Related Story: Opioid settlements, ‘way less’ than cost of crisis, get reluctant support

By Charles Elmore

After a rocky 2020, fewer people died of overdoses in southern Palm Beach County cities during the first three quarters of 2021. Sometimes a lot fewer.
In Delray Beach, overdose deaths decreased 40% to 33 in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same stretch of the previous year, according to the latest records available from the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office, which identified an “injury city” where an overdose occurred.
In Boca Raton, such deaths fell 28% to 48. In Boynton Beach, the decline was 24% to 44 deaths.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Ariana Ciancio, service population advocate for the Delray Beach Police Department. “I want to knock on wood and be thankful where we can. But we can never be complacent about this. It ebbs and flows.”
In the last 90 days, upticks in some monthly reports of drug deaths locally and across Palm Beach County mean few are feeling complacent. All deaths take a toll. But many see evidence that efforts by first responders, community groups and others are having an effect.
For example, cases more than doubled in 2021 in which paramedics arrived after someone else had administered naloxone, whose brand names include Narcan, Delray Beach Fire Rescue documents show. That is medicine that can counter the potentially lethal effects of an opioid overdose.
Delray Beach paramedics used Narcan 118 times in 2021 through mid-December, compared to 161 times the full year before, records show. But people other than paramedics, sometimes denoted in records by the catch-all term “bystanders,” administered Narcan by the time paramedics arrived 100 times in 2021, compared to just 41 in 2020.
Delray Beach issues Narcan to police as well as fire-rescue responders. Records show city police used Narcan 70 times in 2021, Ciancio said. She said she did not have 2020 data at hand.
Even so, that would not account for all bystander interventions in 2021. Ciancio said community organizations have mounted a continuing push to educate and train people how to help. 
For instance, about 50 people attended a public meeting at the Delray Beach Public Library on Dec. 1, where an overdose death occurred in the parking lot months earlier, officials said. The event offered naloxone training by members of the West Palm Beach-based group Rebel Recovery, whose website describes programs to offer peer support, reduce harm and assist people struggling with addiction to make “positive changes.”

‘Trial by fire’
At the same time, paramedics have been honing protocols to deal with fast-moving situations, said Sean Gibson, division chief of emergency medical services for Delray Beach Fire Rescue.
Responders have tried to calibrate carefully how much Narcan is needed to keep patients stable and breathing on their own, while assessing how much, if any, may have been administered before paramedics arrived, Gibson said. Too much too soon can leave people startled, upset or resistant to treatment at a hospital, he said.
Facing a pandemic since early 2020 on top of overdose calls, “it was a trial by fire for a lot of new paramedics,” Gibson said. “It’s been a long row to hoe, I’ll say that. But I think we’ve got a good group of people who have weathered it despite all the adversity.”
Overdose deaths recorded by medical examiners can vary from counts by police and fire-rescue departments, which may have on-scene information for certain cases without access to final medical reports for all deaths. By just about any account, though, 2020 was a tough year.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue recorded 64 overdose deaths in 2020, rising from 35 in 2019 and 18 in 2018 before falling to 11 in 2021 through mid-December. Emergency calls for suspected overdoses declined to 161 in a not-quite-finished 2021, down from 244 in 2020, 213 in 2019 and 214 in 2018.

Complicated by coronavirus
The first part of 2020 was especially rugged. Delray Beach police logged a doubling of overdose fatalities, to 42 from 21, in the first seven months of 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier.
The early stages of the pandemic not only threatened lives and jobs, but also temporarily closed in-person meeting spaces for support and recovery groups. Many scrambled to meet through Zoom or other online methods.
In 2021, a common approach was a hybrid of the two, alternating between gathering in person and virtually, said one participant who asked not to be identified in a group that meets in southern Palm Beach County.
“Discussions in meetings are certainly less centered on COVID than they were in 2020,” the participant said. A helpful thing for many has been “more intimate access to support in in-person meetings.”
In Boca Raton, city officials said overdose deaths tracked by responders rose from 15 in 2018 to 28 in 2019 and 32 in 2020 before falling to 13 as of Dec. 10, 2021.
Mayor Scott Singer said factors might be greater awareness of the potential hazards and greater proactivity by doctors and health care professionals to limit abuse.
First responders deserve credit, Singer said: “Because of intervention by our fire-rescue teams and police officers, they are able to actually save a number of lives.”
Deputy City Manager George Brown said the city has not changed its policy on how it responds to opioid cases. He speculated that police and fire-rescue might be getting calls sooner and so are able to administer Narcan or get people to the hospital more quickly.

Where deaths happen
Briny Breezes, Manalapan, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge do not appear as “injury” locations in overdose records from medical examiners, though they do fall within ZIP codes listed as death locations where no place of injury was identified. That happened in 11 cases in 2020 and 10 during the first nine months of 2021.
This does not mean residents of those towns were necessarily involved. A death location can be different from an injury location because someone was taken to a hospital, for example, officials noted. And sometimes examiners did not know or at least did not record a place of injury.
In another 21 cases in 2020 and nine through nine months of 2021, records listing only a death location showed ZIP codes in or near Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Boynton Beach. 
The records include what medical examiners classify as overdoses from all drugs and alcohol and, at least in this case, do not specify the specific substances causing death.
But other sources paint a stark picture of which drugs have been causing the deadliest outcomes.

Florida’s deadliest drug
The death toll from opioids rose a staggering 42% in Florida in 2020, a detailed analysis released in November by the state’s Medical Examiners Commission showed. That was 16.7 deaths a day from opioids as an official cause of death — the “highest total ever,” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said.
And an average 2.6 of those opioid deaths happened each day in Palm Beach County. That included 1.6 per day in the county dying from the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It was Florida’s deadliest drug, accounting for more than twice as many direct fatalities statewide as any other single contender including cocaine, alcohol or methamphetamines. 
Broward (611 deaths) and Palm Beach (572) counties led the state in deaths directly attributed to fentanyl in 2020. Fentanyl was present but not ruled the cause of death in another 62 cases in Palm Beach County.
Many people think of heroin when they hear the word opioids, but records tell an evolving story: Heroin-caused deaths fell by a third in Palm Beach County during 2020 to 138, the lowest total since 2014.
Opioids can come in many forms, including pills such as oxycodone. It is fentanyl, though, that wreaked unprecedented damage.
“Increasingly fentanyl, which is 100 times more powerful than morphine, is added surreptitiously to other illegally manufactured drugs to enhance their potency,” said John Hulick, senior program manager for the substance use disorders community service department of Palm Beach County. “While some drug users may be seeking out fentanyl, many may not have wanted to take it. Many people are dying without knowing what they are ingesting.”
A breakdown by age of the 572 fentanyl deaths in Palm Beach County in 2020 shows relatively few — 67, or less than 12% — involved people 25 years old or younger. Deaths occurred more frequently among people 26 to 34 years old (180), 35 to 50 (208) or older than 50 (117).

‘One death is too many’
Across Palm Beach County, “you’ll note the overdose deaths in 2021 are below 2020 and on par with the number of deaths experienced in 2019,” Hulick said. “My position is, while we prefer to see reductions and may never get to zero, one death is too many. The devastation of such experienced by families, friends and the community is enough to maintain that position.”
Reports late in 2021 showed the struggle is far from over. In October and November combined, overdose response calls tracked by Delray Beach police fell from 55 to 48 but deaths rose to 18, double the number in the same months a year earlier, Ciancio said.
October brought a 21-month peak for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue’s use of Narcan, according to records supplied by Hulick’s office. Reported fatal overdoses countywide reached a 2021 high of 70 in November, a total exceeded by only one month of 2020, though causes had yet to be confirmed by medical examiners in all cases.
Hulick spoke in Delray Beach at a September event that celebrated hard-won gains but also recognized how precarious progress can feel for people and families affected by addiction.
“Our work is not complete,” he said. “I am reminded of that day in and day out.”

Mary Hladky contributed to this story.

