Joseph Curry, from Lake Clark Shores, jumps into the surf from the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet taking advantage of the waves created by Hurricane Ian. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Workers from the Palm Beach County Bridge Dept. remove the traffic control cross-arms from the Woolbright Road Bridge in anticipation of Hurricane Ian. During hurricanes, bridges are locked in the down position to facilitate better automobile traffic flow.  The arms will be reinstalled after the storm is past. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Students are pummeled with heavy rains and strong winds as they leave the Don Estridge High Tech Middle school campus Tuesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Students were pelted with heavy rains and assaulted by strong winds as they left the Don Estridge High Tech Middle school campus Tuesday afternoon. Palm Beach County public schools and district offices will be closed Wednesday as Hurricane Ian is forecast to make landfall as a category 3 on the west coast of Florida. All after-school activities, sports practices, and meetings are also canceled Wednesday.  The district has not decided whether campuses will be closed beyond Wednesday. Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Boca Raton resident Brian Roush rides his kayak on SE. Wavecrest Way in Boca Raton Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center warned of "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, and flooding. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

John Shoemaker’s wife Paula looked out the window of their eighth-floor oceanfront condominium as bands from Hurricane Ian approached their home in Highland Beach and saw what looked like a black wall of clouds coming toward them. Shoemaker, a Highland Beach town commissioner, went out onto the balcony and shot this photo with his iPhone12 Monday, Sept. 26. “We could see it coming toward us,” Shoemaker said, adding that what appears to be a “roll cloud” passed over them. “As menacing as it looked, it just rained for about five minutes.” Photo contributed by John Shoemaker

Large branches, palm fronds, and other debris littered the ground at Veterans Park in Delray Beach on Wednesday, September 28. Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star

Maddie, 8, and Lucas, 11, Heath, from Wesley Chapel, FL enjoy themselves on the swings at Veterans Park in Delray Beach on Wednesday, September 28. The children and their parents drove over from the west coast of Florida Tuesday evening. The family had originally planned to leave for London from Tampa International Airport but rebooked out of Miami International Airport due to the trajectory of Hurricane Ian. Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star

Multiple palms were snapped and a mature buttonwood tree was pushed over by heavy winds during Hurricane Ian.  A few trees in the 3800 Block of A1A were also damaged. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Construction workers in Manalapan secure their site Tuesday afternoon. Before the arrival of Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Spectators watch the kitesurfers and surfers harness the power of Hurricane Ian Tuesday afternoon at South Beach Pavillion Park in Boca Raton. Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A surfer bails off his board at South Beach Pavillion Park in Boca Raton. Tuesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Three surfers compete for the same wave at South Beach Pavillion Park in Boca Raton. Tuesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and will continue to strengthen as it approaches Florida, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Workers cleared the debris, compliments of Hurricane Ian's strong winds, from the streets of Mizner Park in Boca Raton Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center warned of "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, and flooding." Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Sargassum, palm fronds, and assorted trash were washed into the parking lot by the boat ramp at Sportsman’s Park on East Ocean Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway during Hurricane Ian. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Bucket trucks await their assignments in the parking lot of the Delray Sands Hotel Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A light-hearted sign is posted on Beach Curve Road on Hypoluxo Island to warn drivers of the frequent flooding in that part of Lantana. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Atlantic Avenue was less busy than usual on Wednesday afternoon. Despite Hurricane Ian’s rain and winds, people continued to visit the restaurants and shops that were still open. Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star

Waves crashed into the seawall of the Imperial House condo in South Palm Beach as coastal Palm Beach County felt the impact of Hurricane Ian. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The shuffleboard courts at Veterans Park were flooded by the rains from Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, September 28. Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star

The city of Delray Beach deployed a containment boom along Marine Way to help control flooding in the Marina District. Photo provided by Genie Deponte

Delray Beach may include Sazio Express and some other old buildings along Atlantic Avenue east of the Intracoastal in a future historic district, one separate from a district now in the works on the avenue west of the waterway. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Atlantic Avenue ideas bet on value of designated districts

By Larry Barszewski

A century-old home was demolished in Boca Raton’s downtown this year. Some downtown Boynton Beach office buildings of the same era face a similar fate in the not-too-distant future. But a move is afoot to save what remains from the past along downtown Delray Beach’s history-laden Atlantic Avenue.
Boynton Beach’s downtown still has its historically designated Boynton School and Old Boynton High School. And Boca Raton’s has its 1927 Historic Town Hall that recently completed a $3.5 million renovation. Yet preservationists say those isolated buildings should be part of something bigger — historic districts that give a true taste of each city’s history.
“Walking into a historic district, you feel like you’re walking into a different place and time,” says Claudia Willis, a member of Delray Beach’s Historic Preservation Board.
That’s a feel Delray Beach wants. It has its own downtown landmarks — the Old School Square buildings and the Colony Hotel, for instance — but it also sees a larger history worth preserving. Proponents of a proposed Atlantic Avenue Historic District, which would run from Swinton Avenue to the Intracoastal Waterway, say the district would protect more than 40 other historic buildings there and maintain the character that tourists, residents and visitors find so appealing.

Related: Atlantic Avenue’s place in history on verge of formal recognition | Hand’s covered archways to disappear from Atlantic Avenue

“It’s a climate. It’s a vibe — the feeling that if you go to downtown Delray, it’s authentic. It’s not Disney-like,” says John Miller, also a member of the city’s preservation board, whose ancestors first settled in the city in 1903. “Not everything is homogenous. Everything is a little quirky and I think people look for that.”
There hasn’t been a new historic district created in South Palm Beach County in more than 20 years, and Delray Beach and Boca Raton are the only South County cities with such districts. Preservationists say they’re racing against time as new developments threaten the past on behalf of the future.
Susan Gillis, curator for the Boca Raton Historical Society, knows how difficult preservation can be. She has watched what little is left of her city’s small historic downtown disappear to development.
“We’ve had this burst since 2016, with all these new, very tall buildings,” Gillis says. “It’s just like Fort Lauderdale. It has changed so dramatically in 20 years. I can’t believe it.”

History’s economic benefits
When talk of a new historic district surfaces, many affected owners fear a loss of control over what they can do with their properties. They dread increased restrictions and see only obstacles to any potential future renovations.
However, proponents of historic districts say there’s a case to be made for them, one that makes economic sense for communities and property owners.
“Historic districts can become centers of heritage tourism that help spur economic vitality,” according to the Atlantic Avenue Historic Resources Survey, prepared for Delray Beach by R.J. Heisenbottle Architects in December. “Historic districts have proven to retain more stable and higher property values than surrounding neighborhoods that are not protected, even in the face of harsh economic downturns.”
Delray Beach and Boynton Beach also offer property tax breaks to owners who improve historically designated properties — a 10-year waiver of city and county property taxes on the increased assessed value brought about by their renovations. If a district is on the National Register of Historic Places — such as the Old School Square and Marina districts in Delray Beach — owners of investment properties deemed historical can deduct 20% of their renovation costs from their federal tax payments.
It also can be easier for historic properties to get variances from the city for items such as setback distances for their renovation work.
For the Atlantic Avenue district, the city is considering additional incentives, such as the possibility of matching grants for some improvement and repair costs — or transfer of development rights that would allow more intense development elsewhere for an owner keeping to a smaller scale downtown.

