Zev Bailey, 3, of Boca Raton, carries the sensory coral reef he made while taking part in the Discovery Series at the Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach. Photo provided

By Faran Fagen

The first thing 3-year-old Zev Bailey of Boca Raton does when he comes home from a session of the Sandoway Discovery Series is teach his dad, Chris, what he’s learned.

So far, the topics at the Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach have ranged from the jungle to biodiversity, and in November pumpkin volcanoes and ice cream science will be featured.

“Each session is filled with things for him to explore, maneuver and create while learning each theme,” said Brittany Bailey, who signed her son Zev up for every session this fall, including the two this month, Nov. 3 and 17. “Zev is always fully engaged and happy to be there and loves his take-home projects.”

Sandoway has run this retooled Discovery Series for the past three months. Sessions are limited to no more than 15 kids, suggested ages 3-5, and usually take place outdoors.

“Our goal is to get young kids excited about learning and about science through discovery,” said Suzanne Williamson, Sandoway’s director of education. “We want kids to feel like they’re discovering new ideas and phenomena with hands-on activities and demonstrations.”

The center opened in 1998 with the goal of entertaining and educating people about environmental topics through experiential learning.

Williamson joined the staff at the beginning of June, after being a high school AP environmental science, biology and marine science teacher for 15 years.

“I’m so passionate about environmental education, and Sandoway has allowed me to spread that message to a wider range of kids and the public in so many cool ways,” she said.

For each part of the new series, Williamson and her staff have generated a theme.

In September, the theme was Ocean Explorers Academy, and the staff used coffee grounds and filters to model how fish breathe and then used a variety of materials to create a 3D coral reef.

A session showcases an experiment or demo to get the kids thinking about the science process, and then a hands-on craft and/or sensory project that stimulates their preschool minds and is something they can take home.

“We like to get messy, so we usually try to have sessions outside,” Williamson said.

In another session, kids explored the differences in density between fresh and salt water, and then used that understanding to make the layers of the ocean in a jar using liquids of differing densities.

The kids “had so much fun building their oceans in a jar,” Williamson said. “The parents really loved that they could give their kids a messy sensory experience and then just leave the cleanup to us.”

Each class is capped at either 12 or 15 kids, depending on space needed. October’s sessions were full.

Each meeting starts with a question to let kids share anything they know about the topic. Then they move into the experiment or demo, often working in groups to foster collaboration. 

Next, they talk about what they saw and move into the craft or model that they make individually.

“Kids are encouraged to be creative and know that making mistakes is a learning process and that science is fun,” Williamson said.

November is STEM-sgiving, so activities are centering on fall and the great American Thanksgiving. Experiments will center on Thanksgiving foods, like making bread in a bag and simple homemade ice cream using the laws of physics. Kids will even make pumpkin volcanoes.

The Discovery Series has been a program at Sandoway for several years. The staff reinvented it this fall to make certain that kids immersed themselves in phenomena of the natural world and learned concepts that they will need to know in elementary school.

The series targets preschoolers because ages 3-5 are such critical years to shape the way kids feel about learning. Sandoway also offers a Young Scientists Series twice per month on weekends to allow a broader age range of kids to experience what scientists do and to develop a better understanding of the science process. 

As for admission to the Discovery Series, the fee for non-members is $12 per child and $2 per child for members. Each accompanying adult is $10 (free for members).

Fee includes all materials and admission to the center for the day. To reserve a spot, call 561-274-7263 or email Suzanne.sandoway@gmail.com. Payment will be accepted upon arrival.

Debbie and Wally Majors of Delray Beach adopted Lily in 2018, when the poodle was about 10. Lily died in 2020. ’We knew that she had had a hard life, but we wanted to make her senior years the best we could,’ Debbie Majors said. Photo provided

By Arden Moore

I just realized that four of our pets would qualify for Medicare if they were humans. Where did the years go?

Kona, my terrier mix, and Casey, my orange tabby, are both 9. We are guessing that our black-and-white cat, Baxter, whom we rescued from the streets, is about 12, and topping the age chart is our 19-year-old black cat, Mikey. Our youngsters are 4 years old: Emma, a poodle-Chihuahua mix, and Rusty, another orange tabby.

It seems like yesterday that Kona was a frisky youngster who loved marathon ball-fetching sessions. The brown markings on her face have faded to white and she is now content to end the fetch game after retrieving five balls. I recently found a 7-year-old Facebook video clip of Mikey happily stalking and pouncing on a feather wand toy. Now, he much prefers napping by the sunny window on his orthopedic bed.

The graying of America is not limited to people. One out of every three cats and dogs is 7 years or older. That equates to senior citizenship status. Fittingly, November is a month noted for gratitude with the celebration of Thanksgiving. It is also designated as National Senior Pet Month.

Debbie and Wally Majors, of Delray Beach, weren’t planning to adopt a senior dog, but they are glad that they did. They now have wonderful memories centered on a rescued poodle named Lily.

“She was in bad shape with only one tooth, a dislocated hip and her hearing and sight nearly gone when we adopted her in 2018,” says Debbie. “We were guessing that she was about 10 or 11 at the time. Lily was so kind and gentle and such a joy. We knew that she had had a hard life, but we wanted to make her senior years the best we could.”

Lily died in 2020, but every day the couple remembers the impact she made in their lives. At the two-year adoption date, the Majorses treated Lily to a celebration that included pupcakes. Lily happily sported a party hat.

“We tried to make up for all she had been through,” says Debbie. “Lily seemed to give us love every second. She was such a wonderful dog.”

The Majors household today includes a pair of seniors: Boone, an 11-year-old labradoodle, and Tequila, an 11-year-old cat. The couple also has a 5-year-old labradoodle named Cassidy.

“I have had puppies. Yes, they are cute, but they are also a lot of work,” says Debbie. “Dogs in their senior years are really the best.”

The staffers at Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach agree. They encourage the adoption of senior dogs and cats at their center through a program called the Grey Whisker Club.

“Senior pets make the best pets!” says Kelsey Otocki, Peggy Adams spokesperson. “Research shows that having a pet helps people lead healthier lives and the benefits are many: companionship, lowered blood pressure, stress relief, sense of purpose and responsibility.”

Animals up for adoption in the Grey Whisker Club are 7 years and older. By adopting a senior pet, you receive a lot of perks that include:

• 50% off the adoption fee 
• Starter bag of food courtesy of Hill’s Pet Nutrition
• 30 days of free pet insurance with MetLife
• Complimentary spay/neuter and microchipping, plus ensuring the adopted senior is updated on all age-appropriate vaccines
• A comprehensive senior exam that includes bloodwork and dental evaluation is conducted prior to adoption.

More information on the Grey Whisker Club can be found at www.peggyadams.org/what-we-do/grey-whisker-club-benefits.

Jill Merjeski, founder of the award-winning Jill’s Next Door Dog Walking and Pet Services (www.jillsnextdoor.com), based in Highland Beach, does a high percentage of her business catering to senior pets.

“Although we always keep a keen eye on all of our clients’ pets’ health, we pay close attention to senior pets,” says Merjeski. “For senior pets, we perform a house check to make sure that their beds, food and water are easily accessible for them and that the home temperature is comfortable for them.”
Merjeski also customizes play time for senior pets.