By Mary Hladky and Jane Smith

When a $26 billion deal was reached in July that required the pharmaceutical industry to help pay for the opioid addiction and overdose crisis, a framework was established to get that money to thousands of communities that have borne the brunt of the problem.
Florida and its cities and counties are slated to receive as much as $1.6 billion if the two settlements in the massive nationwide case against Johnson & Johnson and drug distributors Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson are finalized.
That’s an eye-popping amount. But as it is divvied up, each city’s and county’s share will fall far short of what the opioid epidemic has cost them.
In southeastern Palm Beach County, Boca Raton stands to get the biggest slice of that pie — a maximum of $1.2 million paid out over 18 years.
Delray Beach, the epicenter of the crisis in the county, could see nearly $900,000. Boynton Beach’s cut could be $783,000, according to allocations listed in the Florida Attorney General Office’s opioid settlements portal.
Gulf Stream could get $27,266; Highland Beach, $83,070; Lantana, $62,619; Manalapan, $55,275; Ocean Ridge, $32,671; and South Palm Beach, $14,990. Briny Breezes’ share is listed as $8,323, but Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro told the council to expect about $800 a year, which would be about $14,400.
Palm Beach County would be entitled to about $13 million.
“I think every single county is under the impression it was way less” than what each spent responding to the crisis, said Chief Assistant County Attorney David Ottey.
If the county had litigated the case on its own, “we would not be satisfied with that amount,” he said.
Various organizations have pegged the epidemic’s cost at many multiples of the settlement amounts. The Society of Actuaries found the costs in the U.S. were $630 billion from 2015 through 2018 alone, the Associated Press has reported.
Delray Beach officials are especially aggrieved that their share is so small when their burden was so large, and that the city trails Boca Raton, which was not as severely affected by opioid overdoses and deaths.
Nevertheless, Delray Beach joined the state of Florida in agreeing to the settlements, as did Boca Raton and Boynton Beach ahead of the Jan. 2 deadline, rather than leave money on the table.
“It’s super-disappointing to me to see actual figures when they came through, knowing that our neighboring town is going to see more of those dollars,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said at a Dec. 7 meeting of the City Commission. “And I know that they did not have as huge a crisis as we did in Delray Beach.
“There was not an hour in a day (in 2016 and 2017) when we were walking outside that we didn’t hear sirens running,” she said. “Our police and our fire staff were on the front end. They looked like they were in a war, watching young people die in front of them. It was terrible on a daily basis.”
Former Mayor Cary Glickstein, who led the city in 2016 when public safety officers responded to a record-high 690 overdoses and 65 fatalities and in 2018 when it filed a lawsuit that ultimately was rolled into the national litigation, also reacted with dismay.
“I think by any objective measure, the settlement is disappointing,” he said in a Dec. 8 email to The Coastal Star. “Delray’s portion of the settlement amount will do little to offset the addiction and mental health crises these drugs spawned by the defendants’ collective negligence and callous disregard for human life.”
He also faulted the metrics used to determine how much each local government would receive that favored Boca Raton over his city.
But Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer indicated his city had no control over the metrics used, and noted that since population was one factor, his city stood to receive a larger amount.
The city and county metrics are based on population numbers adjusted for their proportionate share of the nationwide impact of the opioid epidemic. Factors include the amount of opioids shipped to the state, the number of opioid-related deaths and the number of people who suffer opioid use disorder.
More than 500,000 have died from overdoses to prescription and illegal street opioids since 1999, according to federal data.
If the settlement agreements are finalized, the four companies would be bound by them. They would be released from all civil liability in the opioid epidemic and thousands of local governments and states would drop lawsuits against the companies.
But the agreements leave thousands of other lawsuits against many other defendants unresolved, including manufacturers, drugstore chains and smaller distributors. Many of those are negotiating their own deals, which could potentially bring more money to states, cities and counties.
After the agreements were reached, they went to states and their municipalities for formal approval. Most were expected to sign off on the proposals.
The Boca Raton City Council, for example, authorized City Manager Leif Ahnell to sign the settlement agreements on Nov. 23. Cities need not have filed a lawsuit to receive a payout, and Boca Raton and Boynton Beach were among those that chose not to do so.
The exact amount local governments get will be determined by how many of them sign on. The more that do, the more each state will receive. The states will then distribute the money to local governments.
Cities and counties will have numerous options on how they can spend the money. The settlements include approved uses for the funds that stretch over many pages, but generally revolve around opioid prevention, treatment and recovery services.

Joe Capozzi contributed to this story.

Although there’s déjà vu associated with the latest fast-spreading coronavirus variant, it feels less paralyzing than when we first learned of the coronavirus pandemic in December 2019. Yes. Two years ago. Hard to believe? Some days yes, some days no.
After we stocked up on home test kits in December 2021, it’s clear we’ve entered a new phase in this global health crisis. The hope is that 2022 will be a better year.
We now have free vaccines for all but the youngest children and booster shots, plus more and better treatment options to help us all get through the omicron outbreak. These are miracles of science we simply can’t take for granted. Imagine the global health crisis if these prevention and treatment options were never invented! Have doubts? Ask an emergency room doctor or nurse.
These are like the intensified security protocols initiated after 9/11 that made travel safer — although often annoying and less convenient. But our fears of a terrorist attack in the air have diminished. We learned that taking precautions works. Just ask a pilot or flight attendant.
Still, as this new year begins, it feels fragile.
After all, 2021 ended up being another heartbreaker for many even though it started with so much promise following the chaos and panic of 2020.
Good people still died from COVID-19 infections, schoolchildren continued struggling to find their way in an upside-down world, and some of us trudged through the last 12 months with an aching void from loved ones who left us when life just became too much. And although overdose numbers in our area dipped this past year as people went back to work and in-person addiction treatment resumed, the numbers of ODs are starting to inch back up.
And we can’t forget that, to date, 800,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
Surely, they haven’t died in vain. Let’s remember them — and everyone still struggling — as we enter the new year. Before we step into the future, let’s vow to learn from the past.
If we all do our part, 2022 should be a better year, right?
Happy New Year.

— Mary Kate Leming
Editor

Erika Petersen will take over as Manalapan town clerk when her mother, Lisa Petersen, retires this month after 18 years on the job. ‘The town residents are losing a wonderful, caring person,’ Manager Linda Stumpf says. Erika Petersen will be promoted from deputy clerk. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

The only thing typical about Lisa Petersen’s workdays are the atypical assignments that are sure to land on her desk in Manalapan.
When the county elections supervisor moved up municipal deadlines for candidate qualifying last year, Petersen hastily revamped the town’s schedule. When the coronavirus pandemic struck, she oversaw safety measures in Town Hall. When Police Chief Carmen Mattox had a leaking roof in his office, naturally he called Petersen, the town clerk.
“I don’t know how I got into roofing maintenance,” she said, “but that’s what you do in a small town. My job has changed through the years because I kept taking on more and more.”
When people move to Manalapan, Petersen leads the welcomes and when they move away, she sends farewells. When residents complain, she takes their phone calls, and when they ask questions, she looks for answers. She works with contractors, inspectors and grumpy neighbors.
Since she’s also director of the town’s library, Petersen, 66, runs its lecture series. It was Petersen who came up with the plan for a park and gazebo in the library’s backyard. “I think of the library as the heartbeat of the town,” she said.
For 18 years, Petersen has served Manalapan as concierge, referee, researcher, big sister, ambassador and, yes, municipal clerk.
But all that ends this month when she begins her retirement.
“I feel as though I’ve lost my right hand,” said Town Manager Linda Stumpf.
Petersen, Stumpf and Mattox call themselves “the triumvirate” — “we all bring different things to the table,” Petersen said. They have worked together in Manalapan for nearly two decades. In fact, Stumpf and former Manager Greg Dunham interviewed Petersen for the clerk’s job.
“Chief Mattox, Lisa and I have been through so many adventures in Manalapan,” Stumpf said. “I have had the best work colleague and best friend anyone could ask for. The town residents are losing a wonderful, caring person.”
Mayor Keith Waters said Petersen “epitomizes the elegance, character and gentle grace of this wonderful place we call home.”
“My father always told me, ‘It is not hard to recognize a winner when you see one,’’’ the mayor said, “and I am delighted to say that I recognized Lisa the moment we met.”
It’s not a stretch to say Petersen knows every address in Manalapan. “I have this thing for numbers,” she explained. “I can tell you everyone’s house number. It’s terrible because I use valuable brain cells for information I could easily look up.”
Originally from Augusta, Georgia, Petersen graduated from Florida State University, where she met her husband, Tom. His career in the space industry brought them to South Florida, and eventually to a home in Juno Beach.
Renovating that house is a project for the Petersens’ retirement, and there’s also a piece of property on the St. Johns River near Palatka where they hope to build a vacation home.
Spending time with her 3-year-old grandson, Soren, is on the agenda, too. His mother just happens to be the next town clerk of Manalapan. Petersen’s daughter, Erika, was hired as deputy clerk six months ago, and takes over as town clerk this month.
A graduate of Florida International University, Erika Petersen, 36, earned a master’s degree in architecture from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
“Erika will bring a lot more to the building side than my knowledge,” Lisa Petersen said. “She interned for the town during college. Everybody knows her. I tease her and say I’ve been training her since she was born to take my place.”
Manalapan will show its appreciation for Petersen on Jan. 27 with a party and celebration at the library.
“It’s been a wonderful 18 years,” she said. “I have no complaints. The residents have been so kind.”
Waters put it this way: “She will be sorely missed but never forgotten. Well done, Miss Lisa, well done!”