In Gulf Stream and Briny
In the small communities that dot South County’s barrier islands, the emphasis is less on preserving history than it is on using other tools to protect a feel and atmosphere consistent with the community histories.
In Gulf Stream, it took an act of the state Legislature back in 1992 to turn a stretch of State Road A1A into a State Historic Scenic Highway, protecting the canopy of Australian pines that has defined the town since the 1920s.
Soon after the designation, the town also beefed up its architectural reviews, concerned that it would be overrun by mega-mansions that would destroy the town’s character.
“We don’t have historic districts. We have districts that have a historic look, but it’s for the whole town, from one end to the other,” says Bob Ganger of Gulf Stream, a past vice chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and head of the local Florida Coalition for Preservation. “We are establishing a basis in the town for it remaining more like when it started than what it might become.”
Next door to Gulf Stream, the town of Briny Breezes stands out for its unique character — a coastal community of mobile homes that developed from Northerners setting up vacation trailers on a one-time strawberry farm in the 1930s.
Gillis says a district could help Briny Breezes protect its way of life and preserve elements of its history.
“I think Briny Breezes should be a historic district,” Gillis says, “and then I’m going to retire there. It’s so novel.”
Susan Brannen, president of the mobile home park’s corporate board, doesn’t know if her town should be a historic district — or how such a designation would affect the town — but says it is unique.
Ganger says the mobile homes in Briny Breezes may not survive climate change or the pressures of development, but he hopes there will be ways to preserve the character that makes it so different from other nearby towns. His coalition would like to see the trailers gradually give way to small homes that are better protected from rising seas and hurricanes.
“You could redesign Briny with smaller homes,” Ganger says. “We’ve been working with Briny to maintain what the folks who live there want, though we’re well aware that a developer will come along someday with an offer that will be difficult to turn down.”

Delray and Boca districts
Even if Delray Beach approves the Atlantic Avenue district, it’s up to the individual property owners whether to apply for historical designation for their contributing properties.
Lack of owner support doomed Boynton Beach’s 2016 attempt to create a historic district on Northwest First Avenue between Northwest Third Street and Northwest Second Street, a block south of Boynton Beach Boulevard.
Delray Beach currently has five historic districts within its borders:
• Old School Square, including the restored Delray Beach Elementary School at Swinton and Atlantic avenues.
• Marina, on the south side of Atlantic Avenue east of Federal Highway.
• Nassau Park on the barrier island to the south of the Sandoway Discovery Center.
• Del-Ida, on the east side of Swinton north of Lake Ida Road.
• West Settlers, around Northwest Fifth Avenue, in the city’s historically Black section.
Boca Raton has two historic districts:
• Old Floresta, a grouping of Addison Mizner-designed homes from the 1920s and ’30s to the north of Palmetto Park Road around Northwest Ninth Avenue.
• Pearl City, the city’s first historically Black neighborhood, south of Glades Road between Federal and Dixie highways.
Self-preservation can be a goal of historic designation in areas that aren’t architecturally significant, as in Pearl City.
“The reason those neighbors wanted to become a district is because they felt threatened by the outside world,” Gillis says; they feared the community’s prime property along Federal Highway would be taken up by developers. “It’s the history of the site itself, rather than architectural significance, that makes that district important.”

Losses and struggles
Preservationists in March lost a battle in Boca Raton, when developers demolished the Cramer House, a 1925 Mediterranean Revival structure on East Boca Raton Road.
In Boynton Beach, the former Oyer-family buildings on Ocean Avenue, built nearly a century ago, are to be demolished as part of a Community Redevelopment Agency project to create a mixed-use development. Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant, currently located in one of the buildings, will be moved to the north along Boynton Beach Boulevard.
“We struggle along,” says Barbara Ready, chair of Boynton Beach’s Historic Resources Preservation Board. “We’ve lost so many historic things that were demolished willy-nilly.”
The city actually has a “Historical Cottage District,” a community on the west side of Federal Highway south of Woolbright Road. However, it’s just a name the residents got the city to approve for their community of older homes — many from the 1940s and 1950s — more than 20 years ago. They hoped having “historical” in the community’s name would boost property values, even if the homes aren’t designated or architecturally significant.
The city also continues to see homeowners who want their individual homes designated.
The preservation board has oval plaques in the works — “a badge of honor,” Ready says — to place on locally designated houses. Ready hopes the city will pay for an update to the historical resources survey done in 1995. So much has been lost since then, while other buildings may need to be added, she says.
“Commitment is the key word,” Ready says. “Unfortunately, in Boynton it took a lot, lot longer to get any kind of commitment, and even then, it’s a half-hearted commitment.”

The covered walkway in front of the Hand’s building may soon be gone. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

As Delray Beach considers a proposal for a new historic district downtown, the city continues to lose potentially historic properties along Atlantic Avenue.
In August, the new owner of the Hand’s building at 325 E. Atlantic Ave. sought approval to remove the building’s arcade and the angled entranceways of the storefront to make them flush, and the City Commission unanimously allowed the changes.
The building, constructed in the Masonry Vernacular style in two phases, dates to 1921 and 1948, according to an R.J. Heisenbottle survey of historical buildings recently completed for the city.

Related: Picturing a better way to preserve history | Atlantic Avenue’s place in history on verge of formal recognition

The arcade — the covered walkway in front of the building that provides shelter from the weather and has arched openings along the ends and facing the street — had been one of the models for the city’s 2015 downtown zoning changes, based on community input. Residents valued the pedestrian experience the arcade provided in terms of shelter while it contributed to the street’s character.
To take such a “drastic” step to remove the arcade “takes away the charm of the street,” resident Alice Finst said at a July 27 city board meeting. “What we will have is one more set of awnings. What does that do for us?”
But Steven Cohen, who paid $11.5 million for the property in April 2021, questioned the structure’s value at the Aug. 16 City Commission meeting.
“The arcade is fine for when it rains,” Cohen said. “But it’s not conducive to retailers who want good sales.
“I can, by right, knock the building down and replace it with a three-story building and put two stories of offices above it,” he said.
His architect, Gary Eliopoulos, a former city commissioner who has restored many historic buildings in the city, said, “The elephant in the room is the arcade.” The arcade was added in 1974 and is not historic, he said.
Eliopoulos planned to apply for a building permit in late September that would include the demolition.
The arcade’s removal will increase the building’s non-conformity with the current setback requirements of at least 10 feet, Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director, said in an Aug. 26 email. The proposed setback is slightly under 8 feet.
“The arcade has a value to our community,” she wrote.
Will the Hand’s building still be considered historic without its recessed windows and having a flat front façade?
“This does not seem possible,” Gianniotes wrote.

The Atlantic Avenue district would run from Swinton to the Intracoastal Waterway on both sides of Atlantic. BELOW: The Ocean Park district would run from Gleason to the beach south of Atlantic Avenue. Maps provided by the City of Delray Beach

Special district near beach also is studied

By Jane Smith

Eager to preserve the heart and soul of its downtown, Delray Beach is poised to create its sixth historic district — and the first since 1997 — early next year.
The Atlantic Avenue Historic District would start at Swinton Avenue and continue east to the Intracoastal Waterway. It comprises eight blocks of 67 properties, with 43 considered historic.
That 64.2% ratio is a “solid historic district,” consultant Richard J. Heisenbottle said at a July 19 City Commission workshop. “The district meets the criteria for local and national designation.”
Heisenbottle also recommended studying the historic properties in a proposed Ocean Park Historic District on the barrier island — along Atlantic from Gleason Street to Ocean Boulevard and south to Miramar Drive.
A survey of properties there has not been completed. Money for the survey might be included in the city’s new budget.

