A June/July story about bicycle safety incorrectly reported that charges against a man accused of reckless driving were dismissed because a Manalapan police officer failed to attend the trial. The case was dismissed because a witness failed to attend the trial. The officer was in attendance at the driver’s traffic infraction trial, which was held on Zoom.

By Mary Hladky

The massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is providing much-welcomed relief to southeastern Palm Beach County cities and towns strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they aren’t rushing to spend the money.
They are proceeding carefully and deliberately, soliciting input from their communities on what the biggest needs are and matching that against U.S. Department of Treasury guidance on what they can use the money for.
Cities and towns are heeding advice from both the Treasury Department and the National League of Cities to take it slow so they make the best use of the money and avoid errors that would compel them to return funds spent on ineligible projects.
They are not under pressure to make decisions quickly. The Treasury Department gives them until Dec. 31, 2024, to obligate the money and until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend it.
Municipal leaders are awaiting final rules on how the money can be spent from the Treasury Department, which accepted comments on how they would like to see the rules changed until July 16.
“We will be cautious. We will vet it out,” said Boynton Beach City Manager Lori LaVerriere.
“We are going at a measured pace,” said Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer. “We are not rushing to spend it all immediately. We are going to take the appropriate amount of time to get it right.”
Ocean Ridge Town Manager Tracey Stevens said she told her town commission, “You don’t want to make your decisions quickly. Let’s wait for the final rule and then we can move forward.”
But that doesn’t mean municipal officials are sitting on their hands. They already have good ideas on what they would like to use the money, and at least some have projects that could be implemented quickly.
But the process hasn’t been easy. The initial Treasury guidance issued in May was 151 pages long, and its list of answers to frequently asked questions kept growing over the summer.
“We have spent hours and hours reading this,” LaVerriere said. “It is really intense.
“It is going to be a tremendous amount of work. But it will also be, if we do it right, a tremendous impact on the community. We can do some amazing things with it.”
South Palm Beach Town Manager Robert Kellogg said in early July that he had read the guidance at least four times and finds it understandable.
His issue is that the rules provide his town with limited opportunities to spend the money, and he hopes the Treasury Department makes them more flexible.
Kellogg thinks that other small towns likely are facing the same problem. “I am hopeful as this progresses, they will ease up on restrictions,” he said.
Stevens was considering hiring a grants administrator to ride herd over the process and keep up with reporting requirements. The legislation allows cities to use some of the money they receive to do that.
For Briny Breezes Town Manager William Thrasher, any headaches that come along with ARP funds are manageable considering the town stands to gain about $242,000.
“I am sure I can work through the problems for that,” he said. “That is a lot of money for Briny.”
The ARP allocates $130.2 billion for cities and counties, with cities and towns receiving half of that. The first tranche of money already has gone out, with the rest arriving next year. Of that, southeast Palm Beach County cities and towns will get almost $48 million.
The amount going to the biggest cities has been revised from the initial estimates released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Boca Raton will receive $12.2 million, Delray Beach $11 million and Boynton Beach $13.6 million.
The process is different for small towns. The Treasury Department is sending money they will receive to the state, which will divvy it up largely based on population and send it out.
The ARP allows municipalities to use the funds to cover costs incurred responding to the COVID-19 public health crisis and to replace tax dollars lost during the pandemic. If cities laid off workers because of budget shortfalls, the money can be used to bring them back to work.
Money can go to provide “premium pay” for essential workers who worked long overtime hours and were subjected to health risks because they could not work remotely.
The ARP supports economic recovery by allowing municipalities to provide financial assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, and to impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality.
Municipalities also can make investments in improving water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. But since these types of infrastructure aren’t necessarily neatly located within a city’s boundaries, a regional approach might be needed.
One example of the range of expenses and programs that can be paid for under the bill, approved by Congress on March 10, is the category of COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
They include vaccination programs, testing, contact tracing, isolation or quarantine expenses, personal protective equipment, giving vulnerable populations access to medical or public health services, surveillance of coronavirus variants, enforcement of public health orders, communication to the public, expanding health care facilities, prevention programs in schools and congregate living facilities, improving public health data systems, and ventilation improvements in health care facilities.
The ARP also spells out what the money can’t be used for.
Cities can’t cut taxes and then replace the lost revenue with ARP money.
They can’t make a deposit into a pension fund to reduce an accrued, unfunded liability. They can’t use it to pay off financial indebtedness such as a loan.
Other ineligible uses include using the money to fund debt service, pay legal settlements or judgments, or to put the money into rainy day or reserve accounts.
Infrastructure spending is limited to water, sewer and broadband.

By Jane Smith

When Terrence Moore stepped into his city manager position Aug. 2, he was the fifth manager in eight years for Delray Beach. When interim staffers are included in the count, the number jumps to 11.
“I can provide stability,” Moore, 51, told The Coastal Star on July 20. When he left his city manager position in College Park, Georgia, on March 2 he was that city’s longest continuous serving manager.
The College Park City Council offers only one-year contracts for its city manager. Moore, who had been with the city for eight years, decided against asking for another year and put himself on the city manager market.
His city manager experience also includes a five-year stint in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and a six-year run in Sebastian.
In addition, he will live up to his promise to buy a home in Delray Beach. He has selected a townhouse in the Legacy community, west of the interstate. Moore said the closing would take place at the end of August.
“I will be a true, vested stakeholder by owning and living in the city,” Moore told commissioners in early June. “I can be more effective and responsive. … Delray deserves nothing less.”
His base salary is $230,000, less than those of the two previous city managers, who were both fired by the commission. Mark Lauzier made $235,000 and George Gretsas started at $265,000.
At the June 10 special commission meeting held to vote on Moore’s contract, City Attorney Lynn Gelin said, “Negotiations went very smoothly. It was actually a pleasure. It’s fair to him and very fair to the city.”
Gelin also negotiated the compensation package for Gretsas. She told commissioners it favored Gretsas, not the city. But they hired Gretsas.
Moore also will receive 14% of his salary, or $32,200, into his retirement account, $600 monthly for a car allowance, moving expenses from College Park not to exceed $7,500, and $2,000 a month for six months for temporary living expenses.
He initially faced three challengers for job. His competitors were: Michael Bornstein, ex-city manager of Lake Worth Beach and former town manager of Lantana; Joseph Napoli, city manager of Cooper City in Broward County and one of the Delray manager finalists in 2019 when the job went to Gretsas; and Leonard Sossamon, Port Richey interim manager who was fired in August 2019 as administrator of Hernando County, just north of Tampa.
The morning of the commission interviews, June 8, Napoli unexpectedly dropped out. He sent an email at 7:48 a.m. that day saying he wished no longer to be considered.
Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, who supported Napoli, gave a cryptic comment at the start of the June 8 meeting, congratulating all those who were involved in getting him to pull his name from consideration.
Johnson then grilled Bornstein, who has 23 years of city manager experience in Palm Beach County, about his role in clearing out immigrants and senior citizens from mobile home parks in Lake Worth Beach.
Bornstein said, “There were lots of un-permitted additions and health and safety violations. … It was never the intent to move people out of their homes.”
Moore, though, tugged at the commissioners’ heartstrings when he talked about growing up on the South Side of Chicago without a father and being raised by his grandmother. She recently died, he said, his eyes watering.
He earned his undergraduate degree in economics and a master’s in public administration from the University of Illinois.
In Delray Beach, Moore plans to spend time on community assessment, which he defined as “matters related to roads, finances and visiting job sites to find out how Delray Beach is viewed. … I will address all concerns about utilities.”
The city faces a proposed $1.8 million fine from the Palm Beach County branch of the Florida Department of Health for its botched reclaimed water program. Delray Beach also needs a new water treatment plant and is in the process of figuring out how to pay for it.
Moore, who was on a house-hunting trip during the first week of July, came to the July 6 commission meeting with his two sons and proudly introduced them. Parker, an incoming sophomore, is a dean’s list student at Texas A&M, and Grant is an incoming high school sophomore who plays football. Moore is divorced. His sons will spend school breaks in Delray Beach.