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Lettuce will supplement scarce seagrass in experiment after year in which state death toll exceeded 1,000 ­— double the recent average

Orlando Sentinel Editorial

There’s no way to pretend Florida’s manatees aren’t endangered. They are. In every sense of the word.
The official tally of deaths in 2021 stood at 1,075 as of Dec. 17. That’s more than twice the annual average of the last five years — and nearly one-sixth of the entire population of manatees in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.
In one year.
Even worse, the biggest factor in this “unusual mortality event,” as federal wildlife officials blandly tag it, is one that won’t be getting better any time soon. In fact, deaths may accelerate as Florida moves into colder-weather months.
The problem is simple and horrible: Manatees are starving to death, particularly in the Indian River Lagoon, where the ecosystem is in a state of wholesale collapse after decades of pollution and inaction on the part of local, state and federal officials. Dozens have been taken to various rehab centers across the state for a laborious, months-long recovery, but too often, the slow-moving mammals aren’t spotted until it’s too late to save them.
The peril is so great that manatee advocates along with state and federal officials have agreed to an unprecedented plan to supplement manatees’ diets in one key area with romaine lettuce. It’s a move that Pat Rose, longtime head of Florida’s Save the Manatee Club, never wanted to make.
Feeding manatees encourages them to linger in areas that have no other food source. But many are just too weak to make it to safer feeding grounds, and Rose — along with others — is too heartbroken and weary of watching manatee carcasses hauled in nearly every day.
“Hopefully it will buy time for the manatees that might not otherwise make it,” Rose said, noting that the feeding will be restricted to one specific area in Brevard County, though it may later be expanded. State scientists are also working to replant seagrass in areas where it might take root, and suspending spraying of herbicides so manatees can eat floating vegetation as well. They hope it will be enough to save at least some of the manatees that are most threatened. But they fear it won’t be.
The manatees aren’t the only ones suffering. The vanished seagrass beds where they once foraged were also prime spawning grounds for the wide variety of fish, crustaceans and other sea life that make the Indian River Lagoon one of the most diverse estuaries in the nation.
And if dollars and cents matter more to you than fish and wading birds, consider this: The lagoon is a multi-billion-dollar driver of the coastal economy from south Volusia down into Palm Beach County. Massive algae blooms have, in past years, turned portions of the lagoon into a fetid soup often compared to rancid guacamole. Imagine how many tourists want to return after seeing (and smelling) that.
Many are beginning to wonder whether the lagoon has passed the point of no return. Now they’re asking the same question about the manatee population.
The same scientists and environmental advocates have been sounding the alarm about the lagoon for more than a decade. And they were almost completely ignored in 2017, when (after years of insidious attempts) a politically masterminded ploy resulted in an official downgrade of manatees’ protected status under the Endangered Species Act.
It’s time to undo that. If it takes political machinations to accomplish it, so be it. U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan and Darren Soto have filed legislation that would fast-track the manatees’ restoration to endangered status — a move U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy has also endorsed — and it should pass.
That would force officials to give greater consideration to manatees’ well-being on several levels of decision-making, including development planning and boat-speed zones, and could lead to increased resources for emergency measures.
It’s not an ideal solution, since it would accelerate past scientific evidence-gathering that could put a clearer light on the manatees’ peril and prospects for recovery. And it is only a small part of the bigger reality: If Florida and federal officials don’t act swiftly to rescue the entire lagoon system, there will be no saving any of the birds, fish and mammals that call it home. But the manatees don’t have time to wait for a perfect solution; they need help now.

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

Editorials are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board and are written by one of its members or a designee. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com.

By Jane Smith

With a lawsuit looming and no suitors to manage Delray Beach’s historic arts and culture center, the city is trying to cobble together a team to manage the Old School Square campus once the lease — canceled last year by the city — expires Feb. 9.
No company responded last month to the city’s “invitation to negotiate,” a process that allows the city to enter discussions with interested firms.
“With a pending lawsuit against the city, it’s not surprising,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said last month. “We continue to keep the campus active with events organized through our Parks and Recreation Department.
“Once we get on the other side of the lawsuit, we will see some interest,” Petrolia said.
In the interim, the city will use its parks department, which has managed several weddings, bar mitzvahs and other events during the past several months, and back it up with the Downtown Development Authority and Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, City Manager Terrence Moore wrote in a Dec. 17 weekly roundup.
Moore added that he would update the City Commission on Jan. 4.
OSS managers sued the city Nov. 5 and claimed the City Commission’s Aug. 10 vote to terminate the lease was improper and did not allow the OSS managers to remove their equipment, paintings, furniture and accessories acquired by the nonprofit organization over the past three decades.
It further alleges the city stopped a $1.2 million renovation of the Crest Theatre and failed to allow them “to quietly hold, occupy and enjoy the premises.”
The city countered on Dec. 9 that the suit should be dismissed “with prejudice” because it was little more than a “shotgun pleading,” throwing more than 200 allegations against the wall and hoping something would stick.
The response notes the suit is “comprised of 206 factual allegations, with each of the fifteen Counts incorporating and re-alleging all of the Complaint’s 206 factual allegations, leaving the defendants to speculate as to which allegations relate to which Count,” the response notes.
Petrolia and commissioners Shirley Johnson and Juli Casale voted to terminate the contract because OSS managers had repeatedly failed to provide accounting of how they had spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars given to OSS over the years.
The city contends Petrolia and Johnson were entitled to immunity for decisions made in their official roles.
Casale hired her own attorney “that is personally known to me,” who contends in court filings that she, too, is entitled to immunity.
OSS supporters claim the vote was taken without public notice. The city contends the commissioners followed the terms of the lease.
The vote, and the resulting public outcry orchestrated in no small part by OSS directors and supporters, prompted eight former mayors to write a letter that the OSS publicist sent on Dec. 8 to media outlets.
“While the Old School Square termination is what’s on everyone’s mind, we see a similar pattern in the general culture of division and polarization in our city politics that has led to costly turnover and litigation,” the former mayors wrote. “It’s not the ‘Delray Way.’”
They suggested holding “a charrette to gain public input on the future of Old School Square.”
Petrolia declined to comment on the letter because of the pending suit.
Joy Howell, a former OSS board chair, also was named in the suit. Her attorney contracted COVID-19 and received an extension to file a response, as did Shannon Eadon, a former OSS executive director. Neither response was available at press time.

Hearing set
A Jan. 18 hearing is scheduled before Circuit Court Judge John Kastrenakes to decide whether OSS managers can receive expedited mediation in the case.
Delray Beach taxpayers own the nearly 4-acre OSS campus. It is deed restricted and must remain an arts, cultural and educational center. If it does not, the property reverts to the Palm Beach County School District.
The campus has five entertainment venues: the Field House, the Crest Theatre, the Creative Arts School, the Cornell Art Museum and the Pavilion.
Sam Metott, the city’s parks and recreation director, wrote in a Dec. 16 email that his department can oversee the Field House events.
“We may require some assistance with the Cornell Art Museum as that involves a more distinct set of capabilities for curation and the daily functions,” Metott wrote. “Lastly, outdoor events” — such as concerts on the Pavilion stage — “involves additional planning, scheduling, and on-site logistics. Any support in that area would be beneficial.”
Toward that end, the DDA is expected to host its annual Fashion Week in February on the OSS campus instead of the Colony Hotel, Petrolia said.
“We are looking forward to helping guide and bring more community events to our downtown and city,” Laura Simon, DDA executive director, wrote via a Dec. 21 text message in response to a Coastal Star question about the DDA’s role.
Meanwhile, even though its lease expires in less than six weeks, the OSS board sent out a pre-Christmas email seeking contributions, noting that “with your help we will rise stronger than ever to bring generations of friends and patrons all the joy Old School Square has to offer.”