Related: Picturing a better way to preserve history | Hand’s covered archways to disappear from Atlantic Avenue

Delray’s history tied to Atlantic Avenue
Heisenbottle’s Coral Gables-based firm is steeped in historic preservation projects and was hired by the city last year to study the Atlantic Avenue corridor from Interstate 95 to the ocean.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia has pushed for the downtown historic district since she was a second-term commissioner in 2015.
“The buildings on the Atlantic Avenue corridor are what makes Delray Beach so inviting,” she said at the workshop, referring to their low scale. “It’s an invitation to come and buy here.”
The proposed district includes a few buildings that are already part of either the Old School Square or Marina historic districts. Many of the homes in the Marina district, to the east of Federal Highway and south of Atlantic Avenue, were built between 1922 and 1943 in many architectural styles.
The Old School Square district, which straddles Swinton Avenue north and south of Atlantic Avenue, contains the 1913 Delray Elementary School that is now the Cornell Art Museum. The 1902 Sundy House, built by Delray Beach’s first mayor, John Shaw Sundy, also is in the district, to the south of Atlantic Avenue.

The Colony Hotel and Cabana Club, designed by an Addison Mizner associate and built in 1926 at the corner of East Atlantic Avenue and Northeast Sixth Avenue in Delray Beach, is on the city’s Local Register of Historic Places. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Local and national historic designations
Other than where the proposed district overlaps the existing Old School Square and Marina districts, only one building in the district — the Colony Hotel — is currently on the Local Register of Historic Places. The hotel, at 525 E. Atlantic Ave., was designed by an associate of Addison Mizner and built in 1926 in the Mediterranean Revival style. The current Atlantic Avenue bridge, built in 1952, also is listed.
In addition, Delray Beach has seven sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Marina and Old School Square districts.

Suggested Ocean Park barrier island district
Heisenbottle suggested the city consider creating the Ocean Park Historic District once more research is done.
He did not want to include the area in the overall Atlantic Avenue district because there are too many non-contributing buildings between the bridge and Gleason Street.
The Ocean Park district would include the Epic Surf Shop building at 1218 E. Atlantic Ave. Built in 1939, it was constructed in the Streamline Moderne style. Also of historic value is the Snappy Turtle building at 1100 E. Atlantic Ave., built in 1954 in the Masonry Vernacular style. Neither is listed on the city’s local register.
The proposed district’s survey cost might be included in the city’s new budget that started Oct. 1, said Gina Carter, city spokeswoman. Then, the commission’s planning priorities for development services will dictate when the survey will be done.

Atlantic Avenue district timeline and incentives
For the Atlantic Avenue district, “staff is anticipating taking the overlay to the city’s Historic Preservation Board by the end of 2022,” Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director, said in an Aug. 26 email.
With the board’s expected approval, the proposed district would then go to the City Commission as an ordinance in early 2023. The second reading will include a public hearing.
But first, the city needs to hold a workshop on possible incentives available for the owners of historic properties to nudge them to consider adding their buildings to the Local Register of Historic Places and possibly the National Register of Historic Places.
The local register offers property tax abatements on the improvements made to historic buildings and the national offers federal tax abatements on restored properties that are not owner-occupied homes.
In Florida, buildings are considered historic after they reach 50 years of age and have a definable architectural style.
Petrolia directed staff at the workshop to see what else the city can do to persuade commercial property owners to designate their buildings. Other incentives could include transferring density and development rights outside of the historic district.
“Ask other cities what they have done when setting up their historic districts,” she said, “but be sensitive to the residents who live in the non-historic areas.”

Highland Beach Commissioner John Shoemaker reacts to the County Commission’s vote. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Start-up is first of kind in county since 1993

By Rich Pollack

A unanimous decision by the Palm Beach County Commission has cleared the way for Highland Beach to create the county’s first new fire department in 30 years.
It took less than 10 minutes last month for county commissioners to grant a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity license, which is required before the town can provide emergency medical service once it starts its own fire department in May 2024.
“We’re good to go,” said Mayor Doug Hillman, whose town is ending a 30-plus year reliance on Delray Beach for that service. “We’re now able to provide enhanced, high-quality lifesaving services to our residents.”

Highland Beach commissioners, other residents and staff members wore T-shirts with the new fire department logo as they lined the back row of the County Commission chambers. Town Commissioner John Shoemaker addressed the commission ahead of its affirmative vote.

Hillman led a contingent of about 20 residents, commissioners and staff — all in T-shirts with the Highland Beach Fire Department logo — on a bus ride to the County Commission meeting. He emphasized the importance of receiving the board’s approval in a letter he sent to residents.
“This was a huge win for the town,” Hillman wrote. “The license is key to operating an independent fire rescue department in Palm Beach County.”
While the county’s decision to grant the license — following the recommendation of its Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council — came quickly and with little discussion, town leaders arrived at the meeting still not certain how the vote would go.
“Everybody was on the edge of their seats,” said recently appointed Chief Glenn Joseph, who previously advised the town on the fire department. “This was a very huge deal.”
County Mayor Robert Weinroth, who represents South County and expedited the approval, said he believes the commission found value in the EMS advisory council’s recommendation.
“The fact that the council was unanimous in its decision made it easier for the commission to grant the COPCN license,” he said.
Rick Greenwald, one of the residents who rode the bus to the meeting, credited the work of town staff for the County Commission’s quick decision to award the license.
“It was pretty clear that the town had done some serious ground work before it came before the commission,” said Greenwald, who has long supported the idea of an independent Highland Beach fire department. “It was a very successful morning from the town’s standpoint.”
Joseph said the town had worked on the 500-page COPCN application for almost a year and a half, covering all the bases required to provide emergency services.
“There was a lot of paperwork involved in getting us to this point,” he said. “The medical protocols alone were 300 pages.”
Had the County Commission balked at approving the license, the town would have suffered a major setback in its timeline and overall plans.
“If we didn’t have the county’s approval, it would be an uphill battle,” Joseph said.
Without approval from the commission, the town most likely would have needed to appeal to the governor, a process that could have been costly and time-consuming.
Joseph said that with the unanimous vote to grant the license, the town has the green light to move forward.
“We have vendor contracts on hold but we didn’t execute those until we knew what the timeline would be,” he said.
In his letter to residents, Hillman thanked the town staff, led by Manager Marshall Labadie, for its long hours and hard work and praised the efforts of fellow commissioners.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team and community, but our work is not complete,” he said. “Over the next few months, we will be completing the design of a new Highland Beach fire station.”
Construction of the new station is expected to begin in early 2023. At the same time, Joseph will begin the process of hiring and training firefighters and paramedics and making sure the new department is ready “to go live” when its contract for fire service with Delray Beach expires in little more than a year and a half.
Town commissioners voted in April 2021 to split from Delray Beach Fire Rescue and start a new department. Commissioners, citing a consultant study, said they believed Highland Beach could provide quality fire service for less than the $5 million a year Delray Beach charged.
During the County Commission’s meeting last month, town Commissioner John Shoemaker spoke before the vote and reiterated that Highland Beach is focused on providing residents with the best possible fire rescue service.
“The town has made a serious commitment that is unique in the last 30 years,” he said. “We need this so we can deliver effective services and improved response times.”
The last time a new fire department was created in Palm Beach County was by the Village of Tequesta in October 1993.

