David Steinhardt and Hector Epelbaum say it’s vital to serve people of various ages and bonds to Judaism. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton is the largest Conservative synagogue in Southeast Florida with more than 1,300 member families. Palm Beach County is home to more than 250,000 Jews (about 20% of the county’s population), and Boca Raton has the largest Jewish population of any South Florida city. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency news outlet says it’s the most Jewish place outside of Israel.

But getting those people through the doors to worship regularly (not just on Holy Days) is an uphill battle. According to statistics from the Pew Research Center in 2021, only about 12% of Jews attend services weekly. Christians do a little better, with about one-quarter claiming weekly attendance.

Not all Jews want to worship in the same way, or even follow the same rules. Orthodox Jews are considered the most traditional, and Reform synagogues are the most liberal. B’nai Torah is a Conservative congregation — a meet-in-the-middle mind-set that allows flexibility and adaptability in the changing world.

B’nai Torah calls itself a “close-knit, multi-generational, modern and egalitarian synagogue,” which means everyone is equal under its framework. Its two leaders — Rabbi David Steinhardt has been the senior rabbi at B’nai Torah for more than 20 years and Rabbi Hector Epelbaum started June 1 — spearheaded the synagogue’s new Shabbat services program, which offers a range of options for celebrating the Sabbath. From its “Friday Night Music and Torah Conversation” to its “Young Family Saturday Service,” the goal is to attract more members by appealing to their diversity.

“I look at it from a quality perspective,” Epelbaum said. He believes if you provide quality, the numbers will follow. “I want to be sure we’re offering what people are looking for.”
Steinhardt agrees: “It can’t be fluff. It has to have depth and authenticity.”

The Saturday morning services are designed to be “positive, uplifting and joyful,” Steinhardt said, and the wealth of programs should embrace and promote the diversity of Jewish thought, learning and practice.

“We are constantly evolving to re-create and offer styles of worship that appeal to all of our members regardless of their age, family origins or individual connection to Judaism,” Steinhardt said.

One size does not fit all when it comes to worship, and this open-minded point of view is an important tenet of Judaism. South Florida has a wide demographic — literally from birth to death with the huge influx of young families. Different age groups have different spiritual needs.

It’s hard to tell if the generational divides are widening or deepening, and Steinhardt echoes other clergy when he says that millennials are more interested in acts than lectures.

Young adults are drawn to the humane work the synagogue does but not so much to worship services.

At B’nai Torah, the Tzedakah, Learning and Chesed program matches volunteers with opportunities to help others in all areas of critical need — hunger, homelessness, literacy, elder care, vulnerable populations and special needs. The program supports the Jewish core value of tzedakah, which in a formal sense means “to do what is right and just” but in a practical sense means performing acts of charity. The best mitzvot are those that involve learning and action, and TLC connects people with ongoing and time-sensitive mitzvah opportunities.

Public opinion sometimes brays, wrongly, that Jews help only other Jews, or that a local synagogue helps only its members, but a look at the TLC programs shows otherwise.

Charity given freely is the only true act of charity, and it doesn’t matter who needs help or who gives it.

Steinhardt says all the talk about divisiveness and drawing lines in the sand is the opposite of what Jewish tenets teach.

“Pluralism is at the core of who we are,” he said.

Pluralism is the idea that having differences shouldn’t divide us. A simple definition of pluralism is “a condition in which two or more groups coexist.” But it’s more than that. It’s when two groups with differences can thrive.

Pluralism first must give full access to women. Under the Orthodox teachings, only men can participate in a minyan, a quorum of 10 individuals required for certain prayers. In the strictest interpretation, a minyan can happen only when 10 males over the age of 13 are in attendance. A hundred pure, devout, learned women still cannot be a minyan under Orthodox rules.

Today, in most Conservative and Reform shuls, women are recognized as part of a minyan. Women also can be cantors and rabbis and Judaic leaders in many synagogues.

Intermarriage is more accepted, and in some denominations Judaism is no longer restricted to matrilineal descent. Today, if either of the parents is Jewish, their children are too.

Achieving a balance between tradition and a rapidly changing world takes a dynamic organization, Epelbaum said. “By dynamic, I mean able to adapt to social change.”
Change is critical if Judaism wants to grow. There are 5.8 million adult Jews in the world, according to the Pew Research Center. But if Judaism wants to appeal to more than 12% of them, it can’t afford to treat half of them differently, Steinhardt said.

Mark your calendar
Stop by and meet Rabbi Hector Epelbaum at noon July 11 at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. Register at https://btcboca.shulcloud.com/form/rhe or call 561-392-8566.

Schedule of services
The congregation offers these opportunities in addition to its main Saturday morning service: 

Friday Night Music and Torah Conversation: The music is led by Cantor Magda Fishman, music director Tomer Adaddi and Eliot Weiss, joined by Rabbis David Steinhardt, Hector Epelbaum and Evan Susman. A short but meaningful Torah teaching is often followed by Shabbat dinner. Frequently themed for young children and families. 
Saturday Renewal Shabbat Service: A collection of contemporary Jewish liturgical musical melodies, often led by Rabbi Amy Pessah and Rabbinical student-in-training Laura Lenes. Inspired by Reb Zalman Schachter.
Young Family Saturday Service: Spirited and joyful singing and learning, with Rabbi Susman and Cathy Berkowitz. 
Tot Shabbat Service: Led by Karen Deerwester and Amy Weisberg, this is for young kids and their families. Offered frequently throughout the year. 
Torah Learning: Every Shabbat, Morley Goldberg leads the congregation in a stimulating discussion of Parshat HaShavua. Off season, the group meets on Zoom. During season, the group meets in the B’nai Torah library. 

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com. 

Temple Beth El’s Lunch and Learn series continues at noon July 11 for a discussion marking the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel. Like they have every year for centuries, people pause and remember the feeling tied up with the loss of the Ancient Land. Join the commemoration in person at the Schaefer Family Campus, 333 SW Fourth Ave., Boca Raton, or participate online. Call 561-391-8900.

Advice for pastors
The ministry can be a lonely and isolating journey. It doesn’t have to be.

Church United South Florida is hosting “The Backstage: A Soul Care Event” from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 24 at Spanish River Church, 2400 Yamato Road, Boca Raton.

The event is a diverse gathering of pastors and ministry leaders and features Jimmy Dodd, Mindy Caliguire and Kevin Graham Ford.

They will offer guidance on becoming healthy leaders leading healthy churches and ministries, and on moving from a mind-set of competition and isolation to one of collaboration.

Special events are planned for pastors’ wives, women in leadership, as well as for pastors who lead various age groups and are involved in board governance.

Child care will be provided for ages 6 months to 5 years. The event is free and includes lunch. For more information, call 754-900-2112.

Ice cream and Judaism
The PJ Library in South Palm Beach County, a program of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, hosts the 2023 Sweet Summer Series. Except for a Fourth of July week break, events take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 2 at participating ice cream shops.

The goal is to provide families raising Jewish children the chance to explore different synagogues in Boca Raton while celebrating Jewish values and traditions. Enjoy ice cream while listening to stories from rabbis and meeting other families. Seven rabbis from around the region agreed to participate.

Admission is free, but an RSVP is required at www.jewishboca.org/summerseries.

For more information, contact Elana Ostroff at pjlibrary@bocafed.org or 561-852-6080.

Here is the schedule:

July 12: Brendy’s Yogurt and Ice Cream, 2901 Clint Moore Road #4, Boca Raton. In partnership with B’nai Torah Congregation.
July 19: Yogurt Rendezvous, in Del Mar Village, 7150 Beracasa Way, Boca Raton. In partnership with Boca Jewish Center.
July 26: Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, in Renaissance Commons, 1760 N. Congress Ave., Suite 100, Boynton Beach. In partnership with Congregation Shaarei Kodesh.
Aug. 2: Brendy’s Yogurt and Ice Cream, in Yamato Village Center, 9101 Lakeridge Blvd., Boca Raton. In partnership with Temple Beth El.

Golf for youth education
B’nai Torah Congregation hosted its inaugural Yiddishe Cup golf tournament on May 18 at the Boca Grove club in Boca Raton, raising thousands of dollars for youth education programs and scholarships.

