city - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T10:51:20Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/cityBoca Raton: Tentative tax rate level in city, up 19% for beach-park districthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-tentative-tax-rate-level-in-city-up-19-for-beach-park-2021-08-04T15:30:11.000Z2021-08-04T15:30:11.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>Boca Raton’s property tax rate will remain unchanged for the coming fiscal year, while the Beach and Park District may raise its levy by 19%.<br /> The city’s proposed rate, presented to the City Council by City Manager Leif Ahnell on July 27, is $3.68 per $1,000 of taxable value.<br />While the tax rate is staying the same, it amounts to a modest tax increase because the city’s property valuations rose 3.8% this year.<br />The amount homeowners will pay for fire protection services will be $145, the same as last year.<br />Meanwhile, Beach and Park District commissioners on July 19 set a tentative rate of $1.05 per $1,000 of taxable value, up from 88 cents, which would give them an additional $5 million for capital improvements and park operating expenses. The increase, if approved, would mean an extra $168 in property taxes on a $1 million home.<br />Commissioners can lower the tax rate but not raise it further at budget hearings in September.<br />The first public hearing on the city’s tax rate and proposed 2021-2022 budget will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at the city-owned building at 6500 Congress Ave.<br />A similar hearing on the district’s rate and proposed budget will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 at Sugar Sand Park’s Willow Theatre.</p>
<p><em>— Mary Hladky and</em><br /><em> Steve Plunkett</em></p></div>Boca Raton: City tax rate up 6.6%; no Beach & Park increasehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-tax-rate-up-6-6-no-beach-park-increase2020-09-02T13:36:21.000Z2020-09-02T13:36:21.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br />After weathering a firestorm of protests against a hefty tax hike proposed last year, Beach & Park District officials chose the rollback rate for no change in property taxes for the coming fiscal year.<br /> “We’re going to be probably struggling in the future for a year or two,” said District Commissioner Robert Rollins, voicing concern about the coronavirus pandemic.<br /> While the rate dropped about 3 cents, from 91 cents per $1,000 of taxable value to a proposed 88 cents, the net effect will be no increase or decrease for most households. Keeping the 91-cent rate would have meant the owner of a $300,000 house would have paid almost $10 more.<br /> Meanwhile, the city set its tentative property tax at $3.68 per $1,000 for a 6.6% increase.<br /> Tentative rates can be cut during September budget hearings but not raised. How they affect individuals depends not only on a property’s assessed value but also how long the owner has held a homestead exemption.<br /> If the tentative rates are adopted, Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and her husband, for example, will pay about $90 in Beach & Park taxes and $374 in city taxes on their Mizner Court penthouse condo. Last year they owed a total $13 less — the same Beach & Park amount and about $361 to the city. The O’Rourkes have had homestead exemptions since well before 2008, when the state’s property tax cap became portable.<br /> The Beach & Park District’s $38.7 million budget for the year beginning Oct. 1 includes $5 million to start building the Boca National Golf Course, $955,000 for renovations at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and $300,000 for beach renourishment.<br /> “I don’t see how we cannot go forward” with funding the golf course construction, Rollins said. “We put ourselves in a box with our ad valorem revenue last year. No way can you get tax (revenue) relief this year given the business environment and the COVID.”<br /> The City Council will have its first of two public hearings on the budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 8. The Beach & Park District’s first hearing is set for 8 p.m. Sept. 10.</p></div>Delray Beach: Cost to fix reclaimed water system almost $1M and countinghttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-cost-to-fix-reclaimed-water-system-almost-1m-and-cou2020-07-01T16:00:00.000Z2020-07-01T16:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><h1 style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><strong>Editor's Note: Delray commission owes <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-delray-commission-owes-taxpayers-the-truth" target="_blank">taxpayers</a> the truth</strong></span></h1>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>After five months of emergency repairs to the city’s botched reclaimed water system, 90% of the customers should have been back on line by June 30, the city said.<br /> As of June 17, the cost of the repairs had grown to more than $850,000 in labor and materials and more than $100,000 in overtime pay for city employees, city spokeswoman Gina Carter wrote in an email response to questions from The Coastal Star.<br /> Fixing the rest of the system could push the bill over $1 million.<br /> “That’s a lot of money to fix a system that was working fine for most people,” said Bill Petry, a barrier island resident who did not yet have his reclaimed service restored. For Mayor Shelly Petrolia, the cost was unfortunate, but necessary.<br /> “We cannot put a price on the health and safety of our citizens,” she said. “The city had to scrutinize the entire system at great cost in both time and expense.”<br /> The system was poorly designed and maintained and has been mismanaged practically from its inception in 2006.<br /> The city has hired a firm run by Fred Bloetscher, an associate dean at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, to conduct a total review of the city’s reclaimed water program, Carter said. Bloetscher’s firm will receive a maximum of $20,000 under an emergency order. The forensic engineering investigation will be finished in September.<br /> These costs and ongoing system repair costs come at a time when Delray Beach has an $8 million deficit for the current budget year, Petrolia said. The city lost revenue from business tax receipts, parking meter income, parking violations, valet stand income and rental income from city-owned properties during the coronavirus shutdown.<br /> “It’s in bits and pieces, but it all adds up,” she said.<br /> In early May, City Manager George Gretsas apologized to the City Commission and residents and graded the program a D-minus. The only reason he didn’t give it an F was the initial good intention to stop piping raw sewage into the ocean.