Lights, camera, action! The arts season is back!
Brush off that pretty shawl collecting dust in the closet and put a bit of polish on your good shoes. We’re going out!
For those of us who’ve used extra caution to keep people we love safe throughout the pandemic, it finally feels like there’s enough information and protection to mix and mingle in closed spaces. And our local venues, of course, remain diligent about keeping patrons, workers and artists safe.
So, make plans. Go ahead and buy those season tickets. There’s plenty to see and do.
Inside this edition you’ll find our Arts & Culture Season Preview. Check it out.
The Palm Beach ArtsPaper staff say there’s something for everyone planned this season. So don’t miss out; order your tickets early. They’ll go fast.
And plan to lift a toast to all the talent making their way back to the stage to make this one of the best and brightest arts and culture seasons ever.
Hope to see you out there.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Simone Spiegel sits at her desk at Samco Properties, a commercial real estate company of which she is vice president and co-founder. She also is board president and chair for the Fuller Center, a Boca Raton nonprofit. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

Simone Spiegel’s office desk bears a ceramic nameplate identifying her as “First Lady.”
Although it is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek title, it seems fitting for Spiegel, a woman of so many actual titles and responsibilities.
Foremost, she is vice president and co-founder of Samco Properties, a nationwide commercial real estate company based in Deerfield Beach.
She is also president and board chairwoman for the Fuller Center, a huge, Boca Raton-based nonprofit providing early education, meals and after-school care to children of lower-income workers.
“The Fuller Center is just incredible,” Spiegel said. “Children who might otherwise not have the best chance to succeed receive a quality education and after-school care. The teachers are wonderful.”
Ellyn Okrent, the CEO of the Fuller Center, used similar superlatives when describing Spiegel.
“She is genuine, honest, brilliant, supportive, amazing,” Okrent said.
Although Spiegel, 63, seems soft-spoken and reserved, she can be a tough negotiator.
Okrent gave this example: The Fuller Center is planning a new building for one of its two campuses. Recently, Okrent and Spiegel met with a group of contractors and engineers to discuss the plan.
“They were all men, sitting around the table and speaking about technical details, and zoning issues,” Okrent said. “Simone listened for a while and then in her ladylike way, put her hand up and said, ‘No, no, no, that’s not the way to do it.’ She knows her stuff and she doesn’t let anyone take advantage of us.”
The men did not know that Spiegel came to the table equipped with deep knowledge of real estate, construction and zoning from her 40 years of helping Samco acquire, redesign and construct shopping malls and office buildings.
In addition, Spiegel was armed with a law degree from Nova University Law School, where she honed her negotiation skills.
“I don’t really practice law, but it comes in handy,” said Spiegel, whose office is filled with real estate books, plants and photos of her husband, Sam, her two daughters, and her two grandchildren.
On the wall, Spiegel displays her diplomas from Nova and from her bachelor of arts in economics from Harvard University, plus a quilted tapestry of green, gold and red made by a friend.
Spiegel said her husband also obtained his law degree from Nova, but that’s not how they met.
When Spiegel was attending Harvard, she came to South Florida to visit her father. Her dad introduced her to Sam Spiegel, whom he had met — and liked — while conducting a real estate deal. The couple went on a date, fell instantly in love, and shortly thereafter, Sam asked Simone to marry him.
“We married as soon as I finished college,” Simone Spiegel said. That was 1982, the same year they co-founded Samco. The business grew and grew, and now owns and operates 3.5 million square feet of commercial real estate across 19 states.
The couple has lived in Highland Beach for 19 years, Spiegel said, and is quite content there.
“We live in a nice, quiet building. We love walking on the beach and the kids love visiting us there,” she said.
The Spiegels also have ties to Boca Raton. They’ve been members of Temple Beth El for 38 years. They support the Boca Raton Museum of Art and Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Simone Spiegel — who lost two close family members to drug overdoses — also donates to Overdose Lifeline Inc., a nonprofit in her hometown of Indianapolis that helps addicts and their families cope with substance abuse.
But her passion is the Fuller Center, which not only cares for and educates some 900 children a year, but supports their hardworking parents.
The center provides services to ensure that children go home each night to self-sustaining parents able to provide safe, healthy and enriching homes.
Okrent said Spiegel has greatly helped the center during her 15 years of involvement — eight of them on the board. Okrent said she was thrilled when Spiegel became the president and chairwoman.
The two women talk nearly every day by phone or by text about the center’s challenges and victories.
“She’s everything a CEO would dream of as a board chair,” Okrent said. “She’s incredible.”

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Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

I just received your September issue and was shocked to read your front-page article on “Suffering summer of sargassum” full of inaccurate information. I and South Florida would appreciate the honest truth be published regarding our beaches and sargassum/human waste handling.  
Even though FDEP, FWC, the town of Highland Beach and both tractor companies all use the words “clean the beach,” the beach has never been mechanically cleaned by either tractor company since they started operating 40 years ago.
No one should be using the word “clean.” Nothing is removed from our beach. There are not two teams working, with one clearing large debris and trash from the seaweed, and nothing is buried — and should not be since the weed is intermingled with human garbage.
Both weed and human garbage are just rearranged and raked under to rot and smolder, creating more and longer-term gases along with the accumulation of garbage.
The tractor operations consist of one tractor with a simple rake and roller attached to the back and a front bucket. The weeds and garbage are left in disarranged mounds amid tractor ruts, partially covered with sand to fester.
The tractor companies sign the FDEP permit to clean the beach, they advertise they clean the beach, and they bill their clients for cleaning the beach — and clean nothing? All the while trespassing and rutting up all beachfront property owners’ property, causing damage to the dune system and sand loss.
You are more than welcome to sit on my beachfront patio and watch the tractor operations. I also have hours of video and hundreds of photos.
I enjoy reading your newspaper and it shows the research and knowledge that goes into most articles, and I believe that your group works for a better Florida and its beaches. Please research anything to do with any tractor company’s statements. They have been lying for 40 years and I honestly think that they have convinced themselves and now believe they are providing a good environmental service.

Robert Patek
Highland Beach

I am appalled by Kristine de Haseth’s comments, and her veiled attempt at an apology only demonstrates her true feelings. Totally inappropriate for a commissioner to say in a recent town communication, “Don’t think for one second that the inmates will be allowed to run the prison again. Those days are in the rearview mirror.”
First of all that is a threat, not a figure of speech; it is inexcusable that someone elected by the residents disgraces herself and embarrasses the town. 
The town of Ocean Ridge deserves better than this behavior from our representatives. She should do the right thing and resign.
No one buys her “figure of speech” apology. I for one would love to know who the inmates are? It’s obvious Ocean Ridge is the prison. We need truth and transparency in this town.

Stella Kolb
Ocean Ridge

The city of Delray Beach appears hellbent on selling off some of our precious public open space for a quick fix to get some money from developers to repair our historic, albeit neglected, golf course.
The city plan requires the destruction of several holes at the very least and then redesigning a course already designed by two of the foremost golf course architects of the 20th Century.
The southern nine holes were designed in the 1920s by famed course architect Donald Ross. The northern nine were designed in the 1960s by acclaimed golf course architect Dick Wilson.
Will the new course be designed by a world-class golf course designer or an apartment developer? Is the new design required to be designed by renowned golf architects as part of the RFP?
In north Florida, Dunedin is faced with a similar dilemma for its run-down 18-hole Ross-designed course. Yet, their municipal leaders are not selling parts of the golf course to “save it.” Dunedin is seeking state grants of up to $500,000 a cycle for two cycles.
They have reached out to the Donald Ross Society in Pinehurst, North Carolina, for advice. Their budget to restore the entire 18 holes is estimated at $3 million to $4 million.
Why does Delray need $10 million? It is clear their strategy includes more than just a golf course.
Further, it is unclear just how many of our course’s 150 acres are on the block. 10 acres? 15? 20? Between 8% and 24% of precious green space will be lost forever.
About 40 developers, home builders and engineers from approximately 25 companies attended a pre-bid session at the golf clubhouse in mid-September.
While there is clearly commercial interest in building offices, dwellings and even hotels on the property, it is growing increasingly clear that these potential bidders do not have the restoration of a classic golf course in mind.
Regardless, it will no longer be a community-affordable golf course, clubhouse and natural habitat.

