By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge Town Manager Lynne Ladner made the same mistake this year in preparing the budget as the one that led to the town’s inadvertently violating state law last year, Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said at the Aug. 5 commission budget meeting.

The meeting had already been contentious with Cassidy and Ladner locking horns over staff salaries. Then Cassidy said Ladner was again using net values of property rather than gross values as the state requires to determine property taxes to be collected. The right figures were presented at the meeting, however.

The town in December was forced to call a special meeting to approve its budget and tax rate again after it was determined the wrong figures were used in publishing advertisements notifying residents of the FY 2024 rate and budget. Florida revenue officials determined the town “to be in violation of the law.”

The correction led to $58,738 more in tax revenue.

Ladner has proposed the same tax rate as last year at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable value.

When Ladner sent out the information to commissioners, Cassidy said she again included net values, not gross values, in calculating taxes.  The commissioner said she corrected Ladner twice but the manager “was a bit defensive about it.”

“I’m worried about the mistakes and the errors and the defensiveness,” Cassidy said. “So it’s just a great frustration.”

That’s when Commissioner David Hutchins — who had been largely quiet through the workshop — said, “May I make a suggestion? You’ve said it three times. We get it. You’re pissed off. Why don’t we just lower it a little bit and move on?”

Ladner, when asked about Cassidy’s comments on Aug. 14, said she has a good working relationship with the commissioner.

“There are times where we don’t see eye-to-eye,” Ladner said.

By Mary Thurwachter

Some good news on the beach front. The long-awaited project to add sand could begin as soon as January. South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer made that announcement during a Town Council meeting on Aug. 13.

“I spoke to Public Works Director H. Paul Brazil of Palm Beach and he’s starting the dune restoration project probably in January,” she said. “One hurdle they have to get through is to get permission from Lake Worth Beach in order to get access for the heavy equipment to come down south of Lake Worth’s beach to get to South Palm Beach.

“If this is accomplished, and we get the project going, I was told they will not charge South Palm Beach anything for placing the sand. All we have to pay for is the sand, and I thought that was very generous.”

Fischer said she would be in close contact with Palm Beach and find out more as January approaches.

The first phase of the town of Palm Beach dune restoration project was completed in May 2021 for $739,000.

The second phase has been planned for several years, the result of an interlocal agreement among Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and Lantana. Since South Palm Beach has no public beach, truck access had previously been planned by way of Lantana’s public beach. But the latest proposal would utilize Lake Worth Beach for that purpose.

Trucks will likely transport the sand from a stockpile at Phipps Ocean Park.

Lantana has yet to decide if it will participate in the project, but its town manager, Brian Raducci, is optimistic.

“Assuming it is economically feasible for the town of Lantana, it is my hope to be able to participate in this exciting and important project and bring about this vital beach improvement to our residents and visitor,” he said.

Since the current plan is to use Lake Worth Beach for access, Raducci said “they should not need beach access through Dorothy Rissler (Lane) as originally planned.”
Raducci, like Fischer, is awaiting an estimate of what should be expected for a unit rate for sand and an estimate of the quantity that each would need based on current conditions.

“Everything will be based on how much dry beach they have to work with in both the town of South Palm Beach and Lantana,” Raducci said.

Raducci said Lantana did not anticipate reimbursing the town of Palm Beach for the cost of the sand; that was originally proposed in exchange for the use of Dorothy Rissler Lane for access, “which apparently is no longer needed.”

“They are going to reach out to Palm Beach County ERM to see if they have any funds available to help place sand in Lantana,” he said. “Once that is all worked out, we would need to enter into a new interlocal agreement in order to move forward.”

Town manager reviewed — Town Manager Jamie Titcomb received positive remarks from Town Council members as part of his annual evaluation on Aug. 12. Unlike previous managers, Titcomb, who earns $82 per hour, is part-time and limited to 25 hours a week. His two-year contract expires in June of next year.

Council members rated him in various administrative categories from one to five, with five being the strongest. His overall scores from the four council members ranged from four to five.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer called for better communication and said Titcomb needed to do a better job of keeping the council apprised of details, such as the new people that are working in Town Hall.

Fischer also wanted to know how the manager was doing with hours, since early on he was spending more time at work than his contract allowed.

“I’m pretty much staying within my cap,” Titcomb answered. “There are some weeks when the sewer main breaks, or I have to come in after hours for something, that can bump my hours. But averaging out, I think I’m in pretty good shape.”

Titcomb thanked the council for the good scores and said he would take to heart the areas for improvement. The review won’t affect his salary but is a condition of his contract.

Virtual attendance allowed — The council voted to amend town law to allow its members, as well as members of town boards, to occasionally attend meetings virtually, by phone or other digital means. However, a quorum must be established in person, according to Town Attorney Ben Saver.

The amendment, Saver said, puts into words what is already the practice. No definition was given for what “occasionally” meant.

Even though the Town Council was reduced to four members after the resignation of former Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy in April — and the council is choosing to leave the seat vacant until the 2026 elections rather than fill it as the Town Charter provides — it still takes three council members to make a quorum.

Council member Ray McMillan, who attended the Aug. 13 meeting by phone, wanted to know if virtual attendance had any effect on salaries. Saver said it did not. Members receive $600 a month, with the exception of the mayor, who is paid $1,000.

Deputy honored again — Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy Donna Korb was recognized as Deputy of the Month after her lifesaving efforts involving a resident who cut her left arm while moving a glass tabletop in her condo. Korb arrived at Southgate Condominiums on May 21 ahead of paramedics and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

When paramedics arrived, they applied another tourniquet and administered additional care.

“Deputy Korb’s quick action was instrumental in the lifesaving effort,” said Sgt. Mark Garrison, who made the presentation.

In May, Korb was honored after rescuing a 68-year-old swimmer who struggled to stay afloat off the shores of South Palm Beach.

New Community Affairs board member appointed — Elenora Levin was appointed to serve a two-year term on the Community Affairs Advisory Board. Levin, who lives in the Barclay Condominiums, has held leadership roles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and St. John’s University in New York and has experience in grant writing. In her application, Levin said she has a strong ability to take initiative and make decisions based on facts.

— Mary Thurwachter

By Mary Thurwachter

South Palm Beach residents can expect the budget for FY 2025 to look much like this year’s with the same — or possibly slightly lower — tax rate. So said Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, who discussed the proposed budget during a workshop on Aug. 12.

While all the numbers were not yet ready to be plugged into the document, Titcomb said he was proposing to keep the same rate as this year — $3.40 per $1,000 of taxable value.

The current valuation of the town is up 10% over last year and using the $3.40 rate, based on usual calculations, would generate an additional $192,722 in revenue.

Any extra money, the town manager suggested, would go in a contingency fund to take care of transitional expenses connected to building a new Town Hall.

In July, the council signed a design contract for the new governmental center with CPZ Architects of Fort Lauderdale.

During a special meeting with staff and the architect’s representative on Aug. 29, the council unanimously voted to adopt the proposed first phase of the architectural program.

“Starting the following week and into the coming weeks, we will begin implementation of scheduled one-on-one meetings with council members for their input and priorities with the architects and their team,” Titcomb said. “We are anticipating scheduling of community input meetings to follow shortly thereafter. We will also begin to initiate ancillary site studies, surveys, and geotechnical phases necessary for design conditions affected by site configuration requirements.”

Update reports will be given at most every Town Council meeting going forward, Titcomb said. “Everyone is excited and motivated to get the project started and progressing efficiently.”

The new building will cost about $4 million, but the town won’t have to borrow or raise money for it.

“You guys collectively with previous councils have been very prudent and conservative and had foresight to put away money over time, which is in our investment accounts,” Titcomb told the council.

One of the largest expenses in the $2.7 million budget is the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office contract, which is increasing 2% for an additional cost of $22,279. The total cost for the contract will be $1,136,223.

Budget hearings are set for 5:01 p.m. Sept. 9 and Sept. 16 and the town could lower the property tax rate as late as the second hearing.

But at least one council member, Vice Mayor Monte Berendes, said that while lowering the rate sounds “wonderful,” it may not be the best idea this year. It was a switch for

Berendes, who in July had said it might be “a good year to give the residents a break” on their taxes.

