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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Larry Barszewski

Billy Joel has owned the estate at 1110 S. Ocean since 2015 and has listed it for sale several times, with the current asking price of around $50 million. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

Piano Man Billy Joel may finally sell his Manalapan mansion at 1110 S. Ocean. Listed by Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate, it went pending in late August in perhaps the last stanza of a long ballad. Just this year Joel had relisted the mansion in January for $54.9 million, and then reduced its price in March to $49.9 million.

Angle declined to comment.

Jack Elkins, an agent with William Raveis, recounts the mansion’s history up to the time when he represented its current owners’ LLC when they purchased the property in 2015 for $22,109,100.

“It was sold fully furnished, turnkey,” Elkins said.

“Its original attraction: It had been part of the Vanderbilt estate, and it had the Vanderbilt sea wall, which was a nice touch.

“The original house, designed by Maurice Fatio, was built by Harold Vanderbilt. When owned by Veronica Hearst, she sold off 150 feet of the property — which was the rose garden, the primary bedroom suite and the tennis court — to Robert Fessler. He built the house that is there” today in 2010.

From there, Texas billionaire Donald Adams bought it from the developer Fessler’s LLC for $15 million in 2011, Elkins recalled.

Returning to the mansion’s current owners, “they put it back on the market in July 2018; they listed it for $31.9 million,” Elkins said.

Since then, it was relisted in November 2022 for $64.9 million. As noted in The Coastal Star’s February 2024 issue, it was relisted for $54.9 million, and then underwent further price reductions before finally striking just the right note and attracting its potential buyer’s attention.

The buyer and price should be revealed in public records once the sale closes, if it does.

“Ocean-to-Intracoastal properties with dockage have always been appealing,” Elkins said.

The current, 13,348-square-foot estate sits on 1.6 acres with about 150 feet of frontage on the ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.

The compound includes a guest house and staff house. The main house has nine bedrooms, and details include a theater room, a pub room with a bar, paneled library, 12-plus-car

garage, and wine cellar with a wet bar and tasting table.

Reportedly, Joel and his family have upgraded to a waterfront home at 5001 Egret Point Circle, in the Sanctuary neighborhood of Boca Raton.

***

Alan B. Miller, founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Universal Health Services, and his wife, Jill, sold their 7,167-square-foot oceanfront residence at 3 Ocean Lane, Manalapan, for $18.25 million. The Millers bought the property in 1992 for $2.25 million.

Corinne Anna Buckley of Beverly Hills, California, is the new owner. With her husband, Fred, Corinne Buckley leads ProstaGenix, a maker of prostate health supplements.

Antonio and Pascal Liguori of the Pascal Liguori Group at Premier Estate Properties represented the sellers in the deal. The buyers were represented by Nicholas Gonzalez and Matthew Moser, agents with Serhant.

***

Other high-end sales include two properties in Boca Raton’s Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club.

Leandro Rizzuto Jr. purchased a six-bedroom, 8,975-square-foot waterfront estate at 169 W. Key Palm Road in the country club for $18.5 million in August. The sellers, Donald R. Jenkins and Kelley Jenkins of Aspen, Colorado, purchased the property for $14.975 million in 2021. Joyce Schneider of Castles by the Beach Realty represented Rizzuto, while the sellers were represented by Senada Adžem and Dustin Nero of Douglas Elliman.

On the same day Rizzuto bought the home at 169 W. Key Palm Road, he sold a home at 2391 Areca Palm Road, Boca Raton. Nicola Verses bought that one for $10 million.

Rizzuto had purchased that property in November 2021 for $7 million. He had it listed with Schneider as well.

Rizzuto also owns a residence at 1900 Royal Palm Way, Boca Raton, which he has homesteaded. He purchased that home for $14 million in 2019.

Rizzuto is the son of the late Leandro Rizzuto Sr., who founded hair care products company Conair and later bought the culinary product companies Cuisinart and Waring. 

***

Alina Residences’ sales gallery has moved to the newly completed Alina 210, residence 504, at 210 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. It was previously located in Alina 200, the project’s phase-one building. To schedule appointments, email sales@alinabocaraton.com. Douglas Elliman Development Marketing is the exclusive sales team.

***

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Palm Beach County ReStore, at 272 S. Dixie Highway, Boca Raton, closes mid-to-late October, as the building owners move ahead with plans to demolish and redevelop the site. The store is searching for a new Boca Raton location. Shoppers are encouraged to check out its 30% closing sale, to continue donating, and to shop at other Palm Beach County ReStore thrift and donation centers, which include the one at 1900 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach.

Sales of donated items help Habitat for Humanity partner with families to build and repair safe and affordable homes in their communities.

***

Focusing on an increased collaboration between its profit and nonprofit members, the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce has created an annual month of events in October called Do Good Delray. The chamber’s goal is to bring members together to improve awareness and engagement and to increase funding for the nonprofits’ philanthropic efforts.

***

The Boynton Beach Online Chamber of Commerce recently conducted a school supply drop-off at Poinciana Elementary School in Boynton Beach.

“This is the first year that the chamber collected and dropped off school supplies to one of the schools in Boynton Beach,” said Roz Kodish, owner of Everything Logo. “The chamber is an integral part of the Boynton Beach community, and part of our mission is to give back to our community. We look forward to continuing this tradition in years to come.” 

***

The Delray Beach Housing Authority, the Delray Housing Group, AffordableHousing.com, iThink Financial, and Eat Better, Live Better conducted their annual backpack giveaway. Six hundred children’s backpacks with supplies were distributed in July.

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

The suspect in a Friday double-homicide in the parking lot of the 365 Ocean Hotel on State Road A1A in Boca Raton was arrested in Georgia on Saturday, police said. A man and a woman were shot to death at the hotel, 365 N. Ocean Blvd., after an apparent purse snatching, and another man was hospitalized after being shot. The two men who were shot came to the woman's assistance as she struggled to get her purse back from the suspect, when he opened fire and fled in his silver Jaguar, police said. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

A 30-year-old man is facing murder charges Saturday after he was apprehended in Georgia, accused of killing a man and a woman in an apparent purse-snatching that turned deadly in the parking lot of a Boca Raton extended-stay hotel on State Road A1A.

De’Vante Moss, 30, of Boynton Beach, is awaiting extradition to Palm Beach County Jail, charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, Boca Raton police said in a statement.

The fatal shootings occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Friday at the 365 Ocean Hotel, across from South Beach Park on A1A. 

Police said Moss fled in a silver Jaguar belonging to him. Witnesses described the vehicle, which was also seen in surveillance video at the scene of the shooting. The license plate was put into a nationwide law enforcement database, leading to the arrest by the Laurens County Sheriff's Office in Georgia, police said. Laurens County is about 50 miles southeast of Macon.

"Moments before the shooting, the suspect was seen exiting one of the hotel rooms and running with a purse. A 32-year-old woman, who also exited the same room, ran after the suspect demanding her belongings,” according to the police statement.

Surveillance video shows Moss attempting to get into the driver’s seat of the Jaguar, still struggling with the woman, police said. That is when two men intervened and Moss produced a firearm, shooting the woman and both men before fleeing Boca Raton, police said.