“On walks with older dogs, we may walk slower and take more time and maybe include backyard time in a secure, fenced-in yard to customize the visit,” she says. “For older cats, we may include wand toys that we move more slowly and at ground level to be mindful of the senior cat’s mobility.”

Her pet-sitting service also offers Canine Aqua Fitness, which enables safe mobility exercises for senior dogs struggling with arthritis.

Merjeski shares her home with 5-year-old cats named Jules and Izzy, but also fosters elderly cats from All About the Cats Animal Rescue (www.allaboutthecatsrescue.org).

“We absolutely love our senior pet clients,” she says, adding with a laugh, “They also don’t seem to get in trouble as much as their kitten or puppy counterparts.”
Got a senior pet? Or looking to adopt an older dog or cat? You can make their senior years truly golden ones.

Arden Moore is an author, speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. She hosts a radio show, Arden Moore’s Four Legged Life (www.fourleggedlife.com), and the weekly Oh Behave! podcast on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.ardenmoore.com.

Enroll your dog in a national study on aging
What are the keys to a healthy, long life in our dogs? That’s the challenge facing leaders of the Dog Aging Project. This is a long-term, comprehensive canine science health study that includes veterinarians, researchers, volunteers and pet parents. The goal is to better understand how genes, lifestyle and the environment affect aging in dogs and future generations of dogs.

And you’re invited to participate by enrolling information about your dog. The project welcomes dogs of all ages, breeds and health conditions. You must have a good idea of your dog’s actual age.

Learn more at https://dogagingproject.org.

Construction of PopStroke in Delray Beach was in full swing in October. The 36-hole venue designed by Tiger Woods’ company is set to open the first week of November. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

As PopStroke golf opens new facilities around Florida, from Port St. Lucie to Fort Myers to Sarasota to Orlando, the obvious question is: What is PopStroke, anyway?
Tim Glita, operations manager of the Delray Beach PopStroke, which plans to open the week of Nov. 6, explained.

“It’s a mini-golf experience, but not your traditional miniature golf,” Glita said of the 36-hole layout on Federal Highway just north of George Bush Boulevard.

“Traditional mini-golf features clowns’ mouths, lighthouses, alligators and windmills, all that fun stuff,” Glita said. “We look for a real-life putting experience, something you see on a traditional 18-hole golf course. Our courses are designed by Tiger Woods’ company, TGR Design. It’s a unique putting experience at every course.”

PopStroke is the brainchild of Jupiter businessman Greg Bartoli, who founded the company in 2019 and got a big boost when Woods signed on as a partner in the fall of that year. Manufacturer Taylor Made came aboard a year ago, and another notable addition is consultant Ken Kennerly, former longtime executive director of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens.

The two 18-hole courses in Delray Beach are intertwined yet different. The Black course is a bit easier and ADA accessible, meaning it can be navigated by strollers and wheelchairs. The Blue course features more sloped greens. Greens are artificial turf, with the rough slightly taller and sand traps painted white.

Only putters are allowed.

“They’re all a combination of 36 unique putting holes, so every PopStroke has a different experience,” Glita said. Delray will be the sixth such facility in Florida; Port St. Lucie was the first to open about a year ago and Fort Myers, Sarasota, Tampa/Wesley Chapel and Orlando have followed.

And each has more than golf. A restaurant and full-service sports bar overlook the courses, offering everything from burgers to local craft beers and cocktails. Ice cream will be available in the pro shop. Another bar sits among the courses so patrons can order drinks and food from their phones. The tees have cup holders, and misters will be in operation during summer play.

There’s also a gaming area featuring foosball, table tennis and cornhole.

Glita said pricing has yet to be determined in Delray Beach but the Port St. Lucie venue charges $20 per person for the whole day with $16 for seniors over 60 and military, active or retired. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday and 9 a.m. to midnight Thursday to Saturday, with parking available for up to 100 cars and valet service available.

The facility is about a half-mile north of the mini-course Putt’N Around, which has been in business 13 years. Manager Kaylee King said ownership endorsed the new project when it came before the city. “Our owner is very pro-Delray,” King said. “The feeling was what’s good for Delray is good for us.

“It’s different. It’s date-night, partying, while we’re kind of low-key, family-oriented, we decorate for the holidays. I’m kind of excited for it. They might hurt us the first few months, but they’re pretty different.”

Three PopStrokes have opened in other states — one in Katy, Texas, and two in the Phoenix area — and Glita said plans are to open eight to 10 more every year going forward.

One of those is set for Wellington next year and another in mid-to-late 2024 in West Palm Beach near the airport, which Glita said will be the flagship for the company.

“That will be two stories, with five bars, multiple dining facilities, a playground, VIP lounge on the second floor, and party and event space for up to 200,” he said. “We’re based in Jupiter so that will be the closest to us.”

For more information, see https://popstroke.com/delray-beach-fl/

Alan Zaremba holds a peacock bass he caught in a southern Palm Beach County canal. Photos by Steve Waters/The Coastal Star and provided

By Steve Waters

Although South Florida is renowned for its largemouth bass fishing, exotic fish such as peacock bass and snakeheads have established themselves as bucket-list fish for both local and visiting anglers.

One of the best places to catch the latter two species is Lake Ida and the canals that are connected to the lake. They extend from Boca Raton to Boynton Beach.

Peacock bass were stocked in several canals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in the mid-1980s by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fisheries biologist Paul Shafland. His goals were to provide recreational fishing opportunities and for the peacocks, which feed primarily on fish, to control the expanding populations of illegally introduced exotic species such as tilapia and Mayan cichlids.

Shafland’s plan was a huge success. The colorful fish that are native to South America’s Amazon River and its unspoiled jungle tributaries are equally at home in the bustling canals of Palm Beach County. After being stocked, peacock bass migrated north into the Lake Ida chain.

Some of the best fishing is in the C-15 Canal along the Boca Raton-Delray Beach line, the Hunters Run canal just north of the boat ramps at Lake Ida Park in Delray Beach, and the Boca Rio canal that runs along the western side of Florida’s Turnpike in Boca Raton.

Angler Ed Connell shows off one of 38 big snakeheads he caught on a single fishing trip with Zaremba. BELOW RIGHT: Snakeheads are known to be attracted to frog lures floating on the surface of the water.

Those same waterways also are home to snakeheads. According to the FWC, bullseye snakeheads are native to Pakistan, Malaysia and southern China. They were first documented locally in 2000. No one knows for certain how they got here, although they were sold by some pet shops, so it’s likely that aquarium owners released the fish, which can grow to about 15 pounds.

What anglers do know is that snakeheads love to chase down lures fished on the surface, they fight hard and their firm, white flesh is low in mercury and can be prepared in a number of tasty ways.

Capt. Alan Zaremba, who specializes in fishing for snakeheads and peacock bass, said his anglers can catch both species on the same trip using hard jerkbaits and topwater plugs in local canals. Snakeheads also bite soft-plastic frogs and jerkbaits fished on the surface.

“To me, this is the best time to go after snakeheads,” Zaremba said. “They seem to be done with all of their spawning; they’re done with protecting their young. And they’re sitting underneath the cover waiting for food, and they’re feeding right now.”

One of his best days was just before a November cold front when he guided his angler to 20 snakeheads. He later smashed that personal best when he and his customer Ed

Connell caught and released 38 snakeheads up to 11 pounds.

