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7960804666?profile=originalRich Mascolo watches activities at the YMCA in Boynton Beach. He raised money so children from the Caridad Center could continue to attend a Y camp free. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Lifting children who could use a helping hand is in Rich Mascolo’s DNA.
The son of two successful educators who recognized the potential in every child, and the nephew of an aunt and uncle who worked as teachers, Mascolo strayed from the “family business” and found success in advertising and marketing in New York.
Still, Mascolo, who lives in Ocean Ridge, couldn’t fully escape the calling that runs through the family bloodline.
Mascolo, who is on the board of the YMCA of South Palm Beach County, learned that a decade-long program that sends more than 80 children served by the Caridad Center — the largest free clinic in Florida — to the Y’s summer camp for free was in financial jeopardy. A major funder pulled out unexpectedly, leaving a gap of more than $25,000.
“Suddenly a significant number of kids were uncovered,” Mascolo said.
Determined to ensure all the children got to camp, Mascolo reached out to friends, family and associates to ask for contributions.
In the end, enough money was raised to avoid disrupting the 10-week Caridad YMCA camp at the Boynton branch.
“I just told the story,” Mascolo said.
An important part of that story is that a few years ago half of the children who had come to the camp had gone on to college.
“I was always taken with how successful the program was,” Mascolo said.
Children from the Caridad Center who attend the camp, many from families living below or near the federal poverty line, get the typical summer camp experience plus tips for healthy living and exposure to an academic element that includes math, science and the arts.
Mascolo, who says most of the contributions were in the $1,000 or $2,000 range, raised the bulk of the needed money in less than two months.
““It happened quickly because the cause is human, tangible and compelling ... and our pals have big hearts,” he said.
Mascolo’s devotion to the program for Caridad Center campers was the key to his success, says Barry Davis, executive director of the Y’s Boynton branch.
“You could see the passion and how much the program meant to him,” Davis said. “People just came up to him and said, ‘How can I help?’ ”
Mascolo, 63, and his wife, Bebe, became members of the YMCA in 2007, when they were still part-time residents, and saw firsthand the impact it had on the community.
“We got to know the Y,” he said. “We got a close-up look at what they were doing and we were knocked out.”
Mascolo said he and Bebe had no idea that the YMCA was a nonprofit organization and they didn’t know that it’s the Y’s policy never to turn anyone away who can’t afford to join.
“Once we understood that, we got involved,” he said.
First stop for Mascolo was the YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s marketing committee, where he set about trying to get the word out about all the YMCA does.
“What I wanted to do is help them uncover the obvious,” he said.
By 2015, Mascolo was drafted to serve on the Y’s board of trustees.
For Davis at the Boynton branch, Mascolo is a go-to guy, who is always looking for ways to help the organization.
“When you think of a cheerleader or an advocate, that’s Rich,” Davis said. “No matter what challenges we face, Rich is always a positive force.”
Mascolo points to a common denominator between what his parents and aunt and uncle dedicated their work to and what the Y sets out to achieve.
“They tried to build bridges for kids they thought would fall through the cracks and who don’t have advantages or access to resources,” he said. “The Y is about building bridges and filling gaps.”
His father became a superintendent of schools pioneering an alternative school program, while his uncle created an innovative program and was recognized as “Teacher of the Year” by Bill Clinton. His aunt was a reading specialist who developed creative techniques for her students, while his mother was an elementary school teacher, beloved by her students.
“All of them recognized the potential of every child,” he said.
Mascolo says the Y has a similar vision. “When I see the kids in the Caridad YMCA camp having the greatest day of their lives, I think about the kindness of all the people I reached out to,” he said.

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

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I’ve watched one tide turn since we started this newspaper almost 10 years ago: Where there once was a reluctance to utter the words “sea level rise” from the dais, the phrase now is part of the municipal vernacular during discussions on building regulations and comprehensive planning.
It’s about time.
Our larger cities have begun to hire sustainability officers, and most of our barrier island municipalities have identified at least one official to participate in regional groups looking for solutions to the rising waters in our backyards. It’s heartening to see this progress.
But planning for the inevitable will take time, so what we can do now? Simple: maintenance.
The first leaks in our current island drainage plans come when we don’t pay attention to our infrastructure. All municipalities between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway should build infrastructure maintenance into the budget plans they will discuss over the summer. Residents should demand it. Local Realtors should demand it. Coastal businesses should demand it — especially builders.
We all know the value of property in this area. If we don’t act soon, we stand to watch those very attractive values sink as the water rises. Taxpayers expect roads, sea walls, outflow valves, swales and drainage systems to be regularly checked and maintained.
The fact that they often haven’t been is deeply concerning. Discovering that a neighborhood has a problem only when the streets flood is unacceptable.
Now is the time to budget for maintenance and repairs. Fix the existing problems. Enforce the building codes that are already on the books. Make sure that new construction doesn’t have a negative effect on existing drainage systems. And plan for the future.
I don’t think you’ll hear any complaints from the taxpayers.

— Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

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We read your column in the July issue of The Coastal Star (“With anger everywhere, violence not a surprise”) and were saddened, but not surprised, to learn of the challenges you and your staff face in the execution of your duties at the paper.
We are from the Annapolis area and we mourn the senseless loss of the five dedicated staff members at the Capital Gazette.
In the unfortunate era in which we now live, a free press is more vital than ever.
We wanted to let you and your team know how much we appreciate and value the work that you do. We support you without question.
Matt Gaffney and Ned Kesmodel
Delray Beach


LETTERS: The Coastal Star welcomes letters to the editor about issues of interest in the community. These are subject to editing and must include your name, address and phone number. Preferred length is 200-500 words. Send email to editor@thecoastalstar.com