The names of the victims have not been released yet. The male killed was 49 years old. No age was given for the injured male, who has been hospitalized.

The scene Friday afternoon as Boca Raton police investigated the shootings at the 365 Ocean Hotel on State Road A1A. Staff photo

The police presence continued Saturday morning around the 365 Ocean boutique extended-stay hotel on State Road A1A in Boca Raton where police say two people were shot and killed Friday and another injured in the hotel's parking lot. Police reopened A1A near the hotel to traffic around midnight. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Staff report

A shooting in the parking lot of an extended stay hotel across from Boca Raton’s South Beach Park left two people dead and another injured Friday afternoon, police say.

The shooting occurred shortly before 5 p.m. at 365Ocean, Boca Raton police spokeswoman Jessica Desir said.

“It appears there was some type of dispute in the parking lot of 365 N. Ocean Blvd., which is an extended-stay hotel,” Desir posted on the department’s account on X, formerly Twitter. “The suspect left the area and investigators are following up.”

Boca Raton police at the scene of a Sept. 20 shooting at 365 Ocean, directly across from the entrance to the South Beach Park parking lot. Two people were killed and a third injured in the shooting. Coastal Star staff photo

Desir, on the scene, told reporters that the dead were a man and a woman. Another man was transported to the hospital, she said.

Police closed off a section of A1A – also known as North Ocean Boulevard – from about the 800 block south to Palmetto Park Road.  That portion of A1A reopened to traffic around midnight, police say.

After the shooting, the heaviest police presence was directly across from the entrance to the South Beach Park parking lot. Police were gathered at the corner of A1A and Northeast Fourth Street, next to 365 Ocean, which describes itself as a boutique extended-stay hotel.

This story was originally published at 7:24 p.m. Sept. 20 and has since been updated.

Boca Raton police on Sept. 20 at the scene of a shooting, 365 N. Ocean Blvd., an extended-stay hotel called 365 Ocean. Two people were killed and a third injured in the incident at the hotel, a few blocks north of Palmetto Park Road. Coastal Star staff photo

Paul Smith of Crown Colony Club says summer is when the major repairs get done. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

With part-time residents gone, construction workers sweat, security people manage slower pace, and diehards enjoy the peace

By John Pacenti

Crown Colony Club in Ocean Ridge is almost like a dystopian wasteland this afternoon. For religious people, the rapture may come to mind. Not a single soul is in sight.

The pool, pristine and inviting, plays host to no one. A scattering of vehicles, some covered, plays sentinel in the vast parking lot. Many of the 148 condos have their summer armor up — hurricane shutters are the decor du jour.  

In many ways, year-round residents along the Gold Coast have indeed been left behind. Welcome to the lonely season. The part-timers catapult out of South Florida around Easter or Passover, start to trickle back in late September, and are back in force by Thanksgiving.

The effect is profound in the heat of August. The population in Briny Breezes drops 50% in the summer from the season high, according to a county report based on 2020 U.S. Census data. In Manalapan and South Palm Beach it falls 43%, while in Gulf Stream, Highland Beach and Ocean Ridge, the populations drop by about a third.

At night in Boca Raton, the number of lights on in condos such as La Fontana and Sea Ranch Club can be counted on one hand, making them look like giant jack-o-lanterns ready to devour the night.

Even downtown Delray Beach — which at the height of the tourist season can resemble Disney World in the amount of foot traffic — is mostly abandoned, with workers smoking outside. At 11 on a weeknight, you could drive a golf ball down East Atlantic Avenue and not hit anything.

During the day, the Gulf Stream Golf Club, St. Andrews Club, the Ocean Club of Florida and The Little Club are like ghost towns along A1A from Ocean Ridge to Delray Beach. Luggage carts are empty and sad out front. The tennis courts are under maintenance and the golf courses are being aerated. 

‘Kind of quiet, subdued’
At Crown Colony, a cumulonimbus cloud does a hit-and-run, drenching the facility. Then, there is suddenly life, in the corner of the near-empty parking lot where several cars are covered. It’s affable Paul Smith. He’s building new downspouts and lifting bricks into a wheelbarrow.

“During the summer, when everybody’s gone, is when we do the major work. When everybody’s here, it’s crowded, it’s busy. Almost every spot in the parking lot is taken,” said Smith, who is the treasurer of the condo association. “Now it’s kind of quiet, subdued. So we have four or five months of just total chaos and then six or seven months of nice and calm.”

Smith is hardly alone in taking on construction projects. Trucks and vans advertising on their sides all types of renovation work — marble tile, kitchen counters, air conditioning — dot the side of A1A and stand in driveways of condo complexes on the oceanside. Ladders and scaffolding hang like jewelry off of buildings and homes.

“When all the snowbirds go home, and then we get to work on their houses, and then they come back and they’re all finished, like magic,” said Mike Monaco of Palm Beach Trim, just leaving a job at Casa Serena in Gulf Stream.

Across the street from Casa Serena, a police car sits, discouraging speeders. Upon closer inspection, nobody is in the driver seat. Though this is a common tactic year-round, it adds to the summer’s deserted feeling.

Police Capt. John Haseley agreed that summer is slower, but said that before COVID-19, the difference between summer and winter was more pronounced. The pandemic brought many younger year-round residents who have changed the demographics somewhat, he said.

“There’s a fair amount of seasonal still, but nothing like it used to be,” Haseley said. 

Traffic remains the top priority whether it be in the summer — yes, those construction trucks ignore the empty squad cars if speed is an indicator — or the increased resident traffic in the winter. Despite the empty homes, one crime statistic has remained static. 

“I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since we had a residential burglary,” Haseley said.

Christien Pittman, owner of Titan Security, oversees Ocean Place Estates in Highland Beach.

Views from workers ...
Christien Pittman, the owner of Titan Security who has overseen Ocean Place Estates in Highland Beach for the last 14 years, says this summer he has been surprised to see an uptick in homeless individuals moving through this wealthy community. He sees them walking down with their shopping carts on A1A. He sees them being roused by police from their sleep in the morning.

“Last month, there were some people under the stairs here. I saw them on my camera,” Pittman said. “So I go down there and there’s a whole family. It was two kids and a man and his wife.”

Pittman says he is not lonely because he knows the neighborhood, the full-time residents. He points across the street. “I’ve seen the kids grow up. They’ve seen me get older,” he said.

While Pittman is content, others who work at resorts and complexes say summer can be taxing in a dull sort of way.

David Olmos works as a valet at Delray Sands Resort. How to deal with the off-season? Pittman says he knows the neighborhood’s full-timers. Olmos can chat up the front desk person.

Valet David Olmos, 23, is waiting for anybody needing his services outside of the Delray Sands Resort — which is actually in Highland Beach. “It does get lonely,” Olmos said.  “I do have the front desk person to talk to.”

Olmos said he was still mourning the cat Sandy who lived at the complex for years and died recently.

One security guard at a complex in Delray Beach who asked that his name or building not be printed said he spends the summer “watching the grass grow.” 

Robert Rourke, who works the security desk at Beach Walk East Condominium in Highland Beach, said, “I read, do my crossword puzzles, watch TV and occasionally look at the monitor. I like being alone.”

Only a few lights are visible at night in August at the Coronado at Highland Beach condominiums.