Lauzier’s trial coming up

Although they haven’t been in the manager’s office for months, Delray Beach’s two previous city managers are still around the area.
Lauzier, fired on March 3, 2019, sued the city in April 2019 for wrongful dismissal. He asked for a jury trial. Those trials were suspended for much of 2020 after the city and counties nationwide shut down because of the coronavirus. His lawsuit has an Aug. 6 hearing, and the trial is expected to be scheduled for sometime between Aug. 16 and Sept. 10.
Gretsas, fired on Nov. 20, could not be reached for comment. He resides in Fort Lauderdale with his family.
The next position for interim City Manager Jennifer Alvarez will be determined by Moore.
Alvarez recently received a 5% increase in her salary that was converted to 13 sick days. The City Commission gave her the raise at its July 13 meeting in recognition for her “stepping up” to fill the city manager role. Alvarez had asked for six weeks’ worth of sick days. Commissioners also agreed to evaluate her work by mid-August.

By Mary Hladky

The taxable value of Palm Beach County properties jumped higher than Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks estimated in May, defying fears that the coronavirus pandemic would deal a harsh blow.
The preliminary tax roll that Jacks’ office submitted to the state Department of Revenue on June 24 showed that countywide taxable values increased by 5.8% from 2020 to 2021, just under last year’s 5.9% rise and above the May estimate of 5.05%.
That translates to a total countywide taxable value of $222.1 billion, up nearly $12 billion from last year and including $3.2 billion in new construction added to the tax roll.
This marks the 10th year in a row that taxable values have increased.
Jacks had expected last year that the taxable value of commercial properties such as office buildings, hotels and restaurants would take a hit because of the pandemic.
That proved true but not across the board. Hotels and entertainment venues such as movie theaters and bowling alleys were hit hard, but warehousing remained strong. Restaurants suffered, but fast-food eateries with drive-thru did well.
The commercial declines were offset by an increase in the taxable value of residential properties which began to improve at the end of last year.
“It may be difficult to recall the uncertainty of COVID-19’s disruptions on real estate markets last spring, especially as residential values saw a strong rebound at the end of 2020,” Jacks said in announcing the updated numbers. “However, other sectors continue to recover at a slower pace.”
The valuations are good news for municipal officials, who are in the process of crafting budgets and setting tax rates for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Officials use taxable values to calculate how much property tax money they can expect in the coming year. A decline in values would have meant less tax revenue coming in, which would have forced difficult budget and tax rate decisions.
All 10 cities and towns in southeast Palm Beach County realized taxable value gains, although seven saw smaller increases than last year’s.
Boca Raton was up 3.8%, Boynton Beach 5.2% and Delray Beach 5.3%.
Briny Breezes increased by 10.4%, Gulf Stream 2.5%, Highland Beach 3.5%, Lantana 9.3%, Manalapan 7.2%, Ocean Ridge 4.5% and South Palm Beach 4.4%.

By Rich Pollack

As Highland Beach moves forward with its plan to start its own fire department and sever its service contract with Delray Beach, both sides are discovering that breaking up is hard to do.
In recent weeks, two complaints about how Delray Beach handled emergency calls have surfaced at Town Commission meetings, leading Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey to wonder out loud if there was a concerted effort to discredit his department.
At the same time, the two governments could be heading into a contract dispute over whether Delray Beach has the right to add four lieutenants to the 22.5 personnel assigned to the station it operates in Highland Beach, which would increase the town’s cost in the next fiscal year by 17%.
“Separation from a long-term contract isn’t always easy to do,” said Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “Emotions tend to take hold during the process.”
The emotions are surfacing at a time when Highland Beach is charging ahead with its plan. The town hired Glenn Joseph, a former Boynton Beach fire chief and Boca Raton deputy fire chief, as a consultant to help with implementation. It hired a marketing firm to help develop educational materials and coordinate events.
Commissioners in early August also developed ballot language that will come before voters in November and, if approved, would authorize the town to spend up to $10 million to implement a new fire department. A second option on the November ballot would authorize the town to spend funds necessary to operate the department.

Complaints surface

As the transition continues, Tomey has come forward to defend his department’s personnel and reiterate that the high level of service Highland Beach receives has not changed.
In July, Tomey appeared before the Highland Beach Commission to voice his concern about a letter written to the town and included in the publicly available agenda package. In the letter, resident Stewart Perlow complained about seeing a neighbor fall as he got out of the fire department’s rescue truck.
Perlow wrote that the crew on the truck was negligent in allowing the resident to get out unassisted.
But Tomey said the paramedics on the truck told the resident to wait for them to help and he did not do so. The chief said he believed the town should not have posted the letter publicly and may have violated HIPAA requirements in doing so.
“This complaint and the way it was handled was to publicly disgrace the department,” Tomey said.
The town did remove the name of the resident from the letter, but Labadie said that Highland Beach was simply honoring Perlow’s request to have the letter included in the public comment section of the commission meeting.
At an earlier meeting, Vice Mayor Natasha Moore noted that she was jogging in early June when she saw a bicyclist get hit by a turning car across the street from the fire station.
She said she rang the doorbell at the fire station at about 8:15 a.m. and knocked on the door but got no response for several minutes. Police officers from the town responded and paramedics from the station were eventually dispatched and gave aid to the bicyclist, who suffered only minor injuries.
Tomey, at the meeting, acknowledged that the doorbell at the station was broken — which he said was the town’s responsibility — and that signage pointing to a call box that would have connected Moore to dispatchers was not as obvious as it should have been. Both issues have since been addressed.
After researching the call, Tomey said that the paramedics were dispatched at 8:20 and were treating the bicyclist by 8:21.
Moore said she believes it was important for her to raise her concerns about the response so any issues could be addressed.
“When something doesn’t go well, we need to give specific feedback,” she said. “I agree that Delray provides a high level of service and my expectation is that they’ll continue with that level of service.”
Tomey says that is exactly what will happen and wants the town to know that his firefighters and paramedics are just as committed to that goal as he is.
“Delray Beach Fire Rescue is providing the high level of service we always have,” he said. “We’re going to be professional.”

Dispute about rising cost

To continue that high level of service, Tomey and his staff say it’s important to expand the number of personnel on the rescue vehicle from two to three, which is how other stations operated by Delray Beach are staffed.
He said that had a third person been on the rescue vehicle during the incident Perlow cited, the man probably would have been prevented from leaving the vehicle unattended and falling.
In sending Highland Beach the budget projection for service in the coming fiscal year, Delray Beach officials included the four additional lieutenants, resulting in a 17% cost increase over the current amount, or about $782,000 more.
In response, Labadie sent a letter to Delray Beach saying the town is not interested in paying for the additional personnel and asking for a revised budget projection without the 17% increase. Delray Beach recently responded to Labadie by saying it continues to request the 17% increase.
Delray Beach has argued that under the contract it can adjust staffing as it sees necessary. Labadie doesn’t disagree but doesn’t believe the financial responsibility for that change would fall on Highland Beach.
“They can change staffing but they can’t unilaterally change the cost structure of the contract,” Labadie
said.

