Several hundred Highland Beach residents turned out Feb. 1 for a meeting hosted by Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward at the town library, where they strongly objected to the county's plans for the proposed Milani Park in their town. INSET, BELOW LEFT: Some residents wore stickers to show their opposition. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

More than 200 Highland Beach residents turned out Thursday night, Feb. 1, to voice their opposition to a proposed beachfront county park straddling State Road A1A, raising concerns about everything from environmental issues and security to development of a parking lot with 40-plus spaces.

Hosted by Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward and attended by several county staff members including Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo, the meeting on the future of the long-proposed Milani Park ended with county leaders assuring residents that their concerns were heard and pledging to take suggestions into consideration.

“We are here to listen,” Woodward said to the standing-room-only crowd who wore “no park” stickers. “I want to go back to my board (of county commissioners) and tell them what we heard.”

What Woodward heard from a sometimes boisterous and unruly group was that a park is not what the residents want — at least not in its currently proposed form.

At the onset of the meeting, county representatives offered an overview of the proposed 5.6-acre park, explaining that the current concept is a scaled-down version of a park that was proposed and approved decades ago after the county purchased the property from the Cam D. Milani family for $4 million.

In the original plan, the county would have included about 100 parking spaces on the west side of A1A and a beach park with a lifeguard and restrooms on the east side.

Under the revised, scaled-down proposal, the west side of the parcel will accommodate just more than 40 vehicles. The east side would have a boardwalk to the beach that will pass over native Florida vegetation that has been allowed to flourish but would not have a lifeguard or restrooms.

“I’m encouraged that we can deliver something that will be an asset to the community,” Woodward said.

During a question-and-answer session in which about 25 residents were able to speak, Woodward heard strenuous objections to the parking lot, with some residents raising safety and environmental concerns.  

One resident suggested that the county let the vacant parcel become a natural park, allowing native vegetation to flourish. Another suggested turning the west side into a pocket park where people could arrive on foot or by bicycle and relax under shade trees.

Highland Beach resident Maggie Chappelear was one of those addressing county officials at the meeting.

“A parking lot is not what people want,” said resident Maggie Chappelear. “We want to create a useful space, not a parking lot.”

In addition to hearing from speakers, who also voiced concerns about the safety of an unprotected beach as well as concerns about the impact the park would have on wildlife, county officials collected as many as 200 comment cards.

In the end, they said that they will go back and sort through the comments and promised to return with possible adjustments based on the community input.

Town officials had hoped that representatives of the Milani family would speak against development of the park at the meeting in exchange for favorable land use adjustments from the town, but an agreement between the two sides has yet to be finalized.

While the driver rests in her smashed SUV, Gulf Stream police and Delray Beach paramedics attend to the injured bicyclists at the crash scene along State Road A1A in Gulf Stream. Photo provided by Gulf Stream Police Department

SUV rams pack of cyclists; biking community rallies on behalf of the injured

Also on A1A: Highland Beach: State to host open house in March on details of A1A repaving plan

South Palm Beach: After fatal crash, town appeals to FDOT for pedestrian crosswalks

By Anne Geggis

With his 25 years in law enforcement, 11 of them on State Road A1A, no other bicycle crash scene that Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones has ever come across matched what he saw in the predawn light of Jan. 4.

Minutes earlier a southbound SUV driven by a 77-year-old Lantana woman had crossed the center line and knocked into a pack of northbound cyclists like a bowling ball knocking down pins.

Jones was coming from the north but had to get to the south end of the crash to block traffic.

“That’s when I noticed parts of the bicycles and the car, bicycle headlamps, tail lamps, and everything just scattered all over,” he said. “And obviously I saw people.”

He caught sight of an off-duty lifeguard working on one of the victims and Jones, a trained paramedic, jumped out to help.

The situation was dire.

The way he was breathing, Jones said, “I can tell you he was not sustaining life sufficiently.”

Five cycles of chest-pumping and breathing ensued, he said.

“The two of us did CPR until we were able to obtain a pulse for the individual and then shortly after that, fire rescue took over,” Jones said.

Palm Beach County’s Trauma Hawk air ambulance landed at Gulf Stream Golf Club to evacuate one of the injured bicyclists. Photo provided by Delray Beach Fire Rescue

Six cyclists in the pack of eight were taken to the hospital from the chaotic scene, with the revived cyclist transported by Palm Beach County’s Trauma Hawk air ambulance, while a seventh cyclist suffered minor cuts. The driver of the subcompact Kia Soul SUV was also taken to the hospital. The cyclists were part of Galera do Pedal — Portuguese for Pedal Guys — with about 300 members from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, mostly of Brazilian heritage.

Caught on video
The moment that triggered it all was captured on a camera clipped onto one of the bikes.

As real-life video footage goes, it doesn’t get more dramatic than that 90-second clip.

The cyclists are seen pedaling along, two by two on the road, with no time to get out of the way when the SUV came hurtling toward them, seemingly out of nowhere.

State Road A1A crash video

It happened on a stretch of A1A alongside the Gulf Stream Golf Club course, where there are only a few inches of crumbling shoulder pavement outside of the travel lanes.

The patient on whom Jones performed CPR was the last to remain hospitalized. He was at Delray Medical Center as of Jan. 30, according to fellow bicycle club members; his wife, the mother of three young children, was also among the victims and had been placed in an induced coma following the crash. She has since been released from the hospital.

Another cyclist was released Jan. 28, club members said. He endured a dislocated shoulder, broken femur, shattered pelvis, cuts requiring 20 stitches and a blood clot on his brain.

As of Jan. 30, there was no publicly released report from the Florida Highway Patrol about why the collision occurred or the filing of any charges.

