Most of us don’t choose our neighbors. We come from all over with diverse heritage, different walks of life. The mashup of humanity is a base ingredient of the South Florida stew.
We love Italian restaurants, taco trucks, French bakeries, roadside barbecue, gyros, falafels, cracked conch, sweet potato pie. And the people who bring us these delicacies — and myriad others — sometimes become our friends. We break bread together, sip rum or espresso as the meal ends, share sweets before parting.
Strangers grow to know each other across a counter or table — relationships formed by nothing more than a simple, shared experience.
Inside this edition of The Coastal Star are several examples of strangers forging friendships out of a chance encounter, a conversation, a helping hand.
It’s challenging to start conversations with random people, but worth the effort. As these stories illustrate, the end result can lead to savory (or sweet) experiences, to unforeseen good deeds.
As the sun rises on 2023, we all might gain from finding more ease with strangers — even our neighbors! Ask questions. Make eye contact. Smile. At all times, keep in mind everyone’s just doing the best they can with what they were given. Be kind.
Unexpected friendships add flavor to the mashup of South Florida. Savor them.
Happy New Year!

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Joseph Hurtuk, right, owner of the Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery in Boynton Beach, teamed up with his friend and fellow pilot Dr. Ian Goldbaum of Ocean Ridge to fly supplies to Hurricane Ian victims on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

On the morning of Friday, Oct. 28, an Ocean Ridge podiatrist and the owner of a Boynton Beach ice cream shop set out together on a mission of mercy.
Neither ice cream nor feet were involved.
What Dr. Ian Goldbaum and his friend Joseph Hurtuk have in common is aviation.
Goldbaum, 65, who owns a Piper PA-28 Cherokee, earned his pilot’s license in 2021. Hurtuk, 77, has been flying a Cessna 172 since 1996.
Two years ago Hurtuk had a little problem with his heel, which made them doctor and patient, but airplanes made them friends and, on that October morning, missionaries of mercy.
They flew out of the Lantana airport at 7 a.m. in Goldbaum’s Cherokee and touched down again about 4 p.m.
In the hours between, they landed at the Plant City airport in Hillsborough County, loaded the plane with paper towels and toilet paper, mac ’n’ cheese and ramen noodles, and took off for Fort Myers.
Their work was not the only aerial mission to survivors of Hurricane Ian that day.
Goldbaum had learned on a YouTube channel about a project called Jimmy’s World, popular with Florida aviators. Money was being collected to buy supplies at Costco and pilots were needed to fly the supplies from Plant City to Fort Myers.
Hurricane Ian was the bad Ian, Goldbaum thought. I’m going to be the good Ian.
He called his friend.
“Hey, Joe, are you making ice cream on Friday, Oct. 28?”

Different paths
The journeys that brought Goldbaum and Hurtuk to that day’s journey couldn’t have been more different.
Raised in suburban Detroit, Goldbaum has practiced podiatry in Delray Beach for 37 years.
“My family owned a couple of hospitals in Michigan, so I knew I was going to go into medicine,” he says, “but I didn’t know what branch. Then one day when I was a student at Michigan State I went to visit a roommate’s father’s office. He was a podiatrist and that settled it.
“I became a doctor because I wanted to help people. I felt it was a calling.”
Joe Hurtuk’s work history did not scream ice cream.
He had been a fireman in the U.S. Air Force, a police captain at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the chief of police operations for the Metro Washington D.C. Airport Authority, where in 1992 he created the Dulles Day Plane Pull.
Teams of 25 pay $2,000 to take turns pulling an 82-ton plane 12 feet. Fastest time wins and the money goes to the Special Olympics.
In 2015, Hurtuk retired as the chief of regulatory compliance for the Department of Homeland Security at Palm Beach International Airport.
And wondered what to do next.
“I decided I wanted to either run a car wash or open an ice cream shop,” he says, “and I thought, are you ever really happy after a car wash?”
He leased a building at 209 N. Federal Highway and opened the Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery, the name inspired by childhood memories of ice cream treats on the Jersey shore.
“Everybody told us we weren’t going to make it,” recalls Hurtuk, who lives in Delray Beach.
Seven years later the shop offers about 150 flavors — not all at once — and boasts a 4.6 rating on Google reviews.

Serving survivors
Now the two friends would leave podiatry and ice cream behind for a day to serve survivors of the late-September hurricane instead.
They arrived in Plant City as one of 11 planes ready to load the $50,000 in supplies Jimmy’s World had collected.
“We took out the backseats and filled the plane,” Goldbaum said. But they never made it to Fort Myers.
“All the planes were diverted to Punta Gorda,” Hurtuk explained. “We never learned why, but I assume the Fort Myers airport was either damaged or too busy to accommodate us.”
In Punta Gorda, they unloaded the supplies, had the plane refueled, and headed back to Lantana with Hurtuk at the controls.
Goldbaum was looking out his window.
“My fuel cap’s not on tight,” he announced.
Now, rather than fly directly toward Lantana, they altered their flight plan to stay near the LaBelle, Clewiston, Pahokee and Belle Glade airports, just in case.
The Piper Cherokee landed safely at the end of a mission that had lasted only nine hours, but now Goldbaum and Hurtuk were carrying a memory that would last the rest of their lives.
“You know,” Goldbaum said, “I lost eight personal friends to COVID. You realize tomorrow’s not guaranteed to anybody. So, you look back and ask what is it you accomplished in life. If you were fortunate enough to help others and didn’t — well shame on you.”

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR
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Florida has a history of learning from damaging storms and adopting effective reforms

By John L. Renne

If history is a guide, Floridians will digest and respond to the lessons from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, thus becoming more resilient.
Such was the case after the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Okeechobee hurricane in 1928, when an earthen dike around the lake collapsed and killed 2,500 people.
Then, the Florida Legislature created a flood control district to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build new infrastructure, including floodway channels, control gates and the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead. In response, Florida adopted recommendations from the American Society of Civil Engineers related to wind ratings.
Florida was a leader in adopting these new building codes and has since been a model to other states in hurricane-prone areas.
Hurricane Ian was one of the top 10 most powerful storms to hit Florida and it caused significant damage from wind, storm surge and flooding.
Over the past five years, Hurricanes Irma and Michael punished our coasts with powerful winds and deadly storm surges. Hurricane Dorian would have been catastrophic to Florida, but the Category 5 storm turned north at the last moment, instead ravaging the Bahamas.
With the increasing frequency of major hurricanes, the state needs to develop a coastal resilience policy that is applied uniformly statewide to address storm surge zones.
This new policy should not be complex and must engage local municipalities. Cities, towns and counties should be required to engage with the public in developing and maintaining coastal resilience plans to minimize the effects of storm surges.
These plans should include flood control responses and development regulations to ensure that zoning codes do not permit new construction unless the neighborhood is protected and ground-floor elevations are above maximum storm-surge levels.
They should include new infrastructure to harden flood-prone areas. The strategies should feature effective nature-based solutions — such as creating new barrier islands in strategic locations and restoring mangroves — and the building of sea walls and floodgates. These investments should also enhance the quality of life and recreational opportunities.
A coordinated and standard approach among local, state and federal agencies would not just protect and save lives and property, but also would begin to address the longer-term existential threat posed by climate change and sea-level rise.
The benefits of a coordinated response far outweigh a piecemeal approach from each local government. For example, the insurance industry, which has been in a crisis in Florida, should have a seat at the table along with real estate developers and financiers.
The development and insurance industries and local governments have a vested stake in solving this problem. Reforms are needed to reduce insurance rates for homeowners.
Florida’s real estate industry historically has followed a boom-bust cycle. Rapid inflation, an economic recession and major hurricanes could spawn a bust, especially if the state becomes uninsurable because of the persistent threats of significant storms and flooding.
As Floridians recover from Ian and Nicole this past fall, billions will be spent on recovery and restoration. It is vital to remember that the damage today was mitigated based on the flood control and building code improvements from past hurricanes.
Enhancing coastal development protection and resilience in the 2020s can again set Florida apart as a leader for a nation that will face more and more natural disasters in the years ahead.