They were fishing in shallow, narrow, shabby looking canals in Boca Raton. Snakeheads breathe air, so water quality does not matter to them. They do like canals lined with vegetation, where they wait to ambush small fish as well as frogs, lizards, snakes and baby ducks and birds.

“When I get somebody who wants to target snakeheads, I take them into my ugliest canals and that’s where the best fishing is,” Zaremba said, adding that many of those canals are 4-5 feet deep and shallower. “That’s not to say you can’t find snakeheads in deeper canals, but the ones that are actively feeding are usually in canals with not much water in them, and they’re usually very narrow.”

Zaremba said snakeheads are wary, so long casts are essential to avoid spooking the fish.

He rigs his spinning outfits with 15- and 20-pound braided line, which casts farther than monofilament line of the same strength, and has his anglers retrieve the lures across the surface and parallel to the bank.

When you see the wake of a snakehead following your lure, keep reeling until the fish hits it. Then drop the rod tip, reel up the slack line and set the hook. If all goes well, you can check off the snakehead from your bucket list and even take it home for dinner.

Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.

The quartzite oversize kitchen island in Aegean teal has USB outlets, microwave and undercounter lighting. Wine fridge is in the butler’s pantry. BELOW RIGHT: The loggia offers Intracoastal views. Photos provided

This luxury townhouse in Ocean Ridge has been renovated from stem to stern and is truly a yachtsman’s dream home.

A rare find with two private, completely equipped, protected dock slips that will hold up to two 60-foot yachts, this home has unobstructed views of a nature preserve and the Intracoastal Waterway. Located in the gated enclave of Pelican Cove, with only 40 waterfront residences, it is just a mile or so from the Boynton Inlet for easy ocean access, and the community is mere steps to its dedicated beach access.

The three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath residence is 2,972 square feet of living area under air, complete with impact windows. It also has a two-zone air conditioning system and 40-by-40-inch porcelain flooring. Solar screen window treatments and custom overhead lighting and light fixtures are part of the design. Patio ceilings are painted pecky cypress.

The new privacy glass front door welcomes you, but the renovated kitchen is the true heart of the townhome. It has custom cabinets in Aegean teal with a sea glass backsplash, a new SubZero refrigerator, new Wolf induction range and a new ZLine wall mount range hood in stainless steel, a Matte graphite farmhouse sink with a high-arc kitchen faucet, and an instant hot/cold filtered water faucet.

Offered at $3,170,000.

Contact Valerie Coz, senior director of luxury sales, Douglas Elliman, 561-386-8011, val.coz@elliman.com

A modern floating walnut staircase with walnut railing leads from the living room to the second floor.

A custom designed Dell Anno Italian master suite closet has glass front dresser drawers.

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

Boca Raton’s Office of Sustainability is inviting residents to complete a sustainability survey, which is intended to get input that will guide the city’s sustainability initiatives over the next five years.

The survey allows residents to express their priorities, propose ideas and offer their suggestions on how the city can effectively address sustainability issues.

The city’s first Sustainability Action Plan was created in 2019. The survey results will be used to create the city’s second, updated plan.

“Community feedback in the strategic planning phase of our Sustainability Action Plan is a top priority,” said Sustainability Manger Lindsey Roland Nieratka. “We encourage all residents to participate.”

The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/XQ52NJG and on the city’s website, www.myboca.us

St. Lucy Catholic Church will be hosting a prayer vigil for Israel on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. All members of the community are welcome to attend the prayer vigil and reception immediately following. 

Yvonne Odom with her granddaughter Coco Gauff, who holds her U.S. Open trophy during a visit home. BELOW RIGHT: Yvonne Odom, then Yvonne Lee, was the first Black student to attend Seacrest High (now Atlantic High), in 1961. Photos provided

By Brian Biggane

Arriving home after watching a grandson’s baseball game in Fort Lauderdale, Yvonne Odom was getting phone calls and texts to join friends and relatives at a watch party for her granddaughter.

Her granddaughter is Cori “Coco” Gauff, who was playing to win the women’s championship at the U.S. Open last month in New York.

Odom, who lives in Delray Beach, didn’t want to go. Knowing that Coco had already lost the first set, she wasn’t eager to set herself up for disappointment.

“I like to watch her matches when they’re over, when I know she’s won, because I get so nervous,” said Odom, 77. “My husband didn’t want to go because he doesn’t like crowds. But I’m getting these texts: ‘Where are you? Everybody’s waiting for you.’

“My niece offered to drive me, and I got a standing ovation when I walked in. Then I saw so many people I knew: people from the church, (daughter) Candi’s sorority sister, the vice mayor, the (city) commissioner. So, I sat down and of course Coco won the second set and I said, ‘Here it comes.’”

Gauff dominated the final set and defeated Aryna Sabalenka, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to capture her first Grand Slam tennis title at age 19.

“When she hit that point I lost it,” Odom recalled of the winning shot. “My phone rang then, and it was Coco but I didn’t answer because I was almost on my knees. My niece answered and she didn’t recognize her voice so she hung up. But I was just out of it. I was so relieved, so happy, because I knew she worked so hard.”

Odom wears a shirt bearing letters of her granddaughter Coco Gauff’s first name. Odom is a retired teacher with 45 years in Palm Beach County public schools. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Family ties in Delray
The Odom/Gauff family has achieved almost legendary status in Delray Beach. Yvonne’s father, Randolph Lee, brought the family south from Daytona Beach in the late 1950s when he was named pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist in Boynton Beach, where he served 42 years. Yvonne became the first Black student to integrate Seacrest (now Atlantic) High in 1961.

Yvonne and Eddie Odom’s daughter Candi was a track star at Atlantic who earned Athlete of the Year honors from The Palm Beach Post and a scholarship to Florida State University. Her husband, Corey Gauff, grew up across the street from Pompey Park and played basketball at Spanish River High and Georgia State University. Small wonder, then, that their daughter, Coco, is one of the best athletes on the women’s tennis tour.

Married in 2001, Corey and Candi moved to Atlanta after Coco was born on March 13, 2004, when Corey got a lucrative job in the health care industry. Candi was a schoolteacher.

Corey and Candi Gauff pose with their daughter, Coco Gauff, after her U.S. Open championship. Photo provided

“Coco was premature and I think I know why,” Odom said. “We were at my brother’s house the night before and a cat ran past and Candi jumped. The next day she called and said, ‘Mama, my water broke.’ I was still planning a shower for her and went ahead and had it anyway. I blew up a picture of Coco and hung it on the wall.”

Odom recalled going to pick up Coco from nursery school when she was 3 or 4 and the children had all been asked their favorite foods. “A lot of them said McDonald’s or French fries and Coco said broccoli. I asked Candi about it, and she said, ‘Well, I do feed my kids vegetables.’”

Coco started playing tennis at age 6 and showed so much promise that a year later the family decided to return to Delray Beach, where Coco could get better instruction. Both parents also quit their jobs — a decision that didn’t sit well with Yvonne — with the agreement Candi would home-school Coco.

“I didn’t like that because Candi had 19 years as a teacher,” said Odom, herself a retired teacher. “It wasn’t OK with me. I told my husband, ‘Oh no.’ But he said, ‘Vonnie, that’s not your child.’ So, I didn’t talk about it anymore.”

The family spent two years living with Yvonne and her husband, Eddie — who is better known by his nickname Red — while Coco’s game blossomed. At age 8 she won a national Little Mo tournament and at 10 it was decided she would move to France to work with Serena Williams’ longtime coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.