By Joe Capozzi

The Ocean Ridge Police Department plans to launch programs in 2022 aimed at providing more visible anti-crime enforcement and preventing car theft.
Police Chief Richard Jones will discuss the programs on Jan. 5 at a special Town Hall meeting. The meeting, which doubles as a meet-and-greet for residents and the new police chief, starts at 5:30 p.m.
“We will talk about crime trends and what neighbors and residents can do to protect themselves,’’ said Jones, who took over when Hal Hutchins retired in August.
Starting Jan. 10, Jones will launch a targeting enforcement initiative called the “ACE Team,’’ which stands for aggressive criminal enforcement. It will be made up of three officers who will work unique schedules in response to crimes like car thefts. 
For example, if a home is burglarized at 3 a.m., the ACE group might patrol the vicinity in which the burglary occurred the next night from midnight to 5 a.m. 
Although criminals might not return to the scene the next day, the ACE team’s presence in the area could result in vehicle stops for traffic violations and suspicious activity, possibly leading to arrests for outstanding warrants or in connection with stolen cars. 
“It’s not that the same person is going to come back and commit a crime, but when we are a soft target because we leave our cars unlocked and our keys in them, they find success once, then chances are they’ll return to find another unlocked car with keys inside,’’ Jones said. 
The ACE officers will offer a deterrent through increased presence and activity.
“Whatever we can do to put the message out to the criminal element that you can come here if you want, but be prepared, if you are here to commit crimes you will likely be encountered by the police and if there’s a reason for you to go to jail, you’re going to go to jail,’’ Jones said.
The group was launched partly in response to two car thefts on Dec. 1, one on Bimini Cove Drive and one on Harbour Drive North. In both cases, the cars were left unlocked with the keys likely left inside, Jones said. 
Those two car thefts helped spur a second initiative, called a Neighborhood License Plate Recognition program, that will employ enhanced cameras mounted inside participating neighborhoods.
The new cameras will supplement the town’s existing license plate recognition cameras that were installed three years ago around Ocean Ridge.
“That system is not flawless and it doesn’t work for certain functions,’’ Jones said.
Island Drive and Island Drive South residents have volunteered to pay for the first new camera in the Neighborhood License Plate Recognition program. It will cost $2,500 a year. 
Jones hopes to purchase cameras for other neighborhoods in 2022. 
A third program, called the Combat Auto Theft initiative and used in other towns in Florida, will be launched if commissioners approve an ordinance creating it. 
The CAT program would invite residents to participate. They would receive special reflective program-designated stickers to put on their cars in a place visible to police.
“If we see your vehicle on the street from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., it gives us reason to stop your vehicle. Most likely all residents in town are home or in bed during those hours. If we turn our blue lights on and you pull over, it probably means a resident is driving,’’ Jones said. 
“But if we turn our blue lights on and the car takes off, it was probably stolen. It’s important because then we want to check on the homeowner to make sure they’re OK.’’ 
Through late December, Ocean Ridge had six car thefts in 2021, one fewer than the total thefts for 2020 and one more than the total for 2019. 
“It’s common for us to have a stolen car or two here and there. That’s normal,’’ Jones said. 
But he said most of those thefts are preventable if residents don’t leave their cars unlocked with the keys or key fobs inside. 
“Too many times residents feel like this is a safe neighborhood and that no crime happens here, but that’s not entirely true,’’ he said. “It is a safe community, but it is not crime free.”

Ocean Ridge car thefts
2015   11 
2016    8
2017    3
2018    8
2019    5 
2020    7
2021    6 as of Dec. 17 

SOURCE: Town of Ocean Ridge

By Joe Capozzi

Council members are considering changes to the town code that would turn up the volume on allowable noise levels in South Palm Beach. 
But peace-and-quiet advocates needn’t worry: The Town Council doesn’t intend to allow much more of a racket than most residents are already used to hearing. 
The aim of the proposed changes is to help accommodate condominium generators that kick on during power outages. 
Many of those generators, as well as other machinery such as air-conditioning units and the town’s generator and pump station, give off noise emissions that exceed 60 decibels, the current maximum allowed in the town code — with the exception of motor vehicles and lawn mowers.
“As a reference point, I am talking at 62 DBA,’’ Town Manager Robert Kellogg, speaking through a microphone at Town Hall, told the council on Dec. 14. “So anybody giving a presentation is exceeding the town’s decibel levels.’’ 
The town decided to look at revising the noise levels after the Concordia condominiums requested permission to install a new generator in the parking lot. That generator will emit 70 decibels when running at full power. 
“I’m certain other generators in town at other condos exceed that 60 DBA” limit, Kellogg said. “Short of requiring additional muffling, buffering or screening on these generators, I don’t know what the other solution would be.’’
He said a review of surrounding communities showed that “most have similar or lower DBAs than we do.’’ 
Kellogg will offer the commission a proposal of changes in January. Options may include allowing exemptions for certain uses at certain hours. 
The proposed changes are being reviewed as the town is trying to address a complaint by a Concordia resident about noise from the air-conditioning units at a condo next door to the north, The Barclay.
A special magistrate Dec. 22 ruled The Barclay was violating the town’s noise ordinance and gave the condo until Jan. 25 to come into compliance. “This is a tricky situation because I can just see Pandora’s box being opened up because a complaint has been filed against The Barclay by a Concordia resident. Concordia wants a new generator. I don’t think there’s a good solution to this problem, to be honest with you,’’ Kellogg said. 
Changes to the town code might be the most viable solution. 
“Technology has changed and generators are much quieter than they used to be, but they still would exceed the town’s limit,’’ Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said. “How can we approve a generator that we know is going to violate our code? ‘Yes, you can do this, but we’re going to ding you with a code citation?’’’
Bill Ellis, president of the board of directors for the Concordia, said the new outside generator, which will replace a 40-year-old generator that “completely died,’’ will cost the condo about $150,000 less than a generator that sits indoors. 
The outdoor generator will run on natural gas, allowing the condo to “get rid of diesel fuel” that has been stored on site. 
In other business, the council heard a 30-minute water quality presentation from Darrel J. Graziani, the assistant director for the West Palm Beach Public Utilities Department.
West Palm Beach supplies water to the town, and Graziani said the water is safe. 
In June, Mayor Bonnie Fischer said the city needed to do a better job of notifying the town’s water customers when problems arise. It took West Palm Beach officials about eight days in May to announce that the city’s water had an unacceptably high level of the blue-green algae contaminant cylindrospermopsin and posed a risk to physically vulnerable customers.
Speaking to Graziani on Dec. 14, Fischer said: “I don’t drink the water anyway, I have to be honest with you. … West Palm Beach water has not touched my lips for 45 years. Not that I say drinking out of plastic is any better.’’

Joseph Jean paints a scene of the Barefoot Mailman on a tiny library while library director Kristine Kreidler talks with Jonathan Simplice, who takes a break from his painting. They were among volunteers building and painting the structures; a $3,000 grant will buy books. The six libraries will go into town parks and the Recreation Center. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

The Lantana Public Library is getting bigger.
And smaller.
As workers labor to complete an $811,000 expansion to the library building at 205 W. Ocean Ave., director Kristine Kreidler is overseeing the installation of six small branch libraries all around town.
Very small branch libraries.
Extremely small.
The Little Free Libraries are coming to Lantana. When the renovation is completed in March, the main library will be about 1,000 square feet larger, with a centralized circulation desk, special areas for children and teens, and a new meeting room where the former bank’s drive-thru used to be.
By early January, however, a half dozen Little Free Libraries, colorfully painted wooden houses with doors and windows, will already have appeared, filled with books free for the taking.
Look for them at Maddock Park, Bicentennial Park, Municipal Beach Park, the Nature Preserve, McKinley Park on Hypoluxo Island, and the town’s Recreation Center at 418 S. Dixie Highway, where the library is temporarily housed during construction.
“Take a book,” passersby will be urged. “Leave a book.”
The Little Free Libraries are being paid for by a $3,000 grant obtained from the American Library Association by Lantana librarian Jane Smith.
The grant had been expected to pay for only the construction of the miniature libraries until Hypoluxo Island resident Gene Work volunteered to build them.
The painting was done by students from South Tech Academy and local elementary and middle schools.
“I painted the sailboat on the red box that’s going in Bicentennial Park,” Kreidler boasts, then pauses. “But we may hire a real artist.”
With the libraries built and painted by volunteers, the entire grant will buy books to fill them. And because the libraries are little, top priority will go to books for little people.
“We’ll have adult books, too,” Kreidler is quick to note, “but all the studies agree on the importance of early access to books in a child’s development. It’s not easy for a lot of kids to walk to our library, so this is an easy access to encourage reading.”