<br /> The reclaimed water lines provide partly treated wastewater meant solely for lawn watering. The lines were installed as part of a settlement that Delray Beach reached with state and federal regulators. <br /> The city must reuse 3.85 million gallons a day by 2025, according to the settlement. Its current level is 2.85 million gallons a day.<br /> Most of the city’s water customers on the barrier island have reclaimed water service for lawn irrigation. Golf courses, city parks and facilities, and master-metered communities west of the interstate also use reclaimed water. There are about 1,500 reclaimed water customers citywide, according to Gretsas.<br /> On Feb. 4, the city shut down Delray Beach’s reclaimed water program to avoid a citywide boil water order. The Florida Department of Health wanted that drastic move after it began an investigation into complaints that the city’s drinking water had become contaminated with reclaimed water.<br /> In late April, the city discovered 30 barrier island homes had reclaimed water lines installed within three feet of the drinking water lines. The city requested that it be allowed to restore the reclaimed water service to the homes soon, instead of waiting for the lines to be moved in six months.<br /> The close proximity of the lines was thought to be a potential Florida Department of Environmental Protection violation. In Florida, the local DOH enforces the DEP rules. <br /> But when the local DOH leaders met with their counterparts at the Florida DEP, they “determined there was a distinction between the mains and service lines,” Steven Garcia, a DOH environmental supervisor, wrote in a May 28 email to his supervisor. <br /> Delray Beach is inspecting each reclaimed location at the behest of the local DOH.<br /> As the city made the inspections, it found 268 locations without any backflow prevention devices, which prevent the wastewater from mixing with drinking water. Slightly more than 71% served barrier island residences. <br /> The city has not found records indicating why the backflow preventers were not installed. <br /> Garcia has written that the DOH is waiting for the entire Delray Beach reclaimed water system to be restored before possible violations will be forwarded to the DOH legal team.</p>
<p><strong>Pressure devices an issue</strong><br /> As of June 17, five condominium buildings on the barrier island were still not reconnected to the reclaimed water service, Carter wrote. One required a reduced pressure zone device, which is the owner’s responsibility to install, she wrote. <br /> The RPZ is a type of high-hazard backflow device that protects the drinking water system by disposing of any backward-flowing water if check or relief valves fail.<br /> Two other condo buildings have installed their RPZ devices and are ready for inspection, according to Carter. The other two are waiting DOH approval. <br /> “However, all commercial accounts and when a larger than 2-inch meter is required, water customers must install an RPZ at their own expense and provide the city with annual testing and recertification of the RPZ,” Carter wrote.<br /> The RPZs cost between $3,000 and $4,000 each, not including installation or testing. Basic backflow devices used with single-family homes vary in cost from $50 to $500, depending on quality and size.<br /> Chris Heffernan, who lives in a seven-unit condo complex on Thomas Street, fought the installation of the RPZ device at his building. He thought the city was creating a two-tiered level of service on the barrier island when forcing the high-priced backflow devices on condominium buildings. <br /> “Within two hours, city workers were at my condo,” he said. They installed a lower-cost dual check valve at the city’s expense.<br /> His condo building likely was able to use a dual check valve because the meter size was less than 2 inches, according to Carter.<br /> The Dorchester, with 20 units at 200 N. Ocean Blvd., never was connected to the reclaimed water program. The reclaimed water main sits on Thomas Street and is available to serve this property, according to Carter. <br /> “There are no records to indicate why they were not connected,” Carter wrote in a June 19 email.</p></div>Editor's Note: Delray commission owes taxpayers the truthhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-delray-commission-owes-taxpayers-the-truth2020-07-01T15:56:18.000Z2020-07-01T15:56:18.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>On Feb. 4, the city of Delray Beach was told by the Florida Health Department that it must implement a citywide boil water order after receiving complaints that the city’s drinking water had become contaminated with reclaimed water. <br />The order was avoided only by an agreement to shut down the reclaimed water system while the problems were identified and repaired.<br /> Move forward to late June. About 90% of customers are back on line, and the cost for fixing the system is nearing $1 million. <br /> Yes, you saw that right: $1 million. Add that to the $8 million budget shortfall already facing the city. <br /> Taxpayers have a right to know who is to blame for this expensive debacle. After all, they are going to pay for it.<br /> City Manager George Gretsas did the right thing in his first few months on the job by contracting with a consultant to analyze what went wrong, and hiring a highly respected director for fresh oversight of the Water Utilities Department. The DOH supports these decisions.<br /> Then, on June 24, city commissioners voted 3-2 to suspend Gretsas and file a notice to terminate, even before an independent counsel released results of an investigation into a personnel matter that alleged bullying, gender bias and emotional abuse by Gretsas. <br />According to one complaint, Gretsas was irate over how the reclaimed water project repairs were being managed.<br /> Is that a surprise? <br /> Management failures have long plagued City Hall. There have been five city managers and three interim managers since the water project began in 2006. <br /> That leadership void at the top allowed a revolving door in the department overseeing the project. Mismanagement and a lack of oversight were the result. <br /> Whether anything criminal occurred has not been determined.<br /> At press time, it was not clear if Gretsas’ termination is warranted, but there’s little doubt it would be dramatic, divisive and expensive for the city. <br /> The residents of Delray Beach have had their health jeopardized by systemic mismanagement.<br /> The truth must be known. Investigations begun by Gretsas must not be abandoned because of his suspension, and Hassan Hadjimiry, the new Water Utilities director, must be retained and given authority to assure confidence in the water system. <br /> Elected officials owe taxpayers that much, and more.</p>
