual Memorial Day commemorative ceremony.
TOP: The Coastmen Chorus sings the national anthem. ABOVE: Boca Raton High School Naval Junior ROTC Officer Cadet Velasquez presents arms during the ceremony. RIGHT: A cadet holds the Stars and Stripes, concluding the flag-folding portion of the ceremony.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

GULF STREAM — Born Feb. 4, 1961, in Hamburg, Germany, Gerti God grew to be a very independent woman who knew what she wanted. Though life did not come easy, she was never afraid of hard work.

Indeed, she worked with her husband, Daniel S. Mease, until her early end from cancer on April 27 at Delray Medical Center. Mrs. Mease was 63.

The Meases were married for 26 years, and lived in Gulf Stream.

Known among her many beloved friends as “Bo,” Mrs. Mease also loved sailing and her animals. 

She is survived by her husband, Daniel Mease, who carries her in loving memory.

— Obituary submitted by family

DELRAY BEACH — Patricia Bancker Duane died May 10 after a long illness. She was 93.

Born May 30, 1930, in Mineola, New York, to Jean (nee Monahan) and Adrian Bancker, Patsy Ann was a descendant of the earliest Dutch settlers of Staten Island and grew up in an old farmhouse on Manhasset Bay in Plandome, New York.

A tomboy, young Miss Bancker enjoyed outdoor sports, especially sailing her first dinghy, named Pollywog.

She graduated from Manhasset Bay High School in 1948 and Mount Holyoke College in 1952.

Pat Bancker and John “Jack” Marshall Duane Jr. met on a blind date during their college years and married at Fort Shafter Chapel in Honolulu in 1952, when Jack was stationed in Hawaii. They moved back to Jack’s hometown of Boston and, after one winter, decided to make Fort Lauderdale their home.

The Duanes moved to Delray Beach in 1954, and there raised their children, Jean Pavlov and John Marshall Duane III.

Pat and Jack quickly became involved in the community and made lifelong friends.

Mr. Duane became a notable in banking while Mrs. Duane was an active community volunteer in Delray Beach over the years.

She was on the committee that founded the Aqua Crest Pool, and worked as a substitute science teacher at Seacrest High School for months during a teachers’ strike in the 1960s.

The couple founded the Delray Beach Yacht Club. Mrs. Duane was a member of the Seacrest Association of University Women, a member and longtime treasurer of the Beach Property Owners Association, and a dedicated deacon at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach.

Mrs. Duane was a wonderful wife and mother to her young family, and a world-class sailing competitor. Always competing as a skipper and helmsman against the men, she was a two-time world champion (International Moth Class and International Flying Dutchman), two-time North American champion, four-time Midwinters Champion/FD, winner of the

1960 Adams Cup Championship (top U.S. women’s sailors), and winner of numerous ocean racing regattas.

With Jack crewing, the couple placed second in the 1960 U.S. Olympic trials and later represented the United States in the 1963 Pan American Games in Brazil.

Mrs. Duane was highlighted in Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd” in 1962, and featured in the April 22, 1963, issue as “The Flying Lady of the Flying Dutchman.”

The couple were featured on ABC’s Wide World of Sports with Jim McKay in 1963, and Mrs. Duane was the “central character” of CBS’s To Tell the Truth (she fooled the panel).

The City Commission of Delray Beach declared a “Pat Duane Day” in 1963 in honor of her achievements.

Mrs. Duane was a focused and tenacious competitor, yet always humble in victory, developing close friendships with her fellow sailors.

In addition to sailboat racing, Mrs. Duane played tennis and golf and enjoyed reading. She was a member of the Delray Beach Yacht Club, the Country Club of Florida, Delray Dunes Golf Club, and a tennis member of the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club.

In addition to her children, Jean (Jan) Pavlov and John Marshall (Susan) Duane III, Mrs. Duane is survived by six grandchildren: Elizabeth (Nathan) Talbot, Marshall (Logan) Duane, Caroline (Oliver) Kuntz, Jonathan (Selena) Pollow, Meghan (Bryan) Stern, and Jessica Pollow (Reuven) Bromberg; and 12 great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband, Jack, who died in 1995, her sister Audrey and grandson Matthew Pollow, as well as many beloved dogs, who were an important part of her life.

The family is most grateful to Mrs. Duane’s longtime housekeeper, Eather Mae Collins, aides Farah Francois and Rose Delaplane, the caring staff of Sonata in Boynton Beach and Dr. Madeleine DuPree of Vitas Hospice Care.

A private family memorial is planned. Any memorial donations may be directed to the Deacons Fund at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach.

— Obituary submitted by family