By Steve Plunkett

The town may take a loan to shave a year off its ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan for better streets and drainage.
Town commissioners on July 9 discussed borrowing perhaps $2.6 million to speed work in the Core area from three years to two.
“Money’s available — it’s inexpensive,” Commissioner Paul Lyons said.
Gulf Stream has borrowed money only once before: $2.43 million in 2012 to get its undergrounding project started.
The idea of a short-term loan arose after Baxter & Woodman consulting engineer Rebecca Travis reviewed the status of the plan and recommended splitting work in the Core area into west and east portions instead of the original north-south division.
“I know some of the residents, not all, are going to be like, ‘Why can’t you do it all at once if we’re going to have the disruption?’” Vice Mayor Thomas Stanley said.
Commissioner Joan Orthwein agreed.
“People on the west side are going to have a beautiful new road,” she said, “and the people on the east side are going to be, ‘Well, what happened to us?’”
Baxter and Woodman’s revised plan includes replacing a 24-inch drainage pipe with a 48-inch pipe next year from the road to the canal behind 3500 Polo Drive. To sweeten the odds of getting permission from the South Florida Water Management District, the engineers propose enlarging a .25-acre lake at The Little Club to .5 acre. The district does not consider a lake smaller than .5 acre as helping drainage.
Both projects will add $710,000 to the $10.3 million capital improvement plan. Gulf Stream also spent $305,000 last year for minor drainage work.
The engineers and town officials are negotiating with The Little Club on how to minimize effects on the golf course from expanding the lake.
Also in 2022, the revised plan calls for reconstructing roadways and installing new water mains on Old School Road, Polo Drive, Middle Road and Golfview Drive west of Polo, Palm Way, Banyan Road west of Gulfstream Road, and Wright Way. Projected price: $3.2 million.
In 2023 the engineers will design and get permits for similar work on Sea Road, Gulfstream, Bermuda Lane, Oleander Way, Middle Road and Golfview east of Polo, Banyan east of Gulfstream, and Lakeview Drive. Construction would follow in 2024. Price tag: $2.6 million.
Options if commissioners decide to borrow money include pushing the design of the east portion up to 2022 with construction in 2023. Lyons and Rebecca Tew, the town’s chief financial officer, will crunch numbers for the commission’s Aug. 13 meeting.
In other business:
• Commissioners set a tentative property tax rate at the rollback rate, $3.67 per $1,000 of taxable value, which will generate the same $4.6 million in taxes as last year. Town Manager Greg Dunham said his budget includes $10,000 for new carpet in the commission chambers and a 4% cost-of-living raise for town employees. Gulf Stream has adopted the rollback rate or below for the past six years.
• In June, Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro told commissioners that a majority of Gulf Stream’s 10 police officers have petitioned the town to unionize and the county Police Benevolent Association filed a similar request with the state Public Employees Relations Commission. Once PERC decides what union would represent the department, the officers will vote on whether to join. Nazzaro had no update in July.
• Assistant Town Clerk Renee Basel was promoted to deputy clerk in July after earning her certified municipal clerk designation the month before.
• The town anticipates receiving $413,000 in American Rescue Plan funds.

By Rich Pollack

The water is once again flowing during early morning hours in Jim Gammon and Margo Stahl Gammon’s fourth-floor apartment at the Gulfstream Shores Condominium.
For months the couple, as well as most other residents in the 54-unit oceanfront community, struggled to get water to come out of the faucets — usually between 4 and 6 a.m.
But now, thanks to some pre-dawn sleuthing by town police, the pressure is strong enough to ensure water streams through the pipes.
“It’s not great, but at least we have water,” said Stahl Gammon. “It’s getting better and it will get better.”
The cause of the low water pressure, it seems, may be a combination of Mother Nature turning off the rain spigot in April and May and residents watering lawns when they shouldn’t have been.
“We found that the most prevalent explanation is that people are not paying attention to when they’re allowed to water lawns,” Town Manager Greg Dunham said.
Under the current town restrictions, irrigation is permitted only three days a week during non-daylight hours. Addresses ending in odd numbers may water on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday while even-numbered addresses may water on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Irrigation is prohibited on Friday, but that hasn’t stopped some residents from running the sprinklers on that day of the week.
“We found some houses that water every day,” Dunham said.
To determine which homes may be in violation of the town rules, Dunham dispatched police officers working in the early morning hours to keep a record of where sprinklers were running when they shouldn’t have been.
“There are some houses that we know are in violation,” he said. “We’ll be contacting them personally.”
The improved water pressure at Gulfstream Shores could be a result of residents turning off their irrigation systems because of the increase in days of rain.
Dunham thinks it could also be that some residents are paying attention to a message in the town’s newsletter reminding them to follow the watering restrictions.
“We encourage all property owners to disable scheduled irrigation when rainfall increases and to follow the mandatory conservation measures,” the town wrote.
“That probably has registered with some homeowners,” Dunham said, adding that the town will keep an eye out for those who aren’t following the rules.
Although the town could fine people who violate the water restrictions, the town manager said that’s unlikely.
“We don’t anticipate having to do that,” he said. “Our goal is compliance.”
A project about to begin in town, the installation of smart water meters, may help Gulf Stream get a better handle on water usage by homes since information from the meters will be accessible remotely.
Dunham said that because it appears over-irrigation plays a role in water pressure problems at Gulfstream Shores, the town will no longer consider asking its engineering consultants to investigate the issue.
The board at the condominium, however, is continuing to look seriously into purchasing booster pumps that would help ensure residents like the Gammons have water even during times of heavy irrigation.
If they decide to go that route, board members hope to have the pumps installed prior to the return of winter residents who own the majority of units.

By Rich Pollack

Crime in the small towns of coastal South Palm Beach County remained low in 2020, thanks in large part to a reduction in burglaries that could be attributed to more people staying home during the pandemic.
The number of serious crimes dropped in Highland Beach and Manalapan, according to statistics compiled by Florida Department of Law Enforcement, while the number of crimes in Gulf Stream, South Palm Beach and Ocean Ridge — which includes Briny Breezes — increased.
The five towns accounted for a total of 96 crimes, 21 fewer than the 117 reported in 2019, with larcenies and auto thefts accounting for the bulk of the incidents.
In the small towns, there were 14 reported burglaries — 10 in Ocean Ridge — compared to 17 the previous year.
The area’s larger cities all saw decreases in burglaries, while Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Lantana all saw decreases in the total number of crimes reported. Delray Beach had a slight increase in total crimes, in large part due to auto thefts and larcenies.
Highland Beach reported the biggest drop in crime from 2019, with only 12 incidents reported compared to 44 the previous year.
Overall, Palm Beach County reported a 10.3% drop in serious crime, while the state reported a 14.1% decrease.

Statewide honors include 9 first places

By Larry Barszewski

The Coastal Star took home 20 Florida Press Association awards during ceremonies July 16, including the top investigative prize for its coverage of Delray Beach’s troubled water system.
Judges in the annual competition said the paper’s reporting on Delray’s water situation “provided a valuable public service that showed how the government ineptitude put people at risk.”
In addition to receiving the Claudia Ross Memorial Award for investigative reporting, The Coastal Star won eight other first-place awards, including four for feature writer Ron Hayes. The paper received five second-place and six third-place awards.
The investigative award was a staff award because of the number of people involved in the coverage, which occurred over an eight-month period. Coastal Star Executive Editor Mary Kate Leming said two reporters played the largest roles.
“This project wouldn’t have happened without Jane Smith doing excellent digging and Rich Pollack doing exemplary explanatory journalism,” Leming told colleagues in announcing the award.
“This was an extensive dive into a complicated story of public malfeasance and incompetence over a public water system,” FPA judges said. “As The Coastal Star reported, people and pets were sickened, but the city did not report the problems to health authorities until long after they realized what had happened.”
The Coastal Star, a monthly publication, competed in the 2021 FPA Weekly Newspaper Contest Awards against large weeklies in the state with circulations above 15,000.
“Covering the people and governments of our coastal community is our mission and it was encouraging to see these efforts recognized by judges from across the nation — especially during a global pandemic,” Leming said. “The experience and talent our journalists bring to the newspaper deserve awards every single issue. Congratulations to them all.”
The complete list of award winners from The Coastal Star:
Ron Hayes: First place for Community History (100 Years of Boynton), Faith & Family Reporting (Lessons from “Happy” and “Kind,” two nuns named Elizabeth at St. Vincent Ferrer); Feature Story Non-Profile (Meals on Wheels goes extra mile to serve WWII vet); and Feature Story Profile (HERbert: Rescued legless crab becomes internet sensation).
Charles Elmore: First place for General News Story (Overdose deaths double in Delray during pandemic).
Larry Barszewski: First place for Agricultural & Environmental Reporting (The great Sea Grape debate).
Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley: First place for Serious Column (Hallowed ground, the evolution of the National Cemetery).
Rachel S. O’Hara: First place for Photo Series in One Issue (Paws up for pets, drive-up pet blessing).
Larry Keller: Second place for Agricultural & Environmental Reporting (for three stories about sea turtles) and for In-Depth Reporting Non-Investigative (Feds accuse doctor of $681 million fraud in substance abuse treatment billings).
Steve Plunkett: Second place for Local Government Reporting (for articles about the Ocean Strand and about a duck that died) and third place for Roads & Transportation Reporting (for articles about Interstate 95 and about Tesla car popularity).
Mary Hladky: Second place for COVID-19 General News Story (Empty reality of virus fallout hits home).
Mary Thurwachter: Third place for Arts, Entertainment & Review Reporting (Tabloid Tattle: Former National Enquirer staffers tell all in “Scandalous”).
Rich Pollack: Third place for Outdoor & Recreation Reporting (for articles about local parks).
Staff: First place for Investigative Reporting (for articles and graphics about water woes in Delray Beach); second place for Page Design; and third place for General Excellence, Overall Graphic Design, and for COVID-19 Feature Story (Reflections from the front line).

One of the provisions in the new law is that bicyclists riding on substandard-width roads, ones without designated bike lanes, must ride single file except when passing each other. Renderings provided by Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency

Seeking consistency in enforcement, chiefs ask state for clarity

By Joe Capozzi

Police chiefs in Palm Beach County’s coastal communities are seeking clarification on how changes to state law affect bicyclists on State Road A1A. 
The law that took effect July 1, following the passage of Senate Bill 950, has a host of new regulations for bicyclists and motorists, including a requirement for bicyclists to ride single file in substandard-width lanes, such as those found along most of State Road A1A, and no more than two abreast in wider lanes.
“We want to make sure everybody is on the same sheet of music,’’ said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins. 
“Everybody wants to do it [enforcement] in the same manner so there is consistency and there is no confusion. Once we nail everything down, we will start to get our officers involved with it and do some public service campaigns.’’
When the legislation went into effect July 1, the chiefs reached out to the Florida Department of Transportation for an explanation of how it affects their enforcement.
“We told them. ‘It’s a state road and how do you want this enforced? What’s the message? What’s the law if the law is modified?’’’ said Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann. “We all deal with the same FDOT roadway that runs through our towns. We are trying to get some response from FDOT and how they assist us — because it’s not a one-municipality issue. It’s a state road issue from Broward County on up.’’
Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and Highland Beach are among the police departments planning to attend a virtual meeting Aug. 11 with the FDOT and the offices of Sen. Lauren Book and Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who co-sponsored the legislation.
“Our hope is that a productive conversation can be facilitated to help everyone come to a mutual understanding of the current laws,’’ Angel Gonzalez, a legislative assistant to Book, wrote July 14 in an email to Manalapan Police Chief Carmen Mattox. 
The new legislation “makes it clear that bicycles shall ride in a single file while traveling on substandard roads’’ like the stretches of A1A in Manalapan, Ocean Ridge and Highland Beach, Mattox said July 16 in a report to the Town Commission. A1A in Gulf Stream also fits the definition of substandard.
Mattox said he asked FDOT to post new signs “mandating single-file travel” but the agency would not. He then reached out to Book’s office for help. 
“This issue affects many more towns than Manalapan. I have reached out to other coastal communities to request their involvement to help me find a solution,’’ he said in his report. 
A “substandard-width lane is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane,’’ according to the law. The FDOT design manual lists 4 feet as the minimum width for a designated bike lane. 
On substandard-width lanes, “persons riding bicycles may temporarily ride two abreast only to avoid hazards in the roadway or to overtake another person riding a bicycle,’’ the statute says.
Mattox sent Book’s office a series of photographs, taken on a Saturday morning in July from town cameras along A1A, showing packs of bicyclists in the vehicular travel lanes.
“My goal is to have FDOT install signage informing the bicyclist to travel in single-file lanes,’’ he said in his report. 
“This is a multi-jurisdictional issue occurring on a state roadway. I believe it requires the assistance of the state police to address and enforce the new law. Enforcement is difficult due to the large number of bicyclists overwhelming the number of officers enforcing the law.’’
A unified message from FDOT will help coastal towns educate the public, the chiefs say. 
“The bicycle clubs ride legally and correctly. It’s some of the loosely affiliated groups that come through that get together in a pack and end up in the roadway,’’ Hartmann said.
Hutchins said some FDOT signs along A1A say bicyclists cannot ride more than two abreast. He wondered if those signs are in conflict with the new law. 

Motorists are allowed to cross a yellow center line when passing cyclists, making sure to keep at least 3 feet of separation from the cyclists.

The new law also spells out changes affecting motorists, including:
• No passing zones no longer apply to motorists who drive to the left of center to overtake a bicycle, provided the motorist gives at least 3 feet passing clearance.
• A vehicle making a right turn while passing a cyclist can do so only if the cyclist is at least 20 feet from the intersection and at a safe distance for the driver to make the turn.
• Cyclists riding in groups, after coming to a full stop at lights, may proceed through an intersection in groups of 10 or fewer. Motorists must let one group pass before proceeding.
Many people aren’t aware of the new law, but public agencies are starting to get the word out. 
The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency offered a presentation to its governing board in July. 
“I typically ride in a group of two, just me and my husband, or up to about six to eight, and we are always considerate, always following the rules of the road,” West Palm Beach Commissioner Christina Lambert said at the TPA presentation. “But many times we are met with aggressive drivers who do not want bicyclists on the road, so I think the more we can do to help educate to keep everyone safe, the better off we
will be.”

By Joe Capozzi

Hoping to tap grant dollars available due to the coronavirus pandemic, Manalapan commissioners are trying to get a head start on an ambitious project they believe is inevitable — replacing the town’s septic tanks with a municipal sewer system. 
“It’s going to happen and we already have word coming down” from state agencies “that sooner or later all barrier islands will be forced to make that transition. We want to do it before we are being forced to. We want to control our investment,’’ Mayor Keith Waters said. 
What kind of system, how much it will cost and who will pay for it won’t be known until the engineering firm Mock Roos completes an analysis of all options. 
The report is due by Jan. 23 at the latest, according to a $93,350 consulting services agreement approved by the Town Commission on July 23.
The town started seriously considering the project two years ago before deferring those discussions. 
“Now with COVID, suddenly there are all these piles of money out there for infrastructure, so we are trying to capitalize on that,’’ Waters said in an interview after the July meeting. “We’ve never really taken it to this point.’’ 
The costs will depend on what type of sewer system the commissioners choose and whether they include moving or adding other utilities — such as power lines, fiber-optic cables, natural gas pipes, stormwater drains — underground while the streets are torn up.
Construction alone could take four years and require tearing up every street in town at one time or another.
“The preference is to do everything at one time if possible. It’s just a matter of finding the money to do it,’’ Waters said. 
Waters said he’d like to avoid a special assessment on residents. Some portion of it could be paid for with property taxes. But the hope is to cover most if not all of the costs with state or federal money. 
Mock Roos will consider three collection systems: gravity, vacuum and low pressure.
“It’s likely the low pressure system is gonna be the right system for the town,’’ John Cairnes, a senior project engineer for Mock Roos, told commissioners. “The low pressure system gives you the ability to have people connect later on. You put the main trunk in the road and people can connect to it whenever they need to.’’
The firm’s final report will guide the town as it applies for grants.
“We will get the funding to make this happen. But it’s going to be a process and the biggest process is looking at the overall cost and choosing the right system,’’ Waters said. 
The report “allows us to go and start making the formal requests that we are not able to right now.’’
In other business:
• Commissioners approved a tentative tax rate of $3.17 per $1,000 of taxable value, the same as the current one, for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. Budget hearings will be held Sept. 17 and Sept. 28. 
“I like the thought of keeping the millage rate exactly where it is, maybe a little bit lower. We may even contemplate taking that down just a touch,’’ Waters said at a budget workshop July 22. 
The town’s taxable value increased 7.2% to just under $1.5 billion ($1,493,978,117), according to the latest estimates from the Palm Beach County property appraiser. 
• Town Manager Linda Stumpf said negotiations on a police contract are at an impasse and will be referred to a special master. The union objected to the town’s coronavirus policy. “They felt it was prohibitive when cases were going down, which is not the case,’’ she said.

Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins is retiring in August after serving as chief since 2015. Hutchins has spent 39 years in law enforcement, having retired from the Palm Beach Police Department in 2005. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Hal Hutchins was still a sergeant in the town of Palm Beach Police Department when he pulled over the wife of a community leader for speeding.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked.
When Hutchins nodded that he did, she told him that she was running late for her hair appointment.
Hutchins then spent the next 25 minutes explaining why for her own safety she shouldn’t speed and then, rather than write a ticket, offered to call the salon and reschedule her appointment. She declined the offer, but they parted on such good terms that the woman’s husband called Hutchins that night to thank him.
For Hutchins — Ocean Ridge’s police chief, who will retire Aug. 20 after 39 years in law enforcement — that incident illustrated what it’s like to be a police officer in a small coastal community.
“The beauty is you have the time to be actually involved on a personal level,” says Hutchins, 59, whose entire career — except for a few months of driving a doughnut delivery truck — has been as a law enforcement officer dealing with people living in or visiting either Palm Beach or Ocean Ridge. “We have the luxury of being able to be more service-oriented.”
Even so, the image of small-town coastal cops as glorified security guards is a far cry from reality: The jobs require the discipline and training to enforce laws and make arrests. Still, officers in these often-affluent communities have time for getting to know residents, rather than just racing from call to call.
“Law enforcement becomes just part of the job,” Hutchins says. “Once we become only the enforcer, we lose touch with the greatest segment of our community.”
Hutchins believes it’s important for cops to build mutual trust within the community. One way to build that trust, he says, is to talk to people.
“I pride myself in getting to know as many people as possible in every place I’ve worked,” he said. “There is much more value in policing that way, because you can avoid having to write tickets and arrest people.”
Police officers in coastal towns also have the responsibility for ensuring residents’ safety in the event of a hurricane. They are trained to respond to incidents on the beach or in the water. They must sometimes handle dangerous situations.
Hutchins remembers receiving a call one night shortly after he was named Ocean Ridge police chief, telling him a man had barricaded himself inside a home and was threatening to shoot at officers and others.
Hutchins drove to the scene and, with other officers, spoke to the man through a window, calming him down and waiting until the man — who had been drinking — dozed off.
“We were able to resolve the situation without incident,” Hutchins said.
Hutchins acknowledges that small coastal towns are safe for the most part and that makes it possible to do small things for residents — checking on homes when residents are away or driving homebound seniors to the polls on Election Day.
“Customer service is the most important thing I can think of in my whole career,” Hutchins says. “It sets the stage for the expectations of the entire community.”

From high school to law enforcement

That career for Hutchins began in 1981 when he was fresh out of Lake Worth High School and looking for a job. He had offers from the West Palm Beach Fire Department and the Palm Beach Police Department at the same time. The law enforcement job paid $1,000 a year more, so he took it.
“I think I made a great decision as far as my life goes,” he said.
He stayed with Palm Beach, rising to the rank of sergeant, and after retiring in 2005 took a part-time job delivering doughnuts for Krispy Kreme.
But he missed law enforcement. “At 43, retirement wasn’t for me,” he said.
So he started in Ocean Ridge as a volunteer reserve officer. Eventually he was hired by then-Chief Ed Hillary and rose to lieutenant before being named chief in 2015.
At the reins, Hutchins continued putting the focus on customer service, encouraging the staff to “treat everyone special.”
Hutchins also mentored the man who is set to become chief, Richard Jones, a lieutenant who joined the department in 2014. Jones had worked in the Glades County Sheriff’s Office, where he rose to the rank of major.
“Chief Hutchins is leaving this department in a much better position than it has ever been before,” Jones said.
Hutchins also gained the respect of fellow police chiefs and in January was elected president of the Palm Beach Police Chiefs Association.
For his part, Hutchins said he’s leaving his career as a coastal police officer — perhaps until he comes out of retirement once again — with no regrets.
“Everything has led me to something better,” he said. “This town provided me with more than I provided it.”

Lantana Police Chief Sean Scheller presents Deborah Manzo with an Achievement Award at her last town meeting as manager. She left to become the administrator of Okeechobee County. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana has prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries since December 2017. But the issue resurfaced this summer when a local businessman asked the Town Council to reconsider and enact an ordinance allowing the pharmacies.
Reconsider, it did, but the town confirmed its original stance on the subject, again saying “no” to medical marijuana dispensaries.
Making the pitch to allow dispensaries was Dave Arm, owner of Lantana Fitness at 700 W. Lantana Road. He said the issue was about attracting 21st century vendors in a town that desperately needs good retailers.
“It’s obvious conditions are tough for brick-and-mortar properties,” Arm said. “We can see that at Water Tower Commons.”
Arm argued that medical marijuana treatment centers are well-capitalized by major national corporations, are attractive and provide good jobs in the community.
Arm is president of the Lantana Chamber of Commerce, but was not speaking in that capacity.
“We talked to people in Boynton and Lake Worth Beach and they’ve had no issues with crime,” Arm said of two places that allow the dispensaries. “Why should we have to drive to another town to have our prescriptions filled?”
On the other hand, the topic struck a sour note with residents, with dozens of them showing up to express their views during the discussion at the June 28 council meeting, and again when the subject resurfaced at the July 26 meeting.
In addition, Mayor Robert Hagerty said he received about 20 emails from residents who opposed the change.
When the final vote was taken, three council members (Mark Zeitler, Malcolm Balfour and Hagerty) voted against medical marijuana dispensaries. Hagerty said he was following the will of the people, who through their comments, both in person and via email, opposed the measure.
Voting in favor of the dispensaries was Karen Lythgoe, who said they offered an opportunity to fill some vacant storefronts with “good, attractive businesses.”
Lynn Moorhouse, who attended the meeting via phone, got disconnected before the vote was taken.
Residents said ample dispensaries were nearby and Lantana didn’t need its own.

Digging into reserves

The town will not raise its tax rate, continuing with $3.50 per $1,000 of taxable value. However, deficits approaching $5 million in both the general and utility funds will require the town to dig deep into its reserves to balance the budget.
Why such large shortfalls?
“The current draft consists of significant one-time capital improvement projects,” Finance Director Stephen Kaplan said. “Within the utility fund, we have projects pertaining to drainage, water main replacements and water treatment plant improvements accounting for over $3.5 million.
“In the general fund, police communication center equipment upgrades is included at an estimated cost of more than $320,000.” Other expenses include library renovations and furniture, money to fix Sea Pines flooding issues and adding a new officer to the police department.
The town had hoped to add an assistant town manager, but scrapped those plans to save money.
Public budget meetings are set for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 13 and 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the council chambers, 500 Greynolds Circle.
In other action, the town:
• Approved a salary of $140,000 for interim Town Manager Nicole Dritz. Previously the director of development services, Dritz is also an applicant for the full-time position vacated by Deborah Manzo.
• Authorized use of the grounds of the Recreation Center, 418 S. Dixie Highway, for a “Summer Twilight Market,” 5-10 p.m. Fridays from July 9 to Sept. 3. Restrooms are available inside the center. The market may return to Bicentennial Park next fall.
• Learned that the library would move to the Recreation Center in early August as the library renovation begins.