<p><strong><em>— Mary Kate Leming, Editor</em></strong></p></div>Boca Raton: Navy calls up deputy mayor for overseas missionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-navy-calls-up-deputy-mayor-for-overseas-mission2020-07-01T15:32:34.000Z2020-07-01T15:32:34.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, will deploy in August to Qatar in support of NATO operations in Afghanistan.<br />Rodgers, who announced his deployment at the June 23 City Council meeting, said he wants to complete his term of office by attending city meetings remotely.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956870,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956870,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960956870?profile=original" /></a>If that cannot be accomplished, Rodgers, 41, said he would submit a leave of absence and council members would appoint someone to temporarily fill his seat until his term ends on March 31, 2021.<br />But he will step down as deputy mayor, saying that position should be held by a council member physically present in the city. He asked that his colleagues make the selection at the next council meeting on July 28.<br />The job of a reservist is to be ready for active deployment, he said.<br />“Recently, I received that call,” Rodgers said. “It is my turn to serve and I am needed. The military selected me for deployment and I stand ready.”<br />Rodgers was elected to a three-year council term in 2015 and won re-election in 2018.<br />In an interview, Rodgers said he had planned to mobilize after his term ended but was selected earlier than he expected.<br />Rodgers, a cryptological officer, will manage an intelligence team for missions in Afghanistan. His position may entail travel to that country, he said.<br />Rodgers, the father of four children, has worked at IBM for almost 20 years and now leads a technical sales engineering team for IBM’s security product.<br />He comes from a military family. <br />Rodgers’ father was an Army master sergeant, and his two grandfathers served in the Navy. While he has not served in the active-duty military, he joined the Navy Reserve in 2011.<br />Council members wished Rodgers well.<br />“I just request that you please stay safe,” said Monica Mayotte.<br />“We will miss you, Deputy Mayor Rodgers,” said Andy Thomson. “Godspeed, sailor.”</p></div>Boynton Beach: Riverwalk has finished parking lot, most landscapinghttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boynton-beach-riverwalk-has-finished-parking-lot-most-landscaping2020-07-01T15:30:13.000Z2020-07-01T15:30:13.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Within a week of receiving Boynton Beach City Commission approval in mid-June, Riverwalk Plaza had finished landscaping the parking lot and entrances off Woolbright Road.<br /> “The easternmost entrance had a weird S-curve shape,” said Luke Therien, who reopened his family’s Prime Catch restaurant on June 24. “Now you can drive south to Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts store or turn left to Prime Catch.”<br /> Therien closed his restaurant in mid-March when all nonessential businesses were shut down to limit the spread of the coronavirus. He did not reopen Prime Catch in May for takeout orders because the parking lot was torn up to install storm drains. He waited until that work was finished.<br /> “Now the parking lot in the whole center is paved,” Therien said. “All the landscaping is done, and new storm drains have been installed.”<br /> Riverwalk Plaza, owned by Isram Realty, sits at the southeast corner of Federal Highway and Woolbright Road in Boynton Beach. It has city approval to replace the main building with a 10-story apartment project. <br /> The Hallandale Beach-based company paid $9.5 million for the aging center in March 2011. The nearly 10-acre plaza contained a Winn-Dixie grocery store that closed in January 2015.<br /> Throughout 2019, Isram built a dual-space Federal Highway building, which houses a Chipotle’s fast-casual restaurant and has space for another tenant. <br /> Isram renovated another building in the plaza that houses Walgreens drugstore, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, Sushi Simon restaurant and Bond Street Ale and Coffee.<br /> At the same time, Isram had to update the underground utilities, fix the drainage for the complex and raise the parking lot, creating driving challenges for shoppers and diners. <br /> Isram has submitted its building plans to the city for the 10-story apartment complex, said Baruch Cohen, chief operating officer for the firm. Construction will start Sept. 1 and take two years to finish.<br /> The rainy weather and the coronavirus shutdown are not responsible for the delayed start, Cohen said. The parking lot work was complex, he said.<br /> Initially, Isram had wanted to use the part of the westernmost parcel of two it owns on the plaza’s south side for a construction staging area for the project. But because the parcels contain mangroves, their use must be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Isram plans to donate the easternmost parcel, about 5.8 acres, along the Intracoastal Waterway to Boynton Beach.<br /> On June 9, Isram supplied additional information that still must be reviewed, according to the Army Corps spokeswoman in Jacksonville.<br /> In other action at the June 16 meeting, city commissioners approved the rezoning of the 108-acre Boynton Beach Mall. It went from the community mall category to a suburban mixed-use category. The city became the petitioner on the second reading while the five owners try to create a master plan for the property. The site plan will come up for approval in the future.</p></div>Delray Beach: City manager’s sudden suspension stirs controversyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-manager-s-sudden-suspension-stirs-controversy2020-07-01T15:30:00.000Z2020-07-01T15:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956288,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956288,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="99" height="155" alt="7960956288?profile=original" /></a>During an often contentious meeting, a divided Delray Beach City Commission voted 3-2 on June 24 to oust City Manager George Gretsas from his $265,000 position without seeing a final report of the bullying accusations made against him.<br /> Gretsas had been less than six months on the job and was the fifth full-time city manager in the past eight years. <br /> Voting to proceed with termination were Mayor Shelly Petrolia, Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson and Commissioner Juli Casale. Voting against were Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston and Commissioner Adam Frankel.