“With the building going up and our expenses, I don’t think we can afford doing that,” he said at the August meeting. “I don’t think lowering it would make that much of a differ-ence.”

Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure (right) and Lt. Aaron Tobin talk with longtime resident Edith Behm before escorting her and other residents out of the Briny Breezes Town Council meeting last month. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Residents agitated by news removed for disrupting meeting

By Steve Plunkett

Briny Breezes has qualified for a $7.2 million grant from the state to upgrade its stormwater drainage system and raise its sea walls.

The Town Council authorized Mayor Ted Gross to formally accept the grant as well as a $1.4 million federal grant at its Aug. 22 meeting, but the council had to take a recess, directing police to ask several opponents of the grants to leave after they disrupted the meeting.

Hanna Tillotson, grants administrator for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Resilient Florida program, alerted Town Manager Bill Thrasher three days before the meeting that the money would soon be available.

“The Program will be providing you with a formal notice of grant award and next steps, but DEP wanted to provide you with this notice of grant award in order to secure the Town’s federal grant funding award for this project,” she wrote.

Thrasher said he wanted Gross authorized to sign the paperwork ahead of time so the council would not have to schedule a special meeting to do so.

In a note to corporation shareholders, Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc., and Susan Brannen, board president, hailed the “incredibly positive news” as “a huge step in the right direction.”

While Briny Breezes has to come up with matching dollars to receive either grant, Thrasher said he and the town’s consultants are optimistic that still more grant money will be available.

“Our objective is that it won’t cost one penny to any resident. That’s the objective,” Thrasher said to the handful of doubters who attended the meeting. “Is it possible? Is it a realistic objective? I want you to listen to me. It is 100% possible. And your negativity is not helping anything whatsoever.”

The opponents in the audience said they did not want to be saddled with paying back grants, that the grant items were added to the council’s agenda the day before the meeting, and that the decision to accept them should be put to a vote of the residents.

“You were not even elected. You were appointed,” resident James Arena complained.

At one point the opponents of the grants grew rowdy. Council President Liz Loper loudly hammered her gavel on the dais and declared a recess. Police asked some to leave for being disruptive.

Gross was also appointed as the council’s liaison to lobby County Commissioner Marci Woodward for possible financial assistance on the sea wall work, a role previously taken by Mayor Gene Adams, who resigned last year.

“I did work with Commissioner Woodward for a little bit on that and it is the opportunity to get money back to pay for the grants,” Adams said at the meeting.

The town was awarded the $1.4 million “pre-disaster mitigation” grant in March but then had to complete a complicated application process by June 28 to get it.

Thrasher said he will recommend using $3.5 million of the state and federal grants on the drainage work. He hopes to use the remainder and find an additional $7.2 million for the sea wall construction.

He and consultants Brizaga Inc. and Engenuity Group Inc. have been working for more than three years to identify the effects of sea level rise on aging sea walls and to find money to fix them. A Flooding Adaptation Plan in 2021 recommended installing a multi-pump drainage system, pumping station and discharge pipes to help eliminate road flooding and prevent damage to personal property and homes.

By Steve Plunkett

Briny Breezes is taking steps to clarify that fires on the beach are banned during turtle nesting season and require a permit from November through February.

After inconclusive discussions on April 25, May 23 and July 25 followed by a somewhat heated hour-long workshop on Aug. 15, town aldermen on Aug. 22 approved on first reading an update to the town’s ordinances on sea turtles, artificial lighting and fires on the beach.

“This ordinance has had a fairly robust history to this point,” Town Attorney Keith Davis said as he started the Aug. 22 conversation.

If approved on a second reading, the changes will allow amber, orange or red lights, which sea turtles cannot see, to be visible from the beach instead of insisting only that lights be shielded or aimed away from the sand. The dates of sea turtle nesting season will be corrected to say March 1 to Oct. 31. The code will prohibit fires on the beach during nesting season and require a town permit at other times of the year. Permits will not be needed for small enclosed fires or propane-generated fires, although rubbish fires will be banned.

“You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve read through and I like it the way that it is. I think it represents everything that we ended up discussing,” Mayor Ted Gross said.

The idea of updating the ordinance began in February when Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc., asked if a permit would be necessary to build a bonfire on the beach. Davis and colleague Trey Nazzaro quickly noticed that the town code incorrectly said turtle nesting season started on April 1 and devised some other suggested changes.

When the changes were presented at the workshop session, Gross was the strongest critic.

“One of the things that we talked over and over again is about the color scheme that renders the light safe for turtles,” he said then.

“In the memorandum that the lawyers sent us, we can add that to the ordinance,” Council President Liz Loper said.

“Frankly I thought that’s what we were having them do. I thought we’d come to this meeting with that already done,” Gross responded. “I’m kind of baffled because I thought when we came to this meeting we’d be discussing it in the form we had already discussed. But it looks like we’re going all the way back to stage one. … We’ve done this five or four times. Why is this never updated?”

Even with a permit at the right time of the year, someone would not be able to light a bonfire on the beach if it was a “no burn” day, Police Chief Scott McClure said. He said his department would check with Palm Beach County on the day of the planned fire to see if weather conditions would allow it.

The proposed ordinances will return to the council for a second reading at a future meeting.

Dr. Tatyana Nektalova set up her dermatology practice in Plaza del Mar after realizing that barrier island residents had to cross the bridge and drive a ways to receive this service. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

One of the nicest perks dermatologist Tatyana Nektalova has found since her move from New York City to South Palm Beach two years ago has been the difference in her commute.

“In New York it was an hour on the Long Island Expressway into Manhattan,’’ the skin doctor said. “Now it’s a 10-minute walk. It’s the best part of my day. I love it.”

A former chief resident of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Nektalova, 35, left her practice in Tribeca during the coronavirus pandemic when businesses closed for several months. She decided to relocate to coastal Palm Beach County, where she realized the barrier islands were lacking any dermatology facility.

“I had been looking in Boca, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach when I was walking past this shop (in Plaza Del Mar) and didn’t realize we had missed it,” she said. “It was zoned for retail, so it wasn’t coming up in our searches.”

Nektalova resolved that issue by presenting her case to officials from the town of Manalapan, who opted to make an exception. Then the real work began as she set about establishing her practice, Dermatology & Aesthetics of Palm Beach.

“I got the approval from the commission in January (2023) and signed the lease in March. Then I had to find an architect who understood our vision, and then the construction to build a 2,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art office with everything in terms of cutting-edge treatments.”

While waiting for it to open, which happened this past April, Nektalova signed up to provide concierge services, seeing more than 100 patients. That has helped her establish a client base that has continued to grow, albeit slowly, during the off-season.

“The whole practice has been built through word of mouth, no advertising or marketing,” she said. “I’ve been super grateful to the community. I’m trying to fill a very big unmet need.”

Nektalova says she had a severe skin condition called polymorphous light eruption while growing up.

“This itchy, and sometimes painful, rash would emerge with sun exposure,” she said. “Each summer, I was the kid that was restricted to swimming outdoors after dusk and was forced to always wear an oversized T-shirt and wide-brimmed hat to protect my skin. This experience profoundly shaped my life, giving me a window into what my patients are going through, especially the little ones.”

Recognized by her peers as one of New York’s “Super Doctors” yearly from 2019 to 2022, Nektalova also established a mentorship program with impressive results. Invited several years ago to speak at an event for aspiring medical students, she connected afterward with several of them.

“One of my mentees is now a dermatology resident at my alma mater, Mount Sinai Hospital, and we’ve published a paper together. I’ve been able to connect her with the chairman of Mount Sinai Hospital, who got her involved in research, and I’ve tried to keep in touch and be helpful when I can,” Nektalova said.

“Many of my students are now physicians’ assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, so I really enjoy taking on that role and getting involved, so it’s not just a job where they’re handing me a scalpel. I want them to learn, I want them to be engaged, get hands-on experience, which is as good as it gets.”

She hopes to establish a similar program with students in the Palm Beach area.

Driving around the area with its beaches, Nektalova said she is sometimes alarmed at how casually people can respond to the dangers of the sun’s rays.