... and from residents
A common sentiment found among year-round residents: Yes, it’s more lonely in the summertime — but it’s a good change of pace from the go-go of the tourist season.

Ann Carmody is tooling down A1A on her golf cart, back from a hobby club where she said they were making quilts for disabled people. She said five residents decided to stay the summer on her street in Briny Breezes.

When asked if she was anticipating seeing her neighbors return, Carmody said, “It’s good and it’s bad. It’s really good to see the friends again and all the parties — but it gets more crowded.”

At Seagate Towers in Delray Beach, where one of the 13-story high-rises had 15 people living there in August, Ron Mitchell is trying out his new knee, taking out his bike for the first time since replacement surgery.

“I was in the wine business for a while, so when it’s more crowded, obviously, there’s more money, right? But it’s not bad, you know, you are able to park, you are able to get to the beach,” Mitchell said.

At the St. Andrews Club, Blakely Ashley Larrabee has flown in from Delaware with her husband and two children. She says her parents own a condo across the street. “It’s not much hotter in Delaware than it is here. You get the nice ocean breeze and it’s not as crowded on Atlantic Avenue.” 

Back at Crown Colony, count Smith as one of those who likes the vibe in the lonely season.

“Well, it’s kind of nice, actually, in the summertime where it’s kind of empty,” he said. “You go to the pool. It’s like your private pool, right? During the wintertime, you can’t find a seat.”

Then he thinks for a moment and adds, “But you know, it’s also nice having the members here too, because we all know each other, right? We’re friends, we hang out.”

An officer working at the Sandbar heard shots just before midnight. Damage was reported to the south, with gunfire striking a window at Dover House and leaving bullet casings scattered at Miramar Drive. The Coastal Star/Google Maps image

By John Pacenti

Women dancing on cars. Partygoers livestreaming. Reports of three masked shooters. Nearly four dozen spent bullet casings littering the ground.

A 31-page police report released to The Coastal Star details the harrowing June 21 scene south of the Delray Beach pavilion on State Road A1A as young adults and juveniles scattered to the sound of gunfire. 

“I thought it was just a whole bunch of fireworks because it was kind of leading up to Fourth of July weekend and so forth,” said Matt Gracey, who was visiting one of his properties in the first block of South Ocean Boulevard.

“So, then, I went out toward the sidewalk and I saw people running in all different directions and, just about then, I heard the police sirens start, and the whole area was just covered in police cars.”

The Coastal Star requested the report in June and then again in July. It was turned over on Aug. 19. Police redacted many details, even obvious references to A1A, known as Ocean Boulevard in Delray Beach, for reasons unexplained.

“This was a disturbing event that could have resulted in serious harm to individuals,” Delray Beach police spokesman Ted White said on Aug. 26. “We immediately increased police presence in the area and are pleased to report there have been no further incidents. The safety of our community is our top priority.”

One bullet ended up lodged in an Audi. Another shattered a condo’s sliding glass door; another damaged a window at a resort. One person was injured.

“I’ve seen a lot of pictures from residents of the aftermath of that with bullet holes in balconies and in nearby cars,” said Commissioner Rob Long, who at the city’s July 25 budget hearing brought up the shots fired.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale, when shown the police report later, said, “It’s a miracle no one was killed or seriously injured.” She praised the police for reconstructing the scene before the shooting from evidence, surveillance cameras, social media and eyewitnesses.

Still, there have been no arrests in the two months since the incident, according to the report.

“Unfortunately, there were a bunch of kids who came from a different city, based on our investigation, emanated out of Broward County, ended up in Palm Beach County, and then the third location was Delray Beach city,” Police Chief Russ Mager told commissioners at their July 25 meeting.

Similar scenario in March
The scenario, he said, was similar to March 30 when a large group gathered on the top floor of the Old School Square parking garage, at 95 NE First Ave., a block east of Swinton Avenue. One juvenile did end up getting shot at that party.

And indeed, about 45 minutes before the June 21 gunfire, an officer said he dispersed a large gathering again at the garage, which is a mile from the beach. When that officer responded to shots fired on the beach, he noticed the same cars from the garage — and saw the same victim who was shot in March, according to the police report.

“We were like their third stop, similar to the garage scenario,” Mager said of the June 21 shooting. “We were able to identify some of the names from the garage incident. Similar names, the same people popped up in the beach incident. So, they were familiar with Delray Beach. They knew to come here for some reason.”

Officer Henry Lugo was working an off-duty detail June 21 at the Sandbar Delray, 40 S. Ocean Blvd., when he reported shots fired “in the area of the beach,” shortly before midnight, according to the police report, which redacted some key locations.

When officers responded, they found young men and women fleeing. They discovered Nasir Williams, who told officers he had crouched down behind a Nissan Altima, which then hit his leg as it sped away.

A window had been struck at the Dover House Resort at 110 S. Ocean Blvd., according to the police report.

One witness told investigators he saw a man shooting southbound toward a group of individuals, taking cover behind vehicles before running northbound toward Atlantic Avenue.

Two women told police they saw three men wearing masks and shooting. The men were livestreaming on their phones at the party, the women said.

Bullets, damaged property
Police early on June 22 found 27 bullet casings, both 9 mm and .45 caliber, and a live round near Miramar Drive. An additional 17 casings — and another live round — were found later that day after a bicyclist approached an officer, who was canvassing the crime scene, to say his tire had been punctured after riding over several spent bullet casings, according to the police report. Police redacted the A1A location of those casings.

A woman who lives at a complex south of the intersection of A1A and Miramar Drive reported blood droplets near her Audi, though later testing turned out negative for blood. A bullet was lodged in one of the car’s doors. The homeowners association of another condo complex reported a sliding glass door in the front penthouse was shattered.

What detectives reported
Police obtained surveillance videos from businesses on South Ocean Boulevard and from a parked Tesla. They found an advertisement for an “invitation only” party to start at 11 p.m. at an unknown location.

Scouring social media, police found a video showing some women dancing on top of an unknown vehicle. One of the women was observed “falling on the front windshield of the vehicle, causing it to shatter,” the police report notes.

In another video discovered on social media, gunshots could be heard in the background. “Rounds were fired rapidly, possibly being shot from an automatic firearm or altered semi-automatic firearm,” the investigator stated in the report.

Officers talked to their confidential sources and what emerged was that a large party was shut down in Parkland by police. An “after party” in Lake Worth Beach also got shut down, “causing partygoers to migrate back south to Delray Beach,” according to the police report.

A confidential source said that the shooters were from Lake Worth Beach, but investigators were unable to confirm the tip. The tipster also provided a video of a man holding a weapon. He wore red shorts with black sandals and black socks and a dark-colored backpack.

Mager told commissioners that the added patrols would send a signal to people using Delray Beach as party central to move on. “I want to send a message that you don’t do that in Delray Beach,” he said. “For me to do that is to have a show of force. I want them to see us out there.”

If it wasn’t for discussions on the budget, Mager may have not been questioned by Long and spoken about the barrage of gunfire shots on A1A. 

Gracey said that shortly after June 21, a friend called up the Police Department. 

“He was told, rather abruptly, that it wasn’t their job to inform the public of situations like that — which stunned us a little,” Gracey said. “It certainly concerns me that we’re not being told about some incidents around our town.”