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By Jane Smith

The Delray Beach mayor measures the drop in overdoses by the sound of silence.
“We no longer hear the sirens blaring from rescue vehicles racing to the next overdose,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “It used to happen several times a day. … I always worried whether that person would make it.”
She also sees fewer addicts wandering on city streets wheeling suitcases behind them, indicating they were kicked out of sober homes.
At the peak of the opioid epidemic in Delray Beach, police responded to 96 overdoses in October 2016. Eleven were fatal.
Since that time, South County coastal cities and the county have worked together to rid the area of rogue operators. The state attorney received state money in July 2016 to start a Sober Homes Task Force. More than 50 people have been arrested on patient brokering, marketing abuse and insurance fraud charges.
Delray Beach had eight fatal overdoses in the first six months of 2018 ­compared with 37 deaths in the same period in 2017. Boynton Beach recorded 20 deaths this year and 33 fatal overdoses in the same period last year.
Delray Beach also has a social worker on its police force. Ariana Ciancio visits overdose victims in the hospital and helps get them into treatment or tickets back to their home cities.
The city recorded no fatal overdoses in June, but seven people died from overdoses in July.
“On the streets, I see the numbers ebb and flow,” Ciancio told the Sober Homes Task Force in late July.
Meanwhile, Lantana saw its fatal overdoses increase from one in the first six months of 2017 to four during the same period in 2018. Police Chief Sean Scheller said the numbers don’t present “a huge problem. We have a collaborative effort with other police agencies to go after the drug dealers to stop the sale of drugs here,” Scheller said.
He also said that with drugstores selling Narcan, the name brand of naxolone, sober home operators might not call 911 for an overdose.
While Boca Raton does not track fatal overdoses, its Fire Rescue Department tracks naxolone it administers. Naxolone is given to overdose victims to counteract the symptoms. For the first six months of 2018, the medication was given to 62 patients at a cost of $3,113, down from 79 patients receiving the medication during the first six months of 2017. The cost was down 3.5 percent from $3,226.20.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Chrissy Gibson, Boca Raton spokeswoman.
In addition, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach have passed ordinances that cover sober homes. An operator has to apply annually for a reasonable accommodation that allows more than three unrelated people to live together in sobriety — needed to have protection under federal disability laws.
Boynton Beach Mayor Stephen Grant credits that ordinance for making “a huge difference.”
Sober homes will have to be certified by the Florida Association of Recovery Residences to open in both cities.
Delray Beach city commissioners will take up their first exception case on Aug. 21. The city has a distance requirement for group homes to prevent clustering.
At the July 16 Planning and Zoning Board meeting, Stepping Stones’ application to open was denied because the Osceola neighborhood the recovery residence is in already has three others within 660 feet.
Stepping Stones was operating when the distance ordinance was passed and only recently came to the city’s attention. City staff recommended approval, but the P&Z board denied it. Several neighbors spoke against it.
The commission has the ultimate say.

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By Dan Moffett

When a Publix Super Market held its grand opening in Spotsylvania County, Va., last month, shoppers started lining up before 2:30 a.m. to be there when the electric doors parted at 7.
It’s unlikely Manalapan will match that level of consumer fervor. But make no mistake, in their own way, Manalapan residents are about as excited as those in Spotsylvania to get their new Publix.
After three years of polite yet persistent wrangling between town and corporation, Publix is set to open its supermarket at Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar on Aug. 16.
“We’re very, very happy with what’s going on here,” said Mayor Keith Waters. “They’ve done a remarkable job. They’ve been very cooperative with the community in addressing our needs.”
Those needs included architectural features not typically seen in nearly all the other 1,188 Publix stores.
It took the town and the company more than 10 months to agree on a sign design. There will be no iconic green and white Publix trademark atop the front doors — but rather, a tasteful, understated backlit marquee.
Dozens of 25-foot areca palm trees line the backside of the plaza to hide delivery trucks and a water tank needed to boost water pressure. The store’s exterior color palette is a tranquil, beiger shade of beige. The company’s proposal for a free-standing liquor store next to the supermarket was pronounced dead on arrival by town commissioners.
In floorspace, the new supermarket is about 28,000 square feet, roughly that of the Publix in downtown Lake Worth but 25 percent smaller than the one at CityPlace in West Palm Beach.
The doors of the new store will open at 7 a.m. Aug. 16, said Nicole Maristany Krauss, the company’s media and community relations manager. “Customers will receive an insulated Publix reusable goodie bag from the Publix Pharmacy and enjoy tastings in all departments,” she said.
The Publix is the centerpiece in a $10 million renovation of the 30-year-old Plaza del Mar.
Kitson & Partners, the plaza landlords, said the overhaul actually will shrink total retail space from about 103,000 square feet to 83,000 square feet. The sweeping overhaul includes new pavement, landscaping, signage and LED lighting.
The plaza has languished in recent years, town officials say, and the Great Recession that began in 2007 took a toll. Occupancy fell below 70 percent at times.
“It was tired,” said Vice Mayor Peter Isaac, who commended Kitson for giving the mall the makeover it needed.
7960797465?profile=originalPublix has chosen Wade Rinderknecht, who currently manages the CityPlace store, to take over as manager in Manalapan. He said employees would begin stocking the shelves the first week in August.
“I’ve always just loved being around people,” Rinderknecht said. “I’m looking forward to being part of the community here and serving the residents.”
Will the Manalapan store offer the town’s upscale consumers anything beyond the offerings of a typical Publix? Rinderknecht isn’t saying.
“We have some things in mind,” he said. “We’ll see.”
In other business, the Town Commission tentatively approved a substantial increase in the tax rate for the next fiscal year to cover the cost of expanding the Police Department.
During their meeting on July 14, commissioners unanimously signed off on raising the rate to $3.03 per $1,000 of taxable property value, up roughly 8 percent from the current $2.795.
With a 10 percent increase in property values during the past year, Manalapan expects to bring in enough revenue to help pay for a police and security expansion that could cost more than $500,000.
The town wants to add four uniformed officers to expand the force to 15, increase police salaries and benefits, and add to its network of surveillance and license plate recognition cameras.
Final hearings on the 2019 budget are scheduled for Sept. 18 and Sept. 25, both beginning at 5:01 p.m.

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Slow progress on main angers residents