Jay Alperin
Former mayor, Delray Beach

Library renovation nears completion

By Mary Thurwachter

Raising the tax rate is seldom popular and certainly isn’t this year either, as evidenced by the many residents who spoke against a tax hike during workshops and public hearings in recent months. But the rate is going up in Lantana, from $3.50 to $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value — despite a 15.8% increase in the town’s tax base.
Town Manager Brian Raducci said the Town Council dipped into the town’s savings last year to cover expenses, rather than raise the tax rate or make additional budget cuts. That led to an even bigger budget gap this year, he said. Savings are typically used for one-time costs like capital projects, not for ongoing expenses.
During its Sept. 21 public hearing, the council voted unanimously for the 7.1% rate increase needed to balance the $15,243,834 general fund budget for the year starting Oct. 1.

Related: South County's new tax rates, taxes and budgets

Dozens of residents said the tax increase was unnecessary in a year when property values soared, many people are struggling to make ends meet and the town has no debt.
Tammy Gianfortune of Hypoluxo Island said she opposed what she calls “a double tax increase” on Lantana citizens.
“I suggest it’s a double tax increase because the town is gaining from the record rise in taxable values of our properties, a 15.8% increase,” she said. “Additionally, you’re choosing to raise the millage from the $3.07 per $1,000” rollback rate “to $3.75 per $1,000 — a 22% increase. I’ve got to suggest that combination is extremely aggressive.”
She said she understood that inflation has hit all parts of the budget. “But I also understand the same issue is hitting every homeowner’s pocketbook as well,” Gianfortune said.
“Other Palm Beach County cities have chosen to use their property-value-driven tax increase to cover their cost of inflation and chosen not to increase their millage rate, and some are even reducing their rates,” she said.
Raducci defended the rate increase, saying people don’t realize that last year’s budget was adopted with an $800,000 deficit. “It was balanced because we used fund balance [reserves] to balance the budget,” he said. “But we were still upside down by about $800,000.”
That meant that this budget year, even with $700,000 in new revenue, the town was still “$100,000 in the hole,” he said.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize that. And that’s not something you want to do repeatedly year after year,” he said, especially considering the significant increases in the costs of labor, contracts and insurance.
The council exacerbated the funding gap in December, when it awarded an additional 1.5% salary boost to town employees, a continuing expense estimated at $55,000 last year alone. The council at that time also approved one-time employee bonuses of up to $2,000, which were estimated to cost $110,000.
Raducci said municipalities usually use their reserves for things like one-time investments. “You do not want to use fund balance to maintain your operating cost, and that’s really what this is being used for,” he said of the current tax increase.
“But sometimes it’s necessary and we feel like if you don’t do this and we have to cut costs even further we’re going to be cutting into what we call essential services,” he said.
The new budget again relies on $126,440 in undesignated reserves to balance its revenues and expenditures.
Finance director Stephen Kaplan said some of the general fund items include:
• A 5% cost-of-living adjustment for general employees and between 7.5% and 8.5% for police.
• $1.5 million for the town’s two pension plans.
• Additional hours for part-time library employees so at least two people are on duty at any given time.
• Transitioning from a part-time to full-time lifeguard position.
• Infrastructure surtax — or penny tax — dollars supplementing funds already budgeted for the ADA beach ramp, replacing the wooden decking rafters at the beach, and to continue the street paving program.
• American Rescue Plan Act money being used for vehicle replacement and sea wall projects at Bicentennial Park, Sportsman Park and the beach.

Details on library work
Progress is speeding up on the $1 million library renovation project. That’s what Town Council members learned during a Sept. 12 meeting, with library Director Kristine Kreidler saying the grand opening is tentatively expected late in October or in November.
“If you’ve driven past the library, you can see it is painted outside,” she said. “It is painted inside, as well, and the wave wall that separates the children’s area from the main adult area has been put up. There’s air conditioning inside the building now. Landscaping should be finished soon. And the pavers have been put in the front in the garden.”
Some special creative touches will include sea lantern lights and a mobile in the children’s library.
Construction on the library at 205 W. Ocean Ave. has been fraught with problems, most notable the discovery in December of the lack of proper licensing by the original contractor. That halted construction until mid-May, when West Construction Inc. of Lantana took over after the town approved a contract to finish the project.
The renovations will improve how space is used in the library and add a meeting room and outdoor reading garden. The changes include ADA-compliant restrooms, a centralized circulation desk, special spaces for children and teens and a community center for adult activities. 
The library is temporarily housed in the Recreation Center at 418 S. Dixie Highway.
In other news, the Town Council met the new president of the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce, Natalie Stolbach, a longtime member and a board member. She replaces Dave Arm, who retired in September after 10 years. Stolbach and her husband, Barry Stolbach, own and operate Barry’s Jewelry Spa in Boynton Beach.

By Mary Thurwachter

  In a surprise development Sept. 21, Lantana Mayor Robert Hagerty announced his resignation halfway through his first three-year term.
Hagerty, 57, has served since March 2021 after defeating 21-year incumbent Mayor Dave Stewart. Hagerty, a former police officer, spent most of his career working in Lantana.
“I had no intention of going back to work when I retired” from the Police Department, “and here I am working on a second career,” Hagerty said. The new job in construction means relocating to Orlando, something he plans to do by Oct. 10. He said he brought the topic up because the next town meeting is Oct. 24, after he will have left Lantana.
He thanked town staff, fellow council members and residents for their support and said the decision to leave came “after a lot of thought and discomfort” on his part.
Hagerty didn’t respond to The Coastal Star’s request for further comment on his departure. He has come under criticism for missing multiple meetings since his tenure began.
The final budget public hearing where he made the announcement was sparsely attended.
“I wish more people were here to have said this to,” Hagerty said. “I thank everybody in attendance tonight.”
Reached by phone after the meeting, Vice Mayor Karen Lythgoe said Hagerty’s announcement came as “a big surprise” that night, although she had expected it for a while. “I just figured the work was getting in his way and he was getting torn both ways. I expected it before now and as time had gone on, I thought well, he’s just going to keep going to the end of his term,” she said.
Lythgoe is acting mayor temporarily, she said. “The seat will go on the ballot in March, when my seat is up also.”
After a workshop meeting to discuss Hagerty’s resignation on Sept. 27, Lythgoe said she would make a run for mayor during the March election and not seek re-election to her Group 4 seat. Should she win her bid to become mayor, the term will be only until March 2024, at which time she would need to run again.
In an email to The Coastal Star, Town Attorney Max Lohman said the council had several options:
• Leave the mayor’s seat vacant until a special election in March 2023 to fill Hagerty’s unexpired term, which goes until March 2024. Until the election, the vice mayor would serve as acting mayor. This is the option the council has chosen.
• Appoint someone to serve as mayor until a March election is held to fill the remainder of the mayor’s unexpired term. The vice mayor would have served as acting mayor only until the council makes that appointment. • The council could also have chosen to appoint Lythgoe mayor until a March election, then appointed someone to fill her council seat for the remainder of her term, Lohman said, but he added “this option is unnecessary, because as vice mayor she serves as mayor in the absence of the mayor already.”