Two days after a 77-year-old driver plowed into a group of eight bicyclists, hundreds gathered at the site along State Road A1A in Gulf Stream in a show of support and to voice concerns about the road’s dangers. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A call for safer roads
Even though nobody died as 11 others did in bike crashes on Palm Beach County roads in 2023, the sheer number of casualties along a road that attracts sightseers from all over the world  brought new visibility to the tight space shared by motorists, cyclists, runners and walkers along A1A and other area roads.

Cyclists and area leaders alike are hoping that the attention from the crash can create new momentum for a cause that has run into dead ends before: Make A1A safer for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike.

“We’re out there and we have every right to the road,” Dr. Michael Kasper told the Delray Beach City Commission on Jan. 16, calling himself “one of those crazy cyclists you hear your constituents talking about.” 

 Jones sees pressure between motorists and cyclists growing as cycling becomes more and more popular. He said there’s a need for more education on both sides, although he’s cited more cyclists than motorists for road rule infractions.

“The whole process from start to finish — driver education and testing, information campaigns — needs more emphasis on sharing-the-road responsibilities,” Jones said.

More than education, though, cyclists are pressing for changes to the road to make it safer for them. Previous attempts — particularly along the 2-mile stretch of Gulf Stream — have failed.

Towns have resisted state efforts to widen the road or add bicycle lanes, citing the unwanted, potential intrusion the lanes would present to private property and — in Gulf Stream — the cherished Australian pines that line the road and enjoy protected status.

Still, the accident galvanized the creation of the Florida Share the Road Coalition. Its stated goal is to make A1A safer while preserving the road’s beauty.

Coalition members went to commission meetings in Gulf Stream and Delray Beach in January  to make their case. They say they’ve also met one-on-one with candidates or law enforcement in those municipalities as well as in Boca Raton and Hillsboro Beach. Next, they are angling for meetings with state Department of Transportation officials.

Jordana Lyra, wearing a sling from an injury she received in the Jan. 4 incident, hugs one of the other victims who wished to remain unnamed. Another of the riders in the pack was Bruno Ramos, in blue shirt to the left of Lyra. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Cyclists unite
Even before the day of the crash ended, Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia promised to fast-track the A1A improvements that are part of a $100 million plan to make Delray roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

“That’s an area that we should focus on as one of the places that we can make safer,” she said. “... The bike traffic isn’t going anywhere.”

The Saturday following the crash, more than 400 cyclists gathered at the site, showing just how correct Petrolia was. Many of them said they could see themselves in that crash.

“I’ve come close to being hit — it seems like motorists have a disassociation with cyclists as human beings,” said Robert Segall, 32, a Delray Beach lawyer who belongs to the Alpha Cycling Club.

Some of them felt compelled to come out in solidarity with the fallen cyclists after witnessing or hearing of the crash’s aftermath.

“We were terrified — it was the most horrific scene I’ve ever seen,” said Jeanine Seeger, 45, of Boynton Beach.

Motorist inattention and outright hostility point to an urgent need, she said.

“We’ve been trying for years to get safer roads,” Seeger said.

Drivers should not view cyclists as just nuisances, said Ross Dubin of Boynton Beach, 53, who has been riding up and down A1A for 15 years.

“When you hit us, most of the time, we die — we are human,” he said. “We pay taxes. We have children.”

Gulf Stream Mayor Scott Morgan speaks with (l-r) Felipe Costa, president of Galera do Pedal club, and cyclists Cameron Oster and Jeramy Pritchett. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Leaders respond
From the dais Jan. 16, Delray Beach Commissioner Rob Long, citing the “utterly terrifying” video shot on a stretch of road that he has often pedaled along, said the time has come to address the hazardous conditions. He said he’s not ready to give up on trying to make bike lanes along A1A.

“I think that there are real efforts that we can make through lobbying and advocacy and maybe it’s pressuring the Department of Transportation or the town of Gulf Stream,” Long said. “This has gone on too long.”

To the north of Delray Beach, though, resistance to widening A1A is strong.

Cyclists came to the Jan. 12 Gulf Stream Town Commission meeting a week after the crash. It was at the very same meeting that the town approved rules further protecting the

Australian pines that form a canopy over Gulf Stream’s stretch of A1A. 

“Since last year, I’ve been riding my bike for 10,000 miles which is more than I drive my car,” said Jeramy Pritchett, 51, of Deerfield Beach, who started a 100-member club,

NrChild Cycling Club. “There are few places that compare to the place you call home. Please help us make it safer.”

Mayor Scott Morgan, however, told the group that the idea of widening the road is a nonstarter. And the town wouldn’t have anything to say about it either because the state has authority over A1A. However, past proposals by the state to widen the road have met with opposition from the town.

Cameron Oster, 37, of Boca Raton and 3R Cycling Experience, which hosts cycling events, also spoke at the Gulf Stream meeting. He asked for bicycling sharrows — symbols on the pavement that indicate to motorists that they should expect to share the road.

Morgan also has more education in mind.

“We really need to promote single-file cycling through the town of Gulf Stream,” he said.

Pritchett said he tried to end the meeting on a positive note but believes that Gulf Stream officials are misinformed about the rules of the road.

“It’s going to take a while to help people understand what’s really going on,” Pritchett said.

Manalapan Town Attorney Keith Davis (center) provides new commissioners and staff with coaching on the restrictions and rules they face. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

13 newcomers set to govern as fight against disclosure law takes shape

Related: Manalapan: Tell them about it: Attorney covers the basics for new commissioners

Briny Breezes: Former mayoral applicant picked to serve as alderman

Gulf Stream: Greene given Lyons’ commission seat; Lyons replaces him on planning board

Ocean Ridge: New commission appointees to serve until March election

South Palm Beach: No one ran for council seat; now at least three want it

By Anne Geggis

With five of its seven members newly sworn in — or about to be — the Manalapan Town Commission and its expected appointees received an 80-minute crash course in the new realities of holding a local elective office that pays little or nothing at all. 

Learning about how even an innocent “thumbs up” on a fellow commissioner’s social media could run afoul of state law was part of the discussion at the new Manalapan Town Commission’s workshop Jan. 23.

The lesson is bound to be repeated in some fashion elsewhere in coastal South Palm Beach County — where five towns have had to contend with 13 members of their governing bodies resigning in the past few months.

The situation also has some municipalities — including Briny Breezes and Delray Beach — interested in supporting a court challenge to the new state law that requires fuller financial disclosures of commission and council members. The law, which requires the annual filing of the state’s so-called Form 6, was the motivation behind most of the resignations.

Eighteen municipalities had shown interest as of Jan. 25 in joining the lawsuit being developed by the Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman law firm, said Jamie Cole, who is the lead attorney in the effort.

Filling empty seats
In the meantime, local governing bodies have been busy coming up with a raft of new appointees to round out their boards. The breakdown:

Manalapan: The mayor and four commissioners resigned because of Form 6. Four appointments were made in December, though one of those still needs to be sworn in, and another appointee awaits an official vote and swearing in, but the quintet sat on the dais for January’s workshop about their new, public roles.

Briny Breezes: The mayor, council president and an alderwoman resigned because of the Form 6 requirement; the council has filled the three posts, with one appointee yet to be sworn in.

Gulf Stream: One commissioner resigned in November and another in December, with new appointments made in December and January. Both have since been seated on the town’s planning board, where they are not required to file Form 6.

Ocean Ridge: Two commissioners resigned before the end of the year, with one directly connecting his resignation to the Form 6 requirements. Their two replacements took office in January.

South Palm Beach: Council member Robert Gottlieb resigned before the end of the year in part because of Form 6, but no replacement has been named yet. His seat is up for election in March, but no one filed to run for it in November — and still no candidate came forward during a special qualifying period in January. The one-short commission is now taking applications to fill the vacancy.

Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Highland Beach and Lantana escaped the onslaught, coming into the new year without having any resignations on their elected bodies.

Small towns hit hardest
The resignations have hit the smallest towns the hardest. All five of the coastal towns that had recent council or commission vacancies each have fewer than 3,000 residents.

It has raised the specter that eventually no one would be left to serve.

Form 6 is the same one that all elected members of county commissions, the state Legislature and the governor must fill out, as well as other state officials, but those exiting stage left in local municipalities see it as an unwarranted intrusion into their affairs.

Ken Kaleel, who was appointed to his second stint on the Ocean Ridge Town Commission in May, decided to call it quits just eight months later after he saw what he would have to file were he still on the commission on Jan. 1.

“I think it puts a cloud on community activism, frankly,” Kaleel said, noting that the law particularly hurts lawyers like himself who work at small firms because it would require them to list all their clients. The legislation (SB 774) that triggered this round of resignations passed the state Legislature last year with bipartisan support. The only opposition: five

Democratic senators and two Democratic representatives.

Republican Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman voted for it in the name of giving voters more information and deterring corruption. She admits to some surprise, however, at how many have opted to leave rather than fill out the form.

“The goal was to make everyone fully forthright and honest,” said Gossett-Seidman, who ascended to the Legislature from the Highland Beach Town Commission. “I don’t know that people felt that entire commissions would resign. I did not see that. I thought there might be some, but … not quite like this.”

She said that she’d be willing to consider legislation that set different levels of disclosure for different-sized towns.

Push for transparency
Professor Aubrey Jewett, who teaches a course in Florida politics at the University of Central Florida, said that he understands the desire that politicians should reveal all their entanglements.

“In the big picture, voters deserve transparency and accountability ... they should have the tools to make sure that their elected officials aren’t being unethical and aren’t in the pockets of big donors or business partners and that sort of thing,” he said.

“But having said that, you know, Florida seemed like it did OK under the old system.”

There was Form 1, after all. Form 1 required commission and council members to declare any assets worth more than $10,000. Under the new form, though, the level drops to $1,000. Some have complained that it includes a child’s prepaid college fund or a spouse’s engagement ring.

“It wasn’t as if these city councils and commission members didn’t have any financial disclosure before this,” Jewett said.

He said the smaller towns could soon run out of people willing to serve, given the dedication required while receiving little or no pay.

A portion of Manalapan’s 400-something residents might be children, ineligible to serve, Jewett joked.

He said he would be watching to see if some towns have nobody to step in to direct town managers and attorneys who oversee development, law enforcement and other municipal services.

Florida’s law is rare
At the law firm spearheading the effort against Form 6, Cole said he’s not been able to find any other state that requires elected officials to disclose so much financial information.

He said that it prompted at least 125 elected officials across the state to resign and angered many of those who remain.

“In many cities, most elected officials are paid very small amounts or not at all, and to ask them to give up so much privacy to serve the public … is not commensurate to what they’re doing,” Cole said.

Weeki Wachee was the last Florida town to be abolished, becoming  part of unincorporated Hernando County in 2020, Jewett said. That municipality had just 13 residents, however, and the dissolution occurred after it was revealed that the town manager had rung up $1 million in legal fees.

What happens next bears watching, Jewett said. And perhaps due, he said, is some legislative rethinking of the idea that elected representatives in Miami should meet the same requirements as those in Briny Breezes, which has just a smidge more than 500 souls.

Whether to go on as an incorporated town, or be absorbed into neighboring towns, had been raised in Manalapan regarding Form 6’s impact. But for now, all its chairs on the dais are filled.

Dwight Kulwin, scheduled to be sworn onto the Town Commission this month, said he didn’t mind enduring more than an hour of the town lawyer’s explanations about everything from a town manager’s duties to ex parte communications.

“It was fascinating and informative,” he said.

Amelia Pollitt, 5, watches Morgan, a green sea turtle who was returned last month to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center after a stay at a Juno Beach facility. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky and Steve Plunkett

Four-year-old Jack Gray of Boca Raton peered into Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s almost 9-foot-deep aquarium as Morgan the sea turtle lolled about the bottom.

Suddenly, she paddled toward the surface right in front of Jack.

“Yay,” he shouted. “She said, Hi.”

The nature center was teeming with visitors three days after city officials announced Jan. 10 that Morgan had returned from a prolonged stay at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach.

In March, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had ordered that Morgan and another of the center’s resident sea turtles, Cane, be relocated after the city fired the center’s sea turtle rehabilitation coordinator and assistant coordinator.

Many had not heard about Morgan’s return and were happy to learn she was back.

“I think it is great,” said Jack’s 6-year-old sister, Ruby.

Morgan has partial paralysis in her rear flippers and can’t survive in the wild. She is back in Gumbo Limbo’s Shipwreck Aquarium. Photo provided by Gumbo Limbo

Gary Gladstein of Boca Raton visited the center with his son and grandson, Thomas, 12.

“We hadn’t seen turtles here in a while,” Gary said. “We love turtles.”

Thomas said that he has a strong interest in marine life and will be attending the Carolina Ocean Odyssey summer camp on Topsail Island, North Carolina, whose many activities include exploring the marine environment and learning about protecting the oceans.

“I like helping,” he said.

City officials announced Morgan’s return from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center on Jan. 10. But the FWC has not made a decision on the return of Cane, who was also moved to another facility.

David Anderson, the city’s sea turtle conservation coordinator, said Boca Raton is not planning any welcome-home activities for the latest addition to its Shipwreck Aquarium.

“We are just happy to have Morgan back and we are busy caring for her and making sure she is healthy and readjusted to her old home — and that she is,” he said.

FWC spokeswoman Lisa Thompson had little news about Cane, who was taken to the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Stuart.

“No decisions have been made about additional turtles at this time, though Gumbo Limbo has indicated they would potentially like to have a second turtle again. Further discussion might not occur until February,” Thompson said.

The removal of Morgan and Cane along with seven sea turtle patients from Gumbo Limbo last year was prompted by the city’s terminations, which came as part of a transfer of the care of the turtles from the city to the nonprofit Coastal Stewards. The group, formerly known as the Friends of Gumbo Limbo, has since hired a veterinarian and a rescue and rehabilitation coordinator and applied for an FWC permit to resume giving turtles medical care.

Gumbo Limbo’s turtle rehabilitation area is still empty. The Coastal Stewards moved its offices in mid-January from a building on Federal Highway in Boca Raton to another on State Road A1A north of Briny Breezes. The FWC is still reviewing the nonprofit’s application for a permit.

Morgan came to Gumbo Limbo after being rescued in 2014. A sub-adult green turtle, she was hit by a boat and her injuries caused her to be partially paralyzed in her rear flippers. As a result, the 119-pound turtle cannot be released into the wild.

The nature center is open Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday from noon to 4 p.m.

The facility’s nature trails are open every day from 7 a.m. to sunset. Admission is free, although visitors can make donations.

Parking at Gumbo Limbo is currently a challenge with three spaces in the small lot being made ADA-compliant.

Also, construction of a new observation tower and ADA-compliant access ramp has blocked part of the nature center’s boardwalk. The tower is scheduled to open this spring.

Welcome! It’s exciting to see so many fresh faces on the dais at Town Hall. Thanks to each of you for stepping up to serve the community.

Term limits, personal conflicts and Florida’s financial disclosure law (known as Form 6) opened the door for many of you to assume new roles as town commissioners. And once

March election votes are tallied, even more may join the newcomer ranks. In a few municipalities, the end result is (or will be) an almost entirely new slate of elected and/or appointed officials.

This can be challenging.

Each election year, I make a point of sitting in during one of municipal attorney Keith Davis’ “how things work” introduction to the role of — and limits on — commission members. It refreshes my knowledge of how local government works and what access the public has to information generated by that legislative body.

I often find the requirements of the state are much broader than most local officials expect. Budgets, charters and comprehensive plans require policy-makers to follow strict guidelines when updating or making changes.

Each municipality is required to have an attorney, a manager and a clerk to help guide commissioners through the process of creating policy and away from legal dangers. These hired positions are critical to the functioning of local government. A large part of their role is to assure members of the public (including journalists) have access to records and communications.

For those without government experience, the trickiest rules to follow are often Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine laws on open meetings and public records.

Although these laws may seem confusing at first, they have a simple aim: Decisions should be made in public, without prejudice or favor.

And it’s good to keep in mind that most of these rules are in place because previous officials broke the law — and the residents’ trust.

So welcome aboard. As your neighborhood newspaper, we’ll see you at town meetings, talk with you when clarification is needed, challenge you when rules are sidestepped and hopefully share with readers your fresh views on how to make life along the shore safer and more desirable for everyone.

— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor

To participate in the March 19 Presidential Preference Primary and local elections, residents must be registered to vote by Feb. 20.

You can register online at RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov.

Application forms are also available at any Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office or to download from the supervisor’s website, VotePalmBeach.gov.

You can contact the office at 561-656-6200.

Voters have until 5 p.m. March 7 to request from the supervisor’s office — either in person, online or by phone — that a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed to them.

Lowell Van Vechten is surrounded by family photos and a portrait of her late husband, Jay, at home in Boca Raton. Jay Van Vechten died in 2020 at age 75. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

By Ron Hayes

According to the website of the American Disabilities Foundation, Lowell Van Vechten is its co-founder and honorary chairwoman.

This is true.

“But really I’m the keeper of the history,” she adds.

By history, she means a tragic accident that has been reborn as an annual day of joy.

On March 2, thousands will gather in Boca Raton’s Spanish River Park for the 15th annual Boating & Beach Bash for People with Disabilities.

They will enjoy boat rides on the Intracoastal Waterway, bathing in the Atlantic Ocean, health screenings, therapy workshops, wheelchair yoga, live music, dance parties, therapy pets, giveaways and barbecue lunch.

It’s all free and all are welcome — family, friends and people with disabilities, whether their disabilities are visible or invisible.

“One of the great successes of the Bash is that everyone is made to feel equal,” Van Vechten says. “There’s nothing more healing than to be celebrated and surrounded by people like yourself so you know you’re not alone.”

Lowell Van Vechten’s husband, Jay, was alone in a San Diego hotel room that night in 2001. A successful New York public relations executive in town on business, he slipped on the wet bathroom floor in the dark, fell backward over the tub and shattered five vertebrae. Then he fell forward and shattered both knees. The splayed legs required two hip replacements.

The couple’s old life was gone, but a new one was born.

“Jay’s personal motto was, ‘Don’t postpone joy,’” Van Vechten says.

After his accident, Jay and Lowell Van Vechten of Boca Raton dedicated their lives to bringing joy to the community he’d suddenly joined in that dark hotel bathroom.

Jay served on Boca Raton’s since-disbanded board for people with disabilities, and when his vision for the city’s annual picnic for the disabled grew bigger than the city could handle, the Van Vechtens took over. The Beach Bash debuted in 2009, they founded the American Disabilities Foundation in 2012, and since Jay’s death in 2020, his widow has committed herself to perpetuating their annual day of joy.

Her familiarity with tragedy and commitment to others did not begin with her husband’s fall.

In 1960, her oldest brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and institutionalized.

In 1998, her middle brother, a Vietnam vet who had been treating his PTSD with heroin, took an over-the-counter medication for the flu, lapsed into a coma and died three days later. He was 48.

She shares this family heartache on the ADF website, in an essay titled, “Why Do I Care So Much About People with Disabilities?”

Growing up on Long Island, she volunteered as a candy striper at Southampton Hospital.

“I put together stacks of bandages,” she recalls with a laugh.

As a high school student at Sacred Heart Academy in Menlo Park, California, in the late 1960s, she volunteered at a Stanford University program for children with developmental disabilities and learned skills she preaches today.

“You ask before touching,” she tells volunteers. “You don’t speak in harsh tones, and if someone is using a wheelchair, you lower yourself to their eye level.”

In the 1980s, while Van Vechten was a marketing director at Mademoiselle magazine in Manhattan and AIDS patients were fighting for both their lives and insurance coverage, she volunteered at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

“I shuffled papers,” she says modestly. “A lot of people don’t understand insurance.”

Now she is one of about 150 volunteers who will work in six shifts, organizing 40 exhibitors in 25 active zones throughout Spanish River Park, so about 5,000 disabled guests and others can share a day of community and barbecue.

“I always used to say, if you have an annual party, you’d make new friends over time and eventually it grows to be almost a family of people with whom you celebrate, whatever the occasion happens to be,” Lowell Van Vechten says, “and that’s what the Bash is.

“It’s a free day of joy.”

If You Go
What: The 15th annual Boating & Beach Bash for People with Disabilities — the nation’s largest, free, one-day event for people with disabilities
When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. March 2
Where: Spanish River Park, 3001 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton
Information: www.AmericanDisabilitiesFoundation.org. To volunteer, call 561-899-7400.

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

As the former marine conservationist for the city of Boca Raton from 1995 to 2021, I have watched the developments at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and the actions of the nonprofit Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards.

The Coastal Stewards have been in existence for about three years at Gumbo Limbo. What have they done with your hard-earned donation money in those few years?

The Coastal Stewards allowed the Gumbo Limbo Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Facility to close, with no indication of its return. There would have been no interruption in the facility’s operation if the Coastal Stewards had offered the city-employed permit holder and her staff the same jobs.

Recently, the Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards dropped “Gumbo Limbo” from their name, seemingly severing their allegiance to Gumbo Limbo. Now, they claim to have been educating the public for the last 40 years, even though Gordon Gilbert, a Palm Beach County schoolteacher, and the Palm Beach County School District ran the educational programs. The city and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District continue to fund education staff, with little or no support from the Coastal Stewards.

More recently, I saw a post on the Coastal Stewards Facebook page about the return of Morgan, a disabled sea turtle that resided at Gumbo Limbo for years. The morning after the Coastal Stewards allowed the sea turtle rehabilitation program to shut down, Morgan was sent to a facility that could care for her.

The recent return of Morgan was due entirely to the experience and dedication of the city’s existing sea turtle conservation coordinator, who played a pivotal role in ensuring Morgan’s well-being. It is questionable if the Coastal Stewards are paying anything for the support of Morgan.

A recent check of the Coastal Stewards’ website indicates that they are now expanding their purview to marine mammals and manatees in addition to sea turtles, although they have done nothing with sea turtles since March 2023 at Gumbo Limbo. I find this interesting, as city staff are trained to handle marine mammal and manatee strandings. Why would Coastal Stewards try to duplicate this effort with their own staff?

From what I can tell from tax forms, the Coastal Stewards are paying more for salaries while donations decline. It took the Coastal Stewards less than three years to defund the original Friends of Gumbo Limbo nonprofit, the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Facility and educational programs. It’s time for the city of Boca Raton to break any ties with the Coastal Stewards, as they no longer represent the interests of Gumbo Limbo and the city of Boca Raton.

If you’re fortunate enough to donate money to a cause, I advise avoiding Coastal Stewards. The money appears to go toward paying salaries for Coastal Stewards staff and not benefiting Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

Dr. Kirt Rusenko
former marine conservationist,
city of Boca Raton

I write to express my concern about the ongoing debate in Ocean Ridge regarding the local election scheduled for March 19. Some residents argue that forgoing the election would save the town money, but I believe it’s crucial to consider the broader implications.