“You can enjoy daily activities, you can go to the beach, you can go for a walk or run; you just have to do them safely,” she said. “Sun protection is important: wearing sunscreen, a hat, glasses, SPF-protected clothing, and avoiding peak hours.

“I don’t think dermatologists want to scare people,” she said. “They just want them to be a little bit wiser in their decisions.”

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you? 
A: I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, within a Bukharan Jewish family that fled the Soviet Union as refugees in the early 1990s. This background influenced my perspective and aspirations, instilling in me a pursuit of the American dream and an unwavering emphasis on education. 
The challenges my family faced taught me resilience, which became crucial as I navigated the rigorous academic demands of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.
This accelerated bachelor of science-doctor of medicine program not only honed my commitment to excellence but also reinforced the values of hard work instilled by my immigrant experience.
Medicine, both noble and compassionate, naturally became the pinnacle of profession for me. 

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: Over the past decade, I have worked as a physician, specializing in medical, cosmetic and surgical dermatology. My training at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where I served as chief resident, laid a strong foundation for my career. I previously practiced in SoHo, Tribeca and the Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan, caring for adults and children. 
I am most proud of founding Dermatology & Aesthetics of Palm Beach, a concierge dermatology practice at Plaza Del Mar in Manalapan. My goal with this venture is to build a practice where I can develop deep connections with my patients and offer unparalleled personalized care. I strive to make every person feel seen and be heard, which I believe is central to the essence of medicine and human experience. 

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Focus on being of service to others. Finding fulfillment and gratification often comes from making a positive impact on people’s lives. Follow your internal compass, the place where your personality aligns with your soul’s purpose, and you will not miss. 

Q: How did you choose to make your home in South Palm Beach?
A: Like many New Yorkers, I escaped to Palm Beach County during the pandemic and am happy to now call it home. 

Q: What is your favorite part about living in South Palm Beach?
A: My walk to work. The palm trees, ocean breeze and sunshine ground me. 

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I am an avid reader. The book I am currently reading, for the second time, is Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl. Profound and compelling, it drives the following message home: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” 

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: Andrea Bocelli’s voice can be incredibly soothing. I was lucky to attend one of his most special events at Madison Square Garden, where he performed with his son and daughter. Frank Sinatra’s My Way tells the story of self-determination and inspires confidence in all people. 

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My parents, Svetlana and Daniel. They moved to this country with nothing. Without the ability to formulate a single sentence in English, my father got his first job as a tailor by walking into a local dry cleaner with only a thimble in his pocket, and knowledge of the work he was certain his hands could do. He is now the head tailor for major Hollywood films and television series. My mother, who started out as a medical assistant for a cardiologist, is now the assistant nurse manager of a surgical intensive care unit at a Level 1 trauma center. They are the definition of the American dream and, above all else, good people. 

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: Penelope Cruz. She is deep, authentic, and has reinvented herself over and over again. 

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: My nephew, Benjamin. He is 5 years old. Even when he is misbehaving, you can’t help but smile.

The stump of a royal palm tree on one side of Federal Highway with four healthy ones on the other side of the road. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney sees the ghosts of dead palm trees. But Carney is not the kid in The Sixth Sense. Everyone else can see the stumps, as well.

Carney said residents have grown so used to his complaining about the cut-down royal palm trees on Federal Highway and Atlantic Avenue that they started calling it his “stump speech.”

The city on Sept. 4 planned to begin the process of replacing the eyesores. The first step is for a crew to grind down the stumps and remove the root balls of some 30 trees, Parks Director Sam Metott said.

The palm trees were cut down over the years because they were dying from disease or just old age. Some got hit by cars, Metott said.

“This is something that the mayor really was pushing,” Metott said. “It’s just taken us some time to get the budget allocated and then the purchasing process completed with quotes and bids from the vendors.”

Metott said the stump-grinding will cost taxpayers $25,000.

The issue of the tree stumps bubbled up during public comments at the Aug. 19 City Commission meeting when Mary McCarty, a former Delray Beach and Palm Beach County commissioner, said she has been “nagging” Carney since he came into office about the stumps.

“It sends a message that we don’t care about our town,” McCarty said.

Carney and McCarty said that diseased stumps are just as contagious as diseased trees.

Florida’s palms — not just royals — have been besieged by a bacterial disease for more than a decade, spread by tiny, winged insects commonly known as treehoppers.

McCarty urged the city to employ an arborist so that when the trees are replaced, they are properly taken care of.

City Manager Terrence Moore said in his Aug. 30 newsletter that the city will “develop a landscape plan that will offer specific guidance for palm tree care, removal, and replacement.”

McCarty urged the elected officials and the city manager not to be cheap with the replacements.

“We need to have them replaced with real royal palms,” she said. “I know they’re expensive, but you got … to put it in the budget, four or five of them a year, or some kind of plan.”

Metott couldn’t quote a dollar figure on how much it would cost to replace 30 royal palms. Homeguide.com puts the average price of a fully grown royal palm at between $450 and $650 — with installation extra — but McCarty said the city might be able to get a bulk deal.

The royal palm — Roystonea regia — is generally considered to be one of the most beautiful and is a cultural icon in Cuba and the namesake of a village in Palm Beach County.

Another option would be to plant baby or juvenile royal palms — but Metott said municipalities have learned residents aren’t fans of that plan. It takes 20 years for a royal palm to reach maturity.

“People don’t like putting in the smaller ones because it looks small and not grand and it takes years, but it’s very hard and very expensive to plant fully grown royal palms,” he said.

By Mary Thurwachter

It’s been 10 years since 72 acres of state-owned land — once home to the A.G. Holley state tuberculosis hospital — was sold to developers to build Water Tower Commons, the largest development in Lantana’s history.

While construction was slow to begin at the site on Lantana Road between Andrew Redding Road and North Eighth Street, it has since been populated with hundreds of snazzy residential apartments as well as commercial buildings such as Aldi, Wawa, Chick-fil-A and El Car Wash.

New to the mix are Dunkin’, which opened recently, and two restaurants about to open: Panda Express, a casual Chinese eatery, and Carl’s Jr., an American fast-food burger chain.

Another business, Fifth Third Bank, is under construction.

“When new tenants come in, they look to update the master signage program,” said Nicole Dritz, Lantana’s development director.

To that end, they brought in planner Sandra Megrue and her team from Urban Design Studios, Water Tower’s architectural firm, to address the Town Council on Aug. 12.

“The signage program has already been approved,” Dritz said, “but tenants are requesting a few changes.” For example, Dunkin’ wanted to have twice as many signs as the two it is allowed to have.

Council members held off on approving Dunkin’s request for four signs, but they did like the one that reads “Lantana Runs on Dunkin’.” Dritz said her staff would meet with owners of the coffee and donut shop to discuss a compromise and bring back a proposal later.

The council did approve signs proposed for Panda Express and Carl’s Jr.

Two other Water Tower Commons variances brought forward by Megrue won council approval. One had to do with the landscape plan, in particular a change in some trees planted beside the car wash to better block the view from neighboring houses; another was asking to reconfigure the drive-through lanes at Panda Express and Carl’s Jr.

Megrue said Carl’s Jr. will have outdoor seating, Panda Express will not.

Although it was not part of the variances requested, Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason was concerned about the noise made by the blowers at the car wash.

“The town manager, Mr. Raducci, and I were both at the very end of the blower and it’s really loud and I was wondering if there’s anything neighborly we could do,” Mason asked, referring to Brian Raducci. “If you’re that house,” the one closest to the car wash, “I think your property value just sunk a lot.”

Mason said the car wash mufflers aren’t doing enough to buffer the noise. He asked if perhaps a sound barrier wall could be put up or vegetation added at the very end where the blowers are located and where cars drive out.

“It’s just not acceptable for the people that live there,” he said.

Hunter Monsour of Lantana Development Company, part of Megrue’s team of experts, told Mason he would go with him to the car wash to inspect the mufflers to see if anything could be done.

“Maybe nothing can be done, but we have to at least try,” Mason said.

Reading tutors sought — Library director Kristine Kreidler said the town has teamed up with the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County to offer tutoring this fall between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. Thursdays at the library.

“We do need volunteers and have applications,” Kreidler said.

The job does require training.