7960805255?profile=originalWork on South Atlantic Drive on Hypoluxo Island continued on July 24, past the Lantana Town Council’s July 23 deadline for the project’s completion. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana officials have put the squeeze on Intercounty Engineering Inc., the firm hired to install water main pipes on South Atlantic Drive on Hypoluxo Island. The contractor, they say, has fallen behind schedule and isn’t doing a satisfactory job of cleanup after work each day.
Payments to the contractor are being withheld by Lantana’s engineering company, Mathews Consulting Inc. The contract is worth a little more than $1 million, and $671,000 is left to be paid, according to Rebecca Travis of Mathews Consulting.
In December, the town hired Intercounty Engineering, the lowest of three bidders, to install new 6- and 8-inch water mains along South Atlantic Drive and Southeast Atlantic Drive for additional fire protection, according to Linda Brien, Lantana’s director of operations. The project, along the island’s main street, begins at East Ocean Boulevard and South Atlantic Drive heading south to Lands End Road, where it turns east to the end of Southeast Atlantic Drive.
The original final completion date was July 3. However, “due to rain and unforeseen conditions, the town extended the completion date to July 23,” Brien said. That goal hasn’t been met and those who live in the area aren’t happy about it — or about the quality of work.
The work continued into August. The Coastal Star reached out to Maurice Hynes, president of Intercounty Engineering, for comment, but he did not reply.
Dan Hiatt, who lives on the island and has 40 years’ experience in construction, appeared at the July 9 Town Council meeting. He said that when the workers were cutting a trench, they threw dirt all over the road and did not clean it up, as the contract required.
Hiatt said the work had created a giant mess that is a safety issue.
“We’ve got a coalition of people that see me every day when I walk my dog that have been consistently calling and complaining about this,” said Hiatt. “We just want to figure out a remedy to this situation. How can we force his [the contractor’s] hand? What can we do to make this guy comply with the contract?”
Another resident, Erica Wald, complained about flagmen who “are always eating something or looking at their phone” when she tried to drive through the construction site. The mess left by workers has resulted in three flat tires for her car, she said.
Manalapan commissioners who live on Point Manalapan and gain access to their community by driving past the construction site, also expressed concerns at last month’s meeting of their Town Council.
Lantana Town Manager Deborah Manzo said the town is keeping close tabs on the work and that either someone from Mathews Consulting or someone from the town is on site every day.
“We feel the contractor is lacking in his attention to the project, his cleanup of the project, and his provision of asphalt patching on the trench every night that he’s required to do,” Mathews engineering consultant Travis told the Lantana council on July 9.
She said that the engineering firm was holding a monthly meeting with the contractor to bring these issues to light and that the town has had additional meetings with the contractor, or his project manager.
“When he [contractor] was not responding in the manner he should have, we issued a notice of noncompliance letter on June 28 to rectify the situation, and this was specific to the asphalt patching at the end of every single day,” Travis said. “He says he’ll do better. He has done slightly better, still not to our standards.”
In order for the contractor to finish the water main work sometime this month, he needs to have a second crew, Travis said. “Because the contractor is not meeting his contract completion times, the town can charge him $500 a day for each day he is late.” Those fines are piling up.
Hiatt wanted to know why the town didn’t red tag the contractor and shut him down.
Town Attorney Max Lohman said to do that would be “asinine in the extreme.”
“Then you’re going to have months more of what you don’t like now, because then we have to go through a process,” Lohman said. “Not to mention that we can’t collect liquidated damages on a project that we red tag and prevent him from doing construction.”
Lohman said the town was pursuing its remedies under the contract as it is required to do.
“We’ve provided written notice of his breach of contract for his failures to meet the terms of his contract and we’re taking all the necessary legal steps to move forward,” Lohman said.
Hiatt said one resident was threatening a lawsuit. But Lohman said that wasn’t a good idea.
“If a man feels so inclined to bring a lawsuit, he can go waste his money and do that because there are no third-party beneficiaries to this contract,” Lohman said. Not “he, nor you, nor anybody else in this town has the ability to sue this contractor for breach of contract. Only the Town Council does.”
Hiatt questioned how sincerely the town was taking his concerns.
“We are taking it seriously, and just so you know, we’re trying to make sure we jump though all the legal hoops, which sometimes are slower and more laborious then we’d like them to be,” Lohman said. “Because the only thing worse than this project not getting completed in a timely fashion is to waste money not getting it done and have to spend more money.”
The town could go after the contractor’s bond.
“If he does not cure his breach then we can put a claim on his surety bond, which will hurt him more than a lawsuit because once a contractor gets a claim on their bond it becomes nearly impossible to get another one,” Lohman said.
“We do realize that it’s a problem for people who live there, and the town is not insensitive to it,” Lohman said. “But we have to follow the proper legal steps to solve the problem for you.”
When Hiatt persisted to question the town’s willingness to act, Lohman bristled.
“No one here is blowing you off,” Lohman said. “We’re addressing your concerns. You’re not satisfied with the answer and I understand that. But I take issue with the fact that you’re going to stand here and ridicule this council and lecture us as if we don’t have backbone or don’t have the ability to enforce our contractual obligations on our contractor.”
After the July 9 council meeting, Mathews Consulting sent a second notice of noncompliance for the asphalt trench repair. Recommendations included constructing an asphalt cap over the trench and cleaning the road at the end of each workday. 
Brien said the contractor responded that “they are taking steps to follow the contract patching requirements.”
In other news, the council:
• Set the first budget hearing for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the council chambers. The proposed tax rate is $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, the same as last year.
• Recognized Officer Mathew Parks as the Police Department’s Officer of the 2nd Quarter for his investigation into a large-scale car theft operation in the county.

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By Jane Smith

To meet growing traffic demands, the state will do a $5.2 million construction project at the Atlantic Avenue Interstate 95 interchange in Delray Beach.
The project will begin in September and is expected to last slightly longer than one year, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
7960809656?profile=originalThe improvements will take place mainly along a 1-mile stretch of Atlantic Avenue from the E-4 Canal, just west of Congress Avenue, to Northwest/Southwest 10th Avenue. FDOT owns Atlantic Avenue in this area.
FDOT predicts the average annual daily traffic to increase from 47,000 vehicles in 2016 to 59,800 in 2040, growing at an annual rate of 1.39 percent. The department will showcase its redesign to the public between 4 and 6 p.m. Aug. 30 at the city’s Environmental Services building, 434 S. Swinton Ave.
While the state talks about traffic capacity and safety of drivers, Delray Beach city commissioners are focused on a multimodal transportation plan that includes walkers and bicyclists.
FDOT representatives said they first met with Delray Beach residents in July 2014. They also heard from Human Powered Delray, a nonprofit group dedicated to bike and pedestrian safety.
The department listened to the group’s suggestions, but FDOT did not incorporate most of them into the redesign because of cost constraints and lack of space, said Guillermo Canedo, FDOT spokesman.
Bill Bathurst, a new commissioner who was designated as the FDOT point person at the July 10 commission meeting, said, “We are getting a little bit more of what we wanted. I’m still concerned that it’s dangerous for walkers and bike riders who live east of the interstate and walk west on Atlantic.”
When his son was in high school and wrestled on the Atlantic High School team, Bathurst picked up his son and teammates daily after practice to drive them home, east of I-95. The high school sits on Atlantic Avenue, west of Congress.
The Palm Beach County School District usually does not provide bus service to students living within 2 miles of the school. But for Atlantic High students who live east of I-95, the district makes an exception and provides bus transportation, according to Shane Searchwell, general manager of transportation services. Bathurst is trying to set up a meeting with FDOT representatives and various community leaders before the construction work starts.
FDOT will upgrade the Interstate 95 on-ramp lanes to be “segregated, exclusive safety lanes” from westbound Atlantic, Canedo said. The lanes, also called turbo lanes, will be separated from the other travel lanes by a 4-inch raised concrete barrier that has 5-foot plastic batons on top, he said, to prevent vehicles from crossing over at the last minute.
“The angle of the southbound on-ramp will be changed to improve pedestrian safety,” Canedo said.
East of the interstate on the north side of Atlantic, walkers will have a 6-foot-wide sidewalk and bike riders will get a dedicated 7-foot lane. West of the interstate, bike riders will share the lane with vehicles from the southbound I-95 off-ramp west to Congress Avenue.
Pedestrians and bike riders must cross over the turbo lanes twice when traveling westbound on Atlantic. Eastbound walkers and cyclists also must cross over the regular traffic getting onto the southbound on-ramp and on the other side of the interstate, traffic lanes for vehicles exiting the northbound interstate.