Delray Beach police ask anyone with information about this crime to contact Detective Kyle Kinney at 561-243-7828.

The Eau Palm Beach sale price was recorded at $277.4 million. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Musgrave

With the purchase of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, the largest landowner in Manalapan has increased his sizable footprint in the small coastal town, bringing his total holdings to more than $450 million.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who stunned the real estate world in 2022 by plunking down a record-breaking $173 million for a 15.7-acre estate north of the Boynton Inlet, last month purchased the Forbes Five-Star oceanfront resort for $277.4 million, real estate records show.

Manalapan municipal leaders, whose offices are less than a block from the 7-acre resort, said they were pleased a town resident had purchased its signature property.

“As a resident, I’m sure he has a vested interest in making sure it is a world-class property,” said Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer.

Mayor John Deese agreed. “I think it’s a very positive thing for the community,” he said. “He was the largest property owner. Now, he’s really the largest property owner.”

Real estate experts had speculated that the sale of the 309-room resort and 42,000-square-foot spa could fetch $1 million a room, or “key” as it is known in the industry.

Jan Freitag, national director for the CoStar Group, which tracks commercial real estate transactions, including hotels, said he would have been surprised if the resort had commanded such a high price.

“One million a key is still rare,” he said. “It’s more like what happens in Miami and New York.”

Since October 2022, only six resorts in Florida have sold for more than $1 million a room, he said. Three were near Miami and three were in the Florida Keys.

The January sale of the 291-room Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne topped the list when it sold for $400 million, nearly $1.4 million a key. It also has 188 hotel condo units.

But that sale didn’t eclipse the December 2022 sale of a resort on Little Torch Key, which can only be reached by boat or seaplane. The $54.6 million purchase price meant each of the 30 suites at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa sold for $1.8 million.

The purchase price of the Eau Palm Beach, at nearly $900,000 a room, “matches expectations,” Freitag said.

The sale was announced cryptically when the London-based owner, the Lewis Trust Group, ran a full-page ad in The Palm Beach Post on Aug. 8, thanking those who had helped make the hotel a success.

“As Eau Palm Beach acquires new owners, we know you will continue to build on the legacy we created together,” the Lewis family wrote.

Later in the day, the group announced Ellison had bought the resort. Property records show the sale also included a roughly 3-acre triangular-shaped parking lot at 499 Greynolds Circle, south of Hypoluxo Road in Lantana.

In 2022, when Ellison purchased the former Ziff estate from Netscape co-founder Jim Clark, he notched the most expensive home purchase in state history.  At the end of July, Ellison’s net worth was estimated at $173 billion by Forbes, making him the fifth- richest person in the world.

In the news release, Lewis family members and hotel general manager Tim Nardi noted that Ellison is no stranger to the hotel business.

The Eau Palm Beach will be part of a portfolio that includes Four Seasons Resort Lanai, Sensei Lanai, Nobu Ryokan Malibu, Nobu Hotel Palo Alto, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, and

Sensei Porcupine Creek. A longtime California resident, the 80-year-old Ellison moved to the Hawaiian island of Lanai in 2020 and owns 98% of it.

“Ellison’s extensive experience in luxury hospitality brings a new level of innovation to the resort and we are confident that his transition will not only enhance the unique experiences we offer but also introduce new amenities and services,” Nardi said in a statement.

While no specifics were offered, the release said that Ellison plans to upgrade the hotel, which most recently underwent a face-lift in 2023 when it was painted pale yellow with teal and gray trim. A year earlier, the Lewis family spent $25 million on an interior renovation, saying more work was planned in 2025.

The family has talked about selling the resort for several years. The Lewises put it on the market in February 2019. When no qualified buyers surfaced, they canceled the planned sale less than three months later.

The land has been home to a hotel since La Coquille Club was built in the 1950s and became a playground for the rich and influential, including the Vanderbilt, Ford and Rockefeller families. It was razed in the 1980s.

The late shopping center magnate Mel Simon redeveloped the site, with the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach opening its doors in the early 1990s. The Lewis family purchased it in 2003.

Ten years later, it was rebranded as Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, taking its name from the French word for water. 

“Our family feels privileged to have been a successful part of the Eau Palm Beach story,” said Simon Lewis, principal of the Lewis Trust Group. “Though we are sorry to bring our tenure to a close, we are gratified in knowing that Larry Ellison will treasure the resort and guide its hoteliers to even greater heights.”

Oops, ouch, mea culpa.

Mistakes happen. As hard as we try, there are times when our publication doesn’t catch a date-error, typo or misspelling. Sometimes an item simply needs more explanation to make sense to readers. And much to our chagrin, there have been times when we published bad information.

Regardless of the error’s scope, our policy is to set the record straight. We do this a few different ways:

• Fix the error online as quickly as possible.
• Publish a print correction or clarification in the next print edition.
• When necessary, publish a revised story.

Reporting is a complex business. Distilling hours-long meetings into 600-word stories takes skill. As does winnowing down a lengthy in-person or telephone interview. Sometimes information is misunderstood, vague or not provided.

Feature stories and people profiles have their own challenges with the spelling of names, ages of individuals and dates of events. In short, there are plenty of places to err.

So, to hold our readers’ trust, The Coastal Star spends an inordinate amount of production time on catching anything that doesn’t look or read right.

All of our stories are locally produced, so we check phone numbers and website addresses, double-check the spelling on names, check that today’s story accurately reflects the past. It’s a time-consuming process, but journalistic excellence is always our goal.

Still, on occasion we miss something that should be obvious, or a deadline keeps us from following up on questions, or we simply interpret information incorrectly. Mistakes happen.

And whether an error requires a quick tweak online, a simple clarification or a formal correction, we understand the importance of not perpetuating misinformation, so we fix it.

And we let our readers know.

— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor

Boca’s Ballroom Battle contestant Jacqui Moroco practices with her dance partner, Jan Clancy, at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Sallie James

For two minutes this month, dental professional Jacqui Moroco will doff her lab coat, slip into dancing shoes, step onto a stage before hundreds and wow the crowd with a spicy swing routine — all in the name of education.

Her routine will be one of eight acts in Boca’s Ballroom Battle, an annual fundraiser for the George Snow Scholarship Fund. Moroco and seven other community leaders will strut their stuff on Sept. 14 at The Boca Raton, where they will compete as dancers and fundraisers.

“This is going to push me out of my comfort zone,” admitted Moroco, 59, a Delray Beach orthodontist for 31 years. “We are going to be at The Boca Raton in a very large ballroom. You need to exaggerate the moves.”

Just like in the TV show Dancing with the Stars, the contestants will compete in themed, choreographed dance routines. And just like in the real show, each participant will be paired with a professional dancer. 

Moroco has been diligently practicing with partner Jan Clancy of Boca’s Fred Astaire Dance Studio since late April. So far, she’s feeling confident.

Her biggest concern? “How do I make these sexy moves that are not typical of the way I carry myself?”

Because the contestants are all well-known in the community, the fundraiser continues to have huge appeal, said Robin Deyo, chairwoman of the scholarship fund’s board of trustees.