John L. Renne, Ph.D. is a professor of urban and regional planning and director of the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of several books on resilience. The opinions expressed here represent those of the individual author and not necessarily those of Florida Atlantic University.

“The Invading Sea” is the opinion arm of the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a collaborative of news organizations across the state focusing on the threats posed by the warming climate.

Members of the Starbright Civic Collective present the town with a check for $48,000 to cover the first year of EMT training. From left are Pati Maguire, Stella Kolb, Jean Burling (behind Kolb), Carol Besler, Mary Ziegenfuss, Diane Rose, Police Chief Richard Jones, Janet Schijns, Betty Bingham and Carolyn Cassidy. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi 

Ocean Ridge’s finest are about to take on another critical public-safety role.
The town’s Police Department in January will start training its officers to be certified emergency medical technicians, under a $50,000 pilot program paid for by the Starbright Civic Collective, an Ocean Ridge nonprofit. 
“This brings us back to a place where the officers we have can do mostly everything. They literally save our lives day in and day out,’’ Commissioner Geoff Pugh said before the Town Commission unanimously approved the program Dec. 5. 
“This enhances our level of service tenfold,’’ he said. “That’s what we as residents deserve.’’ 
Public EMT services are typically provided by fire rescue departments. Ocean Ridge, a barrier island community, receives fire rescue service under a nearly $1.4 million contract with Boynton Beach Fire Rescue. 
While no one at the Dec. 5 Town Commission meeting criticized Boynton Beach Fire Rescue, Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones said his officers are always first on scene to calls, usually arriving in two to three minutes. Fire rescue crews at times can take seven to 12 minutes to arrive at a call on the island, he said. 
“That means we have the ability to influence the decision as to whether or not someone has the ability to survive until they reach a hospital. Those golden minutes, as we refer to them, are what we care most about,’’ said Jones, whose department also provides police services to Briny Breezes.
“Those minutes are critically important to survival rates and we want to make sure our staff is properly trained to provide a service that we are able to provide.’’ 
The EMT program will start in January with the training of four of Ocean Ridge’s 16 officers, roughly one officer per shift. (The department usually has 19 officers but three positions are vacant.) Since Jones said he and two other officers are already certified EMTs, seven officers would be certified in 2023.
Jones said it will cost about $50,000 a year to train four officers in consultation with a physician under Florida Department of Health rules for EMT certification, including medical supplies for patrol cars. 
While the Starbright Civic Collective will pay for the first year, it likely will be up to commissioners to decide whether to use town tax dollars to continue paying the training costs for more officers in future years. 
“There is a need in our town — I believe strongly as a resident who has benefited from it — for our police officers to be trained as EMTs so they can respond in an emergency and help save the lives of our residents until the Boynton teams can arrive,’’ said Janet Schijns, president of the Starbright Civic Collective, who presented Jones with a ceremonial check for $48,000. 
Commissioners, who applauded the nonprofit for paying for the first year, seemed open to the idea of paying for training in future years. 
“Not only do our residents deserve this, but as we start to cross-pollinate with our other neighbors to the north and the south, there may be a benefit eventually that we could help provide these services for others for a fee and really strengthen everything we do. I know the folks in Briny are extremely excited about this,’’ Vice Mayor Kristine de Haseth said. 
Although there are likely many police officers around Palm Beach County who are certified EMTs, Jones said he believes Ocean Ridge will be the first police department with a dedicated program.
“I think there is value in us providing our residents with service that they can’t get anywhere else,’’ said Jones, whose department has a $3.464 million budget. “That makes our community stand out from the communities around us as we move forward in the future.’’

Town manager search 
Town commissioners expect to interview at least five finalists for the town manager’s position on Jan. 31. On Dec. 5, they agreed to allow Colin Baenziger, their $29,500 search consultant, to determine the finalists.
Commissioners want the new town manager to start no later than Feb. 20. The new hire would replace Tracey Stevens, who resigned Sept. 11 to accept the manager’s job in Haverhill. Lynne Ladner has been serving as interim town manager. 

Digitizing records
Commissioners will spend $97,148 to scan and digitize hundreds of thousands of pages of town records that are currently occupying two rooms at Town Hall. 
“We’re pretty Flintstones right now and we’re getting an electric car,’’ Commissioner Steve Coz said before the commission approved a digitization contract with MCCi, a Tallahassee-based digital recording firm.
The documents include ordinances, resolutions and meeting minutes, but the majority are site plans, development proposals, permits and other Building Department records.

Signs on the north and south ends of the Turtle Beach condominiums may give the impression that the complex’s private property extends both east and west of the signs, because of the arrows. Police typically define private property to be landward of ‘mean high tide,’ which on this day would have been left of this sign. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi

The on-again, off-again issue of public beach access came up again at a Town Commission meeting last month when residents complained about “No Trespassing” signs outside an Ocean Ridge condominium complex. 
At issue are signs east of the Turtle Beach of Ocean Ridge, a 26-unit condominium community along Old Ocean Boulevard bordered by Hersey Drive on the north and Tropical Drive on the south.
“It really communicates to everyone that you can’t cross the line going south into Turtle Beach,’’ James Connolly of Hersey Drive told commissioners.
The condo says it has ownership rights that extend to the beach’s mean high water line, generally the area of wet sand at the water’s edge. Florida law allows public access to the beach between the waterline and the erosion control line, an area generally near high tide. 
At town meetings beachgoers have often complained of a proliferation of signs all along the beach in Ocean Ridge. And of special concern, they say some of the Turtle Beach signs are posted in the waterline and infringe on the rights of residents who live just north and south of the condo.
The signs at Turtle Beach face east and west with arrows pointing in both directions, which gives beachgoers like Connolly and others the impression that “no trespassing” applies to the entire beach.
“I don’t believe these signs are legal,’’ said Debbie Cook of Tropical Drive. “They are creating a compound, setting their boundaries and using my tax dollars to monitor their property.’’ 
Some signs are so close to the water that they’re often washed out to sea, where they pose a danger to swimmers and marine life, Connolly said. 
“They are unnecessary and they’re unsightly and they’re unneighborly,’’ he said. “It creates kind of an aggressive hostile environment on the beach when people like to go down to the beach and chill.’’ 
But not everyone goes to the beach to chill, which is why the signs went up in the first place, said Mark Feinstein, president of the Turtle Beach of Ocean Ridge Condominium Association.
“I’ve been living here since 2016 and I can tell you from personal experience we’ve had a number of problems” with beachgoers “becoming drunk and disorderly on the beach, causing problems with our residents, playing loud music or being otherwise obnoxious and not allowing us to enjoy our own beach,’’ he said in an interview. 
“Nobody wants signs,’’ he said, “but when people don’t respect property rights, what are you going to do?’’ 
The association applied for and received a town permit for four signs, which were posted on the condo’s part of the beach. The signs don’t prohibit the public from “using the wet sand to go north and south,’’ Feinstein said.
“Just because your sand gets wet doesn’t mean that that’s the mean high tide water mark. The actual mark is much further east. We don’t have an issue with that. We haven’t stopped anybody from traversing across wet sand in water. It’s the people who think they can camp here.’’
Other residents, though, claim they’ve seen as many as six signs outside Turtle Beach, including some in public access areas. 
“My wife sent me a picture and the thing looks like it’s halfway into the ocean,’’ Commissioner Geoff Pugh said at the Dec. 5 meeting, adding that it’s “the second or third time these signs have showed up in the same spot.’’
He asked the town attorney if Ocean Ridge officials can remove the ill-placed signs.
“The town can remove signs from right of ways,’’ Pugh said. “What is the legality of the town removing a sign as egregious as one that’s eastward of the high mean waterline?’’
The answer isn’t so simple, said Town Attorney Christy Goddeau.
“There’s a bundle of property rights in beach property, so trying to balance those property interests is always a struggle,’’ she said. 
“The public trust doctrine gives the public the right to recreate, to swim, to walk across that area. It doesn’t give them the right to permanently camp there. … There are competing property interests.’’
Pugh said his main concerns are the location of the signs and whether that sets a precedent for “every other property owner up and down the beach to start putting signs all the way into the beach.’’ 
Goddeau recommended town officials take a first step by reviewing Turtle Beach’s sign permit to make sure the association is in compliance and to see if the permit dictates exactly where the signs can be placed. 
“Then, if the direction of the commission is to do more about it, to update your sign code, we can certainly pursue that,’’ she said. 
Feinstein, who did not attend the Dec. 5 meeting, said he had not been contacted by town officials as of Dec. 14. 
He said some signs, which cost $300 each, have been removed by beachgoers. 
Part of the problem, he said, is the “transient” nature of some residents who rent properties on Tropical Drive and beachgoers who come across the Woolbright Road bridge from the mainland. 
“The other huge concern we have is there’s an apartment building going up over the bridge. One of their advertising brochures says, ‘Walk to the beach,’’’ Feinstein said. 
“We are waiting for the onslaught when those apartments become occupied. It’s going to get a lot worse.’’ 
Feinstein also said he thinks the complaints are politically motivated attacks against Mayor Susan Hurlburt, a Turtle Beach resident who is up for reelection in March.
Hurlburt, who did not participate in the sign debate at the Dec. 5 meeting, referred questions to Feinstein. 
“I have always worked diligently at separating any and all of my private interests from town business,’’ she said in a statement to The Coastal Star. 
“I absolutely avoid all involvement in my official capacity with the town that may give even the perception of wandering into self-interest.
“But as I am a resident of Turtle Beach, and with an election forthcoming, I have therefore become the point of negative focus for the beach sign issue.’’

Fifth-graders Valentina Autiero and Emma Imperatore stand beside the new duck-crossing sign outside the Gulf Stream School that they designed and promoted. A second sign was installed in front of Town Hall. The persistent students asked town commissioners in March 2020 and again in May 2022 to create the warnings after a Muscovy duck was run over and killed near their school. Photo provided by Rachel S. O’Hara/Gulf Stream School

Gulf Stream Police Chief Edward Allen gave the Town Commission no details on why he is leaving the job, but Mayor Scott Morgan called it a retirement and praised Allen’s integrity. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream is losing its longest tenured employee, Police Chief Edward Allen, who has served on the town’s police force since 1988.
“Effective Jan. 31 … I will be leaving my position here as the police chief,” he announced at the Town Commission’s December meeting without offering details on why.
Mayor Scott Morgan labeled it a retirement.
“You have been with this town for many, many years — decades — and, at least as long as I’ve been on this commission, you have led what is really one of the finest police departments on the barrier island and, frankly, beyond that,” Morgan said. “I want to say that you’ve brought honesty, integrity to your position. Now you’ve instilled that in your officers and have made them what is a very special police department to our very special town.
“I think I speak for everyone here in congratulating you,” the mayor said of Allen’s “well deserved” retirement after almost 35 years working for the town, “thanking you for your many years of service.”
Allen, 63, joined the Gulf Stream Police Department on June 10, 1988, when he was 29 years old. He was promoted to chief on Dec. 9, 2016, after his predecessor, Garrett Ward, resigned for health reasons.
Allen supervised a police captain, two sergeants and 10 officers.
He started his police career in 1981 in Boynton Beach, where he was born and raised, and moved to the Ocean Ridge police force in 1986.
For years he also served as Santa Claus at Ocean Ridge’s holiday party. His father, Ed Sr., was chief of the Boynton Beach Fire Department.
Allen’s departure is coming only four months after the Sept. 30 retirement of Town Clerk Rita Taylor, then Gulf Stream’s second-longest tenured employee. Taylor worked for the town for 32 years and nine months.

In other business at the Dec. 9 meeting:
-- Commissioners were told that a 25-foot live oak tree would be planted outside Town Hall, replacing the green buttonwood tree blown over by Hurricane Ian-related wind in late September.
-- Town Manager Greg Dunham reminded commissioners that construction is restricted but not prohibited in Gulf Stream for the six-month winter season, and there is a lengthy list of exemptions. “Every year … around Dec. 1 the staff deals with construction exemption requests on a daily basis basically,” he said, noting that two noisy projects were nearing completion.
-- An informational session with a security camera industry representative was scheduled for the commission’s Jan. 13 meeting. The subject: the possibility of getting live feeds of nonresidents driving into town from citizens’ security cameras. Resident Beau Delafield, who twice has lost vehicles to thefts, and Civic Association President Curtiss Roach asked commissioners to investigate.
-- A new guardhouse at Place Au Soleil was approved.

By Rich Pollack

For 4 1/2 years, the identity of “Baby June” and the questions of how her tiny 2-day-old infant body ended up floating in the Boynton Inlet remained a mystery.
Despite relentless efforts by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s detectives searching for anyone who knew anything and tracking tip after tip to frustrating dead ends, there was little to go on.
Now thanks to the latest advances in DNA analysis technology using public databases, detectives have the answers to questions that have long eluded them: A Boynton Beach woman — the mother of Baby June — is in custody on first-degree murder charges.
Last month, after an extensive investigation that included a covert DNA collection, sheriff’s detectives arrested 29-year-old Arya Singh and charged her with tossing the baby she had on May 30, 2018, into the ocean.
“There have been a lot of question marks about Baby June’s death and now we have an idea of what happened,” said lead detective Brittany Christoffel of the sheriff’s cold case unit. “It’s nice to have some answers.”
Christoffel said that the baby was a surprise to her mother and was thrown into the ocean shortly after she was born.
“She didn’t know she was pregnant up until the time she gave birth,” Christoffel said. “When the baby was born, she wasn’t sure if she was alive or dead, and that was that. By the time the baby went into the inlet, she was already deceased.”