<br /> The virtual meeting started an hour late because of technical difficulties and to give Gretsas and his attorney, Carmen Rodriguez, time to review a resignation offer from the city. <br /> Rodriguez said they submitted on June 29 a demand for a public hearing.<br /> “Mr. Gretsas has not done anything wrong and wants an opportunity to present his side in front of the City Commission,” Rodriguez said.<br /> At the June 24 meeting, Gretsas said he had already spoken with the city’s outside counsel, who had given him a package with terms of a resignation. <br /> “The city’s labor counsel said if I didn’t accept the 20 weeks [of severance pay], a bad report would be released,” Gretsas said. “There are credibility issues with the employees involved. What is the rush?” <br /> Frankel, a lawyer, said the timing of the vote denied Gretsas “due process and fundamental fairness.”<br /> Gretsas was suspended with pay. City Attorney Lynn Gelin said Gretsas cannot be terminated for a minimum of 120 days from June 29, the day of delivery of the demand to see written charges and have a public hearing.<br /> Hired last October, Gretsas did not start until Jan. 6. He replaced Mark Lauzier, who was fired March 1, 2019.<br /> Jennifer Alvarez, the city’s purchasing director, became the interim city manager by a 4-1 vote, with Boylston voting no.<br /> Johnson nominated Alvarez, who joined the meeting by telephone and gave her background as being responsible for the capital budget for Miami-Dade County and having 21 years of city and county service. <br /> Boylston preferred another city employee, Assistant City Manager Allyson Love. She had run Fort Lauderdale after Gretsas’ city manager contract was not renewed there. <br /> Johnson, though, said Love was a Gretsas ally and couldn’t support her.<br /> Frankel asked if Alvarez was a witness in the investigation. <br /> “Yes,” Gelin said. “But you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the city at the department head level who was not interviewed.”</p>
<p><strong>Two complain of bullying</strong><br /> Gelin said on June 30 that the investigative report, done by an independent counsel, was not ready and that she hoped for its release July 3.<br /> The investigation began after two city staff members filed bullying complaints against Gretsas.<br /> Assistant City Manager Suzanne Fisher claimed the bullying forced her to take a medical leave on May 15 for mental and emotional distress, according to her June 10 complaint.<br /> One situation reported involved Gretsas’ calls over the city’s reclaimed water problems, where Fisher claimed Gretsas began screaming at her and the assistant Public Works director in a tone that Fisher described as irrational, belligerent and profanity-laden.<br /> “Good employees have to be treated well,” Casale said on June 25. “And what he was doing?” she asked, based on Fisher’s complaint.<br /> Boylston told The Coastal Star on June 27 that Fisher has credibility problems.<br /> Her bullying complaint was filed against Gretsas five days after he had sent her a notice of termination for “misusing her office.” Fisher had hired boyfriends twice for city jobs they were not qualified to do, according to the June 5 termination notice that Gretsas emailed to Fisher. The most recent hire was March 28.<br /> Her current boyfriend, Andy Reeder, began working as the food and beverage/clubhouse manager at the city-owned Delray Beach Golf Club, according to the email.<br /> “Both you and your direct subordinate, the Director of Parks and Recreation, are responsible for judging your boyfriend’s work product and therefore you had an obligation to inform me of your conflict of interest and to recuse yourself from all matters related to the Delray Beach Golf Course,” Gretsas wrote.<br /> The other employee who has claimed Gretsas bullied him is Sam Metott, who replaced Fisher as Parks and Recreation director when she became an assistant city manager. His complaint has not been made available because it is part of the ongoing investigation by the city’s outside counsel.<br /> Metott, though, gave Boylston a different impression.<br /> The parks director sang Gretsas’ praises from mid-April through May, Boylston said.<br /> “Every Wednesday while I volunteered at the city’s Feeding South Florida food giveaway, Metott told me the commission had chosen well with Gretsas,” Boylston said. He said Metott seemed pleased that Gretsas was holding people accountable.</p>
<p><strong>Fisher had previous run-ins</strong><br /> Fisher has filed bullying complaints in the past. In October 2016, she filed a complaint against Michael Coleman, who was then the director of Neighborhood and Community Services. He had complained that her lack of oversight and mismanagement of maintenance alongside the city’s gateway feature on the east side of Interstate 95 had allowed the grounds to deteriorate.<br /> An outside firm hired to review Fisher’s complaint found she had “fomented fear and discontent among her staff by telling them outright lies to strengthen her position.”<br /> In August 2019, Coleman filed a whistleblower lawsuit again the city, saying he was forced to resign two months earlier because he had exposed mismanagement in the parks department headed by Fisher in 2016. The suit alleges Fisher engineered his firing when she became an assistant city manager three years later.<br /> Also in 2016, Fisher had a run-in with Tennille Decoste, then the city’s Human Resources director. Decoste filed a bullying, discrimination and harassment complaint against Fisher, who then filed similar charges against Decoste. <br /> An outside firm investigated and found Fisher did bully Decoste and that Fisher’s counter-allegations were not true. <br /> The outside investigator recommended that Fisher be subject to disciplinary actions “up to and including termination.” Fisher remained with the city.</p>
<p><strong>In defense of Gretsas</strong><br /> Despite the bullying allegations against Gretsas, Boylston remains his supporter.<br /> Gretsas walked into a City Hall that had relatively new department heads, according to Boylston.<br /> “Then the world was hit by a pandemic not seen in a century and people took to the streets protesting against mistreatment of Black people,” he said.<br /> If the bullying allegations are true, Boylston said, he is inclined to suggest leadership training or other disciplinary measures not as severe as firing.<br /> A previous city manager, David Harden, offered to step in as the interim city manager, according to a June 26 email Frankel sent to his commission colleagues, but as of press time, Gelin told Frankel that commissioners had not come to a consensus on that option. Still, the offer might come up at a July 7 commission meeting.<br /> Harden served as the Delray Beach city manager for 22 years until Jan. 3, 2013. He was long seen as bringing stability to the city, but in his last year residents criticized him for renewing contracts, such as garbage collection and beach cabana services, without going through the bid process.