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By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream will lower its property tax rate to just below the rollback rate for the second time in two years.
At their July 13 meeting, town commissioners set the tentative tax rate for the 2018-19 budget year at $4.05 per $1,000 of taxable value, down from $4.36 in the current year and 0.99 cents under the rollback rate — the rate that would produce the same revenue as the previous year, using current assessments.
The first public hearing on property taxes and the town’s budget will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 14.
Town Manager Greg Dunham’s proposed $5.58 million budget includes $531,383 for the first year of Gulf Stream’s 10-year capital improvement plan. The money will be spent on designing and getting permits for rebuilding roads and improving drainage in the worst part of town, the northern core area. Construction, which has an estimated price of $3.7 million, would follow in 2020.
The northern core includes Bermuda Lane from Sea Road to the south end, Gulf Stream Road from Sea Road to Banyan Road, Old School Road from Gulf Stream Road to the cul-de-sac, Oleander Way from Banyan to the north end, Polo Drive from Old School to Banyan, Wright Way from Old School to the cul-de-sac, Sea Road from Ocean Boulevard to Gulf Stream Road, North County Road from Ocean to Sea Road, and Banyan from Ocean to the cul-de-sac.
Projects in Place Au Soleil, the southern core, the water main on State Road A1A, and work in Hidden Harbour and Pelican Lane would come in later years.
Dunham also said he and town accountant Rebecca Tew expected to add at least $1 million to Gulf Stream’s reserves, pushing the total cushion to $4.8 million or more. The reserves dropped to $752,858 in the 2013 budget year as the town wrestled with requests and lawsuits over public records.
The tax rate topped out in fiscal 2016 at $5 per $1,000 as commissioners rebuilt the reserves.
Dunham also recommended that Gulf Stream pay 80 percent of health insurance premiums for the families of town employees. The Police Department recently lost a promising job applicant to Highland Beach, which pays the entire family premium, he said.
“Towns and cities really compete for the labor force,” Dunham said.
Gulf Stream pays all the health premiums for its 20 employees but nothing for family coverage. Only two employees pay extra to cover their dependents, Dunham said, an amount that in one case equals half of each paycheck.
The additional benefit would cost Gulf Stream $246,000 a year, Dunham said.
Commissioners noted that the town already gives employees a $3,000 flex benefit to offset health deductibles and co-pays and decided to discuss the idea further.
“I think there should be some give-and-take” between the flex benefit and family coverage, Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
Dunham also said he will promote Tew from town accountant to chief finance officer. Tew started working for Gulf Stream in 2014. At the commission meeting the Government Finance Officers Association gave her its Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for her work on the 2017-2018 budget.

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By Jane Smith

Delray Beach commissioners agreed to lower the tax rate slightly, keeping a promise to their residents to reduce the tax rate each year for 10 years.
The commission action July 10 capped the total tax rate at $6.97 per $1,000 of property value for the next financial year, which starts Oct. 1. It would be the sixth consecutive year that Delray Beach is lowering its tax rate.
“I want to keep the promise to our taxpayers,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “I am challenging the city manager to find flexibility in the low-hanging fruit of outstanding parking tickets and from our reserves.”
Delray Beach has a lush reserve account of more than $34 million as of June. That amount represents about 28.9 percent of this year’s operating budget. The commission wants to set aside 25 percent, or $29.6 million, for hurricane-related expenses and other emergencies.
Florida does not have a law requiring municipalities to set aside a certain percentage for reserves, said Kurt Wenner, research vice president at Florida TaxWatch. “Most local governments have their own internal policies on reserves,” he said. Florida TaxWatch is a nonprofit organization that researches and analyzes state and local government taxation issues.
Nearby Boynton Beach has a lower reserve goal of 10 percent set aside for emergencies, according to information presented in mid-July at its budget workshop. Boca Raton also has a 10 percent goal. When the current financial year started, Boca Raton had about 34 percent of its operating budget, or $53 million, in reserves.
In Delray Beach, City Manager Mark Lauzier said the lower rate would not allow the city to continue to increase the size of its public safety staff, which was reduced during the Recession. Another five police officers and eight fire-rescue employees are needed, he said.
Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson was the lone no vote on the reduced tax rate. She wants to see more police on the streets.
Lauzier also said the city’s rollback rate is $6.55 per $1,000 property value. The rollback rate is the rate that would generate the same tax revenue as the prior year with allowances for new construction.
Even though the tax rate will be slightly lower, city property owners will pay about 3.2 percent more in property taxes.
In addition, Lauzier talked about the looming budget amendment, where voters statewide will be asked in November whether they want another $25,000 reduction on top of their homestead exemption of $25,000 in property value.
If that passes, the city’s property tax collection would be reduced by $1.3 million, he said.
Lauzier gave each commissioner a thick budget book to read before the Aug. 14 meeting when they will hear presentations by departments.
He also planned to hold three budget town halls in August for residents. The dates and places were: Veterans Park on Aug. 2, Delray Beach Municipal Golf Course on Aug. 6 and Pompey Park Community Center on Aug. 8, all at 6 p.m.
The city’s proposed tax rate has two components. The operating tax rate is $6.76 per $1,000 value and the debt service rate is 21 cents per $1,000 value. The total tax rate for the current year is $7.09 per $1,000 value with an operating rate of $6.86 per $1,000 value and debt service rate of 23 cents per $1,000 value.
Lauzier had wanted to keep the next budget year’s operating tax rate the same as this year’s.
The tax rates had to be set by the end of July in order for the county property appraiser to mail notices in mid-August to every property owner. The notices cover assessed values and proposed tax rates.
The rates can be lowered but not raised during the city’s budget hearings in September.

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By Steve Plunkett

Four of the five candidates hoping to become the next District 89 state representative in November will first duke it out in the Aug. 28 Democratic and Republican primaries.
7960803679?profile=originalOn the GOP side, barrier island resident and Delray Beach accountant Mike Caruso faces Boca Raton lawyer Matt Spritz.
Registered Democrats in District 89, which leans Republican and stretches along the coast from Boca Raton to Singer Island, will choose either Ocean Ridge Mayor Jim Bonfiglio, a lawyer, or Boca Raton real estate agent Ryan Rossi, a former high school teacher.
Bonfiglio, 64, who promises to make life on the barrier island “easier, safer and better,” has been on the Ocean Ridge Town Commission since 2014 after 14 years on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
He had $29,497 in campaign contributions through July 20, the latest report available. He also lent his campaign $65,000. Contributors include the law firm of former Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel ($1,000), numerous other lawyers and law firms and the Palm Beach Classroom Teachers Association political action committee ($500).
Rossi, 33, a Florida Atlantic University graduate who taught government and economics at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, offers himself as part of a “new generation” of Democratic leaders.
Campaign finance reports show him with $16,287 in donations and $1,100 in self-loans. His donors include county Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks ($100), Florida College Democrats ($100), Gulf Stream resident George Elmore ($150), the Economic Council of Palm Beach County PAC ($1,000) and Boca Raton activist Judith Kaye ($1,000).
Republicans also have a choice between generations.
Caruso, 59, a forensic CPA who qualified to run for the Florida House by collecting 1,241 petition signatures, says he will bring “real, experienced, community-based leadership” to Tallahassee. He has been a member of the Delray Beach Police Advisory Board and the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition Board and also president of the Villas of Ocean Crest homeowners association and Atlantic Grove condominium association.
As of July 20 he had $66,770 in contributions and loaned his campaign $210,000. Among the contributors are Caffe Luna Rosa restaurant owner Francis Marincola ($2,000), Palm Beach Kennel Club ($1,000), the nonprofit Florida Limousine Association ($1,000) and west Delray farmers Richard Bowman ($1,000) and Theresa Bowman ($1,000) and their Beefy Tree Farm ($1,000).
Spritz, 35, is no stranger to state politics, according to his LinkedIn biography. He was a campaign manager for Naples Republican Matt Hudson’s unsuccessful 2016 Florida Senate primary run, then managed the successful Florida House campaign of Sarasota businesswoman Alex Miller. After Miller was elected, Spritz became legislative aide to Naples businessman and state Rep. Bob Rommel for the 2017 legislative session. Rommel, Miller and Hudson all have endorsed Spritz’s candidacy.
Spritz gained brief media attention in 2012 in the New York Daily News — he graduated from New York University School of Law — when he and a friend sued celebrity fitness trainer Harley Pasternak after a squabble about a basketball court.
He has $135,485 in campaign contributions and gave himself a $40,000 loan. His supporters include JM Family Enterprises ($1,000), Palm Beach Kennel Club ($1,000), Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association ($1,000), Sunshine State Conservatives ($1,000), former Manalapan Mayor David Cheifetz ($1,000), Florida Bankers Association ($1,000) and Gulf Stream resident George Elmore ($250).
State Rep. Bill Hager, who first won the District 89 seat in 2012, cannot run because of term limits. The primary winners will also face Delray Beach business owner Deborah Wesson Gibson, who is not affiliated with a party, in November.