By Larry Barszewski

New gatehouse security guards, increased wages for town workers, and planning money for a town sewer system are all included in a new $7.3 million Manalapan town budget effective Oct. 1.
Town commissioners on Sept. 27 approved the 25.2% general fund budget increase along with a reduced property tax rate of $3 for every $1,000 of assessed value — a rate that will increase taxes paid to the town by 21.2%.
Mayor Keith Waters said much of the increase is being shouldered by new property owners in town, where property values soared 28.2% this year, fueled by the pandemic’s heated housing market.
“We are delighted, with what’s going on in the community, to lower the millage (property tax) rate and at the same time provide additional funding for the operation of the town,” Waters said.

Related: South County's new tax rates, taxes and budgets

The commission lowered the tax rate 5.3%, from $3.17 per $1,000 of assessed value, which will reduce the tax bill of property owners with homestead exemptions.
However, more than half the properties in town are not homesteaded, making them less protected from higher taxes.
The new budget includes:
• $264,532 for a contract with Cambridge Security Services Corp. to provide services at the town’s gatehouse on Point Manalapan. Commissioners approved the contract at a special meeting Sept. 16 after receiving complaints about the previous company.
• A 5% raise for all employees and a 5% “one-time inflation adjustment” for them. Unlike a salary increase, the inflation adjustment — or bonus — will not be added to an employee’s base salary. The authority for the inflation adjustment was approved by commissioners at the special meeting Sept. 16.
• $593,684 for capital equipment and improvements. Among the capital items are $166,684 to renovate the Police Department squad room, $143,865 to replace two police vehicles and the town manager’s vehicle, and $60,000 for a new generator.
• A $520,000 transfer to the utility fund to cover some of the professional service fees for work being done with the town’s septic-to-sewer project, and for other utility project capital costs.
Under the approved tax rate, the town is expected to collect $5.6 million in property taxes, which is $1 million more than in the previous year.
The commission approved a total town budget of $14.5 million. Besides the general fund budget, which covers nuts-and-bolts expenses of town government supported in part by property tax collections, the town has a utility fund budget of $7.1 million and a library fund budget of $61,500.
In other action, the commission voted to no longer require Ocean Boulevard property owners seeking to create or demolish a pedestrian passageway under State Road A1A — connecting the eastern and western portions of a property — to go before the town’s Architectural Commission for approval.
Officials said that commission’s review isn’t necessary since the tunnels aren’t visible. The tunnels still must adhere to other existing town building regulations and reviews.

By Joel Engelhardt

Republican state Rep. Mike Caruso has been the sole House representative for the South County barrier islands since 2018. That ended with redistricting based on the 2020 U.S. Census.
Now he’s running in Republican-leaning District 87, which includes the barrier islands north of the Boynton Inlet, hugs the coast northward through Palm Beach and Singer Island and takes in half of Palm Beach Gardens and a slice of Jupiter. 
The change forces him out of his longtime Delray Beach base. He is keeping his oceanfront Delray home but moving into a downtown West Palm Beach condo to live in the district. 
Caruso, 64, an accountant, beat back an August primary challenge from his political right, winning two-thirds of the vote against Jane Justice.
On Nov. 8, he’ll face Democrat Sienna Osta, who in her only previous race ran unsuccessfully for Florida House District 88 in 2020.
Instead of a single House member, as in years past, the barrier islands from Boca Raton to South Palm Beach will be represented by three House members under newly drawn maps approved by the Legislature in February.
In Boynton-Delray dominated District 90, Democrat Joe Casello takes on Republican Keith Feit. Boca-centered District 91, which encompasses all of Boca Raton as well as the coast nearly to the Delray Beach line, pits Highland Beach Town Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a Republican, against Boca Raton Councilman Andy Thomson, a Democrat.
Osta, 34, a first-generation Lebanese-American lawyer who lives and works in downtown West Palm Beach, was spurred to run by a desire to do more than just post on social media as Black Lives Matter protests erupted during the coronavirus quarantine months. 
Prompted by the media attention to the Gabby Petito missing persons case and lack of similar attention for cases involving Black and brown women, she is ready to propose legal requirements that police must meet within the first 48 hours of a missing-person report.
“We have Amber Alerts for minors up to 18 years old,” she said. “What about the rest of us?”
She also would focus on support for women’s rights and fixing Florida’s unemployment compensation system.
Caruso said he would emphasize measures to combat rising prices. 
“This election comes down to inflation, inflation, inflation,” he said. “Whether gas, rentals, food or interest rates, people are concerned that if they’re feeling the pinch, their young adult children are really feeling the pinch.” 
Steps the Legislature can take include suspension of the state gasoline tax, which it agreed to do for October, and reducing the commercial lease tax. Other actions: raising salaries and bonuses for teachers, police and firefighters. 
Caruso said House leadership has asked him to examine ways to reduce property taxes and he’s confident Republicans can find a way to keep property insurers from canceling policies over such items as the age of a roof.
He supports the GOP-enacted 15-week ban on abortion as “good law.” 
Through Sept. 9, Caruso had raised about $186,000, with about $61,000 remaining, to Osta’s $4,500.

District 90: Casello vs. Feit
Joe Casello has never campaigned in Delray Beach before. 
He’s a fixture in Boynton Beach, where he served five years on the City Commission before jumping in 2018 to represent the city in the state House. 
But newly drawn District 90 splits his district between Boynton and Delray and adds the barrier island from the northern tip of Highland Beach through Ocean Ridge.
As a Democrat, Casello, 70, is realistic about what he can accomplish in the state House. 
“One party dominates,” he said. “To get things done, I take pride in working across the aisle, earning their respect. In the end, it’s the agenda of the House speaker or Senate president and DeSantis. That’s just how it goes.”
While he says he won’t “bad-mouth” Gov. Ron DeSantis, he criticized actions he called “self-promoting,” like sending migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. 
“I will never be a Ron DeSantis supporter. I think he has control to do a lot more good than what he’s doing,” Casello said.
He objected to the Republican bill capping abortions at 15 weeks without exceptions for rape or incest and said he expects next year’s fight to revolve around a six-week ban, as approved in Texas.
He called his opponent, Keith Feit, “a far-right Republican.”
Feit, 47, a middle-school teacher at The Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens with a home in Boynton Beach, took issue with Casello’s voting record. 
“I’m not in this race because of any personal animosity toward Joe Casello. My concern is the way he voted,” Feit said. “He’s not representing the people.”
He cited Casello for opposing the Parental Rights in Education Act, educational choice and keeping critical race theory out of classrooms.
“I believe parents need to raise our children, not the government or administrators,” he said. “My representative votes against legislation that would keep that (sexual orientation) out of kindergarten to third grade. That’s not looking out for the kids. It’s a war on parents.”
DeSantis, he said, “hit it out of the park” on education. 
Feit said he supports the recently enacted 15-week abortion ban, although he would make exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. “Four months is enough time for a woman to decide whether or not to keep her baby,” he said.
While Casello raised $26,000 through Sept. 9 and spent $21,000, he has a political committee, JC PAC, that has raised $90,000, mostly from firefighters, and spent $11,000.
Feit has raised $20,450 and spent nearly $7,000. 