Original library was small
With the arrival of the Little Free Libraries, local historians will recall that the town’s original library was also very little.
In 1947, the Lantana Woman’s Club initiated today’s library with a lending collection of 900 books, donated by the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and housed in the Lantana Community Church on Oak Street.
By 1951, both the book collection and church membership had grown so large a new location was needed. The town (pop. 773) couldn’t afford to build a library, and the Woman’s Club couldn’t afford to rent space.
Fortunately, there had been a hurricane.
A 1947 storm had destroyed the wooden bridge to Hypoluxo Island, and when a new, concrete bridge was built, the wooden bridge tender’s house, which survived, was moved to a spot by the waterway.
In 1952, the Town Council leased that small house to the Woman’s Club for $1 a year, and again volunteers appeared to spruce up the house and build shelves and furniture.
Today’s library building arrived in 1995, purchased by the town for $226,000 after the Carteret Federal Savings and Loan succumbed to the financial crisis of the late 1980s.
The original bridge tender’s house is now at Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

A global initiative
The international Little Free Library project grew from equally humble beginnings.
In 2009, a man named Todd Bol built a model of a one-room schoolhouse and stuck it on a post in the front yard of his Hudson, Wisconsin, home as a tribute to his mother, a schoolteacher who, of course, loved books.
Friends and neighbors wanted one. Bol built more.
When Rick Brooks of the University of Wisconsin at Madison saw Bol’s miniature libraries, he brought a bigger idea to the little project.
In the early 20th century, multimillionaire Andrew Carnegie — of Hall fame — had paid to build 2,508 free public libraries. Brooks and Bol decided they would try to establish 2,508 Little Libraries by the end of 2013.
They beat their goal by a year and a half, and today the Little Free Library organization (littlefreelibrary.org) boasts more then 100,000 LFLs all over the world.
Now six of them are in Lantana.
“I’m excited,” Kreidler says. “We’d like people to bring back the book they take and donate one of their own books for others to enjoy, but you don’t have to.”
And she’s not stopping there.
The library has already secured a state Library Services and Technology grant for $50,000 to install a “radio frequency identification device” — a code reader that scans books for checkout or to find misplaced titles on the shelves.
Kreidler would also like to establish a StoryWalk in the Nature Preserve, a series of 30 panels that tell a different story every month.
“And more little libraries, of course,” she says.

Lantana librarian Jane Smith is a freelance contributor to The Coastal Star.

By Jane Smith

Former City Manager Mark Lauzier lost his wrongful dismissal lawsuit against Delray Beach in a jury trial that ended before 2 p.m. Dec. 16.
Lauzier was seeking $248,659 in severance for five months of pay and benefits, seven months of paid leave and 12 months of health insurance benefits, his attorney, Isidro “Sid” Garcia, said in closing arguments that morning in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
“We are disappointed in the outcome and believe there are numerous grounds for appeal of court rulings that impacted the verdict,” Garcia wrote in a text message the next day. “We are considering appellate options.”
Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia was happy the taxpayers would not have to pay Lauzier anything.
“We will seek attorneys’ fees for the city,” she said.
The mayor did not know the amount spent on the more than 2-year-old lawsuit.
Petrolia, who testified as a witness, attended the closing “to show the jury that the city cared about the case.”
The judge instructed the jury about 11:50 a.m. and the jury reached a unanimous verdict less than two hours later, including time to eat lunch.
City commissioners unanimously fired Lauzier on March 1, 2019, after 16 months on the job. He filed a two-count lawsuit against the city on April 29 that year.
The first count, for whistleblower protection, was tossed out by a different Circuit Court judge on Nov. 18, 2019.
Lauzier had claimed the mayor fired him in retaliation for his denying her voucher for airplane tickets for herself and one of her sons to Tallahassee. (Petrolia said she was tending to family problems and forgot to reimburse the city for her son’s airline ticket.)
Shortly after Lauzier was hired in November 2017 he rewrote the city’s personnel manual so that it favored his choices. He did not update the City Charter or alert the mayor, as was required, according to a city audit.
Julia Davidyan, the city’s internal auditor, also found that Lauzier hired inexperienced staff at high salaries and promoted his assistant to an assistant city manager position when she did not have the required experience. Davidyan also was a witness at the trial.
City commissioners received her report in late February 2019. Commissioner Ryan Boylston met with Lauzier on Feb. 26, 2019.
But Boylston was not satisfied with Lauzier’s answers and wanted to call the commission together to discuss the auditor’s concerns. City policy, though, allows only the city manager and mayor to call a meeting.
Boylston then reached the city attorney, who called the mayor to let her know that a colleague wanted to hold a special meeting. The city attorney explained why, and the mayor agreed to call the meeting. Boylston also testified in the case.
Six weeks before Lauzier was fired he received a 4% raise, Garcia told the jury, trying to bolster the claim that Lauzier was wrongfully fired.
But Garcia did not say the vote was 3-2 with Petrolia and Commissioner Shirley Johnson against giving Lauzier a raise.
At an annual salary of $244,000, Lauzier was then the highest-paid Delray Beach employee.
He is now the budget manager for St. Lucie County government in Fort Pierce.
Delray Beach commissioners also fired Lauzier’s successor, George Gretsas, after five months on the job. Terrence Moore was named city manager in August, becoming Delray Beach’s fifth city manager in eight years.

By Jane Smith

One block of George Bush Boulevard, between Northeast Sixth and Northeast Seventh avenues, will close completely starting Jan. 3 through Jan. 17, the Delray Beach Public Works director said at the Dec. 14 City Commission meeting.
Contractors will make utility repairs and improve the drainage, Missie Barletto said.
Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians traveling west on George Bush Boulevard will follow this detour: Turn south on Northeast Seventh Avenue, then west on Northeast Seventh Street to Northeast Sixth Avenue, then north on Northeast Sixth to George Bush Boulevard.
Those traveling east will be directed to take this path: Turn south on Northeast Fifth Avenue to Northeast Seventh Street, turn east on Northeast Seventh Street to Northeast Seventh Avenue, then north on Northeast Seventh Avenue to return to George Bush Boulevard.
The $2 million of improvements to George Bush Boulevard, from Northeast Second Avenue to A1A, started in July and are estimated to end in summer 2023.
The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency is paying for the work, which includes milling and resurfacing the road with utilities and drainage improvements, 5-foot sidewalks and bike lanes.
The work does not include improvements to the steel grate bascule bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.
Florida Department of Transportation contractors are doing the work. The main contractor is Hardrives of Delray Inc.

By Steve Plunkett

Town commissioners bounced back plans for a two-story home on a cove off the Intracoastal Waterway as too big, telling the advisory Architectural Review and Planning Board to revisit the structure’s overall massing.
Also criticized at the Dec. 10 meeting were applicants James and Nadia Davis’ requests for a special exception to the backyard setback, the design of the master suite and east side of the house facing the cove, landscaping and choice of window frame color.
Mayor Scott Morgan led the charge against the home at 588 Banyan Road in the town’s core district.
“I just looked at the photograph of the proposed residence and it takes up a good chunk of the property. And frankly, in my opinion there’s an overwhelming massing to this house,” Morgan said.
The mayor wanted reasons for a special exception to be granted “outside of the desire to move the home further south to expand the size of the building.”
Architect Benjamin Schreier said the house already was well under what Gulf Stream’s rules require. The first floor was designed to be 8,699 square feet instead of the permitted 8,720 and the second floor was 2,625 square feet instead of 3,031. Also, the height of the second-story roof was 28 feet 10 inches, well below the permitted 35 feet.
That, the design’s Anglo Caribbean style and “the way that the massing has been broken down so there’s a village-like character to it rather than one big block” made it qualify for approval, he said.
“Really?” Morgan responded. “You think this meets the characteristic of a small village which is the definition of the core district’s character?”
Schreier also argued that he had consciously tried to limit the size of the home.
“First of all, in terms of its massiveness we are a full 6 feet below the allowable height,” he said. “I know we’ve been very sensitive to what might appear as mass.” But the mayor fretted that “we’re seeing this more and more as people are building new homes. They’re going bigger and bigger.”
Morgan said the plan lacked a village feel.
“This is a very large house that’s seeking even additional setback variance to put a large home on a lot that’s going to be visible to every other home in that cove,” Morgan said.
The current allowable size of the house was partly the result of a previous decision the commission made, Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
The Davises bought the property for $4.5 million in April 2018. They soon asked the town to abandon a 2,500-square-foot right-of-way on Banyan Road that jutted into their peninsular parcel.
“We have no current plans to build a new house, so any theoretical benefit in setbacks or buildable square footage is option value, at best, to us,” they advised the town in November 2020.
Town Manager Greg Dunham advised commissioners then that abandoning the right-of-way would add 500 square feet to the maximum allowable first floor, making the total 8,720 square feet instead of 8,220 square feet.
Commissioners approved the abandonment in December 2020 after the Davises paid a $200,000 “privilege fee” patterned after a similar procedure in Palm Beach.
“We created this, by the way, when we sold off that piece to Mr. Davis,” Orthwein said at the Dec. 10, 2021, meeting.
Also at the meeting, Bill Boardman, a 17-year resident on the east side of Polo Drive, noted that the Davises’ existing home has only one story. “The roof really in most places is no higher than the surrounding trees. You can barely see the house.”
A disappointed Schreier said the ARPB had approved and even complimented his proposed design. “This is completely unanticipated,” he said.
But Morgan was steadfast in his desire to protect the core’s quaint nature.
“You see what happens in Delray … you’ve seen our neighboring towns, what’s happened to them,” Morgan said. “Manalapan’s a perfect example. I think it’s already gone.”
The mayor said Gulf Stream’s design manual outweighed the town’s numerical rules for construction at the site.
“I don’t think it’s consistent with the district definition ... which requires us to consider the characteristics. It mandates that we consider them, and I think we need to consider them,” he said.
“This is an opportunity to refocus the town on that which is preserving its overall character, which means preserving the neighborhood characteristics,” he added.
Later in the meeting commissioners discussed what changes could be made to encourage building one-story homes and discourage two-story proposals. Among the suggestions: making the front setback deeper for two-story structures, pushing them farther from the street. Commissioner Paul Lyons said with higher finished-floor elevations now required, side setbacks should also be examined to protect the backyard privacy of neighbors.