B’nai Torah Congregation is the largest Conservative synagogue in Southeast Florida with more than 1,300 member families. 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. 561-392-8566 or www.btcboca.org.

— Janis Fontaine

Taylor Bergman was the first to graduate from the Boca Raton Achievement Center. She is posing with her parents Jeff and Amy Bergman. BELOW RIGHT: Andrea Villeneuve reacts to the award she received at the ceremony. Photos provided

By Faran Fagen

As Pomp and Circumstance resonated from the speakers, Taylor Bergman, dressed in cap and gown, walked to the podium to receive her diploma and became Boca Raton Achievement Center’s first graduate.

Jennifer Borda, the center’s director and principal, cleared her throat and recited Bergman’s graduation speech to the audience.

“Welcome to my happy graduation,” she wrote. “Thank you all for believing in my ability to learn about life, education, opportunities, and for believing my intelligence and in me.”

Boca Raton Achievement Center, a nonprofit, special education school for students aged 11 to 22 with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities, marked its first anniversary with a special awards ceremony in late May. It celebrated Bergman as the first graduate.

“Like most high school students, Taylor has overcome many challenges to complete her schooling,” BRAC founder and executive director Evelyn Falconer said. “Unlike most students, Taylor uses writing to communicate. But, thanks to a solid individual plan and great group of teachers, we’re proud to say, she has made incredible strides and completed her high school academics.”

Bergman, who is 20, will move onto BRAC’s adult program, which will help her learn vocational skills intended to lead to productive employment.

“There are lots of assumptions that limited speech means no reasoning,” Bergman wrote in her graduation speech. “But I can now know that I can only make my life change by believing in myself.”

Boca Raton Achievement Center teaches academics, life skills, health and fitness, independent living and vocational skills Monday through Friday.  

“When students with greater challenges earn their high school diploma, it’s a big deal,” Falconer said. “Our educational system too often pushes them through to graduation or they end up dropping out. Our primary goal is to prevent those outcomes.”

Twenty students participated in the ceremony. A welcome address preceded individual awards for each student, followed by the adult awards. Many students raised their hands as their names were called and some yelled “I did it!”

“It was a huge moment watching each student walk up,” Falconer said. “Seeing their faces and a strong sense of pride was so satisfying.”

The biggest challenge of the ceremony was securing a venue. Completing its inaugural year exhausted most of the school’s limited budget. Fortunately, Boca Raton businessman Spencer Silver stepped up and hosted the graduation at the Silver Companies building in Boca Raton. Silver also donated tables and chairs.

Falconer, who has about four decades of experience as an educator and principal in schools for unique learners, put her energy into an August opening for the school, located at 500 NE Spanish River Blvd., Suite 30.

“We hoped and prayed it would be great, and it has been. We saw so many students make so much progress,” Falconer said. “We provide them with an academic curriculum that sets them up for success.”

Taylor lives in Boca Raton with her mom and dad, Amy and Jeff Bergman. She made sure to express her appreciation to them at the end of her graduation speech.

“To my parents, thank you for your sacrifices and for the understanding,” Taylor said. “I loved being part of something greater than myself.”

The school planned to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for June 28.

“We want people to see what we do here,” Falconer said. “Students who need us need to know where to come.” P

The BRAC mission is to provide students with disabilities a learning environment based on individual needs and strengths, rooted in support, consistency and kindness, and centered on a sense of community and inclusion. The nonprofit aims to give students the support they need to explore and acquire skills necessary to be successful in their education, independent living and the careers of their choice. Contact the school at 561-559-9768 or visit https://bocaratonachievement.com

Leslie Glickman, owner of Yoga Journey, guides students through a yin yoga class in the sculpture garden at the museum. Yin yoga is about deep relaxation and releasing tension and is appropriate for all levels. The next Yoga at the Museum is 9:30 a.m. July 16. Cost is $10 for museum members and $40 for non-members and includes museum admission. Tim Stepien / The Coastal Star

The staff at JCA Florida JFK Hospital recently celebrated the completion of the 2,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement at the hospital. Photo provided

In May, HCA Florida JFK Hospital completed its 2,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement, which treats severe aortic stenosis — a narrowing of the aortic valve opening, obstructing the blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. This less invasive procedure allows patients to recover quickly with an average hospital stay of one to two days.
For more information, visit www.hcafloridahealthcare.com/locations/jfk-hospital/specialties/cardiology/heart-and-vascular-surgery.  

***

Delray Medical Center announced a procedural suite expansion on its first-floor surgical tower. With investment of about $13 million, the project covers three operating rooms, private prep and recovery rooms, an advanced endoscopy suite, a designated post-anesthesia care unit, and the introduction of a third CT scanner.

***

Caron Treatment Centers offers a new stand-alone mental health program at its Beacon Square offices, 7789 NW Beacon Square Blvd., Boca Raton. This program aims to help individuals who can live independently but require personalized attention with 24/7 support as they take part in a therapeutic program that addresses their mental, spiritual and physical health.
 

For more information, visit caron.org or call 866-990-2340. 

Boca Raton-based yoga instructor Brie Mazin conducts a class at a pop-up location. ‘Stretching gives you more range of motion in your joints,’ she says. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

Whether you’re an athlete, weekend warrior, gym rat or somebody who just wants to stay healthy and flexible and maintain an active lifestyle, remember that seven-letter word, s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

Stretching — that automatic thing we do first thing in the morning, along with starting the coffeemaker — turns out to be a crucial component to maintaining our health and well-being.

According to the Mayo Clinic, stretching can improve flexibility and, consequently, range of motion in your joints. Better flexibility may relieve stiffness and soreness, enhance your physical and athletic skills, improve posture and circulation, and reduce injuries.

Robert Klein, 54, a chiropractor at the Boca Clinic for Integrative Medicine, understands the importance of stretching but jokes, “Keep me in business. Don’t stretch.”

Klein was the chiropractor for the FAU women’s basketball team from 2001 to 2015 and has been in practice for 28 years.

He became a cheerleader for stretching after he realized that the players he was treating most were the ones who did not stretch before games.

“That’s when I really became a believer,” he says.

“Stretching is one of the best things you can do to prevent injury and to continue doing sports or activities you enjoy,” he says, comparing it to preventive maintenance on your vehicle.

In his own routine, he stretches in the morning three to four times a week, at the gym or at home, focusing on his lower back, hamstrings and quadriceps.

Stretching can be either static (holding a position for a few seconds) or dynamic (a stretch performed with movement). In the past decade, centers such as Quantum Stretch Therapy in Delray Beach and franchises such as Stretch Zone have offered practitioner-assisted stretches and their own proprietary techniques.

On your own, or in a class, both Pilates and yoga are great ways to stretch and maintain flexibility in your muscles and joints and improve balance.

Brie Mazin, 41, of Boca Raton, has been teaching yin yoga and vinyasa-style yoga for 13 years. She teaches at several Greenwise locations, at the Harvest Patio in the Town Center Mall and at other pop-up locations throughout the area. Keep up with her at FloridaYogaMama.com.

“When you stretch your muscles, you lengthen them,” she advises. “Stretching gives you more range of motion in your joints. It keeps the muscles soft and flexible, aids in blood flow to the muscles and brings more oxygen to the body.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, play pickleball or are on a walker,” Mazin says. “Muscles tighten from repetitive motion or sitting all day, and stretching elongates the joints and muscles.”

She compares the need to stretch with the need computers have to reboot. “Stretching is a reset for your mind, muscles and connective tissue,” she says. “It’s the shutdown and reboot for your body.”

Her favorite stretches include those for the hamstrings and a hip opener called the “butterfly,” where you lie down, bring your legs up and feet together, letting your knees open to each side. This releases tension in the lower back, sacrum and inner groin.

Reaching for your toes, either sitting or standing, is also a good stretch for the hamstring muscles.

Boynton Beach tai chi instructor Helen Carson follows the Mayo Clinic recommendations to complete a five-minute warm-up with low-intensity walking, jogging or biking before stretching.