“Each one of them comes with their own circle of influence, so it’s always engaging new people to the event,” Deyo noted. “People like Jacqui are so inspired by the education component they really don’t have a problem asking … people to support their efforts.”

The other contestants are John W. Clidas, senior vice president, Synovus Trust Co.; Sarah Doyle, a luxury travel adviser with Valerie Wilson Travel; Al Goldberg, a retired chef/owner of Gourmet Adventures Catering; Gina Harrow, executive director of the Yellow Ribbon Fund; Zoe Lanham, vice president of The Addison; Alex Price, CEO of Priceless Perspective LLC; and Matt Williams, founder of Fropro Snack Bar.

Contestants do much more than just dance. Each one was tasked with coming up with a unique way to raise money for the scholarship fund. Moroco, for instance, partnered with

La Nouvelle Maison restaurant in June for a “dine and donate” event in which 10% of all proceeds benefited the scholarship fund. Other contestants organized fundraisers such as a ladies night out, a cornhole contest and a casino night party. Donors can also contribute on the scholarship fund’s website.

The Ballroom Battle “winners” are the male and female dancers who raise the most money.

To date, the scholarship fund has awarded $31.4 million in scholarships and support services to more than 3,300 students. The annual event is the Snow family’s way of turning tragedy into triumph.

The scholarship fund was established in 1982 in memory of Boca businessman-turned-chopper pilot George Snow, who disappeared in 1980 after transporting a news crew to the Bahamas to cover a story involving shipwrecked Haitian migrants. Their helicopter vanished without a trace on its return trip to Miami.

Moroco is in it to win it. A cardboard cutout of herself in a long dress, displayed in the lobby of her practice at Moroco Orthodontics at 4600 Linton Blvd., promotes the Ballroom

Battle with a simple message: “Help me raise money for students & win!”

If You Go
What: Boca’s Ballroom Battle 2024
Where: Grand Ballroom at The Boca Raton, 501 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton
When: 5 p.m. cocktails to midnight Sept. 14
Why: Fundraiser for the George Snow Scholarship Fund
Tickets: Tables start at $2,500 but are almost sold out. A limited number of individual tickets are available on request.
Info: Contact Amy Greene at AGreene@scholarship.org or 561-347-6799.

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR
Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

Key West, synonymous with Margaritaville, received the first sign designating State Road A1A in Florida as the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway. Eventually, the new markers should be erected statewide, including along A1A in Palm Beach County.
ABOVE: Buffett’s sister Lucy makes remarks at the private unveiling of the new signage one day prior to its public unveiling. Photo provided by Heather Jones, Margaritaville Enterprises

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released new flood zone maps, putting thousands more Palm Beach County residents into high-risk flood zones.

The new maps are effective Dec. 20, requiring property owners’ immediate attention, particularly if they have mortgages requiring flood insurance.

Three open houses are being held in September to provide residents an opportunity to learn more about their flood zones and risks. Representatives from the county, municipalities, FEMA and the insurance industry will be available to answer questions and provide information.

The meeting for Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Briny Breezes, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Hypoluxo, Ocean Ridge, South Palm Beach and unincorporated Palm Beach County will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Boynton Beach Police Department Community Room, 2100 High Ridge Road, Boynton Beach.

The session for Lantana, Manalapan and other municipalities will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Howard Park Community Center, 1302 Parker Ave., West Palm Beach.

The third open house will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Jupiter Community Center Auditorium, 200 Military Trail, Jupiter.

Everyone in the county is at risk for flooding no matter what zone you live in, FEMA says. If you have any questions, call the county’s Flood Hotline at 561-233-5374.

— Steve Plunkett

By John Pacenti

After proposing deep cuts to support a rolled-back property tax rate, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore found the needed money in the city’s couch cushions — though the new budget won’t be completely without pain.

Under the rollback rate, the city will reduce its contribution to the Community Redevelopment Agency by $1.3 million. It will also reduce its contribution to the CRA’s grant program, called A.-G.U.I.D.E., by $200,000.

“The CRA revenue is based on the millage rate set by the city of Delray Beach, and so we have to take that into consideration,” Moore said at the Aug. 13 workshop. “So it’s just an accounting adjustment.”

Moore went on to say he has had discussions with CRA Executive Director Renee Jadusingh. “Fortunately, they do well financially. Yep, it’s pretty solid.”

The commission in July approved the rollback millage rate of just over $5.90 for each $1,000 of taxable value. Mayor Tom Carney led the charge to decrease taxes for the upcoming fiscal year as the commission adopted a rate that would save a homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1 million last year about $278 in city property taxes.

At the rollback rate, Moore said property taxes collected would fall $6.2 million from his originally proposed tax rate. He initially had department managers propose various cuts, such as reducing the number of firefighters on a shift, decreasing police patrols and curtailing events, such as the Christmas village.

Carney sent Moore back to find ways to make the rollback rate work without cutting significant services in the $187 million budget for FY 2025, which starts Oct. 1. Moore was able to make adjustments, taking into account the reduced CRA payment and other expenditure and revenue adjustments.

The city can expect conservatively at least $900,000 more from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Chief Financial Officer Hugh Dunkley said various projects are in different stages of closeout, with FEMA owing the city $1.4 million for Hurricane Irma damage in 2017 and another $500,000 for damage from Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

“So it’s various events, hurricanes over the years,” Dunkley said. “FEMA usually takes a while.” 

Other revenue funding adjustments included course fees from the new Creative Arts School ($291,000), which is expected to start in the fall; a reimbursement for EMS transport fees ($165,000) due to a vendor billing mistake; and additional revenues from boat launch and park fees ($277,659).

On the expenditure side of the equation, besides the CRA reduction, there was a $2 million reduction from the general fund to the beach renourishment project. Moore said this is allocation magic as the project will still be fully funded through the capital improvement program. 

An additional $788,000 will be saved through department attrition by not filling current open positions or new openings as employees leave for various reasons, Moore said. The

Police Department led all departments with $236,468 through position attrition.

The new budget even found $97,989 more for library services, as requested by the commission.

“Delray Beach appears to be the only taxing authority in all of South Florida to support and embrace the rollback rate in this regard,” Moore said. “There was a great deal of work accomplished over the last couple of weeks to bring back these considerations.”

Commissioner Tom Markert praised Moore and the staff.  “This was not fun, this was not easy, but you got it done, and I’m really comfortable with how you got it done and what the final work product looks like,” he said.

Commissioner Rob Long, who voted against the rollback rate along with Commissioner Angela Burns, said, “I do feel like we’re wrestling with our shoulders pretty close to the mat right now. So I could see budget amendments coming up down the road.”

At its Sept. 3 budget hearing, the commission tentatively approved of the proposed tax rate by a 4-1 vote, with Long voting no.

The commission also supported the proposed budget 3-2, with Long and Vice Mayor Juli Casale opposed.

The final vote on the budget and tax rate will take place at a Sept. 16 public hearing.

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream will bump up its starting salary for police officers $4,000, to $70,000, and give its veteran officers a $4,000 across-the-board raise.

Town commissioners agreed to the higher pay at their Aug. 9 meeting.

“Everybody’s competing because everybody’s having trouble hiring and retaining, so they’re throwing money at it,” Police Chief Richard Jones said.