Ruled a homicide
However, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to court records, concluded that Baby June died of asphyxiation and ruled the death a homicide.
“Physical and toxicological findings support that infant was born alive and in a health care environment,” the medical examiner’s report said.
Investigators, according to published reports, believe that Baby June was born in a hotel room and discovered that Singh had searched online for hotels in the Boynton area eight times during a two-hour period the morning of May 30, the day the baby was born.
The infant was found by an off-duty Boynton Beach firefighter two days later, on June 1, and given the name Baby June by investigators.
Detectives believe that Singh acted alone and kept the birth of the baby and her actions in the aftermath a secret from most, including the baby’s father, a former boyfriend.
“She was fully responsible for the baby ending up in the Boynton Inlet,” Christoffel said.
Genetic testing technology gave detectives their first real break in the high-profile case.
Using forensic genetic genealogy — the same technology used to identify the Golden State Killer in California a few years ago — members of the sheriff’s forensic biology unit were able to identify relatives of the father.
Armed with the lead — gathered in part through a public database — detectives met with the father, who led them to Singh.
“He knew nothing about the baby,” Christoffel said.

Building a case
Once the mother was identified and DNA evidence collected, investigators began building their case with search warrants that gave them access to Singh’s computer searches and GPS tracking information.
Court records show that detectives used Google location data to document her movements on the day the baby was born and discovered that she was at a lifeguard stand just south of the inlet shortly after 9:30 that night and stayed in the area until 10 p.m.
They also found that Singh had conducted numerous searches of news sites for about a month after Baby June was discovered.
In August, shortly after Singh was identified as a suspect, DNA found by undercover detectives on a discarded coffee cup confirmed that Singh was indeed the mother of Baby June.
Investigators did a subsequent DNA test and conducted several interviews to be certain of their findings before filing charges against Singh.
In court records, Christoffel said that the scientific evidence combined with information from the searches made it possible for her to conclude Singh was responsible for the baby’s death.
That Singh remained silent while detectives conducted extensive searches for the mother of the baby, also helped her reach that conclusion.
“At no time has Arya Singh reported her child missing to law enforcement,” Christoffel wrote.

By Jane Smith

Parking for Veterans Park visitors likely will become less convenient as the massive Atlantic Crossing project next door prepares for a new phase of construction.
The Delray Beach park at the northwest corner of the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Avenue may soon lose all parking spaces that sit adjacent to the Atlantic Crossing site to the west. Those spaces would instead be used as a construction staging area for the project’s second phase on the Atlantic Plaza site if an agreement can be reached.
With a 3-2 consensus at its Dec. 6 meeting, the City Commission directed staff to continue negotiating with Edwards Companies, the owner of the 9-acre complex, about an interim parking plan. Commissioners will be able to review the plan after evaluation by a city advisory board, according to the city attorney.
The developer had suggested using an interim parking lot it owns on the north side of Northeast First Street, but that site was rejected by all commissioners. The street has been torn up for the past five years by heavy construction equipment traveling on it, making the lot problematic for park users, commissioners said.
“We would be mixing heavy equipment with pedestrians,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who, along with Deputy Vice Mayor Juli Casale, was not in favor of the new deal.
Another proposal, to create a new parking lot on the north side of the park, would mean the city may lose its shuffleboard and lawn bowling courts at the park.
Casale objected to that proposal, given the park’s recent designation as a historic resource, saying it would take out historic buildings and replace them with a parking lot. She also did not approve of the request made by the developer to speed up construction at Atlantic Crossing.
The project has nearly completed Phase I construction at the northeast corner of Northeast Sixth and Atlantic avenues, said Don DeVere, Edwards vice president. “We’re not happy with the pace of construction. It’s been far too slow,” DeVere said.
Letting the needed heavy equipment use the western Veterans Park spaces would speed up the construction and allow two underground garages to be “dewatered at the same time,” said Vince Testa, construction manager.
Vice Mayor Adam Frankel said Edwards has gone “above and beyond” what was required. He was in favor of working out an arrangement.
The Veterans Park shuffleboard courts have not been used in six years, said Sam Metott, the city’s parks and recreation director. The lawn bowlers have a group of 25 to 30 people who use the courts seasonally, he said.
Staff could not say exactly how many parking spaces exist in Veterans Park or how many would be replaced by the proposed addition of parking spaces on the park’s north side. Nearby residents estimated the park has 70 to 80 parking spaces.
Delray Yacht Cruises, which operates Intracoastal Waterway tours from the park aboard the Lady Atlantic and the Lady Delray, already advises its customers to use any available downtown parking facilities.
Amid the parking concerns, a monthly event at Veterans Park is being asked by the city to move to a new home because it has outgrown the park’s footprint. The Coco Wellness Marketplace, held the first Sunday of the month, would prefer to stay.
“Veterans Park is the right location for us,” Corey Heyman told commissioners during the public comment section of the meeting. “The shade from the trees and the breeze from the waterway” make it ideal.
She asked for more time to find a different location, saying a Jan. 1 expulsion was too soon, especially given that her group had a verbal agreement with the city to stay at Veterans Park through 2023. The commission agreed to allow the marketplace more time and to be at the park on the first Sundays of January and February.
Atlantic Crossing continues to draw criticism from the Marina Historic District across Atlantic Avenue from the massive project.
“It’s not in the best interest of the city, its residents, its visitors or anybody else, but Atlantic Crossing,” Sandy Zeller, a former historic district resident, said during the public comment portion of the commission meeting.

By Joe Capozzi

Briny Breezes officials are endorsing a possible plan by the Ocean Ridge Police Department to patrol a private townhouse community just outside the town limits. 
Ocean Ridge is in negotiations to provide police services to Gulf Stream Views, a community of 14 townhomes that opened in 2022 just south of Briny Breezes Boulevard in the County Pocket. 
Ocean Ridge officers already patrol Briny Breezes under a contract with the mobile- home community, which is immediately south of Ocean Ridge.
If the Gulf Stream Views deal can be reached, it would offer an increased police presence in Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones told the Town Council on Dec. 8. 
“Based on what they are asking from us and what we would be providing, it is definitely an enhancement to the security within Briny Breezes,’’ he said.
Jones said he has spoken with officials at Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which patrols the roughly 2-acre Gulf Stream Views site, and was told they would have no objections to turning it over to Ocean Ridge if an agreement can be reached.
“I think it’s a great idea,’’ said Briny Mayor Gene Adams. 
Adams also voiced his endorsement in a conversion with Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Kristine de Haseth. 
“Not only does it benefit the townhomes, but it benefits by default folks in Briny and also folks in the surf pocket. I think it is a wonderful idea,’’ de Haseth said. 
At the Dec. 5 Ocean Ridge Town Commission meeting, when Jones first mentioned publicly that Gulf Stream Views wants to negotiate with Ocean Ridge, no explanation was offered for why the townhouse community is exploring a new police service option instead of just sticking with PBSO.
Maria Beckett, president of the Gulf Stream Views Homeowners Association, told commissioners the community initially had private security brought in by the developer, but the association didn’t retain the security firm for budget reasons. 
Jones told The Coastal Star he believes the community wants more frequent patrols and quicker response times. “They just want to feel safer and have a faster response time in general.”
Beckett said the townhomes recently installed two license-plate recognition cameras which will benefit the south end of Briny Breezes.
Ocean Ridge Commissioner Geoff Pugh said he supports the plan “as long as it doesn’t affect the level of service the police provide to Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.”
“I know the sheriff wants to get rid of the County Pocket, so you never know what comes down the line,’’ Pugh said. 
Jones, who plans to bring back a formal proposal to the Ocean Ridge Town Commission in early 2023, said the level of service his department provides to Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes would not be affected. 
“It’s definitely an enhancement to the security in Briny Breezes,’’ the chief said. “This is a partnership more than anything and it’s beneficial to all three communities.’’ 