Recent events, such as the rapid replacement of two commissioners in a brief meeting, raise questions about resident representation. The method of selection, with unanimous decisions within 10 minutes, leaves room for skepticism. Out of seven residents interested in candidacy, the appointment of two without a comprehensive election diminishes community involvement.

The heart of the matter lies in our right as residents to choose our local leaders. If we bypass the March election, we risk allowing a small group to dictate our town’s representation without broader input. Democracy thrives on active participation, engaging with candidates, discussing town issues and making informed choices.

I firmly believe that the price of holding a local election is a small one compared to the invaluable right of residents to actively shape our community’s future. Let us preserve the essence of democracy in Ocean Ridge by ensuring that our voices are heard in the upcoming election.

Dr. Victor Martel
Ocean Ridge

Related: Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 1

Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 3

Three candidates for mayor (Seat 5)

The March ballot has this charter amendment proposal: “The City Charter requires a board of adjustment to consider and decide appeals and variances to the land development regulations. Other city boards can perform these duties. This charter amendment would eliminate the Board of Adjustment. Shall the charter amendment be adopted?

Choices to succeed term-limited Mayor Shelly Petrolia all have sat on City Commission.

Related: Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 1

Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 3;

Charter amendment on the ballot

Delray Beach voters have plenty of choices in the March 19 city election, with three candidates each in the race for mayor and for two open City Commission seats. All posts are for three-year terms and all seats are elected by voters citywide.

Related: Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 1

Three candidates for mayor (Seat 5)

Charter amendment on the ballot

Delray Beach voters have plenty of choices in the March 19 city election, with three candidates each in the race for mayor and for two open City Commission seats. All posts are for three-year terms and all seats are elected by voters citywide.

Related: Six seeking two commission seats - Seat 3

Three candidates for mayor (Seat 5)

Charter amendment on the ballot

By Anne Geggis

A special magistrate is expected to rule Feb. 20 on whether Ocean Ridge’s new beach sign ordinance is too vague for enforcement due to the beach’s shifting sands.

Also at issue: Does a sign printed on both sides amount to two signs or just one?

Public anger over “No Trespassing” signs erected on the beach by the Turtle Beach of Ocean Ridge Condominium Association led town commissioners in September to adopt regulations limiting beach signage. The new ordinance specifies how large the signs can be (they can’t exceed 18 inches by 18 inches), how they can be placed, and that they face “either to the east or to the west.”

Even with that specificity, Turtle Beach and the town still aren’t seeing eye to eye, with the town saying the association’s new signs are not in compliance.

A 90-minute hearing on the case Jan. 9 in front of a special magistrate did not produce an outcome. Special Magistrate Amity Barnard asked both the town attorney and the Turtle Beach representative to draft memos of no more than three pages to make their arguments on the state of Turtle Beach’s compliance with the ordinance.

The town says that two-sided signs, like the two now in place at Turtle Beach, amount to four signs, violating the two-sign limit. The association disagrees. And, the town says, the placement was not as described in the ordinance approved in September.

The ordinance says that signs are not allowed to be placed on the beach seaward of the toe of the frontal dune, which is the first natural or manmade mound or bluff of sand located “landward of the beach” that has significant vegetation, height, continuity or configuration that offers protective value.

“The signs as of today are still double-sided and they still are at an approximate amount of feet from the frontal toe,” said Officer Aaron Choban of the Ocean Ridge police.

But the association says that there’s no telling exactly where seaward of the front toe is from day to day.

Turtle Beach association President Mark Feinstein said he had numerous “pleasant” conversations with town officials and thought an agreement had been reached. The dune goes in and out — it’s not linear, he said.

“After I got the notice of violation, I was actually shocked and surprised,” said Feinstein, who is a lawyer and also had one representing him at the hearing. “… I certainly think that the ordinance is, at best, vague.”

The special magistrate could levy a fine up to $250 a day after a finding if the property is not brought into compliance. If the violation is found to be irreparable or irreversible, the special magistrate could impose a fine up to $5,000.

A construction trailer and portable toilet are still visible at the site on Jan. 28. Staff photo

By Anne Geggis

When 2024 dawned and an Ocean Ridge home under construction for the past eight years still wasn’t finished, its owners were on the hook to pay the town $50,000 in addition to the taxes owed on the land.

Failing to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to wrap up the planned construction, Oceandell Holdings LLC, which owns the oceanfront property at 6273 N. Ocean Blvd., was required to make a payment in lieu of taxes by the end of January, according to an amendment to the construction extension agreement dated Jan. 10.

Revised plans submitted to the town in June called for the property owners to apply and obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy by Dec. 31. Failing that, the town was owed $50,000 to help make up for the taxes it would have collected if the project had been completed in 2023, the agreement says.

Town Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy estimates the protracted construction timeline — which has kept the building off the tax rolls — has meant the town has collected one-fourth of the taxes it should have since 2017, considering the difference between taxing vacant land and taxing the same land with a house on it year after year. 

Cassidy is also one of the neighbors to the project.

“We’re all just tired of the construction — lots of trucks parked illegally — and it appeared to be abandoned for a while,” she said.

The latest construction manager seems to have improved things for now, though, she added.

The principal listed as a contact for Oceandell through the state Division of Corporations could not be reached for comment; nor could Andrew Rivkin — who representatives have identified as the owner of the property and who was the Oceandell signatory on the agreement with the town.

Town Clerk Kelly Avery said as of Jan. 29, the payment had not been made.

If the construction drags on past March 15, the owner shall pay the town $5,000 a day for each day that construction continues for “liquidated damages,” according to the agreement signed by the town attorney, clerk and manager. The daily damage assessment would accrue until May 1, potentially a maximum of $235,000 in fines.