<br /> If Harden is not selected, the city will ask the International City/County Management Association for an applicant from its pool of retired city managers. <br /> “Gretsas has 20 years of experience in two cities — Fort Lauderdale and Homestead,” Boylston said. “I have no idea why anyone would want to come and work here if we fire a city manager in the middle of a pandemic.”</p></div>Along the Coast: History in the makinghttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-history-in-the-making2020-07-01T14:51:57.000Z2020-07-01T14:51:57.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948892,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948892,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960948892?profile=original" /></a><em>Members of the staff of Cornell Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine at Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach. <strong>Photos provided</strong></em></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Stories from pandemic are being preserved for posterity</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Ron Hayes</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>On July 3, 1918, a Boca Raton pioneer named Frank Chesebro made a brief notation in his diary: “Got out egg plant seed,” he wrote. “Buried a boy named Rogers in cemetery.”<br /> Three days later, he made another notation:<br /> “Buried second Rogers boy. Got out pepper seed. Picked pines.”<br /> The cemetery was a single acre then, situated at what is now an entrance to the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, just across the roundabout from the Boca Raton Resort & Club.<br /> We know Frank Chesebro had donated that acre in 1916. We know John E. Rogers was only 10 years old when he died, and we know his brother, Jasper H., was 8.<br /> But we don’t know what killed them.<br /> Could it have been the Spanish flu pandemic, which appeared that spring and would claim about 50 million lives, including as many as 800,000 in the U.S., before subsiding the following summer? <br /> “We’ve always wondered,” says Susan Gillis, curator at the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum. “Could they have died of the Spanish flu? But we haven’t been able to document that.”<br /> Now, a century later, another pandemic is sweeping away lives throughout the world. This time, area curators and archivists want to make sure that people 100 years from now will know what life was like for us during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.<br /> In addition to the Boca Raton Historical Society, the Boynton Beach City Library and Delray Beach Historical Society are asking residents to share memories, photos and other memorabilia of their lives under quarantine.<br /> “We’ve been getting a lot of photos, a donation of face masks, and student submissions from the schools,” says Patricia Fiorillo, the assistant curator at the Boca Raton Historical Society, who’s leading its campaign. “We’ve had a lot of photos of graduation signs in front of houses. I’d like one of those signs.”<br /> A fourth-grader named Jacob took the lockdown with grown-up patience.<br /> “My cousin Chris graduated,” Jacob wrote, “so we celebrated at our house. Quarantine changed our lives but there is still joy to spread; we’re in this together.” <br /> <br /> At the Boynton Beach City Library, archivist-librarian Georgen Charnes wants residents to know they don’t have to be a doctor on the front lines of the virus or an ICU nurse to have a story worth saving.<br /> “We tend to think of history as famous people or wealthy people,” Charnes says, “but it’s the stories of ordinary people that give people in the future a sense of what life was really like now.”<br /> Hudson Hilburn arrived in Fort Pierce on April 8, a healthy baby girl born during an unhealthy time. <br /> “This is not how I expected to bring a baby into the world,” Julia Christy Hilburn wrote the Boynton library’s project. “I pictured a waiting room full of family all anxiously awaiting Patrick to tell them Hudson has arrived and how much she weighs. <br /> “Instead we asked a friendly neighbor to FaceTime so my grandma could see her first great-grandchild. Instead, we nervously told everyone we were headed home only to tell them they couldn’t stop by.”</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960949265,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960949265,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960949265?profile=original" /></a><em> Kenya Spear of Delray Beach shows her crocheting.</em></p>
<p><br /> Winnie Edwards, executive director of the Delray Beach Historical Society, began soliciting donations in early March.<br /> “When you’re researching things like an old hurricane, you go to mainly the newspapers, but it’s really hard to find those personal stories unless somebody wrote them down. With this pandemic happening in our lifetimes, I know everybody’s got stuff on their phone, and I thought we’d better collect it now.”<br /> So far, Edwards reports, she’s gathered more than 100 contributions, including this optimistic essay from Kenya Spear of North Swinton Avenue.<br /> “I swim about four times weekly, participate in Yoga/Meditation at The Delray Beach Library on Atlantic Avenue. (Now, I meditate here, at home alone, and some times do Yoga, but it is not the same as being in a group.) <br />“I miss volunteering at The Arts Garage and at The Boca Raton Library Bookstore, tutoring children, helping with their reading and math, playing cards with friends, visiting The Norton Museum, walking in the park near Lake Ida Road.<br /> “Amazingly, I now have time and finally, patience and I have rediscovered an old favorite passion, crocheting. It is tremendously relaxing, rewarding. And I feel accomplished, productive. I look at my completed items and know that I am blessed. I have options. I am thankful. I am safe and alive.”<br /> Someday, Edwards hopes, she will work with commercial photographer Matt Sturgess of 4th Avenue Photography to turn the videos, photos and poetry into a documentary. But like the other archivists, she has put no deadline on submissions.<br /> The history hasn’t ended because the pandemic hasn’t ended, and so the collecting continues.<br /> Someday soon, they hope, the COVID-19 pandemic will become, like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, history.<br /> And this time, that history will have been preserved.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948696,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948696,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960948696?profile=original" /></a><em>Delray’s Jim Chard in mango season.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>The Rogers boys did not stay in Frank Chesebro’s cemetery. When Addison Mizner began to build his resort, the cemetery was moved to 10 acres on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and 16th Street. And in 1943, they were moved again, to the present cemetery on Southwest Fourth Avenue. Their graves are still there.<br /> Did they die of the Spanish flu?<br /> Perhaps. But in 1918, the entire state of Florida had fewer than 1 million residents, and fewer than 1,000 deaths were reported statewide.<br /> “Palm Beach County was not super densely populated, so there was a lot of space between people in 1918,” Patricia Fiorillo of the Boca Raton Historical Society said. “Social distancing wasn’t that hard back then.”</p>