“She had a poster of Serena hanging in her room. When Venus and Serena moved here from Compton, they were students at Carver,” Yvonne Odom said of the middle school in Delray Beach. “They were in sixth and seventh grade, and (father) Richard used to come and pick them up early.”At age 13, Coco Gauff entered a 5K race and won the entire women’s division. Photo provided

Wimbledon splash at 15 ...
Meanwhile, Coco’s budding athletic prowess was becoming evident in other ways. At age 12 she showed promise in a youth basketball league, and at 13 she entered a 5K race and not only won her age group but the entire women’s division. It was about that time, with her tennis results becoming more and more impressive, Corey decided she would concentrate on that sport.

At age 10 years and 3 months Coco won the USTA National Clay Court 12-and-under championship — becoming its youngest winner ever — and at 14 she won the prestigious Orange Bowl junior tournament in Miami. The same year she won the French Open junior girls title on clay and became the No. 1-ranked junior in the world.

She also turned pro in 2018 and just over a year later was invited to play in the qualifying rounds on grass at Wimbledon. After winning three matches to reach the main draw, she learned her first opponent would be five-time champion Venus Williams.

“Oh my God,” Yvonne Odom said. “I was very skeptical she would beat Venus, but I remember this guy [family friend] Dwayne Randolph said, ‘We’re going to put Venus out to pasture.’”

Gauff won that match and three more at Wimbledon, exploding onto the international scene as a 15-year-old.

... and some difficult losses
Gauff’s next big splash came at the 2022 French Open, where she reached the final before losing to No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-3.

“We boo-hoo cried because she finished second,” Odom said. “That’s a term we use. But when I saw her I said, ‘Listen, God just decided this wasn’t your time yet. Because sometimes you get things and you’re not ready for it. So, cry 30 seconds, that’s my rule. You cry 30 seconds and get back to work.

“You don’t know if that stuck, but as a teacher I learned you don’t speak ill of anybody. She called herself stupid one time. She lost a point and said to herself, ‘What’s the matter, are you stupid?’ When that match was over I told her, ‘As long as you live, don’t ever refer to yourself as stupid. Uh-uh. That’s not going to happen. Because you’re not.’”

After a disappointing run early this year that culminated with a first-round loss at Wimbledon, Gauff switched coaches, signing on with Spaniard Pere Riba and one-time American star Brad Gilbert. She promptly won two big hard-court events in the United States that put her among the favorites in the Open.

“I like what Brad said,” Odom said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to change her forehand; you don’t just go and change somebody’s forehand.’”

Eddie Odom, Yvonne’s husband and Coco’s grandfather, was a longtime baseball and football coach after whom the baseball field at Pompey Park is named.

“You should see Coco practice, and my husband says, ‘The team that works the hardest is supposed to win.’ He doesn’t say will, but should,” Yvonne Odom said.

An active grandmother
Upon winning the Open title, Coco grabbed the microphone from interviewer Mary Joe Fernandez and thanked everyone from her parents to the fans, including her grandparents.

Her composure and her willingness to address social issues has led some to promote her as a spokeswoman for her generation.

“To me it’s a natural gift,” Yvonne said. “I’m a product of a Baptist minister, so we’re used to talking, and we have oratory contests in the church, you do the Sunday speeches and all that.”

Odom was equally unflappable when she was pulled away from her friends at Carver High School and enrolled at Seacrest early in her sophomore year back in 1961.

“People ask me if it was difficult, but I didn’t see it that way,” she said. “I went to everything. I ran for political office; I won the primary but lost the general election. We went to the football games, the proms.”

Odom had opportunities to go to bigger colleges, but a lack of money led her to what was then Palm Beach Junior College, then Florida Atlantic University. She went on to get her master’s at Nova Southeastern and taught in the Palm Beach County school system for 45 years.

One day at Delray Elementary she learned the racism she had worked as a teenager to diminish if not erase was still alive and well.

“I was standing at the door to my room and this girl was dragging her momma down the hall to meet me,” she said. “When that lady looked at me her face turned red, and she had her kid removed from my class the next day. My administrator said, ‘Well, Yvonne, that’s her loss.’”

Odom remains active in the community and is working to resuscitate the former Hilltoppers Quarterback Club, which was formed back in the Seacrest days but was brought down by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re teaming up with the Delray Historical Society to get 200 businessmen to pay $500 each to proportionately divide between Atlantic and Village Academy,” Odom said.

“I’ve already donated $10,000 as president of the Delray Beach CDC,” the Community Development Corporation. “We’ve got 21 members so far but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We can’t have these kids spending their own money just to play football.”

What’s next for Gauff
Gauff’s U.S. Open victory improved her world ranking from No. 6 to No. 3. She has not yet been celebrated by the city of Delray Beach but has been feted in gatherings involving friends and family. She has two younger brothers, Codey and Cameron.

Gauff returned to play early this month and won her first two matches in Beijing. She planned to play a couple of tournaments before the WTA Finals come along at the end of October in Cancun, Mexico, and then the Billie Jean King Cup in November in Spain.

Our Arts Season Preview offers a comprehensive look at cultural events across South Florida

ABOVE: Students (l-r) Angel Jean (University of South Florida), Dante Estevez, Austin Lois and Mason Lois (all from Florida Atlantic University) admire work by Dennis Cardelús Jones on Sept. 14 during an Art Walk in the Boynton Beach Art District.
BELOW: South Florida-based singer, artist and entertainer Ana Kiri (aka Anastasiia Kirilik) plays the ukulele with South Florida musician and songwriter Cailey Weaver during Boca End of Summer Festival on Sept. 24 at Mizner Park Amphitheater.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Commissioners seek ways around new law on personal finances

By Larry Barszewski

Manalapan commissioners want to know if there’s any way local elected officials can get around a new state law — other than by resigning their seats by Dec. 30 — that requires them to make public more of their personal financial information.

“I really think it’s opening up the door to some very serious problems,” said Vice Mayor John Deese, who has written the governor seeking his assistance in changing the law. “We could lose our entire commission over this.”

Some ideas mentioned at the Sept. 25 commission meeting included putting assets in a spouse’s name, turning the Town Commission into an appointed body — though that would require a referendum and raised the question of who would do the appointing — or simply refusing to file the required form and paying the penalty instead.

Commissioners say the increased requirements don’t make sense for officials in small towns, especially in places like Manalapan where it’s difficult enough to get people to fill the elected positions, where commissioners earn no salary and where the limited candidate pool includes business executives who may not want their financial portfolios or client names available online for anyone to see.

“There aren’t any gold bars or cash in my suits or anything like that,” said Mayor Stewart Satter, who has suggested he may resign instead of complying with the rules of the new law. He said the requirements are “political window-dressing” and won’t better protect the public from unscrupulous officials.

Commissioners plan to hold a workshop meeting Oct. 24 to get more information about the law and what options are available. It’s possible, if a majority of the commission would rather resign than comply, that Gov. Ron DeSantis would fill the vacancies. Officials said nothing in the Town Charter would require DeSantis to pick town residents for the seats.

The new state law requires mayors and other municipal elected officials to disclose their full net worth, certain clients and the aggregate value of jewelry, art and other household goods. It requires the information to be filed in an online system and available to the public who want to see it. Those who don’t comply can face a penalty of up to $20,000 and possible removal from office.