Jones passed out a chart showing that the town’s police force pay ranks in the lower half of Palm Beach County municipalities.

“So that kind of puts us, Chief, with these different positions right now kind of the median range for the county,” Vice Mayor Tom Stanley said of the raises.

Jones and Town Manager Greg Dunham said they would propose a step plan next year with police raises based on length of service to rein in the pay boosts. Starting salaries were $52,250 in October 2022, then lifted to $61,250 in June 2023 and $66,000 last October.

“If we keep going like this, a five-year police officer’s going to be making $200,000 a year,” Dunham said.

Dunham also said he plans to give $5,000 pay raises to Town Clerk Renee Basel, who has leadership roles in municipal clerks associations and serves as the town’s human resources director, and to Public Works Director Anthony Beltran, who is acting like an owner’s representative in dealing with Gulf Stream’s road and drainage project.

“I have contractors walk up to him and ask him, how do I do this?” Dunham said.

One idea to improve bike safety on sections of State Road A1A where there are no road shoulders is to install sharrows, which are already in use in Delray Beach near City Hall. The pavement symbols indicate cyclists may use the full lane. Photo provided

By Charles Elmore

A year that began with a traumatic crash injuring six bicyclists and a driver on State Road A1A in southern Palm Beach County was on track to end with a batch of new safety measures in place, from pavement markings to new road signs.

But a state transportation official is now calling such proposals a “preliminary draft,” with a broader study ongoing for what to do on an iconic coastal roadway that draws all sorts of travelers and residents — but not always consensus between the two.

For example, “sharrows” have been under consideration in Gulf Stream and Manalapan, places that have no A1A shoulders, according to a Florida Department of Transportation presentation to a countywide planning agency in June. Sharrows mean markings on the pavement depicting a bicycle with forward-pointing arrows. The purpose, as state officials describe it, is to remind travelers that bicycles can command the whole lane in such circumstances.

An FDOT spokesman said Aug. 27 that plan was not set in stone and research continues.

“The Florida Department of Transportation is conducting a comprehensive study of bike/pedestrian facilities on State Road A1A in Palm Beach County,” said Guillermo Canedo, spokesman for the agency’s District 4.

Gulf Stream Town Manager Greg Dunham said Sept. 3 that after discussions with FDOT, the town will not be getting sharrows. Dunham said “in lieu of sharrows, the department has decided to place six signs along A1A near the town.”

Such road signs are also being planned in some towns that have unmarked shoulders on both sides, including Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. The signs say, “Share the Road,” and have a bicycle symbol.

During FDOT’s June presentation to the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency governing board, a department design manager, Chris McCurdy, said the sharrows and sign safety features for A1A in South County would be completed in the next six months.

Canedo’s take was different.

“Once the study is completed, the recommendations from the study will inform our decision-making for specific locations along SR A1A where there may be short-term and long-term safety improvements that are viable,” he said.

That study would be completed in October, according to the timeline shown in June.

A Manalapan official said his town had not heard much about what is coming and would like more information.

“We want to make sure everyone’s safe,” said Eric Marmer, assistant town manager for Manalapan.

There has been talk of having transportation officials come to a Manalapan town meeting. The next regularly scheduled one would be Sept. 24, but nothing was arranged as of late August.

Longer-term A1A repaving plans could take five years and involve bicycle and pedestrian safety components in Boca Raton, Highland Beach and Delray Beach, among other places in the county. For example, the project underway in Highland Beach is to include a 5-foot bike lane on each side once it is complete, possibly late in 2025.

The feasibility study that began in March, two months after the accident in Gulf Stream, aims to look at further ways to improve bike and pedestrian safety on the corridor. One of those ways could be to widen A1A shoulders “where feasible.”

Plenty of factors complicate the issue. Residents in some towns have resisted expansion of A1A in the past and questioned the wisdom and safety of encouraging more cycling or other traffic.

Features such as signs and pavement markings might be considered “push button” projects that could be completed with relatively modest planning and cost by year’s end, McCurdy said at the June 20 meeting.

The point of sharrows, for instance, is to “communicate to the traveling public, that’s those behind the dashboard and those on the bicycle, that the bicycle has the ability to command the full width of the lane,” McCurdy said. “The people behind the dashboard recognize the bicycle has the right to be there.”

The pavement markings recur every 250 feet, she said. “That’s constant reminders,” she said.

At that meeting, County Commissioner Marci Woodward of Boca Raton said she liked many elements of the plan but wondered if it risks burdening drivers with so much information that they tune out. Signs or pavement markings would join existing safety features that can include flashing lights.

“It gets to be a lot and I think people go blind to it,” Woodward said. “People are looking at the ocean on A1A when they come to an open area. There’s a lot to look at.”

Her husband recently witnessed a crash on A1A, she said, where a vehicle slowed sharply for a pedestrian crossing but the following driver was caught off guard and it resulted in a rear-end collision.

Getting the balance right could be one the program’s challenges.

“It’s not realistic for drivers to pay attention to 20 signs on a quarter-mile stretch of A1A,” she said.

Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.

By Steve Plunkett

The first of Bluewater Cove’s two Intracoastal Waterway lots will be home to a single-story 6,343-square-foot Georgian-style residence.

Gulf Stream town commissioners approved the site plan for the house at their Aug. 9 meeting after considering what people on the opposite side of the Intracoastal might say.

“I think this one has a pretty significant impact on the neighbors especially since I received some comments that some of the neighbors thought they were going to be looking at a FIND area for the rest of their lives from the east side,” Vice Mayor Tom Stanley said.

The land that is now Bluewater Cove on the west side of the Intracoastal was previously owned by the Florida Inland Navigation District, which swapped its waterfront acreage with the Gulf Stream Golf Club, which then sold the property to the developer of the street. FIND commonly keeps its land undeveloped to use as storage sites for dredging the waterway.

Before commissioners could approve the house’s plan, they passed an ordinance allowing front-entry features on any one-story home to be 16 feet high instead of 14. The architects for the Bluewater Cove residence said they would have to reduce the slope of the roof, making the overall structure unattractive, poorly scaled and not truly Georgian design, if forced to build at the lower level.

The new home will have four bedrooms, a club room, a three-vehicle garage opening to the side, and in another first for the street, a circular driveway to the front door. The house faces a turning circle at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Commissioner Michael Greene questioned the amount of hardscape at the front of the house. “It just seems like it could be more greenery in the front of the property,” he said.

Landscape architect Louis Vlahos said some of the plan’s drawings omitted plantings to show more of the house, and that the specimen tree shown in the driveway island will grow to be 18 to 20 feet tall, “almost twice the size.”

The drawing also lacked two large oaks at the front, he said.

“I think it’s attractive,” Mayor Scott Morgan said. “Our main concern is the view from the east, and I think by maintaining a single-story home with a large portico for the setback of your glass doors, I think you’ve achieved that.”

Also approved was a variance for 555 Pelican Lane allowing a dock into the Intracoastal to be rebuilt at an angle to the sea wall instead of parallel. The original dock dated to 1951 and needed to be replaced after the equally old sea wall was redone. It also was 4 inches wider than the maximum allowed 5 feet.

Lawyer Tom Murphy, representing property owner Susannah Scott-Barnes, said the dock cannot be seen by any other member of the community.