<p></p>
<p><br /><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>How to contribute</strong></span><br />• Boca Raton Historical Society: Send submissions to research@bocahistory.org with the subject line “Letters to the Future,” or mail to the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum, 71 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33432.<br />• Boynton Beach City Library: Go to boynton-beach.org/library/share-your-covid-19-stories for instruction and links.<br />• Delray Beach Historical Society: Email video diaries, essays, poems, photos and artwork to info@delraybeachhistory.org</p></div>Delray Beach: Reclaimed water project was mismanaged, city admitshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-reclaimed-water-project-was-mismanaged-city-admits2020-05-20T18:08:42.000Z2020-05-20T18:08:42.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>The city’s reclaimed water program, spawned in 2006 with the intent to stop the spewing of millions of gallons of wastewater into the ocean each year, was haunted from the beginning by mismanagement and lack of oversight, City Manager George Gretsas said on May 5.</p>
<p><br /> “There was negligence and a lot of things that should not have happened,” Gretsas told Delray Beach city commissioners at their virtual meeting. “The mismanagement is very clear. There was a decade of it … lack of contractor oversight. No records were kept. It was a real problem for us as we’re trying to fix it.”</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956668,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960956668,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="117" height="182" alt="7960956668?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><br /> If Gretsas had to give the program a grade, he said it would be D-minus, and only that because it was well intentioned. Delray Beach shut down the system Feb. 4 to avoid a citywide boil-water order that the Florida Department of Health wanted amid an investigation into complaints that reclaimed water had mixed with drinking water.</p>
<p><br /> The city is turning on the reclaimed water in phases with approval from the health department. Of the city’s 1,236 reclaimed water customers, 72% have that service restored, Gretsas said May 19. Another 15% are awaiting some type of property owner action, according to Gretsas. An additional 13% are awaiting inspection.</p>
<p><br /> Thirty barrier island homes were found to have the reclaimed lines installed closer than 3 feet to the drinking water lines, according to an April 29 city email to state health officials. A 3-foot distance between pipes is required by Florida Department of Environmental Protection rules. The city wants to restore the reclaimed water now and move those pipes later. Local DOH leaders were mulling whether to allow that as of mid-May.</p>
<p><br /> Once the system is restored, all violations will be forwarded to the local health department legal team, Steve Garcia, a DOH environmental supervisor, wrote in a May 11 email.</p>
<p><br /> The reclaimed water lines provide partly treated wastewater meant solely for lawn watering. The lines were installed as part of a settlement that Delray Beach reached with state and federal regulators to stop sending raw sewage into the ocean.</p>
<p><br /> The city must reuse 3.85 million gallons a day by 2025, according to the settlement. Its current level is 2.85 million gallons daily.<br /> Most of the city’s water customers on the barrier island have reclaimed water service for lawn irrigation. The golf courses, city parks and facilities and master-metered communities west of the interstate also use reclaimed water.</p>
<p><br /> On April 22, the city found its first crossed connection under the current investigation, according to DOH emails. Crossed connections happen when the drinking water lines are mistakenly connected to the reclaimed water lines. The DOH insisted the city issue a boil-water order for the 30-unit condominium, Ocean Place at 120 S. Ocean Blvd.</p>
<p><br /> “I remember my wife boiling pots of water,” said Bob Victorin, an Ocean Place resident and Beach Property Owners’ Association president.</p>
<p><br />The condominiums were approved to use potable water for the irrigation system for 90 days while the property manager locates and corrects plumbing issues, Missie Barletto, assistant Public Works director, wrote in a May 18 email. “Once the repair has been completed, the condominium property will be returned to reclaimed water for irrigation.”</p>
<p><br /> Debbie Lynott, who lives on Miramar Drive, said she noticed residents using old-fashioned sprinklers to water their lawns in February. Her reclaimed water lines were not installed until early April. Her service was turned on April 30, according to the city. “I’m used to being forgotten,” she said. “My house is the only home on Miramar between Gleason Street and Venetian Drive.”</p>
<p><br /> Former Mayor Cary Glickstein wrote in a May 11 email to The Coastal Star that he was not told of any problems when he was in office from 2013 to 2018. “Further, neither I nor my commission colleagues were made aware of any system functionality problems during any public meetings.”</p>
<p><br /> Glickstein, who lives on Waterway Lane, as of May 11 was among those waiting for his reclaimed water to be restored.</p>
<p><br /> Current Mayor Shelly Petrolia said, “I’m hoping this is a one- and only-time debacle. The system has to be revamped. We need to figure out who is responsible, including for the backflow devices — the homeowner or the city.”</p>
<p><br /> Even so, the city’s delayed response caused frustration.</p>
<p><br /> In mid-April, after the reclaimed water system was restored along Del Haven Drive, the city failed to open all valves. That forced Ken MacNamee to spend time checking his sprinkler system, checking the circuit breaker and finally opening the meter pit where he discovered the closed valve. He borrowed a plumbing tool from a neighbor to open the valve.</p>