Town elected officials currently must fill out Form 1, which asks for sources of income, liabilities and interests in businesses, but without specific dollar amounts. Starting Jan. 1, they will have to fill out the more detailed Form 6, which is already required to be filed by the governor, lieutenant governor, legislators, county commissioners, sheriffs and various other officials.

At the commission’s Sept. 18 meeting, state Sen. Bobby Powell, D-Riviera Beach, said it’s virtually impossible for changes to be made to the law before it takes effect in January. Powell, who voted against the new law, suggested the commission work toward building a coalition with officials from other towns to push for changes to the law when the Florida Legislature convenes next year.

Budget, tax rate approved
Commissioners unanimously voted Sept. 25 to keep the town’s tax rate the same, at $3 per $1,000 of assessed value. That represents an overall 13.35% tax increase for existing properties, not including new construction, because of rising property values in town.

The commission also adopted a $7.88 million general fund budget — which covers the town’s day-to-day operations — for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, a 12.8% increase. The general fund budget includes $166,132 to cover the cost of a 7% raise for town employees, $291,944 for insurance costs, $274,500 for the security guard contract on Point Manalapan, and $2 million for the fire-rescue contract with Palm Beach County.

In other news:
• Commissioners approved a site plan revision for Thaikyo Asian Restaurant, 201 S. Ocean Blvd., in Plaza Del Mar. The changes include an extension of the awning-covered outdoor dining area on the north side of the building farther to the east (the front of the building). It will include a lounge area for patrons waiting to be seated and a window opening for bar service. The restaurant plans to make the changes in the spring, following peak season, said project manager Kermit Schilling.
• Town Manager Linda Stumpf told commissioners that former Mayor Peter Blum, who died in January, included the Manalapan Library in his will. P

By Larry Barszewski

Ocean Ridge’s two newest town commissioners plan to leave office before the end of the year.

Commissioners Philip Besler and Ken Kaleel, two former office holders appointed to join the board again in April following the resignations of Martin Wiescholek and Kristine de Haseth, say they won’t continue on the board past December.

Besler announced his decision at the Town Commission’s Oct. 2 meeting, saying it was being done for “personal reasons.” Kaleel, who previously indicated that he would likely resign rather than comply with the state’s new financial disclosure requirements, then emphasized that he, too, was going. Kaleel previously served 16 years on the commission and Besler three years.

The two were appointed by a three-member commission since Wiescholek and de Haseth resigned the same night. Besler and Kaleel have not set the specific days they will resign. If the dates are staggered, one of the men may participate in naming the other’s replacement.

Both seats are up for election on March 19. The qualifying period runs from noon Nov. 6 until noon Nov. 17, giving commissioners an idea of who is interested in serving.

Commissioners could also request that those who want to be considered submit their names to them.

One scenario the commission wants to avoid is having the two resignations take effect — and then have a third commissioner abruptly resign before the seats are filled. That would leave only a two-member commission unable to conduct business, turning the appointment powers over to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A new state law requiring municipal elected officials to disclose more personal financial information has many throughout the state considering resigning before the end of the year, when the law takes effect.

Commissioners indicated they were prepared to move quickly to fill the vacancies once the resignations take effect so that the appointments remain in the commission’s hands.

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy, herself a first-time commissioner this year, said Besler and Kaleel brought needed experience to the board following the hiring of a new town manager and the resignations of the two commissioners.

Brazilian pepper was the pervasive invasive in the 1980s when I moved to this area. Now there are iguanas. Fewer “square groupers” wash ashore on summer nights; instead more sea turtles make the annual trek up the beach. Then sometime during the past 20 years, the water began to rise, houses grew larger and small businesses disappeared. And, of course, I’ve grown older.

Changes over many years.

I’m lucky, I guess, to still recall the 1980s and nights out with friends, dancing at nightclubs in Delray Beach and Boca Raton followed by dipping into private swimming pools and hot tubs — especially during the long, slow summers.

I’ll admit at times the beer and booze flowed, the scent of marijuana lingered in the humid air, and once in a while people staggered from the bathroom wiping white powder from their noses. But never once did I see a gun.

I won’t deny we sometimes behaved irresponsibly. We were young and reckless.

How a similar late-night gathering resulted in the Sept. 12 shooting death of The Coastal Star’s computer support contractor — and friend — makes no sense. Police are calling the shooting at the Berkshire by the Sea timeshare along the beach in Delray Beach a murder. The youngest person involved was 45. The victim was 58.

Unless the case goes to trial, it’s unlikely most of us will learn anything about that night that make sense. All we know is Al Camentz — a good guy who kept our office computers running and advised us on the best live New Orleans music to hear — is gone. Shot to death.

I know there were plenty of guns in South Florida in the 1980s. I read The Miami Herald and watched Miami Vice. But here along the beach in Palm Beach County, we felt safe from gun violence.

Now it feels as if the tectonic plates of a South Florida summer have shifted.

Not all recent deaths have been violent, of course. Consider the loss to skin cancer of songwriter, musician and businessman extraordinaire Jimmy Buffett. Seventy-six years old seems far too young for someone to die whose music continues to reverberate from nearly every open ragtop cruising A1A on any given weekend.

Also gone too soon is our mechanic, candy salesman and friend Vin Dinanath, who owned the Gulfstream Texaco on A1A. Since 1995, Vin was a friend to our unique little neighborhood. He will be deeply missed by many, especially his fellow cops (Vin was a retired officer) and fishing buddies. Vin would have been 68 in November.

Neighbors who lived long lives and witnessed almost unfathomable changes throughout their many years also died last month. I will miss sharing gossip and goodwill with these seniors.

As the autumnal equinox passed on Sept. 23, the Earth’s axis and its orbit lined up so that both hemispheres got an equal amount of sunlight.

Balance for a short while. Subtle changes of the season.

I’ll take it.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Ruby Berger, who volunteers as an usher at local theaters, lives in Boynton Beach in a home that features her eclectic collection of artwork. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jan Norris

Have you been to a live theater performance in Palm Beach County lately? If so, you’ve likely been seated by Ruby Berger — or, seated next to her.

Berger volunteers as an usher at nearly every live theater venue around. A professional usher, as it were.

“Yes,” she said, a smile in her voice. “I guess you can say that. A super volunteer, maybe.”

She’s one of the original greeters-and-seaters at Delray Beach’s Arts Garage.

“I’m the only one who’s been ushering all 11 years since it opened,” Berger said.

You can find the 76-year-old Berger seating patrons at the Lake Worth Playhouse, the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton, the Delray Beach Playhouse and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.

And when she’s not at a theater, as an usher or patron, or traveling abroad, Berger is an avid dancer — an Argentine tango dancer. She’s been to Argentina five times to learn more about the art. It’s her true passion, she said.

She puts on her flouncy, blood-red dress and strappy heels two or three times a month to tango at the Goldcoast Ballroom in Coconut Creek.

She has been an usher since she moved to Florida in 2005.

“I mostly just greet the patrons and help them find their seats,” Berger said.

She said she seldom if ever sees the ugly side of audiences. No fights have taken place on her watch.

“Everyone is nice,” Berger said. If there’s a problem, it’s usually because someone has the wrong seat. “I just ask them to move, and they do.”

She does have tips for the public, to keep things running smoothly on both the patrons’ and theaters’ ends: “Get your tickets early, especially to popular plays, so you aren’t disappointed if they sell out.