How to vote
When: Early voting is Aug. 13-26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voting on Election Day, Aug. 28, is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Early voting sites include the Downtown Boca Raton Library, 400 NW Second Ave., and the Boynton Beach Civic Center, 128 E. Ocean Ave. For other sites across Palm Beach County or to look up your precinct place, go to pbcelections.org

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7960806856?profile=originalGulf Stream resident Kevin Anderson acknowledges the crowd after he outlasted John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set of a Wimbledon semifinal that was the second-longest match in tournament history. Anderson went on to his second runner-up finish in the past four Grand Slam events. Thomas Lovelock/AELTC

By Steve Pike

Kevin Anderson has been on the doorstep of winning two of the past four professional tennis Grand Slam events — the 2017 U.S. Open and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. But each time the door slammed shut.
Anderson, a 32-year-old resident of Gulf Stream, finished second to Rafael Nadal in New York and to Novak Djokovic last month at Wimbledon.
Back in Gulf Stream with his wife, Kelsey, following his Wimbledon run, Anderson discussed his plans to finally knock down the door.
He beat top seed Roger Federer in a five-set quarterfinal and outlasted John Isner in a historic six-hour, 36-minute semifinal, which ended 26-24 in the fifth set.
“I think my game is definitely there,’’ said Anderson, who planned to return to the court for the summer hard-court season at the Rogers Cup starting Aug. 3 in Toronto. “I’m on the right path and as I keep learning how to handle these big moments, I think I will become more comfortable as well. I am going to keep looking forward — winning one of the Slams is a huge goal of mine.’’


7960807063?profile=originalKevin Anderson (right) holds the plate awarded to the Wimbledon runner-up as he stands with champion Novak Djokovic during the trophy ceremony. The result gave Anderson a career-high No. 5 world ranking as he prepares for the U.S. Open. Joe Toth/AELTC

Anderson’s Wimbledon run moved him to No. 5 in the ATP world rankings — the highest of his 11-year pro career and the highest of any South African-born player since Kevin Curren rose to No. 5 in 1985. Eric Sturgess and Cliff Drysdale were ranked No. 4 during their careers, but that was before the official ATP world rankings. 
“Achieving a top-five ranking has been a big milestone for me,” said Anderson, who has dual U.S. and South African citizenship. “It makes me the highest ranked South African man in the open era of tennis, which means a great deal. I have a huge amount of respect and have always looked up to Wayne Ferreira, Johan Kriek and Kevin Curren, who were some of the best players in South African history. I’m honored to be in such great company in terms of my ranking and tennis achievements.’’
Anderson’s defeat of Federer, in which Anderson was down two sets and faced a match point before winning 13-11 in the fifth, set up the semifinal vs. Isner. Each man was near exhaustion before Anderson became the first South African to reach a Wimbledon men’s final in 97 years.
Following the match, the second-longest in Wimbledon history, Anderson, Isner and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe were among those who called for a change in the rules to prevent such long final sets. Isner also played the longest match, a 70-68 victory over Nicolas Mahut in 2010 in 11 hours, five minutes over three days.
Does Anderson believe Wimbledon will seriously consider their remarks?
“I think in some aspects, yes, because it happened in the semifinals as opposed to the first round,’’ Anderson said. “On the other hand, John’s previous marathon match lasted almost twice as long as this one and they didn’t consider a rule change.
“Obviously it’s been spoken about, but at the end of the day there’s a lot of history with playing the long fifth set. On the plus side, my match was something that will definitely go down in the history books.’’
With the U.S. Open set to start Aug. 27, Anderson is primed for more history.
“My results at Wimbledon this year were further confirmation that my game is good enough to compete at the best level,’’ Anderson said. “I’ve had that belief already, but now it has come down to believing and performing against the best players on the biggest stages in the world.’’

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Meet Your Neighbor: Chris Warren

7960802655?profile=originalChris Warren practices with dance partner Loreta Kriksciukaityte, owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Boca Raton. Warren will be one of eight contestants in the annual fundraising event benefiting the George Snow Scholarship Fund. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

One of the eight contestants in Boca’s Ballroom Battle has two daughters enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Rachel is 20, and Grace is 19. The contestant’s 14-year-old son, Christopher, attends St. Andrew’s School.
Higher education comes at a high price, and that is one of the reasons Chris Warren, dad to all three, agreed to participate in the George Snow Scholarship Fund benefit.
“It’s a great cause,” said Warren, a founding partner of Lawless, Edwards & Warren Wealth Management. “I’m able to provide an education for my children, my parents provided an education for me, and if I can help some other kids get to school, wow, that’s awesome.”
Warren, a graduate of Michigan State University, does not like the spotlight. He would rather let his actions speak to who he is and what he is about — a financial planner helping clients reach their goals and discovering what is important to them.
“I said no last year, and Tim came back,” said Warren, referring to the nonprofit’s president, Tim Snow. “Saying no again would be me just chickening out.”
So in the spotlight he will be during the Dancing With the Stars-style fundraiser, set for Sept. 14 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.
He will cut the rug with seven other contestants — Samir Changela, Nancy Dockerty, Matthew Maschler, Cristina Mata, Jamie Rosemurgy, Tracy Tilson and Joseph Veccia — in the quest for the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.
“I do like to dance, but it’s not like I’ve done anything like this before,” Warren said. “I feel like I have two left feet.”
What is the 55-year-old’s game plan?
“I’m going to try to have my routine down cold, but you know, prayer — practice and prayer,” said Warren, who bikes, runs, swims and practices yoga. “The physical part of this is not the issue — it’s more the repetition of learning my routine and then making it look good.”