<p><br /> “This is just another gaffe in this drawn-out debacle,” MacNamee wrote in an April 20 email.</p>
<p><br /> Residents on Del Haven and four streets north were the first on the barrier island to see their reclaimed water restored, on April 17. Their systems were activated in late 2018. Gretsas, who started as city manager on Jan. 6, received a letter on Feb. 4 requiring the city to issue a boil-water order citywide.</p>
<p><br /> The Florida DOH had received a complaint Jan. 2 about cross connections between drinking and reclaimed water. Christine Ferrigan, an inspector with the Utilities Department, provided notes to the investigation showing how the program was mismanaged from the start.</p>
<p><br /> Gretsas, though, persuaded the DOH leaders to agree that the city would shut off its reclaimed water citywide to investigate. He wanted to avoid the boil-water order, which would have forced the hospital and restaurants to comply.</p>
<p><br /> The city had to hire a contractor to create a database showing the locations of the drinking water and reclaimed water meters and the presence and types of backflow preventers on the drinking water systems.</p>
<p><br />City staff discovered that 237 reclaimed water customers citywide didn’t have backflow preventers, Gretsas said March 2. <br />The devices are an extra layer of protection against the mixing of reclaimed and drinking water.</p>
<p><br /> “We were not doing the types of things that need to be done in asset management,” Gretsas said. “We just didn’t know where the devices were.”</p>
<p><br /> That lack of information was evident in a spreadsheet the city sent to the DOH on March 6. It had many blank spaces, lacking dates when the reclaimed water was first connected, when the backflow devices were installed and when they were reinspected.</p>
<p><br /> In addition, Delray Beach went with backflow preventers that have a 5-year lifespan because they were cheaper, Gretsas said city staffers told him.</p>
<p><br /> But that should change soon with new management, he said.</p>
<p><br /> Hassan Hadjimiry will start June 2 as the city’s water utilities director.</p>
<p><br /> Gretsas said he did a national search and found the best candidate nearby. Hadjimiry retired May 5 from the county as its deputy director of water utilities.</p>
<p><br /> Hadjimiry, who started with the county in 1982, was named as the Water Reuse Person of the Year in 2009. The Florida Water Environment Association has given the statewide award annually since 2004.</p>
<p><br /> Once Hadjimiry starts work, city commissioners will have options put before them.</p>
<p><br /> They can select the types of backflow preventers, an inspection and replacement program or, if they prefer, go to injecting the reclaimed water underground — which would be more costly, Gretsas said.</p>
<p><br /> The commissioners also will hear about the costs of fixing the system. They include paying overtime for city staff, hiring contractors and consultants, adding new backflow devices, and providing water and a crew to irrigate lawns while the reclaimed water system was down. The amount spent since Feb. 4 was not available.</p>
<p><br />Delray Beach has hired a company run by Fred Bloetscher, a Florida Atlantic University associate dean in the engineering department, to investigate the reclaimed water program, Gretsas said.</p>
<p><br /> To the city’s reclaimed water customers, Gretsas said, “I’m sorry this happened and sorry it went on for a decade.”</p></div>Delray Beach: Commissioner Boylston agrees to fine to settle ethics violation casehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-commissioner-boylston-agrees-to-fine-to-settle-ethic2020-05-20T17:17:48.000Z2020-05-20T17:17:48.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Delray Beach Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston has agreed to pay $2,000 for violating state ethics laws over votes taken when he was a board member of a taxpayer-funded agency.</p>
<p><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960950877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960950877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="103" height="161" alt="7960950877?profile=original" /></a>At the June 5 state Commission on Ethics meeting, commissioners plan to review a stipulation of facts concerning two ethics violations when Boylston was a board member of the city’s Downtown Development Authority. On April 10, he signed the stipulation, agreeing to the facts, to avoid a hearing.</p>
<p><br /> Boylston was appointed in July 2011 to the DDA, which promotes downtown Delray Beach and taxes property owners in its 340-acre district.</p>
<p><br /> The following year, 2012, he and others founded The Pineapple Newspaper, now known as the Delray Newspaper.</p>
<p><br /> Boylston, whose DDA term ended in June 2017, insists he did not violate state ethics laws.</p>
<p><br /> “I never voted to directly send advertising to my former newspaper,” Boylston said in mid-May. “It was up to the DDA staff to decide where to spend their advertising dollars.”</p>
<p><br /> From 2014 through 2017, the DDA spent $22,710 on ads in Boylston’s newspaper.</p>
<p><br /> When he announced he was running for city commissioner in October 2017, he stepped down as publisher of the Delray Newspaper. He sold his shares a few months later.</p>
<p><br /> “I didn’t fight it,” he added. “The hearing was in Tallahassee and I would have had to hire an attorney to represent me. Then the COVID-19 lockdowns started and I was losing business.”</p>
<p><br />Boylston runs a marketing company, now called 2Ton, to help businesses with branding, advertising, web design and development, and photography and video production needs.</p>
<p><br /> Martin Reeder, a media industry lawyer in West Palm Beach, had pointed out possible ethics violations by Boylston two years ago when he was running for a City Commission seat.</p>
<p><br /> “We all want our public officials to abide by Florida ethics laws,” Reeder said recently.</p>
<p><br /> Chris Davey, a residential real estate consultant, filed the complaint because “the citizens of Delray Beach deserve elected officials who act in their interests. … Ultimately, the $2,000 fines are a slap on the wrist, but the test will be next March when Boylston is up for re-election.”</p>
<p><br />Boylston became vice mayor at the commission’s March 31 reorganization meeting.</p>
<p><br /> Davey said he knows the Florida ethics laws from his stint on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and his current seat as chairman of the Board of Adjustments.</p>
<p><br /> The state did not proceed on four other ethics complaints filed by Davey, who ran for a City Commission seat in March but lost.</p>
<p><br />The county Commission on Ethics said those alleged DDA violations occurred outside its time limit to investigate.</p>