“Get to the theater early, and have your tickets at hand.”

Ask an usher if you would like help finding your seats, she said. Tell the usher if someone else is in your seat so she or he can sort it out.

Berger, a Boynton Beach resident, also volunteers at special events at the venues, such as last month’s luncheon for police officers at the Arts Garage.

In season, she volunteers at least twice a week, she said.

If she’s not volunteering, Berger is in the audience enjoying the performance — watching and judging performances like the aspiring actress she used to be.

All the plays are equally exciting to her; she won’t name favorites. There are some she’s not so fond of, but all, she said, have some good points.

“Dramas, musicals, I just love the performing arts,” Berger said. “And visual arts. Museums and art galleries. All the arts, really.”

Berger, a New Jersey native, fell in love with the theater as a child. “I grew up in Fair Lawn, and lived in East Brunswick and Edgewater.” That was close enough to New York City to draw her into Broadway and other arts venues.

“When I was old enough, every week I’d take the bus into the city, and visit the museums and theaters,” she said. “I’d always go on Wednesdays when you could get the half-price tickets ... to Broadway matinees.”

Her goal, though, was to be on stage. “I wanted to be an actor ever since I was a little girl,” she said.

After getting a degree in art from Rutgers University, she followed her dream, and eventually enrolled in the Actors Studio in Manhattan. Although she landed a few television commercials, her acting career ended with those.

Her performances did not, however. They took a hiatus while she helped run a furniture business with her now former husband. But after she moved to Florida, she began taking ballroom dance lessons. She was struck by the passion of the South American tango and made it a focus of her lessons. That resulted in her traveling to Argentina to learn from the masters.

“It’s art. It’s a play with dialogue between the dancers,” she said, explaining how the sensual beat and perfectly synchronized movements of the dancers fascinate her.

Add in traveling for pleasure to museums around the world, a few days at the gym and all that volunteer work, she’s a busy woman.

Asked about the future of live theater with waning ticket sales in some venues and elderly arts patrons, she was optimistic — with a 76-year-old’s perspective.

“Well, the audiences here are mostly elderly, it’s true,” she said. “But we do have some in their mid-50s who attend regularly.”

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

Related: South Palm Beach: Dogs no longer allowed on town property

I am writing to express my concern regarding several important issues that require the attention of the South Palm Beach Town Council.

One such issue is the use of sidewalks by bikes and electric bikes, which has already resulted in accidents. Additionally, there is a lack of pedestrian crossings in our town. These are two critical matters that pedestrians and dog owners face every day and should be prioritized on the council’s agenda.

While I understand the intention behind the recent resolution passed by the council to exclude dogs from town property due to some residents failing to clean up after their pets, I believe that addressing these safety concerns should take precedence.

Furthermore, as a result of this resolution, the dog station adjacent to the Intracoastal has been removed. This means that dog owners who are residents of South Palm Beach are now forced to walk to the adjacent town if they want to enjoy the Intracoastal. This restriction not only inconveniences responsible dog owners but also creates an unwelcoming environment for dogs in our community.

I would like to propose an alternative solution. Instead of implementing additional resolutions, I suggest installing cameras on town property to identify and fine irresponsible dog owners, as established by Ordinance 304 already in the books. This targeted approach would address the issue without penalizing responsible dog owners who follow the rules.

I believe that this approach would receive widespread support from both responsible dog owners and other members of our community.

It is important to note that over 80% of dog owners consider their pets as part of their family, and over 70% of the younger affluent generation owns dogs. As a community, we should strive to be dog-friendly and accommodate the needs of responsible dog owners.

Therefore, I kindly request that the plans for the new Town Hall include a designated dog-friendly area complete with cameras to ensure compliance with regulations.

On behalf of Cody, Morgan, Max, Bella, Teddy, Bandit, Lili, Riley, Peanut, Schultz and many other responsible dogs in South Palm Beach, I urge you to consider these suggestions and work toward creating a more inclusive and welcoming environment for our furry friends.

Additionally, I would like to emphasize that addressing safety concerns related to bike usage on sidewalks and pedestrian crossings should be given priority. These issues affect not only pedestrians, but also all residents and visitors in our town. By focusing on these matters, we can ensure a safer environment for everyone.

Rafael Pineiro
South Palm Beach

Related: Ocean Ridge: Town seeking grant to fix water valves

Recently, some residents were led to believe that Ocean Ridge had no idea where our buried water pipes, juncture boxes or turn-off valves were located. Of course, if this were true that would be quite shocking and derelict of the town governance.

This concern grew to the point that the alarming topic was covered by The Coastal Star in a reasonable manner considering the information then available. Even a former commissioner, who had recently and abruptly resigned from the commission, piped in by blasting the current commissioners.

All this confusion stemmed from a Town Commission meeting on July 10. There was a broad budget discussion of our aging drinking water infrastructure. At one point during this discussion, it was misguidedly noted that $50,000 might be needed to just find our water valves and pipes.

Predictably this caused a small-town firestorm. I never imagined that Ocean Ridge would be the butt of jokes for knowing where our turtle nests are, but not our water pipes.

As to location of valves, etc., here are the facts. You might find them historically fascinating.

After the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in 2001, the Department of Homeland Security ordered that all water-related infrastructure locations were not to be publicly displayed or distributed except under extremely strict guidelines. This was due to the fear of a terrorist attack on the system.

Our town’s longtime engineering firm, Engenuity Group, has a precise GIS (geographical information system) map of our buried water infrastructure. They work closely with our Public Works employees to help them locate pipes and valves that need attention, staying true to the Homeland Security tenets.

Yes, over the last 60-odd years maybe a valve has been buried 6 inches or a foot under dirt, or a few short sections of pipe have been moved a foot or two during a construction project, but with current technology those pipes are found when necessary.

So no, the sky is not falling in Ocean Ridge. We know where our infrastructure is located and, in fact, are currently working on state and federal grants to update some of the aging pipes.

Recently we were awarded an American Rescue Plan Act grant of over $900,000 for just that purpose. That is monies that Ocean Ridge taxpayers do not need to pony up.

Steve Coz
Vice Mayor, Ocean Ridge

By Pat Beall

When Delray Beach osteopath Michael Ligotti was sentenced in January to 20 years in prison, Department of Justice officials heralded his conviction and sentence.

Ligotti, they said, had been at the center of a $746 million addiction treatment fraud.

His arrest and guilty plea represented the largest such case ever charged by the Department of Justice, DOJ wrote in a news release.

Then it let him go.

Court filings confirm Ligotti, 49, remains out of prison because he has turned informant, providing evidence in other health care fraud cases.

Ligotti is not home free: Prosecutors have ordered him to pay $127 million in restitution in addition to his 20-year sentence, now postponed to Dec. 1.

Until then, he is free for limited travel. A federal judge cleared the way for Ligotti to go to Universal Studios this month for a family vacation at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort.

“We tried to understand the need for him to be available to testify in other cases,” said Lisa Daniels-Goldman, who was at Ligotti’s sentencing. Her son, Jamie Daniels, died of an overdose in a Boynton Beach sober home. “We were all for getting evidence against others and saving lives.”

But, she said, “That doesn’t mean I can’t be angry and mortified that not only is he staying out of prison, he has been given the opportunity to travel with his family. I don’t care if it’s a fleabag motel or a four-star hotel.