This peacock — described as ‘quite a handsome one’ — showed up about a year ago. Photo provided by Susie Bowman

By Ron Hayes

Ann McGlinn-Work hesitated, pondering, trying to remember.
“I think it goes back to a little over a year ago,” she decided. “All of a sudden it just appeared on the island. No one knows where it came from or how it got here.”
At first, no one knew the proper pronouns with which to address him or her, he or she, either. But a year later, the peacock from nowhere has settled in, to become one more friend and neighbor Hypoluxo Island’s humans greet, feed and photograph on their walks.
“In the beginning, we thought it was a peahen,” McGlinn-Work recalled.
A female peafowl is a peahen, the male a peacock.
After Susie Bowman spotted the peafowl near her house on Lagoon Lane, she posted some stunning photos on the island’s Facebook page.
“Oh, it’s a male,” Bowman concluded. “I read up on it.”
Maura P. Powers, a zoologist at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society, studied one of Bowman’s photos and agreed.
“It’s a peacock,” Powers reported, “and quite a handsome one at that.”
Or to be more specific, the Hypoluxo Island peafowl is Pavo cristatus, native to India and the most cosmopolitan of three species.
“The easiest way to distinguish the two would be to look at the color of the bird’s neck and head feathers,” Powers said. “The boys have a brilliant blue hue from their head to their shoulders.”
Like so many of us Floridians, peafowls are not native to the state. Most historians theorize the birds were introduced here in the late 1800s, when they were considered a status symbol.
However they arrived, they have stayed, with peacock flocks — called a “pride” or “ostentation” — having been reported from Cape Canaveral to Miami, and especially along the Gulf Coast.
“I heard there’s a community over on High Ridge Road,” Bowman said, “so we think maybe somebody brought an egg over to our island.”
Now the bird seems to have made himself at home, strutting about McKinley Park or perching atop the lion sculptures at the entrance to a home on Southeast Atlantic Drive.
This was probably a major flight for a peacock, which doesn’t fly much higher than the lower branches of a tree, and the birds are not generally aggressive.
“But they can be defensive,” Powers noted. “If you leave them alone, they will probably leave you alone.”
They can be loud, assaulting the ears with a loud, piercing honk when they’re startled.
“One of the neighbors has suggested we trap him and get rid of him,” Bowman said, but this seems to be a minority view. Most of the peacock’s new neighbors seem more eager to feed than exile him.
“My husband, Gene, leaves blueberries out for him,” McGlinn-Work said. “He’s not a fan of the strawberries or raspberries we leave out. I see him eating cat food off a porch. He looks like he’s being very well fed on the island.”
One islander is reportedly feeding him Cheerios, which he also accepts.
The Palm Beach Zoo is home to a peahen named Sally Ride, after the first American woman in space. For a while there was talk of a naming contest for the island’s peacock, but it hasn’t gone anywhere, McGlinn-Work said.
“I’ve heard Penny the Peacock, for the alliteration,” she said. “My husband and I called him Michael Jackson because he does a really good moonwalk when he gets excited. He puts up his tail feathers and all his down gets fluffed up and he kicks his butt at you and does the moonwalk.”
Moonwalking or not, the peacock seems to be on the move. He’s been spotted from the northern end of the island south to Point Manalapan, and now Publix, at the corner of A1A and East Ocean Avenue.
“I saw him in the Publix parking lot,” McGlinn-Work reported. “I think he’s probably trying to find a mate.”
Bowman agreed.
“When the plumes come in, that’s to attract a mate,” she explained. “He’s been paying a lot of attention to the ducks on the island. He’s trying to buy them a cocktail, but they won’t have any part of it.”
One theory being tossed around is that because the coronavirus kept more residents home, perhaps wildlife have felt more comfortable emerging.
“Or perhaps more time spent close to home has led people to become more observant of the wildlife around them,” Powers suggested. “Personally, I’m hoping for the latter.”
Wherever he came from, however long he stays, the humans of Hypoluxo Island have welcomed him, one more flash of color in a colorful community.
“I love him,” Susie Bowman said, speaking no doubt for many. “I love seeing nature. That’s what’s so great about Hypoluxo Island. We have foliage and canopy, but we have little bits of nature, too, and he always puts a smile on my face.”

By Jane Smith

More than two months after the city received a proposed $1.8 million fine over its botched reclaimed water program, the Delray Beach legal team was still negotiating a settlement with the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County.
“There is no set time” for the city to respond to the proposed consent order, Alexander Shaw, Health Department spokesman, wrote in a June 21 email to The Coastal Star. He also wrote in a July 26 email that the city met with Health Department leaders in person on July 7, and they “continue to have constructive negotiations with each other.”
He declined to reveal the substance of the negotiations.
City Attorney Lynn Gelin and two attorneys from the Lewis Longman & Walker firm make up the city’s legal team.
“Negotiations are ongoing,” Laurie Menekou, the publicist hired to answer media questions about the city’s reclaimed water program, wrote in a July 28 email. “There is no additional information to share at this time.”
The City Commission will have to approve the final agreement with the state.
The Health Department contends that Delray Beach’s reclaimed water program was flawed since its start in 2007.
The city created a step-by-step implementation manual, but never followed its own instructions, which called for annual inspections of each connection site and an ongoing cross-connection control program, according to the Health Department.
That’s why the Health Department wants the city to publish a public notice acknowledging it “cannot assure utility customers that the drinking water produced and distributed met the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act for the period from inception of the reclaimed water service beginning in 2007 to the time reclaimed water was deactivated on February 4, 2020.”
The city will have to publish the notice in a newspaper, in its utility bills and on its website, according to state rules.
The proposed fine does not include the $21,194 that the Health Department spent on the investigation, as of June 21.
During an extensive review with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the spring, the departments determined that assessed penalties are more in line with fines that were in effect in 2018.
As a result, the proposed fine of nearly $1.8 million is lower than the nearly $2.9 million proposed in January in a draft consent order. The individual fines also were reduced as a result of the joint review.
Of the 11 violations cited, eight were deemed to be major and carry civil penalties of $5,000.
The city was cited for 12 years of not following its own program of annual inspections. It also submitted false reports saying annual inspections had taken place. The civil fine total is $60,000, at $5,000 per year.
In addition, Delray Beach was fined for missing 576 backflow preventers. The devices are needed on the drinking water pipes to prevent the reclaimed water from flowing back into the drinking water.
The Health Department is proposing fines of $2,229 per location, for a total of $1.3 million.
For submitting false information in December 2018 when a cross connection was discovered at 801 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach should be fined $5,000 for not reporting that people were sickened. No names or job titles are mentioned in the consent order.
A cross connection happens when reclaimed water lines carrying highly treated wastewater for lawn irrigation, but not safe for human and pet use, are wrongly connected with drinking water pipes.
The city also failed to report to the Health Department about a 2019 cross connection discovered at 120 N. Ocean Blvd. In addition, Delray Beach did not issue a public notice of the cross connection found there. The Health Department wants to fine the city $10,000 total or $5,000 for each violation.
The civil penalties total $1.4 million. The Health Department wants to add a 25% charge for the city’s history of noncompliance. The nearly $1.8 million total was recommended at the start of initial negotiations, according to the document.
The Health Department was made aware of the problems in January 2020 by a South Ocean Boulevard area resident’s call.
That led the city to shut down its entire reclaimed water system and seek Health Department approval before turning on the reclaimed water for that location.
In 2020, Delray Beach spent more than $1 million to fix that system. The city can’t use the money spent fixing the system to offset the fines, according to the Health Department.
Another investigation of the reclaimed water program ended in May without finding a past or current city employee, department or outside vendor solely responsible.
As a result of that critical review, the city said it will educate its water customers about what reclaimed water is and its allowed use — only for lawn irrigation.
In addition, the Utilities Department started documenting all customer complaints or inquiries and tracking them in the city’s computerized maintenance management system. Utilities staff will be trained in the proper documentation and inspection reports required by the regulating agencies over reclaimed water.