Kevin Anderson of Gulf Stream says time away from tennis is more important since his 2-year-old daughter, Keira, was born. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

It’s been close to a decade since Kevin Anderson and his wife, Kelsey, settled in Gulf Stream, soon after he won his first ATP title outside his native South Africa at the 2012 Delray Beach Open.
The memory of hoisting that trophy has not faded.
“I remember that tournament very well,” Anderson said. “Really good matches, and it was a very meaningful event for me. (Winning) doesn’t happen every week.
“At the time I’d actually moved here, and it’s where I train, so winning the tournament gave a little extra meaning to it,” he said.
Anderson, 35, has compiled an impressive résumé since turning pro in 2007. He has a 76-47 record in majors, reached the finals of the 2017 U.S. Open and 2018 Wimbledon, and attained a career-high No. 5 world ranking in July 2018, becoming the first South African to reach the top five since Kevin Curren in 1985.
Those numbers might be even better if not for three of his contemporaries in what has often been called the golden age of tennis. He’s the same age as Rafael Nadal, one year older than Novak Djokovic and five younger than Roger Federer. The big three have won 20 Grand Slam titles each.
“That’s been tough,” Anderson admitted. “The two Grand Slam finals I played in were against one of those guys. They have so much experience, so it wasn’t easy. It’s been quite remarkable what they’ve been able to do.
“In some ways it’s been tough, but they’ve also been able to grow the sport, so it’s a bit of a curse and a blessing.”
Wimbledon 2018 was one of the highlights of Anderson’s career. He came back from two sets down to beat Federer in the quarterfinals, winning the final set 13-11, then beat John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set before losing to Djokovic in the final.
“The opportunity to play and come up on top of him was a great memory, a great experience,” Anderson said of the Federer match. “That hasn’t always been the case.”
Anderson got a life-altering experience when Kelsey, whom Anderson met when they were athletes at the University of Illinois, gave birth to their daughter, Keira, in September 2019.
“It sort of exaggerates the difference between life on and off the court,” he said. “On the court I’ve always been motivated, so there’s no big change there.
“But it’s more about coming home and spending time with Keira and my wife, having this different responsibility. That’s the biggest change. I’m going to be in Australia now and away for a month, but it’s part of the job. So, you get used to FaceTime and all that.”
After struggling with injuries in recent years, Anderson said he had “a good offseason” of training and was optimistic as he headed out in December for this month’s Australian Open. His world ranking stood at No. 80.
“Getting healthy is the difference between practicing and competing in terms of the strength and the body,” he said, “but all I can do is prepare the best I can.”

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. I attended St. Stithians high school. I moved to the United States in 2005 and went to the University of Illinois on a tennis scholarship. This, combined with my travels for tennis which took me around the world, really allowed me to interact with so many different people and experience different cultures. I think one of the main areas this influenced me is being able to relate to many kinds of people.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: My whole life has been dedicated to tennis. From the time I was a little kid my dreams and aspirations were to be a professional tennis player. I never pursued any other type of profession. My most proud accomplishment would be making the finals of Wimbledon in 2018, reaching my career-high ranking of 5 in the world, and representing South Africa in the Olympic Games.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: You have to work hard, believe in yourself and be patient. Anything that is worth achieving takes a lot of work, there is no substitute for putting in the hours in your chosen field. You have to believe in your abilities and believe in your goals. Surround yourself with people who share in your dreams and support you. There will always be people who will try to dissuade you, but you need to confidently quiet their voices. Lastly, the road to success is always up and down. You have to remain patient and learn from both the positive and negative experiences.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Gulf Stream?
A: Delray is host to the ATP 250 event hosted at the Delray Tennis Center in February. I played this event a couple times so it brought me to Delray Beach. My wife was born in West Palm Beach so she knew the area. We came down to spend the Fourth of July weekend in 2012 and really liked so many things about Delray Beach. We bought a condo nearby in Gulf Stream and moved here in the beginning of 2013.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?
A: I love being near the small-town beach feel that Delray Beach and this area offers; great restaurants, family-owned businesses, fun local events all really add to the feel. The beach and the outdoor weather all year long also is something that I really like. Lastly, as the years have gone on we have gotten to know more and more people. Many share the same love for the area and we have connected well with the wonderful people who call this area home.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I am reading a series of books called The Stormlight Archive. I really enjoy fantasy books and this is one of the best series I have read.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I really enjoy classical music — at the end of the day I’ll often find a Spotify playlist that goes over some of the old great classical music pieces. When I want something more upbeat I like listening to classic rock.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My dad coached me from the time I started playing tennis. But more than just tennis he taught me the value of hard work, sacrifice and pushing yourself to be the best you can be. This mind-set has really shaped my life’s journey so far.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: One of my favorite actors is Matt Damon, so that would be my choice.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: I’m a big Ricky Gervais fan; he makes me laugh every time I watch or re-watch him. I have a pretty dry sense of humor at times, so a well-timed sarcastic joke will get a smile out of me.

A Dec. 19 rainstorm flooded roads on Hypoluxo Island, including near McKinley Park around Southeast Atlantic Drive and Beach Curve Road, where the town put up a sign to warn drivers. Photo provided by Media Beverly

By Mary Thurwachter

After a heavy downpour early on Dec. 19, residents of Hypoluxo Island awakened to flooded garages and roads turned to rivers.
Town officials were up early to survey the area.
One of the first on the scene was Lantana Council member Mark Zeitler, who left his car at his mainland home, opting for his 1978 Dodge truck to better navigate swampy streets.
“I don’t remember seeing the water this high before,” said Zeitler, who grew up in Lantana. “I had a paper route on the island in the ’70s and I don’t remember anything like this.”
How deep was the water?
Ken Hilgendorf gauged it by walking on the street in front of his North Atlantic Drive home.
“I’m 6-4 and the water was up around my knees, so about 2 feet,” he said. The water crept up to the edge of his garage. “A little more rain and it would have been inside,” he said. His neighbor’s garage did flood.
The deluge wasn’t any less on South Atlantic Drive, where street signs alerted motorists to flooding and “no wake zones” and a few cars around Beach Curve Road near McKinley Park had to be towed. The island has been plagued with flooding for decades and the town has done extensive drain, sewer and road improvements over the years.
Islander Michelle Donahue said on Facebook: “Wow!! Crazy flooding in Hypoluxo Island today.”
Town Manager Brian Raducci sent a message to residents later in the day: “Apparently, we received four inches of rain between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. That in combination with high tide and a full moon has created the flooding issues that we are experiencing.