“The relationship between the students and the tutor is very important, so it does require a commitment as well,” she said.

For more information, call 561-540-5740 or email librarystaff@lantana.org

Stormwater and flooding program — The Town Council voted to establish a comprehensive Stormwater and Flooding Improvement Program.

This was the town’s way of addressing the increasing challenges posed by stormwater runoff and flooding within the coastal community and outlines a proactive approach to mitigating flooding risks by implementing strategies that reduce the runoff and improve drainage infrastructure.

Fence height limit modified — Fences in the public zoning district have been limited to 8 feet but will be allowed to be 10 feet tall, thanks to a modification of town rules. The Town Council was spurred to make the change after the planning commission recommended it. This modification was requested as a result of town staff’s application for a building permit for new fencing at the town’s tennis courts.

— Mary Thurwachter

By Jane Musgrave

A week before Florida officials ignited a firestorm when plans surfaced for a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Boynton Beach took steps to make sure Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park will never be developed.

The move, which brought sighs of relief from dozens of commercial and recreational boaters, came even though there were no plans to develop the 8-acre waterfront park on Federal Highway that is named after a former city mayor, commissioner and pioneer who died in 2010.

“There was never any developer who came through to the city inquiring about developing the park,” City Manager Dan Dugger said after the Aug. 20 City Commission meeting.

Commissioners agreed that a restrictive covenant should be placed on the land to close a loophole that would have allowed the commercial use — or sale — of the park, which has a boat ramp that provides access to the Atlantic Ocean.

“We have used it for many years and will continue to use it for many years,” Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley told the dozens of boaters who crowded into the meeting. “We want to protect the park in perpetuity.”

Commercial development, including hotels and restaurants, would be prohibited under the proposal commissioners tentatively embraced. However, commissioners and boaters agreed a tackle shop would be a welcome addition.

If boaters forget ice, bait or other supplies, they have to leave the park to stock up, said Commissioner Thomas Turkin.

“It would be the same way we service the golf course with a private vendor … or the beach,” he said. “The fishing community deserves the same access.”

Turkin said he suggested that a restrictive covenant be placed on the park after Dugger alerted him that there was nothing that would block most of the park from being turned over to a private developer.

Part of it would be protected because the city accepted a $125,000 grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District to build a dock at the park for the police and fire departments. As part of the grant approval process, the city agreed to keep that part of the park in public hands, Dugger said.

While doing research for the grant, Dugger said it became clear that there was nothing to protect other parts of the park from development.

Dugger noted that the need for the restriction was starkly illustrated in the days after the meeting when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection acknowledged it was considering plans to let a private group build a 600-acre golf course on the 10,500-acre Jonathan Dickinson State Park, just over the Palm Beach County line in Martin County.

Faced with intense opposition from park lovers, environmentalists and lawmakers, the group withdrew its plans. But, as part of the state’s 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative, development, including hotels and pickleball courts, is being considered in other state parks.

The commission has already recognized the need to protect city parks, Dugger said. In 2023, the commission prohibited development in a passive park next to Leisureville and did the same for Meadows Park.

He “wouldn’t be surprised” if more get the same protection.

Commissioners said they want to make sure the covenant remains in place. A unanimous vote of the commission should be required to lift the restriction, Turkin said.

Boynton resident Susan Oyer, who is the daughter of Harvey Oyer, said more protection was needed. She suggested that a referendum be required.

Turkin and Commissioners Angela Cruz and Woodrow Hay supported Oyer’s idea. “You should decide, not the people sitting up here,” Hay said.

Kelley sided with City Attorney Shawna Lamb, who said she didn’t think the matter could be decided by referendum. She promised to do additional research before the commission votes on a measure that would prohibit the development of the park.

Mayor Ty Penserga was absent.

The vote will probably come in November or December, Dugger said.

Turkin urged city residents to remain vigilant. “Do not lose sight and make sure you pay attention,” he told those who filled the commission chambers. “Because if you don’t pay attention, things like this will happen.”

By John Pacenti

Could there be peace in Mudville? 

There seems to be at least a detente between the East Boynton Beach Little League and the city of Boynton Beach. Meanwhile, the league’s players keep bringing home trophies, leaving the drama to the adults.

August, though, started with a new episode of “How the Little League Turns,” when the city severed its contract with the Little League, saying it violated its 2022 contract by failing to pay to be the city’s baseball provider at the sports facility on Woolbright Road. 

The Aug. 8 letter did not say how much the Little League owed the city: “Accordingly, the termination of the agreement will not affect your right to continue to request permits for the use of Little League Park through the Recreation Parks Department. However, a fee will be required to continue to use the park.”

The letter came two days after the Boynton Beach City Commission met in closed session with its lawyer to discuss the litigation the Little League brought against the city for greenlighting the renovation of the field used by the league’s most senior team — thus forcing it to use fields elsewhere in the city.

Then on Aug. 20, the clouds parted and the two frenemies made peace. Commissioners mentioned the barrage of emails they’ve received on the issue. The Little League asked parents to stand down on attacks — through email or social media — against the city.

In an email the Little League sent out to families, it said negotiations were fruitful in regards to field use “and a long-term partnership.” The Little League said it has confirmed its permit requests for the fall season and that the city has committed $1 million toward T-ball fields and park repairs.

The Little League said a “new sports provider agreement” will be forged to protect field use and future involvement of the Little League in any planned renovations of baseball facilities.

The two sides mutually buried a much-hated proposal to build a 17,000-square-foot indoor facility at Little League Park. 

And, most important, city commissioners at their Sept. 3 meeting recognized the EBBLL’s 11-and-under All-Stars for their state championship this year. 

“The city is committed to EBBLL long-term and wants to support us,” the email to parents and coaches went on. “These are truly wonderful events in the first step towards resolving this long-fought battle.”

The Little League then directed “everyone to discontinue any public/social media/or email campaigns against the city as we know many rumors are flying around.”

At the Aug. 20 commission meeting, City Manager Dan Dugger said the city would sign a new sports provider agreement when the Little League drops its lawsuit.

Dugger read the email from the Little League to parents and coaches.

“A lot of misinformation was definitely out there,” Dugger said. “We were able to clear up a lot of that misinformation, and we made some real progress.”

He said one false rumor was that he personally would benefit from the indoor facility and aimed to privatize the fields. “I can tell you honestly that was a complete lie,” Dugger said. “There were also allegations I got a kickback of a blue Camaro or Corvette.”

City Commissioner Thomas Turkin seemed to still be bothered by the rumors, asking City Attorney Shawna Lamb if Dugger had the authority to make unilateral decisions on the use of the fields. She told him the city manager does not.

Earlier this year, parents and players blasted the commission over the renovation of the biggest field — which now has synthetic turf. They were also upset over the proposed indoor facility, clashing with the sports agent working to build it.

However, the fields have a storied history in the city. The team of 10- to 12-year-olds reached the 2003 Little League World Series. Then, when Hurricane Wilma devastated the fields in 2005, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition renovated them for the television show.

By Tao Woolfe

While celebrating its 15th year in business, The Coastal Star received 13 awards for excellence from the Florida Press Association, a nod to the paper’s reporters, photographers, and artists who are showing how the paper endures.

“These are difficult times for practicing journalism, but The Coastal Star continues to hang tough, and with the strength and depth of our team — and our business partners — we keep looking forward,” Mary Kate Leming, the paper’s executive editor, said at the beginning of 2024.

The monthly newspaper — which was competing in an awards division dominated by the state’s largest weekly publications­ — won five first-place awards this year, four second-place awards, and four third-place awards for writing, photos and graphics.

The awards, from the 2024 Florida Press Association Weekly Newspaper Contest, were announced in July.

One of the first-place winners was a profile by Brian Biggane of tennis star Coco Gauff’s grandmother — Delray Beach resident Yvonne Odom — who watched the young athlete become a U.S. Open champion.

Biggane used the tournament backdrop to portray the “almost legendary” status the Odom/Gauff family has achieved in Delray Beach since the 1950s. Odom, for example, was the first Black student to integrate Seacrest (now Atlantic) High, in 1961.

Reporter Ron Hayes took home a first-place award for his story about the sartorial splendor of John Jackson, a longtime staffer at Harbour’s Edge luxury senior living community in Delray Beach.