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Went to Michigan State University. Great education. Great place to grow up.

Q. In what professions have you worked, and which ones make you the proudest?
A. Started a landscape business in high school. Grew it to 80 clients. Started my career as an auditor for Domino’s Pizza, then assistant controller in Pompano Beach. Wanted to start my own business, so I got into the wealth-management space 29 years ago. Along with my partners, I have built a successful business providing great service and value to our clients/friends.

Q. What advice do you have for young adults selecting a career today?
A. Where you start is not where you will finish. Take a chance. Don’t be afraid of failing, and work to find your passion.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club?
A. We had a growing family and needed a bigger home. Royal Palm is a great quality neighborhood.

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club?
A. My office is just across Federal Highway. I love being east — easy access to the beach. So many reasons.

Q. What books are you reading now?
A. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. He’s a very impressive / driven guy. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. A great book about the importance of focus. Also He’s Not Lazy: Empowering Your Son to Believe in Himself.

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration or want to relax?
A. I like all types of music. Classical helps me relax. Also I like rock ’n’ roll, blues, bluegrass, etc.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?
A. Two: Never give up. The Lord is my shepherd.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life — individuals who have inspired your decisions?
A. My mom and dad.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, whom would you want to play you?
A. Matt Damon. Mark Wahlberg is pretty cool, too. Clint Eastwood?


If You Go
What: Boca’s Ballroom Battle
When: 6-10 p.m. Sept. 14
Where: Boca Raton Resort and Club, 501 E. Camino Real
Cost: $185
Information: 347-6799 or scholarship.org.

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By Dan Moffett

Despite opposition from southern neighbors and second thoughts among some residents, South Palm Beach is setting aside more money to pay for a controversial groin project that would stabilize the town’s eroding beaches.
In fact, South Palm Beach recently sent a check for $66,500 to Palm Beach County, its partner in the project, to cover some of the administrative costs of obtaining permits.
Town Manager Mo Thornton estimates the town will need roughly $2.1 million in construction costs over the next 10 years to pay its share of the project. This does not include costs of periodic replenishment with sand.
Thornton, during a budget workshop July 23, said about half the $2.1 million could come from the penny sales-tax increase county voters passed in 2016. The town could take in between $80,000 and $90,000 a year from the tax, which is restricted by law to infrastructure spending only.
Installing the concrete groins on the beach is one obvious place to use the penny tax revenue for a town that has no roads, schools or parks.
This won’t play well in Manalapan, however, where officials have threatened to sue to stop the groin project. Ocean Ridge also objected. The towns fear the groins will disrupt the sand flow to the south and damage their beaches.
Because of the opposition, South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer and other Town Council members have considered looking at other possible solutions to stem the town’s beach erosion. But as that debate goes on, so does the county’s effort to get federal and state construction permits for the groins. And the project, 12 years in the making, continues to stagger forward.
Fischer says South Palm Beach, which has no public access to the ocean, became part of the county’s groin plan because its southern boundary borders Lantana Municipal Beach.
“Bottom line, the only reason this project was ever initiated was because of Lantana beach,” the mayor said. “The county is very concerned about redoing that beach. We’re lucky that we can tandem onto it.”
Thornton’s proposed budget, her first since taking over as manager in January, calls for dropping the millage from $4 per $1,000 of taxable value to the rollback rate of $3.79. The rollback rate keeps tax revenue flat from last year. South Palm Beach property values are up about 5 percent, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.
“My recommendation is full rollback,” Thornton said. “We’ll still have excess revenue of $80,000 with the full rollback. I feel very comfortable with that.”
The 3550 S. Ocean Blvd. luxury condo project, on the site of the old Hawaiian Inn, doesn’t come onto the tax roll for two years but has already been a significant revenue source. Last year, due to the project’s construction costs, revenues from building and permit fees nearly tripled to $524,000.

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By Jane Smith

Illustrated Properties recently received a $37,122 grant from the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency to help build out its office space at 700 E. Atlantic Ave.
The money — payable after the work is done — represents 40 percent of the allowable costs because of the office’s location, said Elizabeth Burrows, CRA economic development manager.
“The real estate office sits across from the now underway Atlantic Crossing project,” she said at the July 12 CRA meeting.
Illustrated Properties merged with the Keyes Co. real estate brokers in 2016. They want to combine their Delray Beach staffs at one location and triple the number of agents to 90 people who will work out of the 1,600-square-foot office, Burrows said.
The office sits on the ground floor of a building currently owned by a company headed by Lucille Handelsman, the ex-wife of real estate mogul Burt Handelsman, and their adult children.
The Handelsmans were married for more than 67 years when Lucille, known as Lovey, filed for divorce in March 2016. The corporate ownership record for 700 E. Atlantic was changed a few months after the divorce filing.
A judge granted their divorce earlier this year. Now, the two — Burt, 90, and Lucille, 89 — must finish dividing their multimillion-dollar commercial real estate holdings.
The CRA board passed the grant unanimously. Shelly Petrolia, who is both Delray Beach mayor and CRA chairwoman, said at the CRA meeting that she would like to reconsider whether the agency will pay to build out interiors.
“I thought we only paid for exterior improvements,” Petrolia said.
Burrows said CRA board members would be able to comment on any grant changes they would like to see at an upcoming workshop meeting.
At that July 16 workshop, Petrolia said she wants to move away from remodeling spaces of wealthy businesses and “spend the CRA tax dollars to improve streets, connect sidewalks and cure blight.”
Board member Ryan Boylston agreed.
He said when he first started Woo Creative, now known as 2TON Creative, he was interested in a CRA buildout grant for the second-floor office at 135 E. Atlantic Ave. in another Handelsman building. But he was told nothing was available.
Four years later — starting in April 2016 — the CRA began offering interior grants, Burrows said. The grants cover flooring, walls, doors, electrical and plumbing for offices and art galleries, she said. The CRA does not award grants to restaurants and retailers, she said.
If the interior improvement program is scaled back to cover only electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning systems, Illustrated Properties would be eligible for a total CRA reimbursement of $16,016.80. That amount is less than half of what the real estate company was awarded.
Burrows said the staff would take feedback from the workshop, revise the interior buildout grant program, then bring it back to the CRA board for approval at a future date.

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By Jane Smith

Two weeks after the parking meters were activated in downtown Delray Beach, the City Commission agreed on July 10 to issue two types of parking passes for residents. One pass is available to any resident who can show a utility bill or a Florida driver’s license with a Delray Beach address. Those residents pay $12 for the annual parking pass that allows three free hours daily between noon and 6 p.m. on the side streets that are metered, west of the Intracoastal Waterway.
City Manager Mark Lauzier told the commissioners that the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board did not support the resident parking pass. But its Downtown Development Authority did and wanted parking on Atlantic Avenue to be included.
“Atlantic Avenue is too prime to be included,” Lauzier said.
The commissioners agreed to exclude Atlantic but expressed support for a resident parking program. “We are inviting our residents back to the downtown,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said.
Residents had asked for the program because they felt their taxes were used to purchase the meters and for repairing the side streets and city-owned parking lots and garages.
“It’s another benefit to being a Delray resident,” Commissioner Ryan Boylston said.
The other type of parking passes will go to curing what was seen as an oversight. Both will be available around the end of September.
Tenants who live above the stores and offices along Atlantic Avenue used to park on the side streets or in the city-owned lots for free. Some even lost parking spaces to the city and its Community Redevelopment Agency for redevelopment.
About 50 people are in this category. They can now pay $96.30 for an annual parking pass that allows their vehicles to park all day and overnight in the city-owned lots and garages, west of the Intracoastal Waterway.
The city clerk, who oversees the permits, will make sure that residents of the newer condo and townhouse buildings on the side streets do not apply for an extra place to park their vehicles, Lauzier said. They already have garages as part of their condos or townhomes, commissioners said.
Petrolia, who voted against installing the parking meters, thinks the parking management system has become complicated. The city paid for the meters, then had to hire a company to manage them and enforce the parking times, the mayor said.
“If it was really to turn over the spaces on Atlantic Avenue, then we should have increased enforcement of the time limits,” Petrolia said. “But instead, staff is talking about using the meters to make money for the city.”

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By Dan Moffett

South Palm Beach council members considered some ambitious plans to renovate or replace Town Hall during the last year — but it may be that their options are more limited than first thought.
Town Manager Mo Thornton says an architect hired to review the condition of the aging building is concerned that it may not have sufficient elevation to comply with today’s flood plain standards. If the structure is sitting too low, in other words, renovation might not be feasible. The only option would be to demolish and replace it.
“We’re waiting to get the results of an elevation survey,” Thornton said. “Then we’ll know for sure whether the building is renovate-able or not.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has revised elevation building standards to improve resistance to storm surge and flooding. If the Town Hall doesn’t meet the standard, renovation could require raising the entire structure to comply with building codes and insurance requirements.
“That would be too costly to do,” Thornton said.
The council hired North Palm Beach architect John Bellamy in June to review previous proposals for the building. Thornton gave Bellamy high marks after working with him in her last job as manager of Atlantis. She said she expects to have a report from Bellamy before September.
“I’m confident he can tell us what’s possible and what it will take to get it done,” she said. The Town Hall was constructed 42 years ago originally as a public safety building and has undergone multiple repairs and additions. Last year the council unanimously rejected as too costly and extravagant a $6 million proposal from another architect to replace the hall with a five-story building.
In other business:
• Town Clerk Maylee DeJesus resigned in July to take a position as deputy city clerk in West Palm Beach.
7960799687?profile=originalDeJesus came to South Palm Beach in January 2016 from Palm Springs, where she served eight years as assistant deputy clerk. In 2017, DeJesus was named president of the Palm Beach County Municipal Clerks Association.
Thornton said the town has begun advertising for a new clerk and is looking for candidates with financial backgrounds. The job pays about $55,000 per year. The town also is continuing its search for a new police chief and has received several dozen responses from qualified applicants, Thornton said.
• After months of debate, the council unanimously agreed on how much to fine violators of a new ordinance that prohibits dogs on the beach. Police will give first offenders a written warning, and then all subsequent offenses will draw fines of $100 each.
Mayor Bonnie Fischer had objected to a previous proposal that would have fined repeat offenders as much as $250 for each violation. “I think that is just too high,” she said.
• The council’s next regular meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 21. The meeting was postponed to accommodate vacations and ensure a quorum.

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7960804888?profile=originalSargassum clogs a harbor along the shore of Guadeloupe. The windward sides of the islands are much harder hit than the leeward sides. French America Climate Talks

By Cheryl Blackerby

A natural disaster has hit the Caribbean. Barbados has declared a national emergency, and the sprawling St. James Club resort in Antigua has been forced to temporarily close its doors and direct guests elsewhere. Marine experts are looking at damaged coral reefs and sea turtle mortalities.
And Puerto Rico has another emergency on top of last year’s catastrophic hurricane damage.
In a region with its share of hurricanes, active volcanoes and earthquakes, the Caribbean has a new problem, one never seen before 2011 — sargassum.
The seaweed is being dumped by ocean waves on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it’s arriving faster than it can be removed. It’s clogging waterways, shading coral reefs and killing marine mammals that drown underneath its thick mats stretching for miles.
And this is happening in a region that generally has very little seaweed.
Sargassum has always been in Florida, the Bahamas and other islands. But scientists are alarmed at research that shows the seaweed piling up on shores since 2011 is not the same plant as that in the past, which arrived at predictable times of the year from the Sargasso Sea. This new species is coming from the south near Brazil and is quickly spreading on ocean currents that are deviating from normal patterns.
The Caribbean islands worst hit are Barbados, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Martinique.
Mexico’s Riviera Maya is also seeing massive amounts of seaweed.
Residents, hotel employees and military personnel are being called on to clean the beaches by rake and wheelbarrow to preserve sea turtle nests and the area’s famous white sand.
7960804076?profile=originalBeyond the beaches, the bigger picture is even worse: Satellite imaging shows the seaweed growing and spreading over a swath of ocean from Brazil to West Africa and north to Florida, a new and troubling phenomenon.
“We saw it for the first time in 2011. It was really bad in 2014 and 2015. This year is the worst, with no end in sight,” Dr. Hazel Oxenford, professor of fisheries and marine ecology at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, said in late July.
“It’s essentially a natural disaster with long-term effects on fisheries, coral reefs and sea grasses. We’re looking at some significant problems,” she said.
Marine scientists were surprised by this seaweed, which hadn’t been seen in the Caribbean in the past. Researchers at first assumed it had drifted south from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, where the open-ocean seaweed is generally found. But satellite imagery and ocean current data showed an unusual stretch of sargassum off the coast of Brazil.
Dr. Jim Gower, a remote-sensing expert with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, tracked the sargassum and by 2013 he had reached a conclusion: Satellite observations showed the seaweed event of the summer of 2011 “had its origin north of the mouth of the Amazon in an area not previously associated with sargassum growth. … By July it had spread to the coast of Africa in the east and to the Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean in the west,” he said in a report published in The Journal of Remote Sensing Letters.
Dr. James Franks, a fisheries biologist, and his colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory came to the same conclusion about why a once seaweed-free part of the ocean is now filled with seaweed. Tracking the seaweed mass-blooming events back in time showed its path from the tropical Atlantic east of Brazil.
“Invariably, in all of those instances, it tracked back to the tropical region (Brazil). None of it ever tracked northward into the Sargasso Sea,” Franks told Science Magazine in June 2018.
In the Caribbean, islanders were stunned and bewildered by the piles of sargassum as much as 6 feet high dumped on their beaches. They hoped it was a one-time event, but that wasn’t the case.
Sargassum, which is essential for sea turtle hatchlings that ride the ocean currents on the nutrient-rich mats in the first few years of their lives, is now a danger to turtle hatchlings on land, where the seaweed smothers nests and poses obstacles on their beach path to the ocean.
“The Barbados government declared an emergency and is using military personnel to help. Removing it requires a tremendous amount of manpower. They are using appropriate methods, not machinery but rakes, to preserve turtle nests and sand,” Oxenford said.
In the ocean, turtles and marine mammals can’t surface and may drown under the thick seaweed, a new species that has larger blades than seaweed usually seen in the Sargasso Sea.
“We have had a few mortalities (of turtles) this year,” Oxenford said. “But we have very active conservation groups that are helping.”
She and other scientists are studying the sources and causes of this new sargassum, which has marine researchers scrambling to understand it.
“It’s a new source of sargassum. It’s not from the Sargasso Sea, but from Brazil and West Africa. It’s coming at the whim of the ocean currents and trade winds, which normally have a pattern,” she said.
Ocean currents are deviating from normal, another mystery that is alarming scientists.
“There’s been tremendous variation in the ocean current patterns,” Oxenford said.
No one knows with certainty what is causing the massive seaweed bloom, but there are educated guesses.
“The causes run a whole gamut, with a combination of higher water temperatures caused by climate change, higher nutrient levels, and pollution from deforestation and industrial development,” Oxenford said.
The one bit of good news is that the sargassum is piling up on the windward side of the islands, and most hotels in the Caribbean are on the calmer leeward side. Hotels have temporarily closed — this is the second time since 2011 that the St. James Club has closed (from July 1 to Oct. 1 this year) because of seaweed — but luckily the sargassum hit at a time when Caribbean hotels traditionally close for renovations.
To make matters worse for the big resorts on the windward side, most are located on bays and coves, which quickly get choked by the seaweed piling up in the waterways and blocking passage for boats.
No one can predict how long this seaweed event will last or how bad it will be in the future.
“We’re not going to get it stopped in a hurry. It’s a long-term problem. It would be like stopping hurricanes,” Oxenford said. “We have to learn to adapt.”