“I like to get the qi and blood flow going with energy-gathering moves,” she says.

Those include mindful breathing, gathering the energy with the hands, gently moving like the wind, reaching up to the heavens and down toward the Earth.

“Once we are warmed up, then we do more physical stretches,” says Carson.

Her tips include stretching while you are still in bed — stretch your legs, roll your ankles, turn your head from side to side, stretch your arms overhead, try the “Happy Baby” and roll from side-to-side.

Other tips from the experts:

• Take a break every 30-45 minutes throughout your time at work to stretch.
• Strive for symmetry and focus on equal flexibility on both sides.
• Pay attention to major muscle groups such as calves, thighs, hips, lower back, neck and shoulders.
• Stretch in smooth movements, without bouncing.
• Hold your stretch for 30-60 seconds, but release if you feel pain.
• Incorporate stretching into your routine — at least two to three times a week.

And don’t forget that other seven-letter word: b-r-e-a-t-h-e.

Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.

The expansive turf lawn beyond the pool area is framed with hedges, creating a privacy barrier without obscuring the panoramic ocean view. BELOW RIGHT: The dining loggia pavilion has a pecky cypress ceiling, terrazzo floor and a built-in summer kitchen. It opens to a resort-style 30-by-60-foot heated saltwater pool with dual sun shelves. Photos provided

This residence is of a size that ensures personal space, with a plan that assures personal privacy, and built-in safeguards to support security and livability. This is a walled and gated property on a coveted oceanfront lot that offers a secure retreat: one where space is luxurious, and the panoramic ocean views expand your perspective on what constitutes idyllic living. Sitting about 19.5 feet above sea level on a manicured estate-sized lot of well over an acre, the estate features hedges, no-maintenance turf, tropical shrubs, and coconut palms. With six bedrooms and two stories, it has loads of special amenities including: a bonus room over the garages; a foundation-to-roof concrete structure; La Finestra impact windows/doors; a 100 KW whole-house Kohler generator; 10 Lennox AC units in the main residence and two Mitsubishi garage units; volume detailed ceilings; oak/marble/porcelain/tile/terrazzo floors; windows pre-wired for auto blinds; solid core TruStile interior doors; an elevator; fire sprinklers; smart house technology; top-tier wallpapers; individual bedroom thermostats; two Electrolux utility rooms; a full cabana bath; a surfboard outdoor shower; and a glass-tiled, 7-foot-deep pool with Pebble Brilliance coating and two gas heaters. Offered at $74,00,000.

The pavilion in the rear entertaining area is connected to an oceanside pool area via French Nano doors that perfectly blend inside and outside living areas. BELOW LEFT: The ground floor master suite has an under-lit drop ceiling and sliders to the pool, his/hers spa-inspired marble baths (hers with pocket glass doors opening to a free-standing soaking tub on a marble base), and boutique fitted walk-in closets.

The Pascal Liguori Estate Group at Premier Estate Properties, 900 East Atlantic Ave., Suite 4, Delray Beach, FL 33483, pascal@premierestateproperties.com,
561-789-8300.

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.

The serpentine drive of Tabby concrete leads to a motor court providing ample guest parking plus a porte-
cochere.

By Larry Barszewski

Ocean Ridge Town Manager Lynne Ladner announced the promotion Thursday of Scott McClure to be the town’s new police chief.

McClure, who joined the town’s police force in 2016, has been serving as acting police chief since March, when former Police Chief Richard Jones resigned to take the same position in Gulf Stream. McClure has also been a patrol officer, sergeant and lieutenant in the town.

Ladner’s decision echoed the recommendation she received June 7 from a committee of mostly law enforcement officials that interviewed the finalists.

“We spoke and unanimously we felt, we feel that the right choice – and obviously it’s your decision – would be your current interim chief, Michael Scott McClure,” Tequesta Police Chief Gus Medina told Ladner following the committee interviews. The other members of the committee were Highland Beach Police Major Michael Oh, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Lt. Ryan Mugridge and Jupiter Inlet Colony Town Administrator Kevin Lucas.

“You could tell he’s in tune with what the community needs. I could tell by the presence of the officers here that the officers truly support him and believe in him,” Medina added. “Obviously, he knew the most about the town, which is important to me.”

City officials and residents who attended the meeting were also supportive of McClure.

“This is the first time this town has ever done something like this,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said of the public police chief interviews. It “shows that our town government is open and is something that the town residents can be involved in. So, this selection process is a big turning point for this town.”

Pugh hopes things will begin to settle down in town. Besides the former chief's resignation, two commissioners resigned their seats in April.

“I think one of the main important factors is the temperament of the person who’s actually holding that position,” Pugh said. “That temperament and that willingness to basically try to keep everything calm is so important because we’ve been through uncalm times here in Ocean Ridge.”

The promotion takes effect June 19.

The other finalists interviewed by the committee were: John Donadio, former police chief of Sewall’s Point; Eric Herold, a supervisory federal air marshal; Albert Iovino, a captain with the Indian River Shores Department of Public Safety; and Tom Levins, interim commander with the Clewiston Police Department. Another candidate, Ja’vion Brown Sr., deputy sheriff with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, withdrew from consideration before the candidate interviews.

“Thank you, guys, for reassuring us that we had the best right here already,” resident Debbie Cooke told the interview committee.

Resident Albert Naar noted that McClure’s father retired as assistant police chief in West Palm Beach and his mother served with the FBI and later the U.S. Secret Service.

“He has blue blood in his veins,” Naar said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified speaker Debbie Cooke.

Nathan Hecker fishes from the beach in Gulf Stream as Clayton Peart, president of Universal Beach Services Corp., rakes and buries sargassum. He has a contract with private property owners. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Musgrave

When Tom Fitzpatrick arrived at Delray Municipal Beach early one Saturday in mid-May, he was stunned to see it covered with thick brown seaweed.

Although he had heard about a giant blob lurking offshore and had occasionally seen clumps of the stuff dotting the beach, he said the sheer volume was shocking.

“I’ve never seen it so bad,” Fitzpatrick said. “They’ve got to figure it out.”

For the last several months, officials in Palm Beach County’s southernmost coastal communities have been trying to do just that.

Pointing to a record-breaking 13 million-ton belt of seaweed stretching 5,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of Africa, marine scientists are predicting Florida’s east coast beaches will be inundated this summer with the particular type of macroalgae known as sargassum.

Anticipating their phones will light up with complaints from oceanside residents and beachgoers, officials in Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge and other beachside communities began exploring what, if anything, they could do to prepare for a possible onslaught.

With the exception of Ocean Ridge, the answer came back: Not much.

While it might be unsightly and smelly, sargassum is important to marine life, particularly the millions of baby sea turtles that will begin emerging from the thousands  of nests along county beaches in the coming months, experts say.

Further, other communities have discovered that raking sargassum into piles and trying to cart it away caused bigger problems, said Delray Beach Public Works Director Missie Barletto. Not only do piles of seaweed become smellier and more obtrusive, but removal is expensive. 

Miami-Dade County estimated it could spend as much as $6 million removing sargassum from its beaches this year.

If huge waves of sargassum begin arriving in southern Palm Beach County, steps can be taken then, Barletto advised Delray Beach commissioners at a meeting on May 16. 

“So much of whether it’s a problem on the beach or not is dependent on wind direction and wave action,” she said. “It’s not one of those things that I think you can have significant plans for in advance. You kind of have to deal with it when it happens.”

Economic harm possible

Stephen Leatherman, a professor of coastal science at Florida International University who is known as “Dr. Beach” for his annual Top 10 list of beaches nationwide, isn’t sure waiting is the best approach. 

He noted that the presence of sargassum stripped all beaches along Florida’s east coast from his Top 10 list this year. The potential economic impact from loss of tourism could be devastating, he said.

“Sargassum is a monster and South Florida has a bull’s-eye on it,” he said. “We’ve got to find something to do with it.”

Palm Beach County environmental experts recommend sargassum be left to the whims of Mother Nature. Tides will either carry it back to sea or it will rot away, said Andy Studt, supervisor of coastal resources management for the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.