“Our son doesn’t get to travel with his family anymore.”

Ligotti’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
 
Cash bonanza in drug tests
At their height in 2015, Palm Beach County addiction treatment fraudsters were raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. Delray Beach was the epicenter of the schemes and Ligotti was in the thick of it, said federal prosecutors. 

Unscrupulous sober home operators didn’t need people seeking treatment to stay drug-free. Many sober homes became sites for drug use.

What they did need were doctors to sign off on expensive urine drug tests for people with insurance.

Drugstores sell $25 tests confirming the presence of a drug. But local treatment centers, sober homes and their labs were billing for sophisticated and unnecessary “confirmatory” urine tests.

A single test could yield up to $5,000 in insurance billings. In one case reported by The Palm Beach Post in 2015, nine months of urine testing totaled $304,318. In another instance, the parents of a young woman who overdosed in a sober home after four weeks received urine test bills topping $30,000.

Ligotti was medical director for more than 50 local sober homes. In addition to asserting he fraudulently ordered millions of dollars in tests, prosecutors charged that Ligotti prescribed addictive drugs to patients from his Whole Health clinic in Delray Beach. That included benzodiazepines, which are frequently — and lethally — mixed with opioids by people who are addicted.

Even after a federal subpoena issued in 2016 put Ligotti on notice that he was under investigation, he continued ordering tests, an FBI agent testified. There was one noticeable change: Health care practitioners he employed at Whole Health were putting their names on the test orders.

From denial to guilty plea
That same year, Jamie Daniels arrived in Palm Beach County, one of thousands of out-of-state people seeking addiction treatment here.
Ligotti was one of his doctors.

Daniels had struggled to stay sober. He got a job at a law firm as a clerk. He started studying for his law school entrance exam.  

In December 2016, Daniels died at age 23 after he overdosed in a sober home.

Within weeks, the Daniels family began receiving records showing their insurance company had been billed tens of thousands of dollars for urine screens and blood tests, including tests ordered by Ligotti over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Daniels’ father, Ken, is a sports fixture in Detroit, a play-by-play announcer for the NHL’s Red Wings since 1997. When Daniels family members began unraveling the treatment bills, they went public with the story of Jamie’s death, attracting the attention of ESPN.

An ESPN documentary confirmed that Jamie Daniels had not been in Florida on those days. He was with his family in Michigan.

Confronted by the documentary crew outside his Delray office, Ligotti denied ordering the tests, insisting his identity had been stolen.

“I’m the victim,” he said.

Ligotti was indicted in 2020 on 12 counts of health care fraud and money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. In total, Ligotti charged health care benefit programs approximately $746 million over the span of nine years from 2011 to 2020, prosecutors said. Of that, he and his co-conspirators bagged around $127 million.

In January, Ligotti was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the conspiracy charge. Other charges were dropped.

Help in other cases cited
At sentencing Ligotti expressed remorse, said Maureen Kielian of Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates.

“He said he lost his way,” recalled Kielian, who had filed a complaint against Ligotti with the Florida Board of Medicine three years earlier.

But after the sentence was handed down, she was shocked to see him walk out of the courtroom with his family.

“What just happened?” she said. “One kid has a pill in his pocket, and he is in prison for seven years. And Ligotti is walking out free.”

Ligotti was expected to report to prison June 12, enabling him to provide evidence in other federal cases.

But that month, prosecutors asked to further postpone his imprisonment to Dec. 1. Ligotti, they said, has cooperated in multiple cases. He has provided documents. He was a witness in a Central Florida case involving rural hospitals, fraudulent urine drug tests and three Miami-Dade men. Prosecutors still needed his help on open cases.

The court agreed to the extension. The next month, Ligotti’s attorney asked court permission for Ligotti and his family to travel to Universal Studios in October for three days.

There were no objections.

Pat Beall writes for Stet Palm Beach. You can read more of her work at https://stetmediagroup.substack.com

By Steve Plunkett

A new wave of building will be coming soon to Bluewater Cove — site plans for four more houses in the 14-lot Gulf Stream subdivision were reviewed by the planning advisory board last month.

Boca Raton-based Courchene Development Corp. wants to build on the four lots just east of three that are already under construction. Each one will have a different style.

The projects are:
• 2915 Bluewater Cove, a 5,461-square-foot Gulf Stream Bermuda style residence
• 2917 Bluewater Cove, a 5,462-square-foot Anglo-Caribbean style residence
• 2914 Bluewater Cove, a 5,464-square-foot Georgian style residence
• 2916 Bluewater Cove, a 5,461-square-foot West Indies style residence

All four are one-story, single-family dwellings, each including a two-car garage and swimming pool on its 16,560-square-foot lot. The projects will return to the planning board on Oct. 26.

Additionally, town officials made progress in September in bringing up to code the long-abandoned home at 2900 Avenue Au Soleil, located just south of Bluewater Cove and fronting the Intracoastal Waterway.

At an Aug. 30 hearing, Special Magistrate Kevin M. Wagner gave the property owner, AAS LLC, 14 days to get a building permit and 14 more days to repair “so as not to leak” the roofs of both the main house and an accessory garage. The roofs also needed to be cleaned and painted.

Contractor John Carew had already covered the swimming pool with plywood and installed a pump to make sure stagnant water would no longer accumulate. He also had the grounds trimmed, mowed and cleaned of debris.

Wagner scheduled a fine assessment hearing for Oct. 4 in case the code violations were not remedied. The home’s previous owners racked up $200,000 in code enforcement fines that the Town Commission reduced in 2019 to $20,000 in an effort to get new owners for the property. The property has changed hands at least once since then, according to property appraiser records.

In other business, the Town Commission was scheduled to give final approval on Oct. 4 to an $18.8 million budget for the year beginning Oct. 1.

Commissioners were originally set to approve the budget Sept. 27 but their vote was delayed for lack of a quorum. Two of the five commissioners had already said they would miss the meeting; two more had “unforeseen circumstances.”

“We went from barely meeting our quorum of three to having only one,” Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said. Property owners will pay the same rate for town taxes as the previous year, $3.67 per $1,000 of taxable value, or $3,672 for a home valued at $1 million.

The town’s tax base grew roughly 16%, to $1.65 billion.

Notable expenses planned for the new fiscal year include $6.5 million for road and drainage improvements in the Core District. That work will start in January.

Gulf Stream will also buy a $53,000 police cruiser and a $39,000 water valve exercise machine to automate maintenance on the water mains. Town employees will receive a 5% cost-of-living increase in salaries.

The Early Childhood Academy in Delray Beach cares for children who often wind up in pre-kindergarten at Gulf Stream School. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

As rumored for months, the Gulf Stream School is expanding into Delray Beach, buying the building and land of the Early Childhood Academy on North Swinton Avenue.

The seller is the St. Joseph’s Episcopal School, which closed its lower and middle schools in Boynton Beach last June but kept its ECA open. While no enrollment changes are planned this school year, Gulf Stream School officials say they anticipate moving at least the 3-year-olds in their pre-kindergarten from the Gulf Stream campus to the Delray Beach location in the future.

Patrick Donovan, president of Gulf Stream School’s board of trustees, and Dr. Gray Smith, the head of school, confirmed the news of the impending purchase to town commissioners on Sept. 8. Their school will close the deal in early October, they said.