The flooding, a result of about 4 inches of rain and high tides, inundated portions of North Atlantic Drive, where the water drained after several hours. Photo provided

“All systems appear to be working properly at this time, but it will take some time for them to catch up. … Hopefully we won’t get any more rain today so we may dry out a little bit.”
Floodwaters were down after several hours on North Atlantic Drive, but took another day on South Atlantic. The damage was mostly the cleanup required for some garages, streets and lawns.
Lantana Operations Director Eddie Crockett weighed in via email to The Coastal Star: “There was a significant amount of flooding on Hypoluxo Island and in other parts of the town. We received about four inches of rain in a short period of time which overwhelmed the capacity of our stormwater infrastructure.
“The pumps on the island functioned at full capacity for about seven hours. We responded and continued those efforts throughout Sunday.”
Crockett said stormwater systems are maintained weekly and during and after each rain event. “The island experiences similar events of this magnitude several times a year.” 
But some islanders thought this time was more severe.
“Have lived here 35 years and this is the worst I have seen, and I was here before the pumping system on Beach Curve/park was installed,” Gretel Andrea Babkie wrote on Facebook. “I believe the increased building of larger homes, loss of foliage and homes being built higher also contribute.”
Before his tour of the island, Zeitler visited the Sea Pines neighborhood, which is known to have flooding problems. That area fared much better, he said. “It drained down so fast. That made me happy.”

By Joe Capozzi

Briny Breezes is about to replace all 69 light fixtures in town with new energy-efficient LED lights. 
The Town Council on Dec. 9 approved a plan to have Florida Power & Light replace the fixtures sometime in 2022.
The new fixtures, part of a green energy initiative by the utility, won’t cost the town a penny.
They’re expected to lower the town’s electrical costs to FPL by $500 or $600 a year. 
“It’s a savings and it’s an upgrade aesthetically,’’ Town Manager William Thrasher said.
When the work would start was not worked out. But Thrasher said he would ask FPL to begin in April at the earliest at the request of Council President Sue Thaler. 
“We’ve had so much going on with road construction and the water line project. I really would like a chance personally to just enjoy the property,’’ she said. 
The project will include three new fixtures on Old Ocean Boulevard that will meet regulations protecting sea turtles. 
In other business:
• Mayor Gene Adams told the council he’d like to serve another term, even though he was disqualified from the March 8 election because of a paperwork error. 
“Thank you, Gene. I think that’s reassuring to people who thought you didn’t want to be the mayor any more,’’ Thaler said in jest. 
Since no one filed to challenge incumbents Kathy Gross and Christina Adams, the election was canceled. But under city charter rules, the council must decide at its first meeting after the date of the election whether to appoint Adams or another candidate as mayor. His term expires March 8.
If the council fails to take action at that meeting, the town will have to hold a special election.
One resident clapped in support of Adams, and Ocean Ridge Mayor Kristine de Haseth, who also attended the meeting, told the council she hopes Adams returns as mayor. 
• Ocean Ridge will continue to provide police services to Briny Breezes for three more years. Briny Breezes’ three-year police contract expired Sept. 30, but the town agreed to exercise a three-year option.
For each of those next three years, Briny will pay Ocean Ridge $196,690, $202,591 and $208,668 for police service. Under the current contract, Briny is paying $190,962 this year and it paid $185,400 the prior year and $180,000 the year before that.
• The council voted to spend up to $7,000 to have an attorney draft revisions to the town’s land uses that would allow alternative housing styles.

We may not have snow or even much chilly weather, but in classic South Florida form, we celebrate the holidays.

Photos by Tim Stepien, Rachel S. O'Hara and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The Boynton Beach/Delray Beach boat parade on Dec. 10 had dozens of entries, including this one with Santa’s ship being led by a red-nosed dolphin.

Members of Sunshine Junkanoo perform in Boca Raton’s 50th annual Christmas Street Parade held on Dec. 8. The parade’s theme was ’What Are You Streaming?’ The event featured more than 50 floats and groups that entertained viewers, bringing dance, lights and song to Federal Highway in downtown Boca. Judges for the evening were Joanna Marie Kaye, executive director of Festival of the Arts Boca; Cary Roman, founder of LivingFla.com; and Shayne Wright, sports director at WPBF-TV.

The Seagate neighborhood in Delray Beach held a holiday gathering at its designated Cocktail Corner on Dec. 12, featuring an Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest and Holiday Golf Cart Parade. Several of the contestants dance and display their sweaters to voters and neighbors in a sometimes offbeat celebration.

Commissioner Martin Wiescholek dressed as Rudolph and Richard Hurwitz as Santa greet residents during Ocean Ridge’s second annual Holiday Golf Cart Parade on Dec. 11.

Ace, 2, and Kona, 5, are dressed in their finest ugly sweaters for the Dog Friendly Ugly Sweater Contest put on by the nonprofit Salty Dog Paddle surf brand and Death or Glory bar on Nov. 28 in Delray Beach. Their owners, John Wagner and Amanda Merrigan of Lake Worth Beach, saw the event advertised and were excited to get into the holiday spirit with their dogs.

By  Joe Capozzi

Town commissioners have endorsed a plan to enhance Ocean Ridge’s code enforcement procedures with a new approach aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance with the town code.
If the measure is passed on second reading in early 2022, the Code Enforcement section of the town code would be renamed the Community Standards section and would include a new option for residents and visitors to comply with common violations by paying a fine similar to a parking ticket. 
“What we’re doing is trying to create some efficiencies and effectiveness,’’ Town Attorney Christy Goddeau said Dec. 6 before the Town Commission unanimously approved the plan on first reading.
The Community Standards officers would be able to issue citations for such common violations as overgrown grass and illegal parking.
“The citation would become a parking ticket and the person in violation can pay it, comply with the violation and that closes the matter,’’ she said. “This will alleviate need to go before a special magistrate for a hearing and will cut expenses for hearings and allow violations to proceed quickly.’’
Goddeau served with Town Manager Tracey Stevens, Police Chief Richard Jones and Building Official Durrani Guy on a committee that drafted the changes after “limitations that were found through enforcement of some recent cases,’’ according to a memo. 
Warnings issued by the Community Standards officers will be tracked by the Police Department. Violators will be given a chance to correct violations before enforcement actions proceed.  
“It is streamlining not only for residents but for the town and hopefully reducing costs of bringing someone into compliance,’’ Mayor Kristine de Haseth said of the process. “It gives them the opportunity to just pay a ticket rather than have to pay to go in front of a magistrate.’’
A fee schedule for violations will be presented before the commission takes a final vote on the plan. 
“Code enforcement is not going away. Rather than take enforcement action against a resident, we want to see voluntary compliance,” Chief Jones said.
“The words ‘code enforcement’ just sounds like you are targeting enforcement rather than working with the community to meet the standards that have been developed by the community,” he said.
“I think it’s a great idea,’’ Vice Mayor Susan Hurlburt said.
In other business:
• Although construction has begun on a new marina at Ocean Inlet Park, plans to reroute the dredging pipeline at the park will be delayed again for nearly a year because of contractual and permitting issues, Stevens said. Palm Beach County, which is in charge of the so-called jack and bore project, is now targeting the work next winter from November 2022 to February 2023.
• The commission approved a $31,000 contract with Engenuity Group for a survey of the underground utility pipes in town. The survey, to be paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act money, may take up to two months to complete. But it’s a necessary first step before Ocean Ridge can replace aging potable water pipes on the north end of town.
Discussion about that contract prompted Commissioner Martin Wiescholek to ask the town to consider installing new sewer pipes when the water pipes are replaced. That way, he said the town could avoid having to tear up the road again in five or 10 years. The town is preparing to convert from septic to sewer, but that project is years away.
“I wish we could be more proactive about the septic-to-sewer conversion and start the progress of at least getting our engineering in place so we know what we can do and if we have these projects, stick a pipe into the ground we don’t have to open those roads a second time. It’s cost saving,’’ he said.
• Commissioners approved a $65,551 contract with Enterprise Fleet Management to lease four cars for town use, three for the Police Department and one for the Building Department.