“This is really not a variance for relief in order to therefore do something new but rather a variance to preserve what is old, and … what is old in Gulf Stream is good,” Murphy said.

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream’s road and drainage improvement project continues to be plagued by unexpected conditions — the latest by underground utilities being buried less deep than usual.

“Typically, utilities of power, Comcast, things like that going across roadways are 2 feet or greater below pavement,” Jockey Prinyavivatkul of Baxter and Woodman Consulting

Engineers told town commissioners Aug. 9. “Your cable (TV) and telephone cables are a little bit more shallow.”

The same situation happened with Florida Power & Light Co.’s underground electric lines.

“FPL runs 4 feet typically, but when they go into residential and they don’t have the room to directional-bore at 4 feet, they compensate,” said Anthony Beltran, the town’s public works director.

It’s all too close for contractor Roadway Construction LLC to use a tilling machine to prepare a street for asphalt. Instead, it will have to dig down to the utility conduits, cover them with 5½ inches of base rock to protect them from the weight of traffic, then fill in the trench and compact the soil. The dirt that is removed must also be hauled away.

And that means a change order to the construction contract. The commission approved two, along with a budget adjustment, for a total change of up to $977,305.

One is a $95,691 order to do the necessary extra work on Wright Way and Old School Road. Commissioners also approved spending up to $704,228 more on the base rock alternative as the project moves forward, without the need for the engineer and contractor to return to commission chambers.

“The big number is a worst-case scenario. At least it gives us the funding in place that we can move forward efficiently,” said Rick Chipman, the construction project manager for Baxter and Woodman.

“We do not anticipate the entire amount being used,” Prinyavivatkul said.

Commissioners also approved a $177,386 change order for widening parts of Banyan and Gulfstream roads, Lakeview Drive and all of Old School Road, from 18 feet to 20 feet to match the Core’s other streets.

Meanwhile, construction workers have been deployed to a handful of other areas to keep busy while waiting for money to be authorized.

“We don’t want them to be not coming in to work and not having any work to do,” Town Manager Greg Dunham said.

Roadway planned to spend the weeks of Aug. 26 and Sept. 3 preparing Wright Way and Old School Road for paving.

‘Radical’ solution to quorum issue saves budget from loss

By Jane Musgrave

Manalapan has a new town commissioner and she’s the same as the old one.

Commissioner Cindy McMackin was sworn in at the town’s Aug. 9 meeting, replacing, well, herself.

A confluence of unrelated events put McMackin in the strange position of resigning her post in July only to be reappointed the next month.

The idea, which Town Attorney Keith Davis described as “radical,” was the town’s unconventional way to avoid blowing a nearly $300,000 hole in its proposed $9.1 million budget.

“It’s unprecedented,” Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer said at the July 23 meeting as town officials struggled to come up with a solution to avert the financial shortfall. “I’ve never experienced this.”

The potentially budget-busting situation can be blamed, in part, on a botched computer update that cybersecurity company CrowdStrike sent out on July 19 that had global repercussions. The flawed Microsoft Windows update caused the biggest technology outage in history. It wreaked havoc on all business sectors, including hospitals, financial institutions and, notable for Manalapan, air travel.

The timing, for Manalapan, was particularly problematic.

July is the month all governments in Florida must meet to set a proposed tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. Unlike other meetings, which can be attended via Zoom, state law requires elected officials to be physically present to vote at the rate-setting hearing.

Some of Manalapan’s elected officials head out of town in the summer, returning only for mandatory meetings.

So, when the computer glitch immediately grounded 4,000 flights and caused chaos in the skies for days, two town commissioners who planned to attend the July 23 meeting to set the proposed tax rate got stranded, while a third was out of state with no plans to be at the meeting in person.

“I’ve checked. Nobody’s getting out of here for three, four or five days,” said Commissioner Dwight Kulwin, who was in Massachusetts and only able to attend the July meeting by phone.

Commissioner Orla Imbesi was also stuck in the unable-to-fly zone. McMackin was in Montana and wasn’t planning to return until Aug. 8.

With only three commissioners at the meeting, the town didn’t have its needed four-member quorum. That meant, according to the Town Charter, no vote could be taken.

But the clock was ticking. Under Florida law, the tentative tax rate had to be sent to the Palm Beach County property appraiser by Aug. 4, although officials at the appraiser’s office asked that the rates be submitted by July 31.

If they violated the law, commissioners couldn’t impose the property tax rate of $3.00 per $1,000 of assessed valuation they needed to fund the budget in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Instead, by law, they would be limited to the rolled-back rate of $2.8486 per $1,000, which would leave the town’s planned budget $291,000 short.

The lower rolled-back rate would generate the same amount of taxes as last year from existing properties because property values have increased. But town officials had hoped to keep the same $3.00 per $1,000 of value rate as they had approved last year and use the extra money for services.

“We’re going to have to operate the town on donations,” Marmer said as town officials debated a possible solution.

Ultimately, attorney Davis came up with the unorthodox plan. If one of the commissioners resigned immediately, the commission would need only three to make a quorum and the tax rate could be set.

McMackin volunteered. “I’m probably the prime person to resign,” said McMackin, who also attended the meeting by phone. “I’m just here to help the town basically. Whatever works best for the town, I’m completely willing to do.”

So, she resigned.

The three commissioners at the July meeting — Simone Bonutti, Elliot Bonner and David Knobel — approved keeping the rate the same as last year’s. Residents can comment on the spending plan during hearings on Sept. 18 and 24, after which a final tax rate and budget will be approved.

In August, McMackin returned to town and was reappointed.

While Mayor John Deese and Kulwin voiced concerns that the opening would cause a flurry of interest and wannabe commissioners would be upset when McMackin was reappointed, Town Manager Linda Stumpf said their fears were unfounded.

“I don’t think they’re going to be banging down my door,” said Stumpf, who last year had to find five new commissioners to replace four who chose to resign rather than file new, more detailed, state-required financial disclosure reports —and a fifth needed when Deese moved into the vacated mayor’s position.

Stumpf’s prediction was correct. Aside from McMackin, only one other person sought the post. Davis told commissioners that they couldn’t just automatically reinstate McMackin.

They had to make it an open process. 

Decade-long Manalapan resident Jerry Jacobson said he applied in response to a mass email the town sent out.

“I was just trying to help out,” said Jacobson, who is a lawyer and holds a doctorate degree in medicine.

He said he didn’t know why the seat was vacant. When told the odd story, he laughed.

“Sounds like politics,” Jacobson said. “There’s no way else to describe it.”

By Anne Geggis

When she steps down as Manalapan’s town manager at the end of this month, Linda Stumpf will go out in much the same way she’s led the smallest of the South County coastal municipalities: efficiently and without much fanfare.

The two-decade town employee (nearly 14 years as manager, the balance as finance director) has issued the edict that no retirement party will be held to mark the occasion.

Still, her staying power stands out in a time when most municipal managers don’t last more than a few years.

“I would put her down as one of the top town managers I’ve had the pleasure to know,” said South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who tried to woo Stumpf to come north to her town from Manalapan.

The Town Commission is planning to give Stumpf a $25,000 going-away gift, which it expects to include in the new budget that will be voted on this month.