“The acquisition made sense for us as it aligns with our mission and strategic plan,” Donovan said. “And historically, ECA has been a feeder school for a significant number of students who transition from the ECA to pre-kindergarten at Gulf Stream School.”

The Early Childhood Academy provides child care for about 50 children from as young as 6 months up to 2 years old, he said. The property, at 2515 N. Swinton Ave., includes a 3,100-square-foot building and about 2 acres of land. Donovan and Smith did not disclose the purchase price, but St. Joe’s bought the facility in 2007 for $1.35 million.

Donovan promised the acquisition would have “little to no impact” on the town.

“The ECA students are very young and will remain at the ECA campus with no plans or capacity for transportation to the Gulf Stream campus. In addition, after-school events for ECA families will be held at the ECA campus,” he said.

“Just to be clear, we do not expect any excess traffic or additional campus use of the Gulf Stream campus to be associated with this acquisition,” he added.

But commissioners, who temporarily raised the school’s enrollment cap from 250 to 300 for the last school year and this one, wanted many more details.

“Are you considering moving any of the grades currently at Gulf Stream School over to the ECA facility in the future at any time?” Mayor Scott Morgan asked.

Smith and Donovan said they planned no changes at all for the first year. But tuition at the ECA would be adjusted in the next school year, and the academy would stop accepting the very youngest children.

After that, he said, the 3-year-olds on the Gulf Stream campus would be the first to change locations, perhaps followed by the 4-year-olds. Kindergarten will remain in Gulf Stream, he said.

“We have 32 children who are in our pre-kindergarten; our pre-kindergarten is mixed 3s and 4s. So we have 15 3-year-olds, let’s say, and the rest are 4s or are about to be,” Smith said.

At some point the ECA campus will take on Gulf Stream School branding.

Gulf Stream School had 293 students last school year despite enrollment being capped at 250 in the development agreement it has with the town. This year its enrollment is 294.

Town commissioners amended the agreement in January to raise the cap to 300 children after Smith told them having more students would give the school a “modest” budget surplus instead of a deficit.

Commissioners were going to vote later on making the higher limit permanent but after hearing about the ECA purchase decided to wait at least 90 days so Donovan and Smith could develop and share with them more specific plans.

Commissioner Joan Orthwein had asked Smith at the commission’s July 14 meeting whether what she had heard was true, that the Gulf Stream School had plans to expand into Delray Beach. But the deal had not been finalized then and he declined to answer.

By Tao Woolfe

The Boynton Beach City Commission voted unanimously Sept. 27 to approve a $118.6 million general fund budget, as well as a 10% increase in utility rates that also applies to Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes water customers.

The all-funds proposed budget was $289 million. Besides the approved $118.6 million general fund budget, other parts of the total budget include a water and sewer outlay of about $60 million; a $49 million capital improvement fund; and a solid waste fund of $15 million.

The adopted general fund was slightly less than the proposed budget of $120.5 million, but still represents a 13% increase over the past year’s general fund budget. The general fund pays for the daily operations of city government.

The biggest departmental expenditure is a combined budget for police and fire services, proposed at $76 million, or about 63% of the general fund. Public works, by comparison, is about $10.5 million, or 8.7% of the general fund.

Although some of the final budget numbers were discussed and included in the agenda packet for city’s third and final budget hearing on Sept. 27, city officials said two days later that the actual budget document would not be available to the public or the media for up to 30 days.

This story uses final figures, where available, and proposed budget figures when necessary.

The rates for water, and for wastewater and stormwater management, increased 10% effective Oct. 1. The increase applies to customers inside and outside the city, according to a spokeswoman for the city.

Boynton Beach supplies water to customers in portions of unincorporated Palm Beach County, including the County Pocket; and the towns of Ocean Ridge, Hypoluxo and Briny Breezes.

When discussing the utility rate increases at their meeting on Sept. 27, city commissioners expressed concern about raising rates for residents who may be struggling to make ends meet during economically challenging times.

City Manager Daniel Dugger urged the commission, however, to approve the hikes because the city is going to have to spend hundreds of millions in the coming few years to pay for infrastructure improvements and establish a reserve fund.

“We need to have a balanced plan that meets the city’s [infrastructure] needs over a period of time,” Dugger told the commissioners. “The goal is to exceed depreciation. I am recommending the 10% increase.”

This summer, the city had to pay for emergency repairs to a broken sewer pipe that oozed millions of gallons of wastewater into the Intracoastal Waterway. The accident raised awareness about the city’s aging infrastructure and, although a final report has not been issued, the city could face fines for the pollution from the state Department of Environmental Protection and at least $1 million for repairs. The break occurred on July 3.

The City Commission budgeted $33 million to the water and sewer utility capital improvement enterprise fund and another $15 million for the solid waste enterprise fund.

By Brian Biggane

A $2.7 million budget was approved by the South Palm Beach Town Council on Sept. 25 for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The previous budget was $2.4 million.

Boosted by another significant rise in property values, the Town Council gave residents another slight drop in their tax rate.

Property values rose 13.8%, down from last year’s 15.2% but slightly higher than the 13.4% across Palm Beach County.

At the first budget hearing on Sept. 12, Mayor Bonnie Fischer made a motion that was unanimously approved to drop the tax rate by 5 cents from $3.45 per $1,000 of assessed value to $3.40. That change resulted in a net $30,000 drop in revenues.

“It looks good for the town,” council member Monte Berendes said. “We should still have enough for what we’re doing.”

The most significant line item rise in the budget was a 47% increase in legal services, from $62,500 to $92,000. Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, who replaced the retiring Robert

Kellogg in that role earlier this year, said he anticipates an abundance of legal issues as the town continues to work toward building a new Town Hall and community center.

“We’re going to have a lot of legal time (involving) bid documents for building and campus stuff,” he said. “The actual documents and legal work, matching it up with compatibility, statutes and all that, that all goes to the attorney.”

The town ended a third-party agreement that provided a part-time maintenance worker, choosing instead to add a position to the administrative staff. That added nearly $40,000 to the administrative budget but ultimately, Titcomb said, “was almost a wash,” with that same individual now getting the benefits of being a town employee.

Specified expenditures amount to $2.07 million, leaving an unrestricted fund balance of $629,897, a nearly $200,000 increase over this past year.

Titcomb said how that money will be spent will be determined by the council, with the expectation that a significant amount will be put toward the Town Hall project, particularly in the areas of legal fees, architecture and construction. “And if it’s not spent,” he added, “it automatically repatriates to the assets of the town.”

Fischer said: “My concern is taking into consideration some of the costs” of building the Town Hall. “Demolishing the building, relocating. These are some of the factors we have to think about.”  

The budget includes a 71% increase in property and liability insurance, from $27,000 to $46,102. Titcomb said municipalities across the state are facing similar increases.

“All carriers, private and public, are going through this mass reset due to new state legislation and thresholds and requirements for property and casualty insurance,” he said. “It took effect in August for us. It’s not a negotiation or an option. It’s ‘Here’s your new rate.’

“It’s a fairly significant increase because building and liability is where the insurance market was most hit, with the slew of recent hurricanes and other issues. So that has been affected across the board,” Titcomb said.

Two council members, Raymond McMillan and Robert Gottlieb, participated in the budget hearings on Sept. 12 and 25 by phone. Council members Bill LeRoy and Berendes joined Fischer on the dais.

Only a few residents attend-ed the hearings, but no one spoke.