<p><br /> However, that agency issued a “letter of instruction” to Boylston on Feb. 6 over a vote last year for his client Azure Development. That complaint also was filed by Davey.</p>
<p><br /> The letter agrees that Boylston relied on advice from the city attorney, “which ultimately was incorrect,” when the commissioner voted in May 2019 for an Azure project.</p>
<p><br /> But the letter also told Boylston to take “reasonable precautions” on questions of voting conflicts in future situations.</p>
<p><br /> They include asking the person “appearing before the City Commission if he or she has a financial interest in a project.”<br /> Boylston sees the letter as basically “a suggestion on what to do in the future.”</p>
<p><br /> Reeder, though, said, “It’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card. The next time, more of the burden will be on him.”</p></div>Delray Beach: Reclaimed water program mismanaged; new director hiredhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-reclaimed-water-program-mismanaged-new-director-hire2020-05-06T14:00:00.000Z2020-05-06T14:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960936087,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960936087,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960936087?profile=original" /></a>City contractors check the reclaimed water connection at the corner of A1A and Rhodes Villa Avenue on March 2. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong> Related: </strong></span><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/a-timeline-of-troubles" target="_blank">Timeline</a> of troubles | </strong></span><strong>Standard <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-standard-safeguards-usually-stop-mix-of-drinking-rec" target="_blank">safeguards</a> usually stop mix of drinking, recycled water |</strong> <strong>City provides <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-provides-watering-service-after-reclaimed-water" target="_blank">watering service</a> after reclaimed water turned off | Restoration of reclaimed water service <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-restoration-of-reclaimed-water-service-pushed-back-t" target="_blank">pushed back</a> <br /></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>Delray Beach's reclaimed water program was mismanaged from its start in 2006, City Manager George Gretsas told city commissioners on May 5.</p>
<p>“There was negligence and a lot of things that should not have happened,” Gretsas said. “The mismanagement is very clear. There was a decade of it … lack of contractor oversight. No records were kept. It was a real problem for us as we’re trying to fix it.”</p>
<p>He graded the reclaimed water program a D-minus. The system has been shut down since Feb. 4.</p>
<p>The city is turning on the reclaimed water in phases with approval from the Florida Department of Health. Of 613 reclaimed water customers, 46% have that service restored, Gretsas said. The remaining 54% are waiting.</p>
<p>Reclaimed water lines provide partly treated wastewater meant solely for lawn watering. The lines were installed as part of a settlement that Delray Beach reached with state and federal regulators to stop sending raw sewage into the ocean.</p>
<p>The city must reuse 3.85 million gallons a day by 2025, according to the settlement. Its current level is 2.85 million gallons a day.</p>
<p>Most of the city’s water customers on the barrier island have reclaimed water service for lawn irrigation. Golf courses, city parks and facilities, and master-metered communities west of Interstate 95 also use reclaimed water.</p>
<p>Gretsas, who started on Jan. 6, received a letter on Feb. 4 requiring the city to issue a boil water order citywide. The state Department of Health had received a complaint about cross-connections between the city’s drinking water and reclaimed water systems. He was able to get agency officials to agree that the city would shut off its reclaimed water system to investigate. Gretsas wanted to avoid a citywide boil-water order that would have affected the hospital and restaurants.</p>
<p>Delray Beach had to hire a contractor to create a geographic information system database showing the locations of the drinking water and reclaimed water meters and the backflow preventers and types on the drinking water systems.</p>
<p>“We were not doing the types of things that need to be done in asset management,” Gretsas said. “We just didn’t know where the devices were.”</p>
<p>In addition, Delray Beach went with backflow preventers that have only a five-year lifespan because they were cheaper, Gretsas said city staffers told him.</p>
<p>But that should change soon with new management, he said. Hassan Hadjimiry will start June 2 as the city’s water utilities director.</p>
<p>Gretsas said he did a national search and found the perfect candidate nearby. Hadjimiry retired May 5 from Palm Beach County as its deputy director of water utilities.</p>
<p>Hadjimiry, who started with the county in 1982, was the statewide Water Reuse Person of the Year in 2009. At the May 5 County Commission meeting, Hadjimiry received a standing ovation, Gretsas said.</p>
<p>After he comes on board, Delray Beach city commissioners will have options, according to Gretsas. They can select the types of backflow preventers installed, institute an inspection and replacement program or, if they prefer, go to injecting the reclaimed water underground, which would be more costly.</p>
<p>To the city’s reclaimed water customers, Gretsas said, “I’m sorry this happened to them and sorry it went on for a decade.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Municipal services worker saves woman in canalhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-municipal-services-worker-saves-woman-in-canal2020-04-01T19:56:34.000Z2020-04-01T19:56:34.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Mary Hladky</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Shawn Turner was driving on Military Trail near Camino Real on Feb. 23 when he saw a white Kia Soul partly submerged in a canal.</p>
<p class="p3">The city municipal services employee didn’t hesitate, stripping off his sweatpants and jumping into the water.</p>
<p class="p3">Turner quickly saw that Molly Pedrone, 34, was incapacitated behind the wheel. He pushed down the window, squeezed into the car and released her seatbelt. As the car sank into the water, he and another good Samaritan got her out and to shore.</p>
<p class="p3">The City Council recognized his “selfless actions” on March 9, presenting him with a special commendation as city staff and the audience gave him a standing ovation.</p>
<p class="p3">“I am happy to report because of Shawn’s heroic actions, the driver is doing well today,” said city Facilities Manager Wayne Anderson. