June 2016 Blog Posts (123)

The proposed site plan for the revamped Plaza del Mar.

The proposed…

By Jane Smith



    Rogue sober homes are so overwhelming south county coastal communities that leaders of the three largest cities are grasping at anything that holds promise to protect their neighborhoods.

    They all want a seat on the Palm Beach County state attorney’s drug treatment task force.

    “We definitely want to be involved with that task force,” said Susan Haynie, Boca Raton mayor.

    Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein said, “We have been…

    Public record: 1) a record required by law to be made and kept; 2) a record made by a public officer in the course of his legal duty to make it; 3) a record filed in a public office and open to public inspection.

    These definitions are from Merriam-Webster. My definition is that a public record is what you as a taxpayer have a right to know about how your government operates.

    This summer our cities and towns will be preparing budgets for the next fiscal year. They will…

‘The accomplishments are not generated by the manager but by the commissioners,᾿

says William Thrasher, Gulf Stream town manager.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star…

By Dan Moffett



    A strong economic tailwind is assisting Manalapan commissioners as they begin a series of budget workshops.

    Property values in the town continue to climb — up 9.9 percent over last year, nearly 3 percent above the Palm Beach County average.

    When it comes to tax bases, Manalapan is tiny but mighty: the 327 parcels in the town have a taxable value of $1.1 billion, with an average market price of $4.2 million that leads the county,…

By Mary Thurwachter

 

    A weeklong effort by police and the Hypoluxo Island Property Owners Association to slow traffic on South Atlantic Drive was successful, Lantana council members learned at a June 13 town meeting.

    Lyn Tate, treasurer of HIPOA and traffic calming committee chairperson, said that homeowners paid $225 to put up signs encouraging drivers to slow down — and police officers were on the island daily during the week of May 25-31 to issue…

As O’Boyle, O’Hare ponder next moves,

mayor says effort exposed records abuse

By Dan Moffett…

By Jane Smith



    The Florida Association of Recovery Residences is struggling to pay for its sober home certification program after it did not receive state money.

    Starting July 1, Florida-licensed drug and alcohol treatment centers can no longer discharge patients or refer clients to recovery residences that are not certified.

    “The department has not and does not pay for a recovery residence to be credentialed,” said Paige Patterson-Hughes,…

Town attorney Keith W. Davis and Mayor David Cheifetz congratulate

newly appointed commissioner Keith Waters (center).

Jerry Lower/The Coastal…

By Rich Pollack



    Crime in the small coastal communities of south Palm Beach County remained relatively low in 2015, although a rash of car break-ins and auto thefts carrying over from surrounding larger communities may have been responsible for what appears to be a significant increase in…

By Mary Thurwachter



    As developers prepare to build Water Tower Commons, a 72-acre retail and residential project on the site of the former A.G. Holley tuberculosis hospital east of Interstate 95 on Lantana Road, hundreds of trees need to be moved or replaced.

    “According to the tree survey performed by the applicant, the site has 451 total trees of various types,” said Dave Thatcher, Lantana’s development services director.  “Of those, 137, about 30 percent, are…

By Jane Smith



    Delray Beach might be the first city in Florida to have a sidewalk policy.

    The program, approved unanimously June 7 by the City Commission, went into effect on June 8. It promotes the health and safety of residents, ensures modes of transportation other than vehicles and creates a clear method for spending dollars collected in areas where sidewalks can’t be built.

    “Kudos to all,” said Jim Smith, chairman of the sidewalk and…

By Jane Smith

    

    A former Delray Beach city employee has pleaded guilty for his role in using a company that charged the city for goods that were never delivered, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

    Orlando Serrano, 47, pleaded guilty on June 21 to grand theft of more than $20,000 and organized fraud of more than $20,000. He was sentenced to 12 months in the county jail and received one day credit for time served.

    Serrano also received…

    Delray Beach has renewed its parking agreement with the First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach for 39 spaces on Gleason Street, near the beach. The parking spaces do not have meters, said John Morgan, environmental services director.

    Under the terms of the five-year lease, first formed in May 2001, the city agreed to pay the church $1,720.22 per month for the first year. The rental rate will increase by 3 percent on a compounded basis for each of the remaining years. The lease…

By Jane Smith

    

    The city’s policy of just one big event per month during high season will be retested July 5.

    That’s when Garlic Fest founder and organizer Nancy Stewart-Franczak will return to appeal the city’s denial of her holding the 18-year-old festival in February as usual because the Tennis Center has booked the Delray Beach Open for that month.

    On June 21, Stewart-Franczak packed the City Commission chambers with her supporters.…

By Jane Smith

    Delray Beach Vice Mayor Al Jacquet will step down from his City Commission seat on Nov. 8.

    The resignation is non-revocable. He is one of four candidates who qualified to run for the open state House District 88 seat. Qualifying ended at noon June 24. The election will take place Aug. 30.

    Others who qualified are: Angeleta Gray, a former city commission colleague of Jacquet; Edwin Ferguson, a West Palm Beach lawyer; and Sebrina…

By Jane Smith

    

    The stalled Atlantic Crossing project sold in mid-June to partner Edwards Cos., of Ohio, for $38.5 million.

    The nearly 9-acre property, which sits at the prominent corner of Federal Highway and Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach, was sold in two transactions by a partnership controlled by Carl DeSantis, a real estate investor. …

By Dan Moffett

 

    Briny Breezes Town Council members gave preliminary approval to extending an agreement with the city of Boynton Beach for fire-rescue services at the town meeting on June 23.

    The town is in the final year of a fire-rescue contract with Boynton Beach that began in 2004, one of the longest-running arrangements of its kind in Palm Beach County.

    Alderman Bobby Jurovaty says the town has been pleased with the service it has received…

A suspicious fire June 28 consumed the pavilion at Atlantic Dunes Park located on A1A near Linton Boulevard.

Two other fires damaged a tiki hut and a gazebo at private homes in Delray Beach and Gulf Stream on the same night.…

By Jane Smith



    Boynton Beach will host another workshop on its Town Square project, but this time commissioners have agreed to save the historic high school as part of the 16.5-acre development.

    The Town Square discussion threatened to overwhelm the 2017 planning session held by Boynton Beach on June 25. So, commissioners agreed to host another workshop on Town Square “to get some teeth into the plan,” said Commissioner Joe Casello.

    The city…