7960804093?profile=originalCrews work to rid the beaches of Cancun, Mexico, of seaweed. In Mexico, residents, hotel employees and military personnel have been called on to clean the beaches by rake and wheelbarrow to preserve sea turtle nests and the area’s white sand. Reuters

Dealing with sargassum
The Antigua Hotels and Tourist Association and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association have released a guide for residents and hotels dealing with the sargassum crisis.
Some of the suggestions:
• Leave or bury the sargassum on the beach.
• Use rakes and wheelbarrows to gather and transport the sargassum, being careful not to disturb sea turtle nests.
• Incorporate sargassum into landscaping after it’s cleaned of sea salt. It provides a nutrient-rich source of compost, fertilizer and weed control.
• Eat it. After it is thoroughly cleaned, it can be cooked in lemon juice and coconut milk: “The most popular preparation is a quick fry, followed by simmering in water, soy sauce and other ingredients.”

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By Steve Plunkett

As his trial date nears on felony charges stemming from a 2016 shooting incident at his house, onetime Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella proclaimed his innocence and renewed his attacks on how Ocean Ridge police treated him.
“I look forward to a public airing of the facts, including the fact that I was not intoxicated, never fired a weapon and never assaulted either of the two able-bodied officers who broke three of my ribs AFTER slamming me, face-first, into the pavement,” Lucibella said in a written statement to The Coastal Star.
He and his defense attorney, Marc Shiner, went to court July 20 to renew Lucibella’s demand for a speedy trial, which they originally filed in March. The case was docketed for a calendar call Aug. 20.
“OK, so a demand for speedy trial was filed, this case is already set for trial, I believe it’s set within the window,” said Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss, who left the Aug. 20 court date as set.
Lucibella is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, both felonies, and firing a weapon while under the influence of alcohol, a misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty.
After the hearing, Shiner said he refiled the demand for speedy trial to ensure that Weiss knew the timeline of the case. Judges at a calendar call hear the cases of people who are in jail first, then move to the oldest cases, he explained.
He said the trial might not begin for a week or two after the calendar call. “Nothing’s certain in the courthouse,” Shiner said.
Lucibella was arrested Oct. 22, 2016, after Ocean Ridge police went to his oceanfront home to answer neighbors’ reports of hearing gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.
He and a police supervisor, Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, were both on the patio and “obviously intoxicated,” the officers said. Both men denied firing the gun. Officers later determined the seized gun was Wohlfiel’s.
Lucibella resigned his vice mayor and town commissioner positions Dec. 7, 2016.
His trial was first scheduled for April 2017 but was postponed to July 2017, then October, then this April and now August after Shiner and Assistant State Attorney Danielle Grundt needed more time to question witnesses and then Shiner hurt his leg. Weiss is the third judge on the case, following routine reassignments of Judges Charles Burton and Meenu Sasser.
“These charges were leveled, and then doubled, in an effort to hide the abuses of power by these officers and their Chief,” Lucibella said in his statement. “I look forward to demonstrating that the Chief of Police involved himself in this investigation after admitting he’d been drinking so heavily that night, his wife had to drive him to the police station.”
The State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Lucibella’s remarks.
Chief Hal Hutchins said Lucibella’s statements mostly repeated claims he and Shiner have made all along.
“They’re entitled to say whatever they like,” Hutchins said. “We should let the criminal justice system do its job.”
Early on, the chief said he had some wine with dinner that Friday night and had his wife drive to avoid even a suggestion of DUI.
Nubia Plesnik, one of the arresting officers, is privately suing Lucibella over injuries she says were a result of the incident.

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By Jane Smith

Commuters will have to endure at least another three months of construction at the Woolbright Road/Interstate 95 interchange and another month at the Hypoluxo Road interchange.
The Woolbright interchange needs more work and is expected to be finished by the end of October, said Andrea Pacini, Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Construction started there in January 2016.
The Hypoluxo/I-95 interchange should be finished by the end of August, Pacini said. Work started there in June 2015.
The two projects are part of a $32.5 million, five-interchange contract that also covers Donald Ross Road in Jupiter, 10th Avenue North in Lake Worth, and Hillsboro Boulevard to Southwest 10th Street in Deerfield Beach.
Community Asphalt Corp., a division of OHL North America, was supposed to finish construction in November. That means FDOT will fine the contractor $8,401 per day since Nov. 4, Pacini said.
“When a contractor has exceeded contract time, they are not eligible to receive weather days or holidays,” she said.
“The contractor’s past performance rating is also being penalized, which can affect their ability to bid and win future FDOT work.”
The contractor has been working through challenging, unforeseen conditions and design issues on this project, said Fallon McLoughlin, OHL North America spokesman. “We are confident that these issues have been resolved and we plan to have construction completed by early fall.”
At the Woolbright interchange, the contractor has “substantial work outstanding. The contractor needs to complete the widening of the I-95 northbound off-ramp, finish the south-side widening, construct the sidewalk, install drainage and add lights and traffic signals,” she said.
That’s why the FDOT contract administrator is estimating an end of October completion date. The Hypoluxo Road interchange is nearly done, Pacini said.
“The contractor needs to finish grading, sodding and striping there,” she said.

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