By Steve Plunkett

A federal judge has dismissed six counts of former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s police brutality lawsuit — including two specifically targeting the town — but ruled his claim that police officers illegally entered his backyard will be decided by a jury.
“Taking Plaintiff’s allegations as true, Defendants have not met their burden at this stage to show the existence of exigent circumstances sufficient to justify … the warrantless entry onto Plaintiff’s curtilage,” U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon wrote in her Nov. 23 order.
Jurors will also consider two more counts that defense attorneys left out of their motion to dismiss — whether officers Richard Ermeri and Nubia Plesnik battered Lucibella as they arrested him on Oct. 22, 2016, and whether they used excessive force.
The “exigent circumstances” exception, Cannon wrote, applies “when there is a compelling need for official action but no time for law enforcement to secure a warrant, and it includes situations involving … ‘the need to protect or preserve life’ in an emergency situation.”
Case law defines curtilage, she said, as “an area near and closely associated with the home; at the founding, it was considered part of the house for Fourth Amendment purposes” protecting citizens against unreasonable searches.
Cannon scheduled the trial for March 28 at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce.
Meanwhile a separate civil lawsuit filed by Plesnik, who has married and is now known as Nubia Savino, is set for a jury trial in Palm Beach County Circuit Court in May. The police officer alleges Lucibella battered her during the arrest.
Lucibella filed his lawsuit against Ermeri, Plesnik and the town on Oct. 20, 2020, in the Circuit Court. Because he alleged Fourth Amendment violations the defendants quickly had the case transferred to the U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit centers on Lucibella’s arrest five years ago. Plesnik, Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan, who has since retired, went to Lucibella’s home that night after neighbors reported hearing gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the patio.
One of the officers’ supervisors, Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, was with Lucibella; police later determined the handgun belonged to him.
During the arrest, Lucibella was pinned to the patio pavers and suffered injuries to his face and ribs. Before he was taken to the ground he forcefully poked Ermeri’s chest with his finger.
He was charged in state court with battery on a police officer and resisting the officer with violence, both felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. The firearm charge was dropped at the beginning of the criminal trial; on Feb. 1, 2019, the jury found Lucibella not guilty of the felonies but guilty of the lesser included offense of misdemeanor simple battery.

Plaintiff’s conviction a factor
In her ruling in federal court, Cannon said because Lucibella was convicted of simple battery he could not pursue two counts of false arrest against Ermeri and Plesnik. In fact, she wrote, Lucibella in another filing had conceded that the conviction barred the false arrest claims.
Cannon also dismissed two counts of malicious prosecution against the officers, again partly because of the battery conviction and because Lucibella was not the victim of a Fourth Amendment-protected unreasonable seizure.
Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones said he understood Cannon’s dismissal of the claims against the town to mean the town is no longer separately liable to pay damages.
“The ruling further allows the town’s insurance carrier to actually go after Lucibella to collect legal fees paid by the town. At this time, those fees are estimated to exceed $150,000,” Jones said.
The case against Emeri and Plesnik remains ongoing, he noted. “The town is currently defending the officers since it does not appear that they did anything wrong in this case,” Jones said.
The two counts against Ocean Ridge alleged that the town contributed to malicious prosecution of Lucibella through the actions of then-Police Chief Hal Hutchins by failing to train, investigate or discipline Plesnik and Ermeri, and that the officers used excessive force against him while acting for the town.
Cannon used similar reasoning to dismiss the malicious prosecution claim against the town as she did for the claim against the officers, “because Plaintiff does not allege a seizure pursuant to legal process under the Fourth Amendment.”
The judge also ruled that Lucibella’s excessive force claim against the town “appears to allege … liability based on a failure to train theory, but Plaintiff’s allegations are devoid of any facts to support such a theory.”
Cannon set a deadline of Dec. 29 for the parties to file all pretrial motions.

The orange-and-gray iguanas are the primary breeders in the colonies often found along the coast, according to exterminator Keith Shepherd. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

Tony Chateauvert, head pro and manager of the Palm Beach Par-3 golf course on State Road A1A, says he has spent $1,500 each of the last two years — and figures he’ll do the same in 2022 — to curtail the iguana population on his course.
“The guy comes out in the morning, shoots them out of the trees, they come tumbling down, and we put them on the menu Tuesdays and Fridays,” he said.
Chateauvert was joking, but the absence of any killing cold weather in recent years and iguanas’ desire to live near fresh water have meant the invasive reptiles are an increasing headache for golf courses on the barrier island.
“They’re so proficient at procreating, and they get bigger and bigger,” Chateauvert said. “They’re not aggressive, they don’t bite people, but they do have salmonella, and they burrow under the sea wall, which is a problem. They also burrow under the banks of the pond, which creates erosion.”

Although iguanas do not attack or generally disturb golfers, they eat plants and damage the ground with their burrowing.

Jason Holmes, who oversees the par-3 course at Red Reef Park for the city of Boca Raton, says iguanas are “becoming an issue we have to deal with.”
“We haven’t hired anybody to address it, but we are seeing an increased number of them, and all that goes along with it. One of the biggest problems we have is they do some burrowing, which causes some issues for the golf course.”
Glen Terranova, superintendent at St. Andrews Club, which like the other two courses has several holes along the Intracoastal Waterway, said that’s not the only damage iguanas inflict.
“They eat the hibiscus flowers … and really any plant they can find,” he said. “They don’t mess with oleanders, because they could be poisonous, but hibiscus, they eat all the flowers.”
The hibiscus “is one of their favorites,” Holmes said. “We notice the damage more there because it’s an ornamental flower.”

Keith Shepherd, owner of Ten-Seven Iguana Removal.

Keith Shepherd, who hunts iguanas in his time away from his full-time job as a coastal police officer, has yet to be summoned by a golf course but has customers whose homes are alongside them.
“They do a lot of damage,” said Shepherd, whose business, Ten-Seven Iguana Removal, refers to the police code for off-duty. “They burrow into the banks, and the biggest complaint I get is the poop. It’s like having a bunch of small dogs running around pooping everywhere.”
Chateauvert and groundskeeper Tim Campbell have hired Enviroscapes Plus, a landscaping company from Plantation, to address their problem. Owner Johnny Cannon said he’s used a pellet gun to harvest about 100 iguanas from the course over two days each of the last two years.
Chateauvert’s course attracts a number of tourists, and he’s seen their attitude toward the reptiles change quickly.
“It starts out with, ‘Oh, the cute iguanas,’ and they take pictures of them. Then it’s, ‘Oh, look at the size of ’em,’ and ‘They’re all over the place.’ They mostly run away from humans, but the big ones sort of lie there. They’re nasty looking.”
Shepherd said the orange-and-gray variety, which can grow up to several feet long, are more destructive as they eat more and poop more.
“They’re the breeders,” he said. “And they have territories. From my experience you’ll see an orange one every four or five houses. You shoot one and there’s another waiting to take over the territory.”
He said three half-hour roundups a few days apart will typically cut the numbers significantly.
But the iguanas are smart.
“They get used to people hunting them,” Shepherd said. “Their first defense is to hold still. Sometimes you feel like you’re being watched, and then you spot them standing 20 feet away.
“I have a diesel truck and after three or four visits they’ll start running before I get out, so I have to park down the street and walk up.”
Terranova said he hasn’t gone to what he considers the “extreme” of buying a gun — Shepherd uses a pellet gun with .177 ammunition — or calling in outside help yet out of consideration for his members, many of whom live in condos overlooking the course.

“A lot of members just like them,” he said. “They’re not moving their golf balls, they’re not running in front of them, they’re not disturbing them yet. I do have people who say they don’t want hibiscus plants because the flowers disappear. So that could be an issue as time goes on.”
Holmes, who said he’s been on the job only about six months, said he’s considering taking the Red Reef situation to the Boca City Council and that hiring a contractor could be in the offing.
“We have not taken the steps to address it at this point,” he said. “But that’s probably not far off.”
The one phenomenon that could make a difference is a sub-freezing cold snap, though it’s been years since South Florida has experienced one.
Cold slows the blood of these cold-blooded reptiles, eventually leading to death.
“I hope it freezes in January, goes down to 28 degrees for two days,” Chateauvert said. “That would do it.”

LEFT: The sea wall along the parking lot and the first hole at Red Reef Park’s par-3 course in Boca Raton is home to dozens of iguanas that sun themselves on the concrete and eat grass.

After the Palm Beach County League of Cities concluded business, it recognized several past presidents for their service. ’Once a year, we try to honor the people who have served as past presidents,’ Executive Director Richard Radcliffe said. ’They helped us out, so we like to bring them back to say thanks.’ ABOVE: In front row with Radcliffe (l-r) are Mayor Anne Gerwig, Wellington; Mayor Bev Smith, Palm Springs; Retha Lowe, former commissioner of Lake Worth Beach; and councilman Jeff Hmara, Royal Palm Beach. In back are Ike Robinson, former commissioner of West Palm Beach; Dave Stewart, former mayor of Lantana; Lisa Tropepe, former commissioner of Palm Beach Shores; and Mayor Steve Wilson of Belle Glade. Photo provided