District 91: Thomson vs. Gossett-Seidman
A Highland Beach Republican takes on a Boca Raton Democrat in the most competitive state House contest awaiting barrier island voters.
Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a 31-year Highland Beach resident and town commissioner since 2018, is running for the open House District 91 seat against Andy Thomson, a Boca Raton resident since 2016 and City Council member since 2018. 
The Boca-centered District 91, formerly represented by Emily Slosberg-King, used to run entirely inland. Now it encompasses all of Boca Raton and much of west Boca, as well as the coast nearly to the Delray Beach line.
The 2020 presidential results, with District 91 voters going 52% for Joe Biden and 47.5% for Donald Trump, offer Thomson an advantage. He calls himself a moderate able to work across party lines in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Gossett-Seidman says her ability to get legislative approval for three bills providing $1.1 million for Highland Beach projects indicates her ability to work in Tallahassee. 
“This isn’t just a popularity contest in Boca Raton,” she said. “It’s about how you get things done.”
Thomson countered that DeSantis vetoed the spending. “I’m not sure I buy that she will be able to bring more resources back,” he said. “It’s not borne by recent history.”
However, in July, the town received $375,000 toward a new fire station and $275,000 to rehabilitate sewage lift stations from a joint legislative committee. Gossett-Seidman said the governor anticipated that money being available when he made his vetoes. 
Gossett-Seidman, 69, a former newspaper reporter, defeated Christina DuCasse with 52.5% of the vote in the August primary. She credited her victory to knocking on doors and her work in Tallahassee.
She said she would focus on fighting inflation by reining in property insurance costs and fighting high housing costs. She pointed to her “reporter’s mentality” for helping to save Highland Beach $2 million a year by severing its decades-long relationship with Delray Beach for fire rescue services.  
On abortion, Gossett-Seidman supports the state’s 15-week ban but said she doesn’t expect the Legislature to seek an outright ban.
Thomson, 40, a lawyer with a degree from the University of Miami, points out that the Florida Supreme Court has upheld the right to abortion through a privacy right in the state Constitution, making it difficult for Republicans to enact an outright ban. He said he would not support criminalization of abortion. 
Thomson, who did not have a primary contest, is a father of five children, ages 1 to 10. He jogs 3 to 4 miles several times a week, picking up litter along the way and challenging himself to cover all 500 miles of city streets every year. 
He said he would press for action on housing affordability. One key is to do more about property insurance than what emerged from a special legislative session earlier this year. 
Gossett-Seidman too anticipates more action on insurance, saying legislative leaders already have indicated an interest in reconsidering the issue. 
“That the Legislature is looking at it again tells you everything you need to know about how effective it was,” Thomson said.
He also would push for stricter gun background checks and red flag laws that would allow family members, not just police, to seek gun confiscation. 
Through Sept. 9, Thomson had raised nearly $208,000 plus a $30,000 loan from himself. He still had more than $200,000 to spend. 
Gossett-Seidman raised $95,000 and lent her campaign $200,000, about the amount already spent as she heads into the general election.

Senate races
Democratic-leaning District 26, which runs along the coast from Glades Road to the Boynton Inlet and spreads as far west as Belle Glade, pits state Sen. Lori Berman, a Democrat, against Steve Byers, a Republican. Berman, who has served in the Legislature since 2010, has raised $134,000. Byers raised $1,700 and lent his campaign $54,800.
Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky is running against Republican William Reicherter in Broward-dominated District 30, which includes Boca and west Boca south of Glades Road. Polsky has raised $150,000 while Reicherter has raised $11,500.
The barrier islands north of the Boynton Inlet fall into Senate District 24. Those residents will choose between Democratic state Sen. Bobby Powell, who has raised $103,000, and Republican Eric Ankner, who has raised $3,300.

County Commission
The barrier islands from Boca Raton to Palm Beach fall into Palm Beach County Commission District 4, which features Democratic incumbent Robert Weinroth, a former Boca Raton councilman, against Republican Marcia “Marci” Woodward.
Woodward, who wrote on her website that she is running because she opposed county coronavirus pandemic mandates, raised about $45,000 through Sept. 9. Weinroth had raised $314,000.

The metal sign with wood framing looks similar to the wooden one but needs much less maintenance. Photos provided

By Joe Capozzi

Ocean Ridge officials take pride in the town’s appearance, and that includes the aesthetics of basic informational signs on public roads.
For 18 years, distinctive wood signs have created a unique character along Old Ocean Boulevard, the town’s oceanfront promenade popular with walkers, cyclists and cars. 
But a slightly new look to the signs is on the way after commissioners agreed to spend up to $14,500 on new signs made of metal and wood, which will reduce maintenance costs in the long run. 
“As you walk down Old Ocean you’ll notice many of them are faded and … the wood is beginning to rot and a lot of those signs are in pretty poor condition so they would all need to be replaced,’’ Police Chief Richard Jones told commissioners on Sept. 6. 
While the wood signs, with the carved turtle designs, have a unique look, they require painting every two to three years, a process that can be tedious and time-consuming for the city’s maintenance department, he said. 
And because the lettering on some wood signs isn’t reflective, they don’t meet Florida Department of Transportation standards. 
The new signs would have information such as the speed limit and “No Parking” on vinyl attached to a metal base, which would be embedded in a wooden frame and backer. 
“Instead of having a wood sign, you have all the grain and character of that sign but on a printed reflective material that could meet DOT rules and create a lack of maintenance,’’ the chief said. 
“These would be maintained every five years. If faded, they would simply require a new sticker overlaid on an existing sticker.’’ 
The new hybrid signs will include wood framing and like the existing signs, will be installed on wood posts.  
State Road A1A will continue to have metal signs. But Old Ocean and the streets leading to it will have the hybrid signs that are expected to keep the character of the wood signs.
“I’m definitely for the combo. It just maintains the look of our town. You don’t want to cheap out on certain things,’’ Commissioner Geoff Pugh said. “The look of the town needs to stay the way it is, which is very well manicured.’’
Jones said he also plans to meet with residents on Fayette Drive, where multiple signs are attached to single posts, about a single sign containing all relevant information. 
“The problem we are running into on Old Ocean and other areas is that we are so sign-polluted,’’ said resident Victor Martel.
To improve safety on the road, he suggested the city add the words reading “Bicyclists must stop’’ beneath existing stop signs.
“That will get rid of (cyclists) because half of them won’t want to come anymore. But let’s stop polluting with signs we cannot enforce,’’ he said. 

Town manager selection
The commission was scheduled to hold a special meeting Sept. 29 for the selection of candidates for the full-time position of town manager.
At the meeting, an adviser with the Florida City and County Management Association was expected to recommend five finalists from a list of 15 people, including interim Manager Lynne Ladner, who have applied for the job. The finalists chosen Sept. 29 will be interviewed beginning at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12 at Town Hall. Residents can meet the candidates from 4-5 p.m. prior to final selection at 6 p.m.

Porter Street crossover
Repairs to the popular Porter Street Beach crossover, originally scheduled to start Sept. 12, have been delayed until Oct. 20 because of contractor scheduling conflicts.
Once the work starts, the crossover will be closed for about eight weeks.

Tracey Stevens meets resident Robert Sloat after her last meeting as Ocean Ridge town manager. She took the same job in Haverhill. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi

Town commissioners Sept. 19 approved a tax rate of $5.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, the same as the current rate, to pay for a $10,087,221 budget for the year that starts Oct. 1. 
Homeowners will still see a rise in their town tax bills because of an 18.26% increase in property values across Ocean Ridge. 
The new spending plan, 14% higher than the current year budget, uses $36,000 from the town’s reserves.
No one attended the final public hearing Sept. 19 when commissioners unanimously approved the spending plan and tax rate without comment.
But at the first public hearing on Sept. 6, commissioners voiced support for departing Town Manager Tracey Stevens’ final spending plan.
“To balance the budget with $36,000 is a pretty good job and without raising the tax rate. Even though it is a tax increase, still we didn’t raise the tax rate,’’ Commissioner Geoff Pugh said. 