Praise for town manager
Town Manager William Thrasher wanted the council to delete a provision in his contract requiring him to provide four weeks’ notice before taking any vacation. He got that and more as council members showered him with praise for his work before granting his request. 
“I think our town manager is doing an incredible job and any questions or changes he may request should be granted,’’ Alderman Bill Birch said. 
“In the short term I have been here, his work is awesome,’’ said Alderwoman Liz Loper.
Thrasher, who this month enters his fourth year as Briny Breezes’ town manager, said he appreciated the words of support. He said he asked the council to delete the advance-notice rule because it was nearly impossible for him to schedule any time off that far in advance. 
“I thought it was time to clean that up because I felt a little guilty about it,’’ he said after the meeting.

Bill Lazer, 98, of Boca Raton became a business professor and taught for almost 40 years at Michigan State and Florida Atlantic universities. He made friends with business executives, including Walmart’s Sam Walton. His condo has a limited edition wall hanging by Alexander Girard, who produced it for Herman Miller furniture. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

College was not remotely on the radar for Bill Lazer as he grew up in the Canadian prairie city of Winnipeg. He finished high school, got a job at a garment factory and didn’t think much about his future.
Then along came World War II and the then-18-year-old enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942. His assignment wasn’t glamorous — he was stationed in Labrador, where ships traveling from the U.S. and Canada to Europe routinely stopped to refuel. But the Canadian version of the G.I. Bill gave him the chance to enroll at the University of Manitoba.
Lazer earned a degree in commerce, marking the beginning of a life ensconced in education, from earning master’s and doctoral degrees to nearly 40 years as a professor at Michigan State and Florida Atlantic. He also served on boards and committees impacting a variety of aspects of American life.
“I never planned to go into teaching,” said Lazer, who lives in coastal Boca Raton, “but once I got into it I was having a ball. It was, God, they’re paying me for this? I was having an impact on the lives of people and it was utterly fantastic. I never dreamed I would enjoy it so much.”
Lazer’s first job after school was as assistant to the president of a knitting mill in Winnipeg, but the University of Manitoba needed a business professor and persuaded him to come aboard. After three years he moved on to Michigan State.
“The job was for one year and I stayed for 28,” he said.
Many of his students were executives, whom he enjoyed more than his regular students.
“The students are afraid of you — they have to get a grade,” Lazer said. “The executives don’t have to get a grade. They’ll tell you what they think, and I love it. As a result of Michigan State, I was able to deal with executives effectively.”
Many of them also became friends, including Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club; Japan’s Masatoshi Ito, who built 7-Eleven into the giant of convenience stores, and Hoshiro Mitsunaga, who founded Dentsu, the world’s largest ad agency.
Lazer, 98, also enjoyed a 61-year marriage to Joyce, now deceased, who was trained as a classical pianist. Lazer said that none other than Arthur Rubinstein said he would have recommended her to any conservatory in the world.
“Fortunately for me she decided to study philosophy when she got to university, so she permitted me to do anything I was able to do,” Lazer said. “Whenever I got an award I would introduce her from the audience. A fabulous partner.”
Lazer also has a connection to jazz musician Dave Koz. He and Joyce were close friends with Koz’s parents, Audrey and Norman. “He’s like another son to me,” Lazer said.
Lazer, who enjoys dining at Oceans 234 in Deerfield Beach, has two children, son Randy and daughter Simone. Randy is in real estate in Las Vegas and Simone has been involved as a writer and producer on Broadway and currently lives in Nashville.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I started my college education after the war at the University of Manitoba, where I got a bachelor of commerce. That was an education in the British tradition, very specialized in business. I went to the University of Chicago for my master’s in business administration. Then I got my doctorate at Ohio State University, which was the mecca for marketing at the time. That was a two-year course and I was able to get it in eight months. A few years later, I won a Ford Foundation scholarship that took me to Harvard and MIT for a year.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I’ve taught my whole adult life, and really appreciate all the awards I’ve gotten, but for a different reason than people might expect. By my wife doing what she did for the family, she allowed me to do my thing. So, when I got an award, that was an opportunity to have her stand and introduce her to the audience. I won the highest academic award at Michigan State, became an honorary alumnus, got an honorary doctorate, became an honorary member of the Varsity Club. I don’t know which was the best, but I was just so privileged.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Don’t just go to school to get a degree, get an education. Learn how to learn, to keep learning throughout your life. Also, learn to deal with change because the situations are so different now. Companies change so rapidly. You have to adjust, adapt, look to the future and what you think is going to happen. Too many people go to college and don’t care about the grades, they want a better job. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Boca Raton?
A: My wife always wanted to play the piano and look at the ocean. We used to live on Highland Beach and it was the same thing. When we came to this building there was a vacant unit facing A1A and we said no thanks. We had to wait for one on the ocean, and moved here in 1994.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in coastal Boca Raton?
A: I love the ocean, the ever-changing scene. And also, in this building there are three outstanding, kind people I really love. And Boca at one time had a village-type effect, but that’s gone now. It’s more like Fort Lauderdale now.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: Battle for the American Mind, by Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin. Growing up in Canada we studied a lot of Canadian history and a lot of European stuff. Didn’t read much American stuff. But it’s about the battle for American education, how it’s failed, how we got to where we are. At Michigan State, you couldn’t be hired if you were a conservative. I lived that.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I like classical and smooth jazz. With my wife being a classical pianist, we used to have world-class musicians coming to the house. But our relationship with Dave Koz has really helped me appreciate smooth jazz. He’s introduced me to a lot of those people. One time he played the Kravis Center and we were in the audience and he said, “My own mother and father are deceased so I want you to meet my other parents.” And he had us stand up. Such a nice young man.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: When I got to Ohio State to work on my doctorate I studied with a world-famous instructor in marketing, Dr. Theodore Beckman, who was a distinguished professor. He became my adviser, my friend, and he certainly was a mentor for me. I owe him a lot.
And when I was at Michigan State the president was John Hannah. He won the congressional Medal of Honor, he was in charge of civil rights under several presidents, he was in charge of manpower during World War II, he was a giant of a man. For whatever reason he took a liking to me and let me do my thing.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: I like some of the older comics. Sid Caesar, Johnny Carson. And recently I was watching the All in the Family show and they were classics. Norman Lear recently had a 100th birthday party and Dave Koz went and said he’s still very sharp. Some of the stuff that passes for comedy now isn’t funny.