“Relaxing at a table outside the Edgewater dining room before his 5 p.m. shift, he sports a suit so red it almost could make Santa jealous, a black dress shirt, red-and-black plaid socks, a white necktie and white boutonniere,” Hayes wrote.

Hayes also won a first-prize award for an obituary he wrote about Vin Dinanath, longtime owner of Gulfstream Texaco — the only gas station along State Road A1A in the 47 miles between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Reporters Rich Pollack and Jane Musgrave won a first-place award for a breaking news story about how the execution of Duane Eugene Owen for two brutal murders — including that of teen Karen Slattery while babysitting in Delray Beach — would not make the pain go away for the victims’ families.

Besides the families’ pain, the piece explored the crimes and examined the psychology of the murderer through the lens of his own horrific childhood.

Pollack also received a first-place award for a column he wrote about some of the best birdwatching spots in Palm Beach County. With a little patience and binoculars, people can spot some of the rarest of birds— such as a red-legged thrush and La Sagra’s flycatcher — in coastal hammocks and nature preserves, he wrote.

A second-place award went to local photographers Peter Cross and Susan Wasserman, who provided photos for Pollack’s story on birding destinations.

Photographer Tim Stepien won a second-place award for a feature photo depicting people finding inspiration on the beach at sunrise.

The Coastal Star staff scooped up second-place awards for an arts season preview supplement and in “general excellence” for the March, April and October editions. The same editions earned a third-place honor for graphic design.

Reporter Sallie James won a third-place award for an obituary about Doug Baumgarten, the longtime dockmaster of Briny Breezes.

Third-place awards also went to reporter Joe Capozzi for a story about a bicyclist who gave up riding along State Road A1A after a debilitating collision with a truck; and to reporters Charles Elmore, Larry Barszewski and Steve Plunkett for in-depth reporting about how the state’s new financial disclosure requirements were leading some elected council and commission members to give up their seats rather than comply.

“I am so very proud of the work done by everyone for The Coastal Star,” Leming, the executive editor, wrote in her award announcement memo. “Fifteen years and still going strong!”

By Rich Pollack

DELRAY BEACH — Roy Simon loved Delray Beach.

A Delray native and a descendent of one of the community’s first families, Mr. Simon had a passion for his hometown. That energy charged much of his work and focused his vision on ideas that define Delray Beach even today.

An architect whose blueprints underlay notable Delray Beach buildings and numerous homes, Mr. Simon was at his drawing board for 65 years and was putting plans together until shortly before his Aug. 14 death. He was 93.

“My dad was a visionary,” said his daughter, Laura Simon. “He could see the potential of the city and believed in it. He believed Delray was special and could always be better.”

Mr. Simon’s dedication to the community helped make it easy for others to share his vision.

“When Roy Simon talked, people listened because what he said wasn’t about personal gain, it was always about the betterment of the community,” said Mark Denkler, a longtime downtown business owner who along with his wife hired Mr. Simon to help with plans for a 1939 home he is renovating. “He was devoted to the town.”

Born in the family home — he never went into the hospital until a few weeks before his death — Mr. Simon was one of four brothers who attended Delray Beach Elementary School and Delray Beach High School. He graduated in 1948, went on to receive degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and later served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force before returning home.

One of the founders of the Delray Beach Historical Society, Mr. Simon was among the leading voices advocating for the preservation of the buildings that made up his elementary and high schools and that eventually became Old School Square.

That was just one of many community efforts he stood behind.

“My dad was involved in everything,” Laura Simon said. “I don’t know how he did it.”

Mr. Simon is credited with creating the Delray Beach Gladiola Fest, which evolved into the Delray Affair.

In a 2022 conversation with The Coastal Star, Mr. Simon recalled how the idea was born after he saw a street festival while visiting relatives in Winter Park. “I came home and said, ‘We ought to have this in Delray,’” he said.

Mr. Simon was also one of the driving forces behind efforts to keep the state from widening Atlantic Avenue, thus helping the downtown to blossom.

“My dad always saw the potential, not just that moment, but bigger,” Laura Simon said. “Maybe that comes from his architectural background.”

It was Mr. Simon who stepped up in 2011 to help organize Delray Beach’s centennial celebration after realizing that little was being done to mark the occasion.

Mr. Simon was active in several community service organizations including Rotary and Lions Club. He was involved in the Little League and served two terms as president of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.

“Delray is a community and Roy was one of the community torch bearers,” Denkler said.

Mr. Simon was the founder of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority that his daughter now leads.

He served on a couple of city boards and ran once unsuccessfully for what was then the Delray Beach City Council, but found that he was better behind the scenes.

“He was the quintessential Delray guy,” Laura Simon said.

Mr. Simon was a lifelong member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where he served as chalice bearer, acolyte and on the vestry.

Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Simon was known for his kindness and for being the gentleman in the room.

“He was that guy,” Laura Simon said. “He always cared and would always see the good in everyone. He was a gentle giant. He was just 6-foot but he always seemed bigger.”

A devoted family man, Mr. Simon was married to his wife, Beth, for more than 60 years until her death last year. He is survived by his three children, Michael (Charlene), Laura (Sven Mautner) and Christopher (Claudia); three granddaughters, four grandsons and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held on Aug. 25 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A military burial followed at the Delray Beach Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church or the Delray Beach Historical Society.

Terran Orbital, based in Boca Raton, is in the process of being acquired by defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Photo provided by Proof Photography

By Christine Davis

Terran Orbital’s Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc. was recently awarded $254 million by the Space Development Agency to produce 10 satellites for the Tranche 2 Transport Layer Gamma contract.

Terran Orbital, based in Boca Raton and in the process of being acquired by Lockheed Martin, will undertake the design, construction, integration, testing and delivery of these satellites. This will include the integration of the associated ground control system and the execution of launch and early operations.

These satellites will carry equipment designed to detect and respond to threats through the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. PWSA envisions a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit, featuring advanced satellite communications, data transport, missile warning and missile-tracking functionalities.

“Our ongoing collaboration with the Space Development Agency across multiple Tranche iterations has been immensely rewarding, and we deeply value their continued trust in our capabilities,” said Marc Bell, chairman, co-founder and chief executive officer at Terran Orbital.

Delivery for launch is scheduled to begin in 2027.

***

Dort Financial Credit Union, which was acquired by Flagler Bank last year, celebrated its new ownership with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at its four Florida branches, one of which is at 5255 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton.

Now being operated as Flagler Credit Union, a Division of Dort Financial, it is served by the same staff and will provide expanded services later this year. Former Flagler Bank President Ed Sterling is now the chief operations officer of Flagler Credit Union. 

Dort Financial Credit Union was founded in 1951 and serves more than 110,000 members with assets exceeding $2 billion across 11 locations in Michigan and four in Florida.

Membership is open to individuals in Michigan or Palm Beach, Martin, Hendry and Broward counties. For more information, visit flaglercu.org.

***

BrickTop’s restaurant plans to open a Delray Beach location at 12 NE Fifth Ave. by next summer.

The Nashville-based chain updated the site plan application it submitted in October 2022, which was reviewed and approved by the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board on July 24. Sited on a 0.37-acre lot, the new 4,420-square-foot Deco-style restaurant will have a 580-square-foot mezzanine for additional dining and 21 on-site parking spaces. 

The site plan application listed Jeffrey A. Costello, principal of the Delray Beach-based JC Planning Solutions, as the restaurant’s agent. The lot is owned by 12 NE 5th LLC, with Pascal Liguori of Delray Beach-based Premier Estate Properties listed as the registered agent. The LLC paid Bethesda Hospital Foundation Inc. nearly $3.6 million for the commercial site in May 2021. 

***

The health food cafe Pura Vida, founded by Omer and Jennifer Horev in 2012 with more than 20 locations in South Florida, is scheduled to open this month at 6 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, taking the place of the former BurgerFi, which closed this year. 

***

A newly completed seven-bedroom, 14,427-total-square-foot waterfront estate at 360 E. Alexander Palm Road, Boca Raton, in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, sold in July for $28.5 million.