“We hope everyone will support that as part of a thank you to her for her 22 years of service to Manalapan,” Mayor John Deese said at the commission’s July 23 meeting. “It’s not necessarily a normal precedent for the town, but it’s also not a normal precedent to have someone serve the town for 22 years.”

He described the payout as “good and fair.”

At a March meeting of the Town Commission, Stumpf praised the addition of Eric Marmer as assistant town manager. He will assume her duties at her retirement. She also made a rare statement about her ongoing medical issues, which in recent years have meant she used a wheelchair in dealing with a chronic illness.

“I’ve been sitting in this chair for over a year,” she said. She’s still working at recovery, going to occupational and physical therapy sessions.

“So, my legs … the atrophy is there and I have to build it back,” she said.

Stumpf is leaving after overseeing some seismic change in Manalapan. The transformation has occurred without a lot of metaphoric storms — even if there were hurricanes to manage and, more recently, the sudden resignation last year of all but two members of the seven-member Town Commission because of a new state law requiring fuller disclosure of elected officials’ assets.

The property value of the town, which covers about .45 square miles of land, has nearly doubled in the time Stumpf has been a part of Manalapan’s operations — expanding from $635 million in 2003 ($1.19 billion when calculated in 2024 dollars) to its current taxable value of $2.24 billion.

Per square mile, Manalapan is among the most valuable in South Palm Beach County. Boynton Beach, for example, is 35 times Manalapan’s size in land mass, but its taxable value is only about four times greater than Manalapan’s.

Stumpf is credited with shepherding the development of the only Publix located on the South County barrier islands. The store opened in 2016 with Publix officials calling it a store unlike any other in the country.

“People were afraid it was going to cause too much traffic,” Fischer said. “But the end result … everybody loves it.”

Tracey Stevens, who worked in neighboring Ocean Ridge from 2016 to 2022 as town clerk and then town manager, has served on committees with Stumpf and collaborated as officials in neighboring towns.

“Whenever we had a police issue or a hurricane issue, we always came together and worked together for the betterment of the communities,” said Stevens, who is now Haverhill’s town manager.

Stumpf, Stevens said, brought an authoritative, no-nonsense manner to the proceedings.

“She really knew what she was talking about,” Stevens recalled of their collaboration.

Jane Musgrave contributed to this story.

By Jane Musgrave

The town of Manalapan could be getting a refurbished fire station and possibly a revamped Town Hall.

A tentative plan to launch what would be one of the most expensive projects in town history was spurred by changes in fire rules, such as those that require additional firefighters to work each shift, said Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer.

But, he said, the fire station, which is attached to the administrative complex, isn’t the only part of the building that needs work. The 43-year-old building has been plagued by roof leaks. While modernizing the fire station, it makes sense to address other problems, he said.

“It’s not a huge rush,” Marmer said. “We’re going to slowly roll through the process and see where we’re at.”

In about a month, the town plans to advertise for proposals from firms to review better ways of utilizing existing space. Then an architect would be hired to come up with proposals and cost estimates. Finally, a construction manager would be hired.

Since Palm Beach County Fire Rescue uses the station to serve town residents, Marmer said the county would pick up some of the costs. It is likely a bond issue would be needed to fund construction.

“It’s a long-term project,” he said. “It is a big project but a worthy one.”

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge commissioners and Town Manager Lynne Ladner wrestled over her proposed salary increases for staff, with the manager saying the employees had been left behind while raises were given to police officers over the last two years.

“I don’t believe that it is equitable to make such substantial increases to the base salaries of individuals in the Police Department when you do not consider equitable base salary increases for all other employees,” Ladner said at the commission’s Aug. 5 budget workshop.

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy pushed back on new increases, saying, “I’m not feeling like everyone’s on the same page in terms of looking out for the taxpayer’s best interest.”

In the end, commissioners approved a 3% cost-of-living raise and an average 3% merit increase based on performance for 12 non-police administrators and staff. This past year they received one-time bonuses not added to their base salaries.

The town is just starting negotiations with the police union regarding any salary increase for the town’s 16 police officers. 

The pay increases could still be tweaked as the $10.4 million proposed budget is finalized this month.

The discussion of the salary increase proposal came after a consultant presented to commissioners a compensation and classification study of non-police employees. Ocean Ridge taxpayers paid $14,000 for the report, which found that the town salaries were in the “realm of market competitiveness.”

Yet, Brian Wolfe of Evergreen Solutions said some employees resented having to do tasks outside their job descriptions and there was a split among staff.

“There is some tension, or at least an inference of tension, between two primary groups of employees in the town: the Police Department and everybody else,” Wolfe said. 

Ladner told commissioners in a memo she aimed to bring administrative staff salaries back to the “midpoint.”

She proposed significant raises to seven positions:  

• Police chief ($130,095 to $140,000, 7.6% increase)
• Public works supervisor ($90,956 to $99,286, 9.2% increase)
• Town clerk ($90,956 to $99,286, 9.2% increase)
• Deputy town clerk ($55,125 to $61,988, 12.4% increase)
• Building clerk ($55,125 to $61,988, 12.4% increase)
• Dispatch manager ($102,000 to $108,500, 6.4% increase)
• Senior police dispatcher $74,425 to $80,000, 7.5% increase).

The increases would have added more than $52,000 to the proposed annual budget — or .5%.  

Ladner might as well have proposed building a super-collider in town as the commission vigorously opposed her proposal. 

“This comes back to you,” Cassidy told Ladner. “You’re not feeling that it’s equitable, and then that is what you are sharing with staff. And we are looking at this report that we spent a considerable amount of money on, saying that we are equitable with the market.”

Ladner told Cassidy to put herself in the shoes of staff who have been passed over for significant raises. “What is the motivation to put in evenings and weekends when employees do not feel valued? He (Wolfe) quite clearly told you that the employees feel that there is a discrepancy.”

In an unusual twist, Mayor Geoff Pugh turned to Clerk Kelly Avery and asked her if she works nights and weekends.

“I used to,” Avery responded. “Not since the last budget. My job is getting done but at a slower pace.”

Again, Cassidy lit into Ladner. 

“It comes down to morale, too,” she said. “You were very upset last year because you didn’t feel it was equitable, and now we’re going right back to where we were. And if that’s the message that all staff is getting, then of course people don’t want to work any extra.”

Base salaries for police officers have increased by $10,000 since 2023, Ladner said.

The mayor said it was unfair to compare raises between police and other staff. “Well, see, that’s the problem,” Pugh said. “There’s a fundamental difference. One employee carries a gun and puts his life on the line, the other does not.”

Commissioner Steve Coz — with the police chief and clerk bookending the dais — then drove the discussion on providing staff with a 3% COLA and a 3% merit raise. The commissioners quickly came to a consensus — though Cassidy said it was important if necessary to revisit the raises as the budget process plays on.

Ladner didn’t go away completely defeated. 

She turned to getting approval for an increase of pay ranges for some positions so current staff wouldn’t top out in the town’s salary structure and not even receive COLA or merit raises.

The commission approved her proposal for new salary ranges, which will allow her to bump up Police Chief Scott McClure’s salary to $140,000 annually — a figure that the commissioners had just rejected.