Q: Is there something people don’t know about you but should?
A: About a year-and-a-half ago the dean at the University of Manitoba asked if we could schedule a half-hour phone conversation. Two-and-a-half hours later he said, “I want you to write your memoir for the special collection.” So that’s what I’m doing now. It’s taken a lot longer than I ever thought it would.

By Jane Smith

The historical Cornell Art Museum, closed for about 15 months in a dispute between the city and its previous operators, hosted a grand reopening reception on Dec. 28.
The Surfing Florida Museum has an exhibit on the top floor. On the ground floor is the #LoveDelray collection of artworks from Delray Beach-area artists.
The museum will be open and be free to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
It is now being operated by the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority under a $25,000 agreement approved by the City Commission.
At the Jan. 10 commission meeting, an overall agreement between the city and the DDA to oversee the Old School Square campus will be discussed. That deal would replace the DDA’s current Cornell agreement with one that covers all five venues on the 4-acre campus: the Fieldhouse, the Pavilion, the Cornell, the Crest Theatre and associated arts classrooms.
The Surfing Florida Museum has been searching for a permanent home since it started 14 years ago, said Tom Warnke, its executive director. The Cornell exhibit will stay through June. “I’m hoping the exposure will lead to something permanent,” Warnke said. “I’m beyond excited.”
In late February, Surfing Florida also will open a 12-month exhibit at the renovated Lantana Public Library.
Separately, the commission agreed to pay $1.2 million to finish the renovations of the Crest Theatre building. The city did not put the work out to bid but used a job-order process to speed construction and have a guaranteed price, Public Works Director Missie Barletto said at the commission’s Dec. 6 meeting. It selected Harbour Construction Inc. of Miami.
Vice Mayor Adam Frankel said the commission did not like the previous contractor hired by Old School Square Center for the Arts — the former longtime operator — because the renovation was not put out for bids. He voted against the contract because there still was no bidding process for the work. Commissioner Shirley Johnson, who pulled the item from the Consent Agenda for discussion, also voted against the contract.
The Crest building renovations were started without expressed city approval as required in the lease and — combined with long-standing concerns as to how OSSCA was spending taxpayer dollars — led to the City Commission terminating its lease with OSSCA. The lease termination came on a 3-2 vote in August 2021.
Then, in November 2021, OSSCA sued the city and its elected officials for wrongful termination of the lease. That lawsuit is still pending.
OSSCA also filed papers in November 2021 to trademark the Old School Square name. After the city found out about the trademark application almost a year later, it hired an outside law firm to contest the trademark in November.
OSSCA filed its response to the city’s challenge on Jan. 2. It claims the trademark is not tied to the Old School Square campus owned by the city.
The reply, done by attorney Allen Bennett, said the group is entitled to use the name, because it continues “to offer services in the vicinity of the historic, generally known geographic location referred to colloquially as the ‘Old School Square.’”
OSSCA also filed papers to amend its November 2021 application to eliminate museum services from the list of services it provides — since it no longer controls the Cornell Museum space — and focus on arts education classes and rental of performing arts theaters.
The response said OSSCA’s application didn’t misrepresent its address as Old School Square’s, because its lease was still in force when it applied for the trademark.

Some say that the proposed City Center Delray will overwhelm Doc’s and that its Streamline Moderne style will be out of touch with the Mediterranean Revival style of the Old School Square Historic District, in which the new project will sit. Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

Doc’s, a fast-food eatery that got its start in 1951 as a Dairy Queen franchise, unanimously won a historic designation from the Delray Beach City Commission — but the new complex it will be part of had a tougher time before the board.
“I couldn’t picture Delray Beach without Doc’s,” Commissioner Ryan Boylston said at the commission’s Dec. 6 meeting. “My grandparents took me there. I take my kids there.”
Retired schoolteacher and longtime resident Yvonne Odom also supported saving Doc’s, with its outdoor seating and walk-up window service.
“It has a lot of memories for those of us who grew up here and went to Doc’s after football games,” she said.
Doc’s has been closed for nearly two years and will re-open by the end of 2023, said Pushkar Marathe, a chef hired for the restaurant by one of the partners, Steven Michael.
The new complex that will be adjacent to Doc’s, City Center Delray, received 3-2 approval of its site plan. Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Deputy Vice Mayor Juli Casale voted no on the controversial project, which will house retail and office space.
Petrolia was concerned that the new building would overwhelm and compete with Doc’s older structure. Doing so would violate U.S. Secretary of Interior standards for historic structures, she said.
The center’s size of nearly 32,000 square feet is massive compared to the 1,600 square feet of Doc’s.
Casale pointed out that the city’s Historic Preservation Board recommended denial of the project by a 6-1 vote. Most of its board members were concerned the three-story building would overwhelm Doc’s one-story height, said Michelle Hoyland, the city’s historic preservation planner.
The three-story building will be constructed in the Streamline Moderne style, which some board members said did not fit with the architecture of the surrounding Old School Square Historic District. That district has Mediterranean Revival-style buildings with stucco walls and tiled roofs.
City Center Delray will sit across North Swinton Avenue from the Old School Square campus. The complex extends along Atlantic Avenue for a block west of Swinton to Northwest First Avenue.
Most of the 12 speakers talked glowingly about Michael, a partner in City Center Delray. Their effusive comments prompted City Attorney Lynn Gelin to say, “What we are voting on is not the personality and character of Mr. Michael.”
Two speakers, including barrier island resident Kelly Barrette, talked about the federal standard that the new portion must be compatible with the surrounding designs. Barrette, like the other speakers, urged the commission to add Doc’s to the city’s register of historic places. She opposed the larger City Center Delray plan.
Boylston said he did not like voting against the city’s Historic Preservation Board, “but they have a narrow view. I look at the project as a whole. ... At what point do we push so hard that none of this becomes reality.”

By Mary Thurwachter

Police Chief Sean Scheller shared a good report for his department with the Lantana Town Council on Dec. 12 — and council members gave him license-plate recognition cameras for squad cars.
Scheller said year-end numbers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement — “basically our report card for the year” — showed the Police Department did very well, with crime dropping in town more than at the state or county level.
According to the FDLE, crime in Florida is down 8.3% and crime in Palm Beach County is down 10.2%.
“In Lantana, crime is down 19.9%,” said Scheller, who has been chief for 12 years. “We are performing at a very high standard and you guys are getting exemplary level police work in this town.” He said this was a team effort and thanked everyone from his staff to the Town Council and residents.
Additionally, Lantana’s clearance rate, indicating how many cases were cleared, was 24.4% compared with the county’s 23%.
“You might think this is a small number,” he said, “but it’s actually a high number when you remember that when, for example, somebody parks their bike and it’s gone, we have no suspects, no lead.”
The FDLE report was met with cheers and applause.
Later in the meeting, the council voted to spend $251,600 on license-plate recognition cameras for police cars and another $90,600 for 16 more cameras to be installed at predetermined locations around town. Cameras will be financed with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“With this and in-car cameras, Big Brother’s going to be watching every move in this town,” Scheller said.
The council also agreed to spend $44,375 for a bi-directional amplifier system from Stellar Communications Group, LLC, to boost radio signal reception in the police headquarters at 901 N. Eighth St., next to the sports park.
The building had been used previously “as a jail cell for delinquents and the whole building is basically solid brick wall,” Scheller said.
The radio signal strength, measured after impact-resistant windows and doors and a metal roof had been installed, was deemed “unacceptable” with several dead zones. The dead zones prevent police staff from effectively receiving radio communication throughout the building, Scheller said.
“The continued existence of these dead zones constitutes a threat-to-officer-safety issue, qualifying this acquisition for an emergency purchase which is exempt from competitive bidding,” Scheller said. “The amplifier system will boost the signal to 100% connectivity.”
“We’ve got to keep safe the people who help keep us safe,” acting Mayor Karen Lythgoe said.
This amplifier system was not included in the budget and will be paid for with either available general fund reserve money or ARPA funds and will be included in the mid-year budget amendment, according to Town Manager Brian Raducci. The system may not meet the eligibility rules for the ARPA.