Related: South County's new tax rates, taxes and budgets

With a $5.50 tax rate, the owner of a $1 million home will pay $6,504 in town taxes next year, about $1,000 more than was paid this year. 
Some commissioners said they would have liked to lower the rate but agreed the current rate is needed to help pay for much-needed improvements to stormwater and drainage infrastructure.
“The town is getting older and that’s why we couldn’t reduce the tax rate,’’ Commissioner Steve Coz said.  
“The main infrastructure issues we have are draining and water pipes,’’ he said. “When public works or outside contractors come in to deal with our pipes, they are shocked because they are from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. We are lucky enough to have a couple from the ’70s. So it’s an expense that’s going to be with us for a few years, hopefully not more.’’
At the Sept. 6 meeting, commissioners learned their new budget will not have a $10,000 contribution that had been promised from the Crown Colony Club for the installation of a crosswalk.
Stevens said the town has spent $36,000 on the project, which originally was expected to cost $20,000, half of which would have been offset by the donation. But Stevens said Crown Colony may not make good on its promise because of unexpected repairs to a sea wall.
The town will pay the $10,000 from its contingency fund. Coz said the club is working on a plan to make good on the donation.
The budget’s final public hearing Sept. 19 was the first commission meeting with interim Town Manager Lynne Ladner. It lasted six minutes.
In other financial news, town officials announced Sept. 6 that Ocean Ridge has received its second chunk of federal American Rescue Plan Act money in the amount of $489,835.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach city commissioners unanimously approved at their Sept. 19 meeting asking voters to approve a $100 million public safety bond.
If voters say yes on March 14, about $65 million would be used for a combined Ocean Rescue headquarters and Fire Station 112, and for renovations at three other fire stations.
The city has not provided a cost estimate for the police headquarters project involved. Given the fire rescue projects, that would leave approximately $35 million for police headquarters, unless further changes are made or grant money or other revenue is available to offset the cost of some of the projects.
The public safety bond will be on the ballot along with a separate $20 million parks bond referendum.
Fire Station 112 would move from Andrews Avenue to the Ocean Rescue location at Anchor Park, 340 S. Ocean Blvd., where officials estimate a combined facility would cost between $15 million and $16.3 million. Fire Station 112 also serves Gulf Stream.
Other fire station renovation estimates are:
• $20.2 million for the Fire Rescue headquarters at 501 W. Atlantic Ave.
• $24.4 million for Station 115 on Old Germantown Road.
• $4.6 million for Station 114 on Lake Ida Road.
Although the current police headquarters had supposedly been designed with room to grow, it was no longer adequate just four years after it was finished in 1987. A 2018 study done by CPZ Architects of Jensen Beach found the police headquarters needs three times its size of 36,655 square feet.
Regarding fire rescue services, Fire Chief Keith Tomey said at a Sept. 6 commission meeting that the city needed to plan for the split when Highland Beach takes back the fire station on the barrier island in May 2024.
That station responds to 700 calls annually on the barrier island portion in Delray Beach, Tomey said. Combining the Ocean Rescue headquarters with Fire Station 112 will allow the department to add a ladder truck there and not have to wait for one to come over from the mainland, he said.
Ocean Rescue headquarters will occupy the third floor and Fire Rescue will be on the first and second floors. Ocean Rescue also will have a bay on the first floor.
The Andrews Avenue land, about .5 acre, is valuable, Tomey told commissioners. The city can either sell it to offset the cost of the combined facility or build a small three-story parking garage and charge for beach parking.
Because the combined facilities building faces the ocean, it is eligible for a Resilient Florida Grant, Public Works director Missie Barletto said at the Sept. 6 meeting.
Tomey said the city’s fire stations were designed more than 30 years ago without plans for growth. “They were designed at a time when we had two firefighters on an engine/ladder truck and two on a rescue vehicle, now we have three,” he said.
The city also had very few women as firefighters. Now it has 31. “Why is that important? Because they share the restrooms and shower facilities,” Tomey said. They “are stuck with one restroom and one shower facility.”
WGI Inc., a construction engineering firm, was hired in the spring to create the fire rescue master plan. The firm reviewed four fire stations, along with the Ocean Rescue headquarters, for interior programming and space allocation requirements, code compliance and building structure that can handle wind speeds up to 210 mph.
At the four fire stations, WGI found failing concrete, rusting steel, missing hurricane strapping needed for trusses and studs, concrete block walls needing reinforcement to withstand higher wind speeds, and foundations needing enlargement.
One other fire station was not reviewed. Fire Station 113 on Linton Boulevard, just east of Southwest Eighth Street, is under construction with staff staying in trailers in the nearby Miller Park parking lot.
The public safety bond is estimated to cost $107 a year for 30 years for a home valued at $250,000.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach city commissioners passed a $20 million bond referendum for parks improvements at their Sept. 19 meeting after removing projects that required 83 Australian pines at Atlantic Dunes Park to be cut down.
The vote was unanimous after the proposed work on the ocean side of the park was removed from the proposed referendum. The bond issue will go before city voters March 14, along with a separate $100 million public safety bond referendum.
Three Delray Beach residents gave impassioned pleas to save the Australian pines at Atlantic Dunes Park at the meeting.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia then asked that the ocean side improvements be removed from the proposed parks referendum.
“I don’t want the trees to be the focus of the bond issue. It would be controversial,” she said. The rest of the park’s improvements are needed, she added.
Parking lot work on the west side of Atlantic Dunes Park, which is divided by State Road A1A, will be included in the bond. That includes upgrades to the storm drainage system.
Resident Sandy Zeller, who also sits on the city’s Planning & Zoning Board, said he was concerned that the bulk of the money for Atlantic Dunes would be used to remove the Australian pines on the ocean side.
“They are historic pines, been there 50 to 70 years,” he said during the public comment portion of the meeting. He suggested a formal study of the shade canopy the pines provide, comparing it to the Australian pine canopy over A1A that Gulf Stream was able to preserve in 1996. The town lobbied the state Legislature for two years to keep the trees from being cut down.
Resident Gayle Clark called the Australian pines in Atlantic Dunes Park “tall, stately and slender. You go into the park and immediately feel the cooling effect of the pines.”
Paul Ludwig, who has lived in Delray Beach since 1978, sent the commissioners a petition with almost 1,000 signatures of people who didn’t want to see the Australian pines replaced by an outdoor grilling area and a playground.
He also dismissed the suggestion that the pines are considered invasive. The ocean section of the park where the pines are located has condominiums to the north and south, the ocean to the east and A1A to the west. “There’s nowhere for them to invade,” he said.
The pines provide “40,000 square feet of shade, and they block the light for the nesting sea turtles,” he said. The pines offer homes to roosting herons and egrets.
The parks bond also has improvements to Catherine Strong Park, where the city plans to cover an artificial multi-purpose practice field, provide covered basketball courts, add a walking trail and improve the splash pad. The park is on Southwest Sixth Street, just east of Interstate 95.
At Miller Park, on Southwest Fourth Avenue south of Linton Boulevard, the city plans to add outdoor pickleball courts, said Sam Metott, the city’s parks and recreation director. But that’s only after fire rescue staff moves from trailers at the park into a rebuilt station on Linton Boulevard, he said.
Other improvements will be made throughout the city’s park system, including restroom renovations, improved lighting and facilities improvements, he said.
The bond language will return to the commission this month for final approval. The parks bond is estimated to cost $22 a year for 30 years for a home valued at $250,000.