Uncertainty about illnesses

The county Office of Inspector General became involved last August at the request of the Health Department. Health officials were “concerned that city staff and/or elected officials concealed and/or misrepresented their knowledge,” according to the OIG report.
The Health Department could only issue civil fines. The OIG can forward its results to the State Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution.
The OIG investigated what the city staff knew about the illnesses from the December 2018 cross connection on South Ocean and whether they were reported to the Health Department as required.
The OIG “was unable to determine whether the reported illness was actually caused by the city’s drinking water,” according to its report. No elected official or current or past city employee was found liable.
But an unnamed city staffer identified in the report as a whistleblower submitted a lengthy rebuttal to the OIG findings based on a review by Public Management Services Inc., a firm the city hired in 2020 to independently review the system.
According to that review, a March 2019 meeting was held by an ex-assistant city manager with various department heads and the project’s consultant representative. They discussed the December 2018 cross connection.
Because no medical or hospital records connected the illnesses with the reclaimed water, the illnesses were not reported to the Health Department. The ex-assistant city manager determined no more action was needed without medical or hospital records connecting the illnesses to the reclaimed water.
“It was not the city’s job to determine this but to report it” to the Health Department, the whistleblower said in the rebuttal. The whistleblower did not attend the March 2019 meeting.

Robin Austin of Ocean Ridge, a retired ad agency owner, is now a mosaic artist. This 3- by 5-foot image of Mick Jagger is titled His Majesty. Austin assembled hundreds of little photo squares to make light, shadow and colors in the portrait. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Robin Austin spent 30 years in marketing, working for some of the top firms in the world before starting his own, Fusion 5, then selling it for a handsome profit in 2003.
Not yet 50, Austin then faced the obvious question: What next? He didn’t have to go far to find out.
“I had always been intrigued with mosaics,” said Austin, 67. “I remember one done by Heineken of a tulip field in Holland, and all the mosaics were of tulips. I said, ‘That’s so boring.’
“So I’m literally lying in bed and saying, ‘What if you did a mosaic where the mosaic is telling a story? And what if it’s something fun?’
“I figured there had to be so many artists doing this. So it was, let’s find out, and to my absolute astonishment nobody was doing it. So I decided to become an iconic mosaic storyteller … a visual celebration of the icon.”
Austin used the TV series Breaking Bad as the theme of his first piece, a birthday present to his son James. Soon after came one of Princess Diana, then Nelson Mandela and Mick Jagger.
Using a computer and Photoshop, he used 3,500 tiny photos in a celebration of David Bowie.
Now his pieces number more than 100.
The Ocean Ridge resident entered six into a minor art show in Miami and, with the help of a story in Venue magazine, his work was picked up by three galleries.
“They got what I was doing,” he said. “They said, ‘You are shamelessly commercial.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And now I’m in art galleries all over the world.”
Austin also invented a golf putting aide called EEZ-Read that was named “Best New Product” at the 2008 PGA of America Merchandise Show.
He and his wife of 32 years, Mickey, moved to Ocean Ridge three years ago. He’s a huge fan of Leeds United and the England soccer team and enjoys walking the beach and cleaning it up.

— 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 Yorkshire, England, in Leeds, which is 200 miles north of London. I was born in 1954 so the ’60s had a profound effect on me. In television, movies and music it was an incredibly interesting time. In the ’50s the icons were movie stars and by the ’60s it had changed completely. It is the music, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones; it’s fashion, it’s Carnaby Street, it’s Flower Power. There’s a rejection of conventions, like the Vietnam War. And by 1975 … look at The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That would have been totally unaccepted in the ’50s.
So this all affected me very much. It was an era of fabulous, and I was like ‘Wow.’ So now when I can celebrate it in my art, I so enjoy doing it.
That was a time when a lot was happening. I went to an English boarding school and then I went straight into business.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I met Tom Bauer, the head of Procter & Gamble in Europe at the time, and when I met him with friends in the south of France he said, “This boy should be in advertising. He’s creative, he’s fun.” So he arranged for me to be introduced to an American ad agency and it was a square peg in a square hole. It came easy to me, I had an outgoing personality, I was well-educated and well-mannered, so it really suited me.
I was in Stockholm with Young & Rubicam and they offered me jobs in London and New York. Here I am, 26 years old, and I hear “New York, Madison Avenue.” I’m young and single, so off I went. I worked really hard, moved up the ladder, and another company, MCA, came along and doubled my salary before I was 30.
Then in 1993 we founded our own company. We saw a changing marketplace and identified a new problem, and created Fusion 5. Our tagline was “Innovation Out of Insight” and we were very cutting edge. I was very proud of the innovative work we did, that really influenced and changed companies’ directions. We sold the company in 2003.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: My advice would be to soak up everything. Knowledge is growth. In the early part just soak it up; don’t take yourself too seriously but have a broad view. Then start evaluating what you really want and are passionate about. The old story holds true: If you really like and believe in what you’re doing, then go off and do it.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A: My wife’s parents, Jim and Mary Farley, owned property down here in Gulf Stream and introduced me to the area, and who wouldn’t fall in love with it? You fly from New York and land in Palm Beach and it was just fabulous. You’ve got Palm Beach sophistication up the road, Miami down the road. I can get to London from Miami in one plane ride. So the whole area works for me. And I didn’t come to retire; this is a next chapter of my life.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A: The people are exceptionally nice. Young, older, the different walks of life we’ve come from. It’s a 75- to 100-yard walk for me to the beach and I talk to probably five people every day. And they’re fantastic.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I use audiobooks. But I constantly listen to them. I have a range. I love getting perspective on pop culture and modern-day culture versus 20 or 30 years ago. There are a lot of very good journalists that write pieces in good magazines and then write a book to expand upon that. One I’m into at the moment is the subject of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, which is going to be the wave of the future. The book is Understanding Bitcoin.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: All the classics from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Springsteen. Dylan. Simon and Garfunkel. The Rolling Stones. Music plays a huge part in my life; we have it on all the time. Music is a mood-changer. You get the right music at the right time and it’s fantastic. For inspiration, it’s Sympathy for the Devil. I get cranked up. There are some classics that are timeless.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: Bill Price has been incredibly special to me. I used to work for him and he was a fantastic leader and inspiring manager. He allowed me to open my wings. We started working together 30 years ago, but we’ve remained best friends. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have a mentor like him. Also, in Sweden, Jack Grafstrom, who like me retired from business and became an artist. It was like “Maybe Jack is showing me the way here.”

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I really like what I’ve seen of Benedict Cumberbatch. He played Sherlock Holmes, and that’s a passion of mine. My dad used to read him to me when I was a little boy. And Cumberbatch played him really well.
Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: My son James, my wife, my dog. Maybe I’m overreacting to the lockdown time, but being with friends, laughing, sharing a good bottle of wine, that makes me laugh and makes me happy.
Also, the original Tom and Jerry cartoons. I used to take the JetBlue flight from New York to Palm Beach and at 11 a.m. there would be an hour of Tom and Jerry cartoons, and people would look at me because I was laughing so hard.

The circular drive for pickup and drop-off is included in architect Juan Caycedo’s vision of what the Boca Raton Brightline station will look like. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

Brightline likely will get a green light from the city in August to begin construction of its Boca Raton station and garage.
The city’s Planning & Zoning Board, by a 5-1 vote on July 15, recommended that the City Council approve the $46 million project. The council is expected to take action at its Aug. 24 meeting. Board member Larry Snowden, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he understands the importance of the station to the city.
“It is a huge, positive impact on our city,” he said. “I recognize it is a game changer.”
But Snowden said he was dissatisfied with Brightline’s presentation to the board that he felt did not address many questions and safety issues.
“What I have seen tonight is not ready for prime time,” he said, without outlining specifics.
Brightline plans a 9,035-square-foot, one-story train station and a 4.5-story, 171,050-square-foot garage with 455 parking spaces. Surface parking will provide another 109 spaces.
The project will be located on city-owned land along the FEC railway tracks immediately east of the Downtown Library.
In December 2019, the city agreed to lease 1.8 acres of its land there to Brightline for 29 years, but with renewals that could total 89 years.
Library patrons will be able to use the surface parking and 64 garage spaces will be reserved for them. The remainder will be available to Brightline passengers and the public.
A $16.3 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant will help pay for the station and garage. Brightline will pay $20 million of the station cost and the city will spend $9.9 million on the garage.
Brightline broke ground on May 10 for a temporary parking lot just south of the library that its patrons will use while the station and garage are being built. It also started work at that time to move the Junior League of Boca Raton’s Community Garden, which is being displaced by the station, to Meadows Park.
Brightline halted rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It now expects to resume service in the fourth quarter of this year.

By Joe Capozzi

The owner of an oceanfront property that fell into disrepair, sparking complaints from neighbors about rats and debris, will get a discount on code fines from Ocean Ridge. 
But it wasn’t the reduction the owner was hoping for. 
Brookshore Ltd., which owns the property at 6009 N. Ocean Blvd., must pay $116,230 of the original $162,031 in liens stemming from code violations going back at least to 2019, town commissioners agreed Aug. 2.
Brookshore had asked to pay just $50,000, a request that insulted at least two commissioners. 
“I think it is disingenuous, honestly, for a property that is minimally worth $5 million to come in with a 1% offer of $50,000,’’ said Mayor Kristine de Haseth, who initially wanted to reduce the original total by just $19,751, which represents the interest accrued. 
Sam Caliendo, an attorney for Brookshore, said the owner of the company is an elderly man in New York who allowed a friend, Jose Esquivel, to live on the property with the understanding that Esquivel would take care of it. 
“He did not take care of it. We tried to evict him on several occasions,’’ Caliendo said. 
He said Esquivel fell ill and died, then Kenneth Frank, the owner’s son, got involved and started addressing the violations, which started accruing in 2019. The house was eventually demolished and the land cleared.
The property came into compliance in June. But fines started accruing in July 2019. And on Nov. 1, 2019, the town sent Brookshore a letter via certified mail warning the property was “an unsafe structure.’’
When Brookshore’s owner asked Esquivel about the problems, the tenant said “the situation was not as bad as the town thought it was,’’ Frank said, speaking to the council via audio call. “It’s just unfortunate that I am in New York. We could have rectified it sooner.’’
At least two commissioners weren’t moved by Frank’s response. 
“Being in New York, you did not get the pleasure of having our residents parade through and talk about the rats that were infesting their property and talk about the blue tarp pieces flying in their pools,’’ de Haseth said. 
“This situation went on well too long and too many people either turned their heads or did not choose to know what was going on,’’ she said. “All it would have taken was a two-minute stroll into our town in the last five years.’’
Commissioner Martin Wiescholek said the problems had been going on long before the fines started accruing in 2019. 
At one point, the home was boarded up “with the roof half falling in and a blue tarp that got ripped in two hurricanes and was still sitting around to the point where the town was looking into replacing the roof at town’s expense,’’ he said. 
“That to me says, ‘We don’t care about the community. We don’t care that you need to see this, on prime property.’ When the owner doesn’t care enough that the community is impacted by it, I don’t think the community should care if the owner has to pay the fine.’’
Commissioner Geoff Pugh suggested cutting the lien total in half, saying the town has done that in previous cases. Commissioner Steve Coz, noting Frank was now taking responsibility, suggested dropping the fine to $100,000. 
The final $116,230 total commissioners agreed on is the average of what each of the four commissioners wanted. 
Vice Mayor Susan Hurlburt was absent, but a letter from her objecting to the reduction request was read into the
record.

By Joe Capozzi

Ocean Ridge property owners can expect higher tax bills next year. How much higher depends on whether a majority of commissioners follow through on a tentative desire to set the highest tax rate in town history.
In July, the commission voted 3-2 to tentatively raise the tax rate to $5.65 per $1,000 of taxable value to help balance a proposed $8.8 million budget for the next budget year, which begins Oct. 1.
Commissioners Geoff Pugh and Steve Coz voted against the increase after saying they might be willing to consider raising the rate to $5.50 per $1,000.  
For the owner of a home valued at $1 million last year, a rate of $5.65 per $1,000 would add $543 to the tax bill.
If the commission votes to keep the rate at $5.35 per $1,000, taxes would still go up because, based on town projections, property values increased 4.3% over last year to $1.15 billion. On average, the owner of a property valued at $1 million last year would see about $230 more in taxes.
Commissioners can lower the rate and tweak the budget before voting on a final version in September. But if they vote to keep the current rate of $5.35 per $1,000 of taxable value, they’d need to tap $439,404 from reserves to balance the budget, a strategy that didn’t sit well with a majority of commissioners.  
The tax rate has been $5.35 per $1,000 for the past nine years except for 2018, when it dropped to $5.25 per $1,000.
Last year the commission earmarked $706,421 from reserves to cover the expected shortfall. The actual amount used won’t be known until the end of the year, but it could be less than $706,421.
“I think we are being fiscally irresponsible by not considering a millage increase,” Mayor Kristine de Haseth said at a July budget workshop.
“I think the time was long overdue probably about five years ago and the level of service that this town has and demands is going to do nothing but increase.” 
The first budget workshop was held as Hurricane Elsa approached South Florida. The region was spared, but the mayor noted that Elsa was one of the earliest-forming storms on record.
“Given the scare of Elsa, that’s kind of a wakeup call for all of us that storms are going to happen eventually,” de Haseth said. “It’s not the percentage of the budget we have in reserves. It’s how much, how far will those reserve monies go and sustain us.”
Town Manager Tracey Stevens’ proposed spending plan is nearly 6.1% higher than the current budget mainly because of capital improvement projects, bridge repairs, drainage projects “and uncontrollable increases in general operating expenses” such as insurance and retirement rates and raises for employees, she wrote in a memo Aug. 2.
The extra costs add up to $493,656, with $365,000 going to improvements mandated by the Florida Department of Transportation: $240,000 for bridge repairs and $125,000 for replacing street lights on Ocean Avenue.
Also driving the increases are insurance rates in workers’ comp and general liability claims and contract increases for police, fire and emergency medical services.
Stevens’ first proposal called for using $653,540 in reserves. The latest plan, tweaked through four workshops, calls for $216,130 from reserves. 
She reminded commissioners that she expects the reserve fund to be replenished by unused money at the end of the next budget year.  
“Town Reserves have typically increased over the past several years by the end of the fiscal year due to staff turnover, or short-staffing which causes projects to not be completed by the end of the fiscal year,” she wrote.
Commissioner Martin Wiescholek said he is not in favor of tapping too much from the reserves every year. “The prudent thing is to replenish reserves or attempt to,” he said at the July budget meeting. “We are living in a town with a lot of services, we have to pay for it.” 
Public hearings are Sept. 7 and Sept. 21.