Agenda format to improve
The council approved spending $57,255 for a three-year contract with Granicus, LLC, for agenda management software.
Town Clerk Kathleen Dominguez said the software will automate and streamline the creation of public agendas and minutes, publish meeting documents online and in an ADA-accessible format, livestream and record public meetings, and provide closed captioning of meeting audio for ADA accessibility.
Dominguez said a link will be provided on the town’s website where residents can search, find and review meeting recordings, agenda packets and minutes. Citizens can also sign up to receive notifications of meetings and links to agendas when they are published.
Lantana does not have cameras to provide meeting video, but if the town decides to get them, the new software would be compatible, Dominguez said.

In other business, the council:
-- Approved a $212,959 contract with Baxter & Woodman, Inc., for engineering services related to development of the town’s proposed comprehensive plan for water, wastewater, roadway, sea wall, and parks and recreation facilities, along with a stormwater master plan. ARPA funds will be used to finance this expense.
-- Presented the Employee of the Year Award to general maintenance worker Cesar Barrero for his “tireless efforts and dedication to the town while working in the utility division,” Lythgoe said. “Cesar always shows up where he’s needed and always has a smile on his face.”

By Larry Barszewski

Plaza del Mar expects to welcome a medical tenant — Laser & Skin Center of Palm Beach — into remodeled space at its west end, based on an approval received at the Town Commission’s Dec. 13 meeting.
The practice will be operated by Tatyana Nektalova, a board-certified dermatologist who previously worked in Tribeca and the Upper East Side in New York City. It will offer comprehensive medical, cosmetic and surgical care.
Nektalova needed Town Commission approval for a dermatological office at the plaza. The approval is required so the town can review the overall makeup of the plaza and make sure there aren’t too many non-commercial businesses there.
“It was set up originally so that could not just become a medical plaza,” Mayor Keith Waters said of the approval process.
“I think it’s timely and perfectly placed as an opportunity for the community,” Waters said of the dermatology practice. “The idea is to keep a balance in that plaza. We don’t want to overweight it with anything.”
Commissioners unanimously approved the dermatology use in Unit 205, between the dry cleaners and nail salon. The practice will include minimally invasive procedures, such as removal of skin cancer and cysts.
In some ways, Nektalova is following her former customers here. She told commissioners a number of her clients, some of whom she said worked at Goldman Sachs, were part of the pandemic migration that brought about an influx of New Yorkers to Southeast Florida.
Nektalova said she found a need for a practice on Palm Beach County’s barrier islands.
“There currently is no dermatologist in the entire Palm Beach area, so from Palm Beach island to Manalapan all of the doctors are in West Palm Beach predominantly,” Nektalova said. “There are some spas offering cosmetic services, but they’re not board certified.”
Besides approval of the dermatology operation, town commissioners in other action Dec. 13:
-- Reviewed steps for a voter referendum that would require voter approval of any attempt to sell the town’s water plant in the future, so a future commission couldn’t take such an important step on its own. The referendum isn’t expected to go before voters until March 2024, so it will probably be May or so before the commission starts working on language for the charter change.
-- Discussed, but made no decision on, adjusting construction work hours to possibly require contractors to end earlier on Saturdays. Commissioner Aileen Carlucci said it might be of benefit for residents to have the allowed construction limit on Saturdays scaled back from 6:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

By Joe Capozzi

The Town Council will hold a special meeting Jan. 6 to review options for finding a new town manager to replace Robert Kellogg, who plans to resign at the end of March. 
A representative with the International City/County Management Association will attend the meeting to offer suggestions, which may include finding an interim town manager until a full-time manager is hired. 
The town could also consider hiring a recruiting firm, which Ocean Ridge has done in its search for a manager. A recruiting firm could cost $25,000 to $35,000, said Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, whose firm also provides town attorney services for Ocean Ridge. 
Kellogg announced his plans to resign after councilman Ray McMillan unsuccessfully tried to fire him at the council’s Nov. 15 meeting. McMillan’s motion to terminate Kellogg failed when no other council members supported it. 
At the Dec. 22 council meeting, Mayor Bonnie Fischer thanked Kellogg “for everything he does. I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere for a while because it’s not an easy process to find a new town manager. It takes time. We’ve been through it three or four times.’’ 
Fischer added, “It’s very bittersweet, the whole thing. Thank you, Bob, for everything.’’ 
“It’s not over yet,’’ replied council member Robert Gottlieb, who did not attend the Nov. 15 meeting when McMillan tried to fire Kellogg.
Gottlieb, looking ahead to 2023, offered praise for Kellogg. 
“It’s going to be a great new year for all of us, I hope. We’re lucky to be here and help others,’’ he said. “That’s what this council is all about. It’s helping this town to be better, and Bob, you’ve been and are an important part of it and I appreciate you greatly.’’ 

New Town Hall 
With no discussion, the council tabled consideration of a $15,000 contract with Slattery & Associates to design a new Town Hall, a project that has been debated for more than five years. 
The firm was ranked first among three that interviewed with the council in November, but town officials want to do more research to make sure the firm can design a facility that will be built with structural insulated panels. 
“They have experience. We want to make sure if we hire them they are capable of providing the service that we want,’’ Kellogg said after the meeting.  
At the end of the meeting, Fischer said she hoped con-struction would start in 2023. 
Fischer and Kellogg are working with Torcivia to overcome what the mayor called “a few glitches” and “to figure out what’s best so we can move forward using SIPs. That’s our focus to get that done. Once that gets started and we get moving, it should take off a lot quicker than regular traditional building,’’ she said. 

In other business:
-- The council agreed to spend $2,300 for new fuel lines to the aging generator at the lift station outside Town Hall. In the next year the council will consider a recommendation by a maintenance company to replace the generator. 
A new generator could cost $200,000 to $250,000, some of which could come from grant money, Kellogg said. 
“This is not something we can gamble with,’’ Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy said. “We can’t take a chance on not having it.’’
--  Kellogg told the council that the Dune Deck condominium received a state permit in early December to make repairs to an eroding sea wall. But he said he didn’t think the town had issued a formal permit yet for the work. He said the condo, which applied for the state permit in June, is expected in January to seek relief from fines a special magistrate imposed in May.