The 360 East Alexander Palm Road Trust, with Miami attorney Jay M. Sakalo as trustee, was the owner. The buyer is listed as Alexander Palm Road Trust, with Coral Springs attorney Larry A. Rothenberg as trustee. David W. Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented the seller in the deal, while Carmen D'Angelo & Joseph Liguori of Premier Estate Properties represented the buyer.  

On a 0.48-acre property along a canal leading to the Intracoastal Waterway, the home was built by Boca Raton-based SRD Building Corp.

***

Alan B. Miller and his wife, Jill, sold their Manalapan oceanfront estate at 3 Ocean Lane for $18.25 million to Corinne Anna Buckley. Alan Miller founded Universal Health Services, a chain of hospitals and other health-care providers, in 1979.

The Millers paid $2.25 million for the house in 1992 and remodeled it in 2001.

Pascal Liguori and Antonio Liguori of Premier Estate Properties were the listing agents. Matthew Moser and Nicholas Gonzalez of The Matt and Nick Team at Serhant represented the buyer.

***

The 1964 East Royal Palm Trust — with Robert C. Kopple as trustee and Andrew and Stephanie Left as homestead property owners — sold a residence at 1964 Royal Palm Way, Boca Raton, in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, for $15.8 million. It was purchased by RP 1964 Trust, with Paul A. Krasker as trustee. The Lefts bought the property for $11.25 million in January 2021.

Andrew Left heads the California-based Citron Capital. In late July, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Left accusing him of stock fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California also charged Left with felony securities fraud. Both cases remain pending.

David W. Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented the seller in the deal, while Jessica Schuble of Serhant worked with the buyer.

***

Boca Raton-based Concierge Property Solutions was named development consultant for the 28-unit Glass House Boca Raton residential development at 280 E. Palmetto Park Road.

***

The Lantana Chamber’s Leadership Program, which runs through March 2025, offers firsthand experiences, behind-the-scenes access, and an inside look at how the community works and the challenges it faces.

The program aims to help participants hone their leadership strengths, find new areas to make contributions and grow a network.

The kickoff event is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at Ravish Off Ocean, 210 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana.

The cost of the program is $350 for Lantana Chamber members and $400 for non-members. To register, visit lantanachamber.com/2024-2025-lantana-leadership.

***

Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters presents “The Constitution Today” with Emily Bazelon and Katie Phang at 2 p.m. Sept. 17.

Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, will share her expertise on how the U.S. Constitution continues to shape and influence contemporary legal debates and social issues.

Phang, host of The Katie Phang Show on MSNBC and a legal contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, will provide analysis and commentary on the associated legal issues across the globe. A panel discussion will follow the presentations.

The event is sponsored by the FAU School of Communication and Multimedia Studies; Department of Political Science; Division of Student Affairs; and the Osher Lifelong Learning Society.

It will be held at the Osher Lifelong Learning Society’s Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Road, on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. Tickets are $20 and are available at 561-297-6124 or fauevents.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=6264.

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

Correction: An earlier version of this column misidentified the buyer's representative in the sale of 360 E. Alexander Palm Road in Boca Raton. The representatives were Carmen D'Angelo and Joseph Liguori of Premier Estate Properties.

By John Pacenti

Fearing businesses would leave Delray Beach over soaring costs, Mayor Tom Carney successfully spearheaded the move for a city tax cut at a meeting where department heads said such relief would necessitate significant reductions in services.

“The people who actually made Delray Beach, who gave it the buzz and did all the stuff that everybody wants to come to, well we’re crippling them,” Carney said.

Commissioners Juli Casale and Tom Markert joined Carney — all elected to the commission in March — in rolling back the preliminary tax rate July 25 to just a tad over $5.90 for each $1,000 of taxable value to support the city’s projected $187 million budget. The city also has a small second tax rate to pay off voted debt.

The $5.90 per $1,000 rate is the city’s “no new taxes” rolled-back rate that’s highlighted on tax notices that are sent out to property owners in August. Many cities lower their tax rates by a small amount from year to year to show their concern for taxpayers, even though they still rake in more tax revenue because property values have risen. That’s not what Delray Beach did.

“I’m freezing the taxes to at least what they were last year — that is the goal,” Carney said in a July 27 interview.

The only new property tax revenue for the city would be from new construction completed in 2023.

Both Carney and Markert said they campaigned on cutting taxes, while Casale at the meeting floated the idea of charging non-residents $35 to park at the beach to make up for lost revenue.

Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns voted against proposing the lower rate at the meeting — the commission’s third budget session in July.

Potential budget impact
In a dramatic show, Long asked Police Chief Russ Mager if under the rollback rate would he be able to have additional patrols, such as the one just added for the beach pavilion after June 21 gunfire there.

Carney and City Manager Terrence Moore tried to intercede, but Mager said, “If you cut my budget, it does not allow for me to do what I want to do, what’s necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our Police Department.”

Moore, at a budget workshop on July 16, said the rollback rate would result in a tax cut for residents.

A homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1 million last year would save about $278 in the property tax assessment tied to the city’s operating budget, bringing that portion of its tax bill to about $6,083. 

Moore originally proposed a slight reduction in the city’s operating tax rate — set at $6.36 per $1,000 of taxable value last year — to roughly $6.26 per $1,000. The tentative rate the commission approved would eliminate almost $5 million in expected tax revenue, according to a city budget presentation.

Casale said her beach parking proposal for non-residents would generate $5.5 million — if all available parking spaces were taken by non-residents every single day of the year. 

Moore had police, fire, parks and public works officials present proposed cuts that were politically painful at the commission’s July 25 meeting. 

In addition to Mager’s presentation, Acting Fire Chief Kevin Green said he would decrease the number of men per truck for some shifts. And events — such as the Christmas Village — would need to be curtailed.

“Instead of cutting one big event that might get people upset, it’s just reducing all of the events a little bit, right across the board, to pull them all back a little bit, and we can save upwards of $175,000 by doing that,” said Parks Director Sam Mettot.

After the commission’s decision was made, Moore said he was determined to make Carney’s plan work without substantial cuts and proposed an Aug. 13 workshop.

Long fears services will have to be cut to balance the budget, which he said is not what residents want.

“The integrity of our events impacted, and our maintenance impacted, potentially, our tourism economy impacted, I’m going to guess they’d be willing to pay that extra eight or nine bucks a month,” he said.

Now is the time, mayor says
Carney defended his plan, saying the upcoming fiscal year may be the only opportunity for the city to give tax relief because the previous commission approved a new fire employee contract that will cost an additional $22 million next year.

“We’re taxing people to death,” Carney said. “It’s got to stop. This is not a sustainable way to continue by just keep raising taxes every year without going in with a very sharp pencil and seeing what we can cut.”

The approved tentative rate is all but set in stone. The commission, before formally adopting the budget in September, could raise the rate — but it would need to pay to have new tax notices mailed out to all city taxpayers and give them additional time to weigh in.

Property values are skyrocketing throughout South Florida, so keeping the tax rate unchanged isn’t enough to hold the line on taxes. Even making small cuts to the tax rate can still result in tax increases.

Delray Beach saw a nearly 10.9% increase in property value citywide in the past year. Homesteaded properties catch a break because Florida caps their assessed value increases at 3% a year.

Businesses, rental properties and second homes are on the hook for more, with their annual assessed value increases capped at 10%. Those costs are often passed on to the diner and the renter. “We are going to price them out of the market,” Carney said.

Resident Joy Howell said property owners are also getting hammered with increases in property insurance. “I had one property that went from $12,000 to $18,000 a year in insurance for this year. That’s outrageous,” she said.

Carney — who was previously mayor in 2013 — said services don’t have to be cut. He said the city has about 30 open positions that have been advertised for more than a year and are fully funded.

“That’s a million dollars a year,” Carney said. “They would have been cut in every other municipality.”

A 2022 home in Ocean Ridge was built to a raised minimum elevation based on its flood zone. Under new FEMA flood maps that take effect in December, if this home were replaced, the new base level would have to be three feet higher -- and the ground floor of any home built on the empty lot next door would have to be just as high. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Long-term engagement with FEMA planned in effort to lessen burden on residents

By Anne Geggis 

New flood maps expected to take effect later this year will put 5,800 new Palm Beach County coastal parcels in special hazard zones, and thousands more property owners will be required to elevate their homes to even higher levels if they want to rebuild or make major renovations.

The new maps are the first flooding hazard update since 1979 based on a full study. These results may have some property owners wishing they could turn back time.

“A lot of people are going to be significantly impacted by this,” said Palm Beach County building division director Douglas Wise. “Along the Intracoastal is where we’re seeing the biggest changes.”

The flood maps help determine who is required to purchase federal flood insurance and who has to meet higher minimum elevations when rebuilding or undertaking major renovations.

Most South County homeowners near the coast must build to higher base elevations already. Many will see the levels rise another two to five feet.

The changes are set to take effect in December, but the Palm Beach County Commission agreed at a July 9 meeting to fund a technical partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address what county officials believe is a bug in FEMA’s calculations that produced the maps.

Wise doesn’t think so many of the existing buildings need to be raised as the new maps show they should be if the owners go to make upgrades or repairs to structures on these parcels.

“We don’t agree with the science,” he said.

***

Is your property affected?

You can view your property and others on the FEMA flood-risk map by going to:
https://maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/cwgis/?app=floodzones

***

County Commissioner Marci Woodward agreed that the county should make the investment to try to alleviate the impact of the new maps on residents — even if it might be several years before the technical partnership project gets completed and the new minimum elevations can be revised.

Funding the technical partnership will cost the county $500,000 initially and determine whether further study could result in significant changes in the mapping that could lessen the overall impact on residents.

“We have the best option, with this room full of experts, all of our different districts, to actually make these maps the most accurate, so that the rates and the building codes and everything that goes into this will be accurate,” Woodward said. “Honestly, I believe we are the only ones that can do this.

“Any local area is going to do a better job than the feds on this, because they have to look at it from such a high level,” she added. 

For now, though, the new maps — and new insurance and building level requirements — will take effect in December.

And the $7.7 billion worth of property that FEMA insures in South County is likely to grow — anyone with a federally backed mortgage who is in one of the high hazard zones is required to purchase the flood insurance.

The cost for homeowners depends on location.

The average premium cost ranges from $724 for property that lies between Military Trail and El Rio Canal in Boca Raton to the $1,377 average for Delray Beach parcels that lie between Dixie Highway and the Atlantic Ocean.

The premium cost can be reduced by up to 45% depending on how much a community does to ameliorate its flood risk, according to parameters that FEMA has set. The actions involve better planning and educating residents.

No municipality in the county has earned the maximum 45% discount that the program offers, but in South County, Boynton Beach comes the closest with a 25% discount.

Lantana’s rating was upgraded in 2020, so that FEMA flood policy holders were eligible for a 10% discount on their bills, instead of just 5%. It was given because of the town’s efforts to preserve open spaces, shore up flood-prone structures and manage stormwater, among other items, according to Nicole Dritz, Lantana’s development services director.

“The savings is a tangible result of the flood mitigation activities that the town implements to help protect lives and reduce property damage,” Dritz said.

Commissioners in Highland Beach, which qualified for a 10% discount in the past but now does not, voted 5-0 July 23 to tentatively approve an ordinance that has changes officials hope will again qualify the town’s property owners for a discount.

Currently, town homeowners can split a major renovation into separate work over two years, so the work in any one year does not exceed half the structure’s value, the point at which the home’s base elevation is required to be raised. Under the proposed ordinance, that would no longer be the case. It would require the higher elevation when any cumulative renovations over as many as five years exceed half a building’s value.

Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.

Flood insurance discounts
South County residents are eligible for FEMA flood insurance discounts based on actions their municipalities have taken to mitigate potential flooding. Here are the discounts by municipality as of April 2024:
Boca Raton: 15%
Boynton Beach: 25%
Briny Breezes: 0%
Delray Beach: 20%
Gulf Stream: 0%
Highland Beach: 0%
Lantana: 10%
Manalapan: 10%
Ocean Ridge: 20%
South Palm Beach: 10%
Source: Palm Beach County

Crows check out a nest on the beach in Ocean Ridge, while another (below, right) flies overhead. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

The crows know.

Along our beaches, the loud and large black birds show off their smarts by tracking sea turtle monitors, waiting for a chance to scavenge what’s left of a nest that’s been ransacked by a raccoon or fox.

The flying predators are also known to scoop up wayward turtle hatchlings scrambling to get to the ocean and have been seen trying to peek into the buckets rescuers use to carry new hatchlings to safety.

“If you walk away from your ATV and you have a bucket with a towel over it, they will try and pull the towel off,” says David Anderson, the sea turtle conservation coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. “They associate the bucket with something in it.”

Seven crows gather at a turtle nest in Gulf Stream. They can associate the nest markers with the possible presence of hatchlings or eggs. Photo provided by Sea Turtle Adventures

Throughout southern Palm Beach County, fish crows — the more common type of crows in the area — are proving just how intelligent and adaptable they are.

Members of the corvid family of birds, which includes ravens and blue jays, crows are known for their cognitive ability. They are also known for their excellent memories, problem-solving skills and their ability to recognize human faces and behaviors.

“These skills make them incredibly adaptable,” according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists who responded to The Coastal Star questions in an email.

It also makes them formidable predators.

Fish crows feed on coastal species such as marine invertebrates, as well as eggs and young shorebirds, seabirds and sea turtles.

In South County, fish crows on the lookout for easy meals are common sights on the stakes marking sea turtle nests — and often on limbs of Australian pines and other nearby trees.

A crow on a stake with a sea turtle hatchling in its mouth. Photo provided by Sea Turtle Adventures

Joanne Ryan, the FWC permit holder for the volunteer Highland Beach Sea Turtle Team, remembers the early morning not long ago when a female green sea turtle nesting high on the dune drew a crowd of avian spectators on the top of an adjacent 14-story high-rise, perhaps hoping for a fresh egg breakfast.

“I was guarding the turtle with my life,” she said.

Jackie Kingston, executive director of Sea Turtle Adventures, which monitors beaches in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and part of Ocean Ridge, says crows are always on the lookout for a quick meal.

“We’ll have our head down in a nest and when we look up, they’ll be circling all around,” she said.

Kingston, Ryan and Anderson do their best to keep crows away from hatchlings, but they’re not always present to protect them.

The birds will patrol the line of seaweed on the beach looking for errant baby turtles and have been seen snatching them up and taking them to nearby trees.

The birds that catch hatchlings are quick.

“It happens in the blink of an eye,” Kingston said.

Anderson said he has also seen a crow grab a hatchling and bury it, almost as if it is hiding it for a later meal.

Kingston said she’s seen crows bury eggs as well, on the rare occasions when the sea invades a nest and the eggs start washing away.

“They’ll get one and then come back and get another,” she said.

Although crows are a threat to sea turtles, Anderson said they are much less of a problem than some of the other major predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks and coyotes, which have been known to rummage through nests looking for eggs or hatchlings while damaging everything in the way.

A bigger avian threat, both he and Ryan say, are yellow crown night herons, which pluck hatchlings from the beach often before daylight.

“Crows are way down on the list,” Anderson said.

Though the birds can be pesky, both Anderson and Ryan have developed a respect and dialogue with the crows.

“I talk to them all the time,” says Ryan. “They’re very cool birds and they’re very smart.”

Crows, like other corvids, have been known to use tools to solve problems. They have been documented, for example, dropping stones into a glass tube of water in order to get the water level to rise to where they can reach it.

Crows are also cooperative breeders, according to FWC biologists, meaning offspring from past nests help their parents raise new young.

Individuals can work together to solve problems and identify unusual resources, such as food sources especially present in urban landscapes.

Because they are opportunists, crows can often be attracted to trash and food not in their natural diet, and that, say FWC biologists, can have a negative impact on shorebird and seabird colonies as well as turtles because predators will linger in the area.

People can help minimize the predation by crows and other animals by cleaning beaches of trash and by not feeding them and other wildlife, the FWC team says.

Over the years Anderson, Kingston and Ryan have found that people and crows on South County beaches can be friends.

“They’re our companions on the beach,” Anderson said. “We have a fun love-hate relationship.”

Crow facts
• There are two types of crows — fish crows and American crows. Fish crows are more common in coastal Palm Beach County.
• Crows are members of the corvid family whose members are known for cognitive ability. They are also very social.
• Crows can recognize human faces.
• Fish crow populations in Florida appear to have grown from 2012 to 2022.
• Fish crows have a distinct nasally call.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

In wake of tumult, commission changes public comment policy

By John Pacenti

Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga said that the FBI is investigating a death threat made against him in July.

City Commissioner Thomas Turkin said he has also been the target of threats.

The threats came after a contentious July 2 commission meeting where Penserga cut off public comments from two women who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, leading Turkin to criticize the mayor for not letting them speak. Commissioners abruptly adjourned the meeting as one of the speakers who refused to stop talking was being led out of the chamber by police on orders from the mayor.

Penserga said he was enforcing a policy that public comments had to pertain to items that are within the purview of the City Commission — a policy that commissioners agreed to do away with July 30 in the aftermath of the meeting meltdown, the threats that followed and an unsuccessful staff attempt to delay public comments until late in the commission’s regular agendas.

Penserga’s actions at the July 2 meeting led Turkin to shout at the mayor that he felt citizens had a First Amendment right to address the commission as they saw fit. When some in the gallery applauded, Turkin said, “Don’t clap, because I don’t agree with a lot that has been said.”

One of the women — Candace Rojas, a former candidate for Palm Beach Town Council and the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District — is a well-known, vocal election denier who has appeared before many area commissions. She told the commission she was speaking to “restore the republic.”

Boynton Beach resident Candace Rojas is escorted out of the July 2 City Commission by police after Mayor Ty Penserga cut her off for speaking during public comments about items not in the purview of the commission. At a July 30 commission workshop, commissioners said they would end that public comment policy and allow speakers to talk on whatever topics they would like. City of Boynton Beach meeting video

“As a sovereign American I am putting you on notice,” Rojas said before being cut off by Penserga and escorted out by police when she refused to leave the lectern.

While officials would not comment on the specific threats, the video of the July 2 meeting was removed from the city’s YouTube and website pages after threats were made to city commissioners, Boynton Beach spokeswoman Chelsea Sanabia said July 17. The threats were under police investigation, she said.

Police spokeswoman Holly Piccano told a reporter from The Coastal Star to make a public records request when asked if the threats stemmed from the July 2 meeting.

The first public mention of a death threat occurred when a speaker mentioned it during public comments at the July 16 commission meeting. Penserga and Turkin were absent from that meeting.

Penserga, returning a phone call July 26, said he was reluctant to speak further about the death threat without consulting the FBI. He did elaborate that the threat was made in an anonymous voicemail.

Turkin, who said he also received threats, responded July 24 to a text message seeking comment:

“Due to the plethora of investigations that are ongoing internally and with other three-letter agencies pertaining to multiple threats/conspiring actions against myself and other members of the commission, I will refrain.”

At the commission’s July 16 meeting, new public comment rules created by staff caught commissioners by surprise.

The three commissioners in attendance at that meeting balked at the changes and chose to follow the commission’s past practices until they had an opportunity to discuss any changes in how they do business.

The new rules would have pushed public comments from near the beginning of commission meetings to near the end. They also would require each resident who wanted to speak to fill out a comment card and file it with the city clerk.

“I was disappointed they were added to the agenda without having input from my colleagues,” Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley said at the meeting.

“I was blind-sided by this and I don’t like it,” Commissioner Woodrow Hay said.

At the July 30 workshop, commissioners agreed to remove the limitation that speakers must address city issues and to allow comments —as Penserga said — to be about “basically anything and everything.”

They also agreed to keep public comments at the start of the commission meeting, allow online comments and not to require public comment cards.

Penserga and Turkin, though, complained about a July 29 community meeting where they said they were defamed.

“Lies were said about something I did last meeting. I wasn’t even here,” said Penserga, who told residents to “ask for receipts” when they hear criticism of him.

He said he doesn’t set the agenda and can’t get funding for causes without consensus of the commission.

Turkin said that free speech is all fine and good but the commission would not tolerate personal attacks or hate speech.

“We’ve seen what such political rhetoric does. We’ve seen it at the highest level, an attempted assassination on the former president.”

By Rich Pollack

State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman knew something was wrong after she leaped into the Intracoastal Waterway last year to cool off on the Fourth of July.

“It looked like green pea soup,” she said, adding that she washed off as soon as she got back into her boat.

What she didn’t know then was that the water she had jumped into just north of the Boynton Inlet was most likely contaminated by a sewage spill in Boynton Beach.

That incident led Gossett-Seidman to continue her efforts to hasten public notification of waterway spills and beach contamination and to introduce the Safe Waterways Act into the Florida Legislature.

The bill sailed through both the state House and Senate, but it didn’t make it past the veto of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who stopped it from becoming law with no explanation June 26.

Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, who says she is not sure what the governor’s objection is, plans to continue pushing for changes she says will improve the safety of those swimming and boating in the ocean and other waterways and using the beaches.

“The incident that happened last year isn’t the only incident, it just highlighted what needs to be done,” she said, adding that she hopes to bring a revised bill back next session.

“When I did the research, we found out that it was happening all over the state.”

Standing behind Gossett-Seidman are environmental lobbying groups including the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit that works to preserve and protect the world’s oceans and beaches.

“Everyone should be able to go to the beach and know if it is safe to get in the water or not,” said Emma Haydocy, a former Florida policy manager with Surfrider who now holds a national position with the organization.

Gossett-Seidman said her proposed legislation would have put more teeth into rules governing notifications of contamination in beaches and waterways that now come under the jurisdiction of either the Florida Department of Health or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, depending on where the contamination is. Beaches fall under the health department’s jurisdiction while inland waterways are the DEP’s jurisdiction.

Gossett-Seidman’s bill, which was co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, would have required the Department of Health to issue a health advisory within 24 hours or the next business day “if water quality does not meet certain standards and must require the closure of beach waters and public bathing places if necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare.”

The bill, she said, would also officially give the Department of Health the authority to close beaches, something she says now happens on a local level once a health advisory is issued.

The current language, Gossett-Seidman says, uses the word “allows” instead of requiring the agency to act within 24 hours of a first spill. The process used by state agencies, she says, usually takes more than 24 hours before the public is notified.

The bill would also have included provisions for notifications by municipalities within 24 hours to the Department of Health any time water quality failed to meet state requirements, for notification to local television network affiliates when the department issues a health advisory against swimming, and for notifications for municipalities and private docks and marinas when contamination occurs.

In addition, the legislation would have required the Department of Health to create a standardized sign to be posted and “maintained by municipalities and counties around waters they own and by the Department of Environmental Protection around state waters.”

“There are no strong requirements to post those signs,” Haydocy said. “There is no clarity on when that information has to be posted.”

In an email to The Coastal Star, the Department of Health’s Palm Beach County office said that local beaches are tested weekly and that if fecal bacteria levels are found to violate standards, a second sampling immediately takes place and a water quality advisory is issued. Lifting of the advisory depends on resampling and could take 24 to 72 hours.

Gossett-Seidman said that notifications don’t go out until the second test is conducted and the timing of when the results from that test come in depends on the location of the contamination and proximity to the testing site.

In its email, the Health Department said that it posts signs and issues a water quality news release, but Gossett-Seidman says those notifications need to go out sooner.

The state also has a process for a sewage spill in which a wastewater facility is required to contact the FDOH and FDEP and issue a public health notification. In the event of an emergency, the Health Department works with local authorities and conducts an assessment and testing.

“The procedures sound good but they don’t always work in a smooth manner,” Gossett-Seidman said, adding that it took at least three days before the public was notified of the July 2023 spill in the Intracoastal.

Gossett-Seidman said earlier versions of her bill had other notification provisions that were removed during the legislative process. Those included setting up an emergency phone number to report a spill and putting responsibility for beaches and inland waters under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Protection.

“It makes sense to have all the clean water concerns in one place,” Haydocy said.

Gossett-Seidman said she would also like to see a joint website from the FDOH and FDEP that would be updated within 24 hours.

“People are driving two to three hours to get to the beach and when they get there they find out they can’t go in the water,” she said.