That’s a one-month extension from the deadline commissioners approved in September. They had called for the $5,000-a-day penalty to start if construction was not completed by Feb. 15, and capped those fines at $150,000.

The owner recognizes the work “has continued for an extensive period of time and has negatively impacted the neighbors and the town,” the agreement says. “The owner further recognizes that time is of the essence under this agreement and if the March 15 construction deadline … is not satisfied by the owner, the neighbors and the town will continue to be negatively impacted and suffer financial loss.”

When asked, Town Attorney Christy Goddeau did not offer an explanation for the one-month extension, but said that the commission would be updated on the property at February’s meeting.

The project has become known as “the parking garage house” because its front was, at first, allowed to be built without windows. The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s website shows that the 1.13-acre property has been taxed solely for the land value starting in 2017, with the total market value of the land at $9.2 million.

The first building permit for the site was issued in May 2015.

“We’re just trying to do our best to expedite completion … have it be a completed home instead of a construction site,” Cassidy said.

By Anne Geggis

The Ocean Ridge Town Commission has five seats, but January’s meeting brought to 10 the number of commissioners who have sat on the dais in the past year.

Ainar Aijala Jr. and David Hutchins were sworn into office to replace Commissioners Philip Besler and Ken Kaleel, who turned in their resignations effective Dec. 30.

Kaleel said he was resigning rather than comply with a new state law that requires those serving on local elected commissions and councils to file a detailed disclosure of personal assets, effective Jan. 1. Besler was hanging it up for personal reasons, he said.

Aijala and Hutchins swore to faithfully execute all the duties of town commissioner to applause from the crowd at the Jan. 8 meeting. Their appointments are good only until the March 19 election, when voters will decide who fills three commission openings — including their seats — that are on the ballot. Both Aijala and Hutchins have qualified to run in that election.

Hutchins, a town resident since 1990, said he hopes to put his eight years of experience serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission to work in this new role. He is optimistic about the town’s direction but sees some areas that could use improvement.

“Repairing and replacing existing, worn infrastructure is a priority always, but living within our means has to be part of the equation,” he texted about why he stepped forward to serve.

Aijala, who hails from Michigan, said serving on an elected board fulfills a longtime interest in public service that he couldn’t pursue beyond nonprofit roles because of his position at Deloitte, the largest professional services firm in the world. There, he was CEO of its global consulting practice.

The town is on the right track, and he intends to use his professional experience in strategic planning to help it operate even more efficiently, he said after he was sworn in.

“Ocean Ridge is a very special place,” he said.

The past year has been rife with the town’s leaders coming and going, however.

The two exiting commissioners, Besler and Kaleel, were appointed to replace two other commissioners who resigned in 2023, Martin Wiescholek and Kristine de Haseth. In addition to that, Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy became a new face on the dais last April, after finishing ahead of then-Mayor Susan Hurlburt, who came in last in a three-way race for two commission seats.

Wiescholek, the other winner in the March 2023 election, resigned at the same April meeting at which he was sworn in for a second, three-year term. His resignation came minutes after the commissioners agreed in a split vote to hire Town Manager Lynne Ladner on a full-time basis. Two hours later, at the same meeting, de Haseth resigned, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.

So, Mayor Geoff Pugh and Vice Mayor Steve Coz are the only holdovers from before the last election.

Aijala and Hutchins were selected for commission appointments out of eight applicants.

The town’s charter calls for vacancies to be filled at the next election instead of having an appointee fill out the remainder of an unexpired term — something that’s done in other communities such as Manalapan and Gulf Stream. The seat originally held by de Haseth was up for election this year anyway, but the seat once held by Wiescholek wasn’t supposed to be up for election for another two years.

Aijala, Hutchins, Pugh and political newcomer Nick Arsali will compete for a pair of three-year terms on the commission and another two-year term.

Pugh acknowledged at the Jan. 8 meeting that he might lose as the commission agreed on a workshop date for training on the new system for town business on April 8 — after the next election.

Minimum flood elevations likely to be repealed — Preliminary FEMA maps adopted in 2019 are likely to be stricken from the town’s ordinances so the rules revert to the 2017 FEMA maps.

The state preempted local governments from using preliminary FEMA maps for any rules for permitting, so the 2019 maps have been left on the town’s books, with no enforcement, while final approval of the 2019 maps remains in limbo.

Town attorney Christy Goddeau said repealing the minimum elevation ordinance for the high-risk zone would be the clearest course for keeping the town out of litigation.

“So that there’s never any argument that we could enforce it,” she said, before the commission agreed to proceed with repealing the ordinance regarding minimum elevations in certain parts of town.

Town history gets fifth printing — Details on the origins of Ocean Ridge shall not be lost to time — Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy funded a fifth printing of the late Commissioner Gail Adams Aaskov’s telling of it. And now the 80-page booklet, “The History of Ocean Ridge,” is available for $1 at Town Hall.

Ocean Ridge, we learn, got its start as Boynton Beach, carved out of Boynton, by a special act of the Legislature in 1931 after a dispute over beach properties.

Problem was, the name was often confused with “Daytona Beach” — to the point mail intended for Daytona came south. So, six years after the town’s founding, an emergency meeting was called to consider a new name. Marion White Bird suggested “Ocean Ridge” and won a $100 prize, “a sizable amount of money at that time,” Aaskov writes. 

— Anne Geggis

Related: Deadly disease taking a bite out of St. Augustine lawns

By Steve Plunkett

Town Hall’s lawn is dying, a victim of the sugarcane mosaic virus, which can be transferred from one lot to another on the wheels of a landscaper’s mower.

“It’s a menace,” said Anthony Beltran, Gulf Stream’s public works director. “If your grass is moist when they cut the grass, it sticks to that mower. And if they don’t blow it off really well and then treat the mower with some sort of a water-alcohol solution and let it dry, it’ll transfer from that yard to the next yard.”