“The county takes very much a hands-off approach,” he said. “We leave it in place.”

While sharing Studt’s view of sargassum’s important ecological benefits, Delray Beach and Boca Raton don’t completely follow the county’s lead.

Both cities use tractors to rake their public beaches and bury the seaweed in the sand.

“So, we don’t remove it,” said Samuel Metott, Delray’s director of parks and recreation. “But for visitors of the beach, it kind of disappears a little bit. It just looks like a darker, shadier portion of the sand.”

While Delray hires a private company, spending $78,000 annually, Boca Raton uses city crews. A Boca Raton spokeswoman said city officials are lining up an outside company to respond if masses of sargassum become too much to handle.

At the urging of Vice Mayor Steve Coz, Ocean Ridge is considering hiring a firm to rake its beaches.

Not only would raking remove the seaweed, but, more important, it could help the town solve an even thornier problem: erosion.

Having lived in Ocean Ridge since 1985, Coz said he has watched the shoreline shrink. If the dune is breached, “we could be in serious trouble.”

Sargassum could be raked from the beach and pushed up along the dunes to stabilize them, he said. Although town officials embraced his proposal at a meeting on May 1, obstacles remain.

A permit must be obtained from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Also, because the town operates no public beach, private landowners would have to give their OK.

Town Manager Lynne Ladner said she is awaiting approval from the state agency. Coz said oceanfront landowners in a 200-foot “test area” at the beach access point at the end of Woolbright Road have agreed to pay for the raking.

With the six-month hurricane season underway, Coz said the town must act quickly. “If a real storm comes in there … we could be in serious trouble, like serious trouble, if that dune is washed away any further.”

Despite their hands-off approach, county officials said some steps can be taken if the predicted deluge of sargassum materializes.

For example, the seaweed can be raked by hand to create pathways so beach-lovers can reach their beloved shore, Studt said. “In an extreme event, it could be piled up to a point,” he said.

A sea turtle nest is cordoned off on the beach at Ocean Ridge. Beach rakers work around the marked-off areas when clearing sargassum from the shore. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A lifeboat for hatchlings

The simultaneous arrival of the sargassum and sea turtle nesting seasons creates a unique set of problems. Once nesting season began on March 1, rakers were required to consult sea turtle watchers before combing the beach.

Sea turtle nests are protected. Palm Beach County is traditionally one of the state’s top destinations for the threatened and endangered species. Loggerhead, green, leatherback and sometimes hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley turtles flock to the county to lay their eggs.

“Palm Beach County has about 40,000 nests each year which produce millions of eggs and hatchlings,” Studt said.

For hatchlings that make it to the sea, sargassum is their lifeboat. They float in the seaweed, which captures small creatures they can eat. “It’s their refuge,” he said.

“It’s super important for hatchling survival,” said Lexie Dvoracek, conservation program manager for Sea Turtle Adventures. “Without it, they don’t have a habitat to protect them.”

The nonprofit monitors nesting activity in a roughly 3-mile stretch from George Bush Boulevard in Delray Beach to Woolbright Road in Ocean Ridge.

Some worry that mounds of sargassum will make it difficult for hatchlings to make their already arduous journey to the ocean. Dvoracek said that last year workers found a few hatchlings that looked like they may have gotten stuck in the seaweed.

But, she said, a bigger problem is the well-meaning, but misguided, people who pick up the tiny turtles and drop them in the ocean. Instead of helping the creatures, they unwittingly doom them because the turtles aren’t yet strong enough to swim.

“Just leave them and call us,” she advised, adding that touching hatchlings is a federal offense.

Other human influences, such as lights west of the beach, are a greater threat to hatchlings than sargassum, Studt said. Artificial light can confuse them.

“When hatchlings come out of the nest, they are looking for the starlit point on the horizon,” he said. “Their natural instinct is to go to the light.”

Both Dvoracek and Studt said they have seen no evidence that sargassum blocks adult sea turtles from coming ashore to dig their nests. International research is ongoing.

So far, Dvoracek said it appears this will be a banner year for turtle nesting. As of late May more than 110 nests had been made on the stretch her group monitors, roughly double the number counted at this time last year.

The nests included one dug by a Kemp’s ridley turtle. The rarest and most endangered species of sea turtle, the Kemp’s ridley normally nests in Texas and Mexico, she said.

“We’re very excited,” Dvoracek said of the nest that was discovered on April 30. “Florida sees less than 20 annually. It’s the first one we’ve seen in our area in 25 years.”

Like others, she is cautiously optimistic that this year won’t bring record amounts of sargassum to shore.

As Fitzpatrick and other beachgoers have already discovered, some days it covers the beach. But, Dvoracek said, days later it’s gone.

Leatherman said he is hopeful scientists and entrepreneurs will figure out ways to keep it from making landfall. Some ideas he has heard of, such as sinking it far off shore, sound promising, he said.

Researchers at the University of Miami and the University of Florida are exploring ways to turn it into compost. The key is ridding it of arsenic and other toxic heavy metals.

In the meantime, beachgoers need to understand how important the seaweed is to the coastal ecosystem, Dvoracek said.

“Instead of getting rid of it, we have to learn to exist in harmony,” she said.

But, she admitted, the potential for a large mass of sargassum moving ashore is concerning.

“It’s going to be a weird season,” she said.

By Mary Hladky

Taxable values of Palm Beach County properties held strong this year, jumping 13.4% and coming close to matching last year’s 15.2% surge.

This marks the 12th year in a row that taxable values have increased in a steady rebound from the 2008 Great Recession.

“The overall increase in value is similar to what we saw last year,” said Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks. “This is driven by continued demand for properties of all types and near record new construction.”

All southeast county municipalities saw double-digit gains, with Lantana’s 17.1% increase leading the pack. That was closely followed by Manalapan’s 15.5% gain and Gulf Stream’s 15.2% rise.

“We were pleasantly surprised,” said Lantana Town Manager Brian Raducci. “We are excited about new development.”

He noted, though, that new development “places a burden on the demand for services as well.”

While the overall gains are impressive, six southeast county municipalities saw slight decreases from last year’s meteoric rises that similarly were due to a hot real estate market and a spike in new construction.

Last year’s southeast leader was Manalapan, which saw a whopping 28.2% jump.

Even so, Mayor Stewart Satter said town officials “are happy with the increase” of 15.5%. He predicted continuing taxable value growth.

“We think interest in Manalapan will increase and property values will increase going forward,” he said, noting the town is drawing residents relocating from Palm Beach and others moving to Florida.

“We have a number of new homes going up on the waterfront. I see that continuing. We don’t have enough inventory to satisfy the demand for new homes.”

Ocean Ridge’s 12.9% increase was down from last year’s 18.3%, but that didn’t concern Town Manager Lynne Ladner.

“I don’t see it as a significant dip,” she said. While new single- family homes have been added to the tax rolls, others remain under construction. Some were delayed by supply-chain issues.

When they are completed, Ladner expects her town’s taxable values will shoot up.

Boca Raton’s taxable values rose 11.9%, down from last year’s 14.5%. Delray Beach’s were up 13.2%, compared to last year’s 15.4%; Boynton Beach’s rose 12.6%, a decrease from 16.5%; and Highland Beach’s rose 13.2%, down from 13.8%.

Briny Breezes’ taxable values were up 14.6%, and South Palm Beach’s by 13.8%.

New construction added $4.3 billion to the county’s taxable values, almost equal to last year’s $4.4 billion rise.

While Boca Raton’s percentage increase was not eye-popping, the city’s taxable value is $34.6 billion, far more than any other city in the county.

New construction added to the tax roll was valued at $606.6 million, also far and away the largest amount in the county.

“Boca Raton residents can be happy about the strong rise yet again in home values,” said Mayor Scott Singer. “We lead the county in property values, increases and new investments, and they are further testaments to how attractive our Boca Raton is.”

The county’s median home sale price, which broke records last year, has cooled slightly as interest rate increases dampen some home buyers’ interest.

As of April, it was $585,000, or 2.7% less than $601,000 at the same time last year, according to the Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors.

The figures Jacks released on May 26 are estimates that are based on market conditions as of Jan. 1, 2023. They will be revised at the end of June and submitted to the state Department of Revenue. Until then, the Property Appraiser’s Office will add more properties to the tax roll and make final calculations.

The taxable value results are great news for municipal leaders as they work to finalize their budgets for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Local governments use taxable values to calculate how much property tax money they can expect. They then set their annual budgets and tax rates.

An increase in taxable value means they will collect more money from property owners if they keep their tax rates the same as last year’s.

Unless municipalities lower their tax rates, homeowners will face higher property tax bills at a time when inflation and rising interest rates are straining family budgets.

To prevent a tax increase, elected officials would have to use the “rolled-back” rate, which state law requires them to calculate. That rate would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as in the previous year.

Homeowners, however, don’t feel the full brunt of rising property values because state law caps the taxable value increase to 3% for homesteaded properties. Non-homesteaded properties are capped at 10%.

Graffiti artist Marcus ‘the Grabster’ Borges spray-paints part of the ‘Pineapple Paradise’ mural on the building at the entrance to Pineapple Grove. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

The pineapples are back in Pineapple Grove.

Welcome them, please, as they welcome you.

In 2008, mural artist Anita Lovitt adorned the east wall of the Chloe Building — now called the Deb — at 135 E. Atlantic Avenue with “Dancing Pineapples,” a quintet of tumbling pineapples.

For the next 13 years, visitors approaching the archway to the Pineapple Grove Arts District on Northeast Second Avenue were welcomed by the dancing pineapples.

Why pineapples?

Today, Pineapple Grove is a neighborhood of boutiques, bistros, galleries and salons. A century ago, it was a genuine pineapple grove.

And two centuries before that, 17th-century traders carrying the exotic fruit from the Caribbean to New England sailed perilous seas. Some sea captains were said to display a pineapple outside their homes to announce their safe return, and to serve pineapples was a symbol of hospitality.

Pineapples symbolize a warm welcome.

But alas, a professional dancer’s life is short, and in the summer of 2021, water damage required repairs to the wall, new stucco and new windows.

The repairs left gray patches. The dancers could dance no more and were retired.

The Grabster used rollers to paint large areas and spray paint for the details on his ‘Pineapple Paradise’ mural, which took about 10 days to complete.

Now those “Dancing Pineapples” have been replaced by “Pineapple Paradise,” a new mural by a new artist that’s 30% bigger, filling the entire 88-by-25-foot wall with pineapples, palm trees and swooping seabirds against backgrounds of a variety of colors.

These pineapples grew in the mind of the Grabster, the artist commissioned to bring them back by Lee Cohen — who manages and owns the building along with his family — working with Glayson LeRoy of the Galera Collective, who curated the project.

The proposal was approved by the city’s Public Art Advisory Board on March 27, but no public money was involved. The Cohen family paid for the mural.

And the Grabster went to work.

“Altogether, it took about a week and a half, with some breaks for rain,” the Grabster said one Wednesday morning as he put a few finishing touches on the north end. “The large areas were done with Home Depot latex paints applied with a roller, but all the rest is freehand with spray paint. The closer I hold the can, the finer the line.”

He smiled. “I didn’t want it to look like artificial intelligence.”

Now before you ask, no, his parents did not name him the Grabster.

When not creating art, he is Marcus Borges, 40, from Mineola, Long Island, now of Fort Lauderdale.

“In high school, I was into the whole hip-hop scene in New York,” he explained. “Graffiti, rap battles and break dancing. So, I took the G from graffiti, the ra from rap, and the b from “break dancing” and got Grab. The Grabster.”

He’s been painting graffiti since he was 17, first in New York, “legally and illegally,” and since he moved to Boca Raton for high school and studying painting at FAU, professionally — and legally.

Clifford, a pit bull/German shepherd mix owned by Nick Elgarresta, reacts to being photographed in front of the mural.

As he worked, passersby paused to admire the work.

Roger Caine and his wife, Linda Hubbard, were impressed.

“I love it,” Caine enthused. “The colors, the brightness.” He searched for a word. “The boldness!”

The Grabster did admit to having heard one discouraging word, however.

“Those colors are very Miami,” a passing naysayer said. “They’re not Delray.”

Water flows downhill. Heated water expands. The moon’s proximity to the Earth affects the height of tides. Dropping pressure in a storm raises tide levels, and wind increases the height of waves.

As we enter another hurricane season, I’m thinking a lot about water.

Hide from wind, the old Florida adage goes, and run from water.

Again, water. My small house is on the coastal ridge in Ocean Ridge and my large yard is planted for maximum stormwater retention.

Still, in every heavy rain, I watch water flow down the gravel driveway and push farther along the street toward storm drains that inevitably back up from water both rushing down pavement and pushing up from the Intracoastal Waterway. The street often becomes impassible, stranding residents in their homes.

Along State Road A1A, non-permeable driveways without swales dump water into low spots, causing road closures. Slowly the Florida Department of Transportation is incorporating improved drainage into resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation plans. Work should begin in Highland Beach a year from now and last about 18 months, before moving north up the highway toward South Palm Beach. Residents will no doubt fight the changes, believing they control the property within the state’s easement.

At the foot of bridges to the barrier island, standing water often makes passage impossible. It also means public safety vehicles can’t get on or off the island until the water subsides. Most of these streets are under the purview of adjacent cities and towns that show little interest in anything other than growth.

Frightening.

Also frightening are the number of new multi- and single-family homes being built along streets already prone to flooding. New homes are built on fill and elevated above flood level — which may keep them high and dry and insurance rates acceptable, but what about their neighbors in homes closer to street level?

Most low-lying older homes were built before standards for elevation and water retention existed. Even the new properties are designed to handle only so much water — an inch or two a day is frequently all that’s required by local code. So, as ever-larger homes with smaller and smaller yards are built, where does the runoff go? Downhill, of course.

And high-rise towers built into crowded downtowns with little green space and chronic street flooding? Cities like to talk about the benefits of density and an increased tax base, but where are their plans to mitigate a public safety crisis from a hurricane or heavy rain event?

The National Weather Service is predicting a reduction in hurricane activity this summer during a forecasted El Niño weather pattern in the Pacific — likely good news for Florida.

But these scientists also predict a higher risk of flooding due to increased precipitation throughout the Southeast. That’s water, folks. They are warning us about water.

Tell your elected officials to pay attention and prepare.

It’s summer. The water is coming.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Kavita Sahai of coastal Boca Raton meditates at South Inlet Park, which she visits often when she wants to relax. Sahai sells a line of essential oils for wellness and beauty. Tim Stepien /The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

When three children and three adults were fatally shot in March at a school in Tennessee days after a student wounded two school administrators in Colorado, Kavita Sahai was touched.

“I have kids in school, so it just hit home,” said Sahai, who as a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland is sensitive to school shootings.

So Sahai, who markets essential oils as aids to wellness and beauty, reached out to local schools to offer 3,000 roll-ons, with a retail value of $105,000, to reduce stress and promote relaxation. Only the A.D. Henderson University School in Boca Raton responded, and she wound up giving 108 teachers and staff $45 sleep sets. The set, with a spray and cream, contains ylang-ylang, sandalwood and palmarosa oils to encourage peace, quiet the mind and diminish anxiety.

“I really think that mental health and the ability for people to connect to nature is so important. It really helps students, teachers, everyone just kind of bring the temperature down,” she said.

“It used to be that we spent a lot more time in nature, but now we don’t even have real grass, right? It’s like fake grass and turf and concrete,” she said. “I feel like if we could reconnect, that would be ideal. It’s like, can we get them the essence of nature through our lines of essential oils-based products, help them ground again?”

The product line — which includes other roll-on oils to aid breathing, de-stress, detox, focus, ease muscles and relieve headaches, as well as the sleep spray for pillows — incorporates aspects of Sahai’s Indian heritage: “the chakra system, Ayurvedic and yoga principles that have been proven over, you know, many, many lifestyles,” she said.

Sahai and her husband, Ashish, an orthopedic spine surgeon, moved to Boca Raton after she earned her MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley, and he was finishing a fellowship at Stanford University. She hired on at Sun Capital Partners equity group and he at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

But her years in mergers, acquisitions and the private equity sector began to wear on her.

“I started to experience all kinds of non-digestible symptoms, like fatigue, brain fog and agitation and you know. So it’s sort of, I stumbled upon a therapy … and realized that it was connection to nature,” she said. “I went from, you know, finance geek to kind of, you know, holistic medical woman.”

Sahai wound up embracing the idea that your mind controls your skin.

“It’s kind of like when you’re happy, you glow, sort of like a bride on a wedding day. You know, happy people just have this beautiful glow about them,” she said. “I really believe, and science will prove, that if you’re able to calm your mind and kind of release these happy endorphins, your skin will be better and your health will be better.”

The Sahais live on the barrier island and have three children: Inik, 13, Aryana, 11, and Saira, 8. Kavita enjoys music when she wants to get pumped up, but otherwise: “Meditate — I think that’s probably my No. 1 way to sort of relax — or walk on the beach or be in nature,” she said.

She started her year-old business, K Sahai LLC, after spending five years as CEO of Delray Beach-based essential oils marketer 21drops, growing its sales from $400,000 a year to $10 million-plus.

Her husband, she said, has been very supportive throughout her transition away from the financial world.

“When I first got involved, he kind of decided it was amusing because I was never that person. I was not somebody who ate organic at the time,” she said. “I was just working a lot and feeling a lot of symptoms that were, you know, like I said … sort of anxiousness, all of that stuff. All kinds of things.

“And my son at the same time was having a lot of respiratory issues. And when I came across sort of the oil industry … when I started to use it I felt better, like back to my normal self in six months. And he stopped prescription drugs completely within three,” she said.

So, Ashish was convinced, “and he uses all of them,” Sahai said. “I think he thinks there’s a place, right? Obviously there’s a place where he believes he comes in, of course, he’s a surgeon. I’m not going to be able to fix anybody that needs surgery with my oils,” she said.

Sahai is a “big believer” in karma. Important to her business model is giving — she donates 10% of sales to charities that provide such things as 100 daily doses of milk supplements to children in need or 100 days of literacy education for Dalit girls, formerly known as India’s untouchables.

The company’s oils are available at ksahai.com and in select spas. The next big step will occur this month. “We are actually launching in Bloomingdale’s in June,” Sahai said. “We don’t know yet what stores they’re going to put it in, but I’m hoping they’ll put it in Boca.”

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By Steve Plunkett

Residents now have the blessing of the Town Council to raise their homes on stilts, but whether the corporation will permit it remains the big question.

The council approved the creation of an “elevated single-family home overlay district” on a second reading of an ordinance on May 25 by the same 3-2 vote it gave the first reading. Council President Christina Adams and members Liz Loper and Bill Birch voted yes.

Members also approved on first reading an ordinance to amend the town’s zoning map to show the new overlay on a 4-1 vote with Sue Thaler joining the majority and Kathy Gross dissenting.

The ayes came after Birch read text messages he had received from Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc., who encouraged the council to OK the zoning.

“A lot of work has already gone into this so do not let it die, in my personal opinion. And it doesn’t force or bind anything at this point, so I don’t fear it,” Gallacher messaged.

The new zoning will allow the owner of a mobile home to raise it on stilts or pilings to a roof peak maximum 25 feet above the crown of the road. The area underneath the mobile home, which the ordinance calls the “lowest floor,” could be an unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure with “breakaway” walls or screening and would be used only for parking, building access and storage.

The new district anticipates that streets in Districts 3 and 4, between State Road A1A and the Intracoastal Waterway, will be raised at least 2.5 feet to combat perennial flooding and predicted sea level rise. A Flooding Adaptation Plan paid for by the corporation shows low-lying areas on the west side of town permanently under water in as soon as 13 years.

Before the votes, Town Attorney Keith Davis offered in-depth answers to questions that were raised at the council’s April 27 meeting.

“As you may recall, during the first reading there was robust public comment and there were numerous questions that were posed,” Davis said.

The most exasperating question, one “that has come up multiple times since we started this exercise,” Davis said, was whether the corporation has final say on whether to allow implementation of the ordinance.

Answer: “The corporation, as the landowner, is not obligated to allow it to be put into effect on the land it owns,” he said. “I’m not sure how I could be any more clear.”

Other answers focused on the amount of fill allowed under a two-story home (roughly equal to the street level); whether such a home would have to be ADA-compliant (no); whether the town’s building official has reviewed the concept (he has seen the ordinance but Davis was unaware of any comments made, if any); has the fire marshal reviewed it (the ordinance requires compliance with all fire and life safety codes), and have home manufacturers said whether such structures can be built (yes).

Another question was whether the council should wait to vote on the ordinance until after Briny’s sea wall has been raised. Town Manager William Thrasher is seeking grants and loans to pay for that. Davis said it was up to the council to decide whether to vote now but pointed out that without the ordinance, if a major storm hit the town, residents could not replace their units without conforming to the Florida Building Code and Federal Emergency Management Agency elevation requirements.

Also answered was whether architects renderings could be prepared to show what the overlay might look like in Briny Breezes. Davis said they could be if the council requested them.

That was still Thaler’s concern, one she had expressed at the April meeting as well.

“If you have two-story structures facing each other over a 9-foot-wide road, I really think that we need to look at what that’s going to look like,” she said.

But no one made a motion to request renderings.

During public comments seven residents spoke against the overlay ordinance, one emailed her objection, and two spoke in favor, including Jerry Lower, chairman of the town’s Planning and Zoning Board (and co-owner and publisher of The Coastal Star).

Davis’ full, written answers were made public record and are available from the town clerk.

LEFT: The 1979 Coastal Construction Control Line, shown in yellow, is farther east than the 1997 line, shown in purple. Both are east of State Road A1A. Map provided by Engenuity Group Inc. and Town of Ocean Ridge

By Larry Barszewski

A 2020 Ocean Ridge ordinance that got little notice at the time it was approved has become a major controversy for oceanfront property owners, who say they were given no warning about the changes in regulations it enacted, which they say have infringed on their property rights.

Town commissioners passed the ordinance giving the town some say on property construction east of the 1997 Coastal Construction Control Line. The state requires property owners to get a permit from its Department of Environmental Protection for any construction projects seaward of that line, but the ordinance required that any such work would also have to receive a permit from the town.

The ordinance also said no construction would be allowed east of an earlier, 1979 Coastal Construction Control Line, which is closer to the water than the 1997 line. On properties such as those between Anna and Corrine streets, where existing houses extend east of the 1979 control line, construction is only permitted within the structure’s existing footprint or with a variance from the town.

Other oceanfront homeowners have buildings sitting between the 1997 line and the 1979 line. Besides stating the requirement of a town permit for any construction, the ordinance also affected how big a rebuilt home or a home with an addition could be.

Previously, the amount of square footage was determined by the size of the property going out to the mean high-water line, which is to the east of the 1979 control line. The 2020 ordinance allows property owners to go only as far as the 1979 line when calculating allowable square footage.

Critics say they wouldn’t even be able to rebuild to the same size under the ordinance, let alone add space.

“Beach owners have been targeted,” said Merrilee Lundquist, whose home lies between the two control lines. “I think this ordinance has done more to destroy our net worth than the stock market ever had.”

Lundquist and other property owners requested the commission repeal the ordinance at its May 1 meeting, but commissioners decided more study was needed about the ramifications of any change. In addition, any change to a town ordinance would require two officially noticed readings before the commission.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Commissioner Ken Kaleel said of the request. “You just can’t repeal something that you don’t know what the effect of that repeal is going to be.”

Town Attorney Christy Goddeau was instructed to report at the commission’s June meeting about the potential consequences of a repeal or smaller changes to the ordinance, as well as other factors the commission might need to consider.

Brett Berish told commissioners the ordinance is affecting his plans to add space to better accommodate his family of six children.

“All of us on the water, our property size and value have been affected,” said his wife, Alana Berish. The couple bought their home at 6275 N. Ocean Blvd. in 2021 after the ordinance was passed, but said no one told them about the implications of the changes.