By Tao Woolfe

The Boynton Beach City Commission has approved a settlement agreement with JKM BTS Capital, LLC, the developer of the long-stalled public/private Town Square project that city officials had hoped would revitalize the downtown area. Here are the major terms of the agreement, which was reached after several court-mandated mediation sessions among the city manager, city attorneys and the developer:
l The city will be paid $4.5 million by JKM.
l The developer will pay the city up to another $100,000 in attorneys’ fees for related litigation.
l JKM will sell three parcels of land conveyed by the city for the project to another private developer. As part of the purchase agreement, the new developer must provide sufficient parking for the project as well as sufficient public parking.
l In return, the city will dismiss its lawsuit against JKM.
“If any of the conditions are not satisfied, the Settlement Agreement will become null and void,” the agreement stipulates.
Time Equities, a New York City-based developer, has expressed interest in taking over the development of Town Square.
Under Boynton Beach’s original agreement with JKM, the $250 million project was to comprise a mix of municipal buildings and privately developed apartments, a hotel, restaurants and shops.
The developer was also expected to build two parking garages, providing some 2,000 spaces for use by residents, businesses and the general public. The project’s 16.5-acre area sits between Boynton Beach Boulevard and Southeast Second Avenue.
In return, the city agreed to give JKM the three parcels of land, to pay almost $2 million in cash to the developer and to provide underground water and sewer lines.
The developer, claiming the city had reneged on its commitments, failed to complete the project. The city filed suit against JKM in November 2020.

A new zoning district, allowing Boynton Beach to set height restrictions on mixed-use downtown buildings without angering current developers, has been approved by the City Commission.
The zoning code amendment will exempt any existing or in-progress development from having to comply with the new restrictions limiting new mixed-use projects to 85 feet in height.
Amanda Radigan, the city’s principal planner, has told the commissioners that such a zoning change would allow the city to limit building height without risking lawsuits.
Commissioners have twice discussed imposing restrictions but shied away from a vote because they feared legal repercussions.
Commissioner Thomas Turkin introduced the idea of height restrictions in May, saying lower buildings would make the city more inviting. He cited Delray Beach’s less imposing buildings as an example of good planning.
Current Boynton Beach height limits on the two mixed-use zones in the downtown core are 100 and 150 feet.
Residents have said that in recent years the city has become taller and denser at an unsustainable pace.
Residents at the Jan. 3 commission meeting applauded the move to lower building height and density, but said it did not go far enough.
“We had asked for a four-story maximum,” said resident Susan Oyer, meaning 48 feet. “I’m incredibly disappointed.”
The commissioners heard from two attorneys who warned that taking away developers’ design options could result in very expensive lawsuits.

— Tao Woolfe

The boat ramp renovation at Boynton Beach’s Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park has been completed and the docks and the park have reopened.
“They look great,” Kacy Young, the city’s parks and recreation director, said of the three ramps. The site also has “new stations for cleaning fish that are already very popular,” Young said.
The city held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 17, which was attended by the public, city officials and city staff.
The $1.25 million project was funded equally by the Palm Beach County penny sales tax — approved by voters to pay for park, road, bridge and other public projects — and the Florida Inland Navigation District. To accommodate the construction, the park was closed from mid-September through Dec. 1, 2022.

— Tao Woolfe

Sports agent Phil Terrano, who played at the park as a kid, proposes to upgrade it and build a sports training facility there in partnership with the city. Tao Woolfe/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

As far back as Phil Terrano can remember, he’s wanted to give something back to the park that launched his career.
More than two decades after playing his last baseball game at the East Boynton Beach Little League park, Terrano — now a successful sports agent — is on the verge of seeing his dream come true.
The Boynton Beach City Commission recently gave preliminary approval to Terrano’s proposal to build an indoor training facility and add a new turf field to the 12.76-acre grounds of the park on Woolbright Road.
The commission is expected to give final approval to the project in the coming weeks.
“We are really hoping to break ground in January or February,” Terrano said in an interview. “We’d like to have it done by the end of 2023, but it would be even better if it was done by summertime.”
Terrano had proposed a 7,500-square-foot training facility, but city officials, after touring similar sites in South Florida, said they would like the building to be 12,000 square feet. The exact size of the for-profit facility has yet to be determined.
Through a partnership between Terrano and the city, the facility would offer strength and conditioning training for multiple sports, nutrition programs, batting cages, bullpen mounds, data assessment, physical therapy, chiropractic services, youth camps and scholarship programs.
The Cressey Sports Performance facility in Palm Beach Gardens offers similar services. Such specialized gyms — which cater to adult and school-age athletes willing to pay membership fees to improve their performance — are springing up around the country.
The Boynton Beach Parks and Recreation Department, as well as Building Department staff, are working on a master plan for the park that will include revamping the existing grass fields, adding T-ball and artificial turf fields, and upgrading the bathrooms and concession stands, said Kacy Young, the city’s parks and recreation director.
Terrano told the city commissioners he would like the 17 Major League Baseball players he represents to train at the site. The presence of baseball pros would provide extra incentive for Little Leaguers to be their best, as well as offer opportunities for kids to collect autographs and insider tips.
Young said he likes Terrano’s plan to have the major league players practicing alongside the Little Leaguers.
“It will be beautiful and we hope it will increase the usage of the park,” Young said. “We feel the project would be a great benefit to the entire city.”
The city acquired the park in the 1950s from the developer of High Point retirement village. It was envisioned as land that could be used eventually for expansion of the adjacent city-owned cemetery, according to city records.
By the late 1950s, however, Little League was outgrowing its original home at Galaxy Park, which had only one field, and the city decided to move league operations to Woolbright Road.
The East Boynton Beach Little League park lost its luster over the years, however, and the fields were often neglected and overgrown except for a rescue effort in 2006.
Shortly after Hurricane Wilma blew through South Florida and destroyed much of the park, the producers of the ABC home remodeling television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition stepped in to repair the home of the 2003 national Little League champions.
The renovation included repairing the northeast fields, replacing light poles, and installing a new irrigation system, fencing, signage and batting cages. Crews also repaired the roof and interior of the concession stand.
Terrano, 44, who grew up in Boynton Beach, said he played on the fields from age 10 until he was almost 20. He later coached teams, served on the Boynton Beach Little League’s board of directors, and cooked hot dogs on weekends.
“People didn’t believe in the park and never kept it up,” Terrano said. “Volunteers did as much as they could, but most of them had full-time jobs and couldn’t be here that much.”
City officials hope this new injection of money and interest will turn things around.
Terrano, the CEO of Primetime Sports Group LLC, said he and investors he has enlisted will probably spend $3 million to $4 million to build and maintain the training facility and add the turf field. The city will do the rest and will maintain the fields, he said.
“I played here and it means a lot to me to give back,” Terrano said. “If it wasn’t for Boynton Beach Little League, I would never have gotten into a career with Major League Baseball.”
Terrano now lives in Lake Worth Beach with his wife, Shiela, and his two sons, Dylan, 11, and Dominick, 6.
The training facility will be a for-profit operation, Terrano said, but the project is as much about bringing life back to the park as it is about the money.
“It is my field of dreams,” he said. “I told the city commissioners:
“If you let me build it, they will come.”