The disease can also be spread from shoes that have walked on infected lawns.

Town staff contacted some lawn management companies to get informal bids for fixing Town Hall’s grass, only to find that it would cost $5,000 to $10,000 more than the $15,000 threshold that calls for Town Commission approval.

Almost 13,000 square feet of sod needs to be replaced, Town Manager Greg Dunham told commissioners at their Jan. 12 meeting.

The virus, which is spread by aphids and is also known as lethal viral necrosis, kills only the popular Floratam variety of St. Augustine grass. Two other varieties, Palmetto and CitraBlue, can harbor the virus but are not killed by it and are used as replacements, Beltran said.

The treatment, he said, “is to remove all the Floratam that’s been infected, treat the ground, which they saturate, wait a couple of days then lay the sod, and then treat it with a herbicide.”

“You can’t kill it,” Beltran said. “There’s nothing that’s going to kill it, nothing. There’s no type of pesticide, herbicide, anything that’s going to kill the virus. It’s a virus. ... And the only way of eliminating it is by removing what they’re used to growing in and expanding in, which is Floratam grass.”

Mayor Scott Morgan worried that the virus might be transmitted to The Little Club next door, but Beltran said the golf course has Zoysia grass, which is immune to the disease.

Commissioner Joan Orthwein was also concerned.

“Is this something that the residents should know about? Because who cuts this grass cuts a lot of people in town,” she said.

“Every time I’ve seen them cut here, they do blow off their equipment,” said Beltran. “Question is, do they do it everywhere else they go? I don’t know. I’m not with them.”

Commissioners voted to let Dunham spend up to $25,000 to replace Town Hall’s affected sod and decided Morgan should include a warning in his annual mayor’s letter to residents.

Commissioners also approved on second reading an ordinance adding further protections to the town’s beloved Australian pines.

“This is in response to some work on A1A that damaged the root structure of a number of Australian pines,” Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said, speaking of a construction project.

Anyone doing work within 25 feet of the trees will have to follow industry standards provided by the town’s arborist to get a building permit.

“We have to protect the Australian pines. They’re historic, we preserve them and we have to have something in place to assist the town as it enforces renovations done near the Australian pines to protect their health,” Morgan said.

A lawn with St. Augustine grass shows brown patches that have succumbed to lethal viral necrosis. The grass can be distinguished by its wide, boat-shaped leaves. Photo provided

By John Hughes

If you are among the many coastal residents whose lawns sprout St. Augustine grass, you might have painfully learned that it’s not easy being green in Palm Beach County.

Lethal viral necrosis, a disease first found here about a decade ago, has earned its ugly name, turning verdant lawns dingy, then dead.

Horticulture experts who are on the hunt for a remedy say that any lawn where St. Augustine grass has rooted is vulnerable to LVN.

“Parts of southern Palm Beach County are heavily impacted,” says John Roberts, Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension agent. He says the county is “ground zero” because here is where the disease first appeared, although it has recently been found in other counties.

Roberts was one of the speakers appearing in a Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County extension webinar in December that devoted two full hours to concerns about LVN.

St. Augustine grass was the most common grazing fodder when Palm Beach County was home to large cattle pastures, which are mostly gone now. LVN is a legacy of that era.

Is your lawn St. Augustine grass? One way to find out is to examine the leaf blades. St. Augustine is distinguished by broader leaves up to ¾ inch wide and forming what has been called a boat shape.

There are several varieties of St. Augustine grass. At least two — Palmetto and CitraBlue — have shown resistance to LVN. But Floratam, to which LVN is fatal, is the most prevalent of the cultivars in Palm Beach County.

How do you stop LVN? You don’t. LVN is spread through contact when infected sap gets spread — from mower blades, from soles of shoes. … Essentially, any object or particle that can carry an LVN germ is your lawn’s enemy. Sort of the horticultural world’s COVID-19, minus the social distancing.

The prognosis for LVN is as bleak as its name. An infected lawn will be dead in about three to five years, Roberts says.

Has LVN infected your lawn? If there’s a discolored spot in the lawn, take a worm’s eye view and look for any anomalous yellowing in the leaf grains. In particular, Roberts says to look for a “mosaic-type” pattern of broken yellow lines.

If you don’t trust your eyes, see the report at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, available here: www.edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/PP313.

Concerned lawn owners might also send grass samples to the Rapid Turf Diagnostic Service at the University of Florida ($75 per sample).

“A lot of people get emotionally tied up to their lawns,” Roberts says. “They like coming here, oftentimes from other parts of the country, and having a nice green lawn all throughout the year. It’s very distressing to come in and see that it’s brown and only going to get increasingly brown. …”

Sometimes landscapers are scapegoats for that distress — caught between LVN and clients who simply want the grass to be greener on their side.

“We’re caught in the middle a lot of the time,” says Tyler Reiter, director of Florida Image Landscaping, who is believed to be the first to identify LVN in Palm Beach County. “Often, it’s unfair. People point fingers. They think landscapers transfer it. Well, landscapers might transfer it, but they don’t mean to. It’s like COVID. Nobody’s trying to transmit COVID. …”

Reiter says roughly 30% of his clients are coastal, from Hypoluxo Island to Gulf Stream and Highland Beach.

“I do see a lot of LVN throughout Delray and Boca — however, none that are my customers,” he says.

A couple of years ago Reiter moved into the West Lake community — designed to have about 4,500 homes. He found LVN in his neighborhood and thinks that eventually every lawn will need to be resodded with an LVN-resistant species. Currently, lawn owners could expect to pay about $2 per square foot.

“Homeowners associations are superspreaders,” Reiter says.

He is often called in as a consultant when the grass starts to fade.

“I talk about LVN every week,” Reiter says. “I empathize with people.”

The mayor is head of the Town Council, which has five members who serve staggered three-year terms.