“No one knew. Even now, no one truly understands,” Alana Berish said.

By Larry Barszewski

An advisory committee of local police officials will interview six finalists for Ocean Ridge’s police chief position June 7 and then give its feedback to Town Manager Lynne Ladner.

The Police Chief Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Town Hall to interview the finalists and then reconvene at 6:30 p.m. for members to present their thoughts and recommendations to Ladner. The public will not be allowed to comment during the interviews, but will be given a chance to speak at the start of the evening session.

The interviews are expected to last about an hour each. The committee is scheduled to take a lunch break and resume the interviews at 1:30 p.m.

The night session is scheduled to last until 9 p.m.

Ladner created the advisory committee to assist her in the search. The members are Tequesta Police Chief Gus Medina, Highland Beach Police Lt. Michael Oh, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Lt. Ryan Mugridge, and former Ocean Ridge Town Manager Tracey Stevens, who is now Haverhill’s town administrator.

Twelve people applied for the police chief position, which opened in February when Chief Richard Jones announced he was leaving to head the Police Department in Gulf Stream.

The finalists to be interviewed are: Ja’vion Brown Sr., deputy sheriff with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office; John Donadio, former police chief of Sewall’s Point; Eric Herold, a supervisory federal air marshal; Albert Iovino, a captain with the Indian River Shores Department of Public Safety; Tom Levins, interim commander with the Clewiston Police Department, and Scott McClure, Ocean Ridge’s acting police chief.

Ladner plans to announce her selection following — but not before 10:30 a.m. — the town’s 9 a.m. Planning and Zoning Board meeting on June 20.

By Larry Barszewski

With the exception of Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia, a May 9 meeting between city commissioners and Old School Square’s former operators featured everyone singing from the same page.

“Excuse me if I don’t feel warm and fuzzy,” said Petrolia, the only remaining member of the commission majority that in 2021 kicked out the nonprofit Old School Square Center for the Arts from its decades-long role of running the city’s downtown cultural centerpiece.

But even Petrolia supported the recommendation of Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston that the city investigate creating a city cultural council that was referenced in a 2006 report but never materialized. The council, which the Coletta & Company report called the Delray Beach Creative City Collaborative, was to be an umbrella organization for arts and culture in the city.

“We have so many plans, so many things that we didn’t do. We really need to go back to them as a city,” Boylston said.

Boylston quoted from the 2006 report, saying the primary function of the Delray Beach Cultural Council would be “to strategically target culture as a competitive advantage and increase funding to enlarge the cultural scene, trigger innovation and creativity strategies, fund existing cultural groups and champion new initiatives to claim Delray Beach’s unique niche.”

Commissioners agreed to hold a future workshop meeting on the proposal.

Overall, there didn’t appear to be any clear objective to the meeting, other than to begin a healing process between the two sides. Commissioners expressed a desire to see the nonprofit group continue to be a force in the community, though it wasn’t clear what that role would be.

“I did not agree with the way the whole incident with Old School Square was handled,” said Angela Burns, who was one of two new commissioners elected in March who switched the commission’s leanings on the issue. “But I look forward tonight to mending fences and some open dialogue so that we can move forward in our city. We have a great cultural center and I would like to see it continue so that it is serving everyone in our community to the best of its abilities.”

The settlement to the lawsuit filed by the nonprofit in November 2021 — and the city’s countersuit — was approved in April. The only issue the settlement did not cover was the nonprofit’s efforts to acquire a trademark for the Old School Square name, which the city is challenging. That decision is before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Patty Jones, chair of the nonprofit, told commissioners, “We look forward to being a resource for the city of Delray Beach and the community to make Old School Square the best it can be.”

Jeff Perlman, a former mayor and a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors, said the group had no demands. Both sides acknowledged that the Old School Square campus is now being run by the Downtown Development Authority — which was not invited to be part of the workshop — and expressed no desire to see that change.

“We are not here with an ask other than we would respectfully request a seat at the table,” Perlman said.

The tensions in the room were highlighted by testy exchanges between Petrolia and Perlman and between Petrolia and Frances Bourque, the nonprofit’s founder and the original driving force behind the transformation of the city’s Old School Square campus.

Petrolia, who said the campus was in the good hands of the DDA, questioned why the city would move forward reestablishing a relationship with the group given the city’s past concerns over its finances and a continuing federal investigation into the group.

After the meeting, Petrolia said she was referring to investigators looking into the possible misuse of Paycheck Protection Program funds by the nonprofit to cover salaries that were already included in grants to the nonprofit. Petrolia said she has not been interviewed in the matter, but she knows of others who have regarding the pandemic-related funding.

While Petrolia did not approve of the settlement, Bourque said Petrolia needed to live by the will of the majority on the commission and stop disparaging her organization.

“You as the leader of this group agreed to settle, as did we. It’s over. It’s over, and it’s not fair for you to continue to espouse one side, while our agreement is firmly implanted in accepting the fate of a dual agreement by which neither party is supposed to malign the other,” Bourque said. “And there is no way we can be invited to a table in which that climate continues to exist.”

But Petrolia said she would not be silenced, especially since she was limited in what she could say while the litigation was pending.

“I will continue to express my opinions as I feel fit, moving forward. I’m not bound by anything,” Petrolia said. “I didn’t make any agreement. I will continue to do that because I think it’s just as important for those that basically are going to be holding the ball here, to understand how we got to this point. We have not had that opportunity until today. So, it’s very important that the public understands what happened.”

By Rich Pollack

Elaine Prentice knew she had to do something.

A condo manager with a green thumb and an eye for natural esthetics, Prentice had seen pictures and heard how Hurricane Nicole battered the beaches near Vero Beach in November, gobbling the sand under sea walls and causing them to crumble into the ocean.

To ensure that didn’t happen to her Penthouse Towers oceanfront building in Highland Beach, Prentice took aim at strengthening all beachfront property owners’ first line of defense against powerful seas that can crumble concrete in minutes — the natural sand dune.

“After seeing the storms, we needed to make sure the dune would work for us,” she said. “We need everything we can get to protect the property.”

With work nearly complete, the dune behind Penthouse Towers has become a model that others along the town’s three miles of oceanfront are starting to notice.

And in other coastal municipalities, word is continuing to spread about the benefits of restoring dunes and their natural ability to protect property and stave off beach erosion during storms and other high-water events.

“Mother Nature has the ability to heal herself,” says Lee Gottlieb, the founder of Adopt a Dune and the consultant who worked with Penthouse Towers to design a sustainable dune and find plants that can help build sand as a barrier against storm surge.

With climate change and the inevitability of continued sea level rise, Gottlieb sees a renewed sense of urgency in restoring dunes and is working to create a sustainable dune along the entire coastlines of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

“We need to adapt to the inevitable,” he said. “How do we live in this environment that’s about to come?”

Dune restoration, he says, is a cost-effective and efficient answer.

“The dune system gives you the best and strongest defense against storm surge and hurricanes,” he said.

A strong dune, he pointed out, can protect sea walls, in many cases, by absorbing some of the wave action that comes with storm surge’s powerful energy before it hits the reinforced concrete. A revitalized dune also offers natural habitat for birds and other wildlife including sea turtles.

In Highland Beach, concerns about beach erosion and the condition of the dunes behind private homes and condos encouraged town commissioners in May to authorize a $30,000 beach feasibility study update of a 2013 review.

As part of the study, the consultant will look at the dunes in front of oceanfront properties and make recommendations on what can be done to strengthen them if necessary.

“It’s critically important for us to look at beach erosion but also at the health of the dune structures, because there is an intrinsic link to the overall health of the beach,” Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.

Commissioners agree dune restoration is critical to ensure beach properties are secure.

“All these properties on the beach will have a problem if the dunes are not maintained,” Commissioner Evalyn David said.

Faced with having only private beaches and few options for any sort of federal- or state-funded renourishment project, commissioners two years ago had enlisted the help of the town’s Natural Resources Preservation Board to begin an education campaign focused on dune restoration.

“It’s our main priority,” says Barbara Nestle, co-chair of the board, which has been promoting dune restoration through material online and held a public forum in March with dune restoration as the topic. “It’s important to educate the public so people understand the impact of a major storm if they don’t restore their dunes.”

During the forum, residents listened to longtime South Florida dune restoration guru Rob Barron of Coastal Management and Consulting, who encouraged installing the right plants, especially sea oats and other native species that form deep root systems and can collect sand and build up dunes.

“You’re better off if you do something than if you do nothing,” Barron said. “If you do nothing the forces of nature will work against you.”

Barron, whose work with Delray Beach resulted in a dune success story, explained that in 1984 the city planted a 10-foot-wide strip of sea oats which today is about 160 feet wide and has captured about 12 vertical feet of sand.

At Penthouse Towers, board members had taken steps a decade ago to restore the dune but some plants died and others got forced out by exotics — mainly scaevola, a ground cover with shallow roots that grows quickly and crowds out more beneficial native plants.

With the help of its beach raking contractor, Penthouse Towers cleared out much of the exotics earlier in the year and with Gottlieb’s guidance enlisted the help of residents to begin planting sea oats.

Last month, Gottlieb brought in a wide variety of native plants to add to the dune, including beach sunflower, beach creeper and sea purslane, as well as two threatened and endangered species — bay cedar and sea lavender.

In all, Barron says about 200 native plants can be used to help restore dunes.

“The dune has to be functional but it also has to be attractive,” Prentice said, adding that residents of the 136-unit building are now taking pride in the dune. “Our owners love looking at the dune and appreciate that it will help protect us from storm surge.”

Prentice points out that her building like others on the beach has to carry extraordinarily high property insurance deductibles. She sees the dune restoration project with a price tag of under $15,000 as a very cost-effective way to protect the property.

Soon after the exotics were cleared, she and the residents of the building discovered a surprise.

Burrowing four o’clocks, an endangered species also known as beach peanut, appeared from out of nowhere and began spreading quickly throughout the dune. Found only in South Florida, the beach peanut will disappear almost as quickly as it came, leaving behind a seed bank that will explode again with a good rain next spring.

Though its impact on restoring the dune is minimal, the four o’clock return each year is a welcome sign of a dune’s return to its natural state.

As word has begun spreading throughout Highland Beach through the efforts of the natural resources board and through town communication efforts, several other buildings, individuals and communities are either restoring their dunes or looking into making the effort.

“We are now seeing activity,” says resources board member Nestle, who is coordinating a planned dune restoration project behind her own small condo community.

“Dune restoration is not only good for private property owners but it’s also good for the town as a whole because it protects the town from large storm events,” Labadie says.

Deputy Donna Korb (with life ring) assists Irina Bereslavska from the surf after rescuing her in South Palm Beach. BELOW: Korb and Bereslavska meet again a couple of days after the rescue. Photos provided

By Faran Fagen

South Palm Beach, which has no public beach, doesn’t have lifeguards. But it does have Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy Donna Korb, and residents feel grateful — and safer — with her on patrol.

Especially thankful is Irina Bereslavska, who was visiting the area from New York. Korb saved Bereslavska’s life on May 8 when, during a normal day on her shift near 3520 S. Ocean Blvd., the deputy shed her uniform and dove into the ocean to rescue the struggling 68-year-old.

Just after 5:30 p.m., Korb witnessed Bereslavska enter the water. Her police training teaches her to look for anything out of place, and she grew concerned due to the current and the swimmer’s age.

Once Korb saw that Bereslavska was struggling to make it back to shore, she notified dispatch, shed her gear, and entered the water to rescue the swimmer.

“It was like any other day on shift until I saw Irina in need of help,” Korb said. “That’s when years of dive experience seemed to kick in, knowing the danger she was in if not reached quickly.”

Korb worked with residents to obtain a pool rescue ring float, swam out and handed the float to the distressed swimmer, then guided her back to shore.

Once out of the water, Bereslavska was assessed by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Because she had low oxygen levels, it was determined that she needed to be transported to JFK Hospital.

Without the intervention of Korb, who sustained no injuries, the likelihood Bereslavska would have drowned was high, authorities said.

“When I reached Irina, I felt the immediate need to calm her and get her to focus on my instruction,” said Korb, who had never attempted a beach rescue like this before — although she was a certified scuba instructor and rescue diver before she began working for the Sheriff’s Office in 2000.
In high school and college, she encountered some swimmers in distress while working on dive boats.

“After grasping the rescue ring and calming down, Irina seemed almost frozen as we worked our way into shore,” the deputy said. “She was extremely tired and exhausted once we finally set foot on the sand.”

Deputies assigned to PBSO District 19 South Palm Beach have a presence on or about the beach as much as possible when not patrolling the roadways, Sgt. Mark Garrison said.

He wasn’t surprised when he heard of Korb’s heroics.

“I’m extremely proud of her and the great work she does in the community,” he said. “Her efforts every day are a true representative of what we do and why we do it.”

Korb was not specifically monitoring the beach surf like a lifeguard that day. She was patrolling throughout town on an ATV and stopped to chat with a resident while overlooking the beach.

A deputy on an ATV serves and protects the public however needed, just as deputies do on the roadways, Garrison said.

As for Korb, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise on her patrol not long after the rescue.

“The satisfaction for me was running into Irina two days later, at the same location, with a big smile,” Korb said. “I’m just glad she is in good health and back out enjoying the water.”

By Steve Plunkett

Richard Jones, the town’s new police chief, kept busy in his first 30 days on the job: alerting residents to a purse-snatching and stolen vehicle, setting guidelines for investigations of officer-involved shootings, and being feted in a meet-and-greet session at Town Hall.

“It should be noted that every stolen vehicle reported to Gulf Stream Police Department since 2019 involved an unlocked vehicle that contained keys,” Jones wrote in an April 28 letter that he labeled “Release to Residents Only.”

The car was reported stolen around 11:30 a.m. April 15, a Saturday, from an open garage on Banyan Road. The victim had been getting ready to leave but reentered her house with a package that was just delivered. When she returned to the garage her vehicle was gone, Jones wrote.

That night at 9:27 p.m. a woman’s purse was snatched from her shoulder after she pulled into her garage on Old School Road and got out of her vehicle. She was not harmed or threatened, the chief said.

“I am actively and directly working with staff to generate leads and/or suspects in these cases as your safety is our primary concern,” Jones wrote.

As for officer-involved shootings, Jones told town commissioners on May 12 that such incidents “aren’t common and they’re not prevalent in our community.”

Nevertheless, he asked them to approve signing a “memorandum of understanding” with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that he called “a best-practice MOU related to any type of in-custody death that could potentially take place.”

“That could be an in-custody death relating to someone who’s potentially suffering from a drug overdose situation but happens to be in our custody, which could be as simple as a traffic stop, or it could be more elaborate to an officer-involved shooting incident that takes place,” Jones said.

The chief made the request after realizing his new department did not have an agreement in place. It “definitively defines” what agency has what responsibility, he said.

“And it also sets out a specific guideline that allows for transparency so there’s no question about us typically investigating ourselves in an incident like this and then covering up or hiding something,” Jones said.

After the commission meeting the town held its meet-and-greet, with residents having been invited via postcards in the mail. About a dozen people showed up to nosh on the array of pastries, coffee and juices in Town Hall’s lobby, meaning plenty of leftovers for town staff.

“We’ve been eating well this week,” Town Clerk Renee Basel said later.

In other business May 12, commissioners:

• Approved on first reading an ordinance that requires that all property owners within 600 feet be notified of any construction project that needs Level II approval by the Architectural Review and Planning Board or Level III approval or a special exception or a variance to the building code from the Town Commission. The current code requires notification to neighbors 25 feet away for Level II and 300 feet for Level III and variances.

• Tabled the idea of allowing the property owners on private Little Club Road to deed the street and its maintenance to the town. Town Manager Greg Dunham said Gulf Stream will be busy enough with 18 to 20 months of construction starting in August or September in the core area.

He also said a grant writer thinks the town might qualify for a Resilient Florida grant for the roadwork and drainage portion of the work, part of Gulf Stream’s capital improvement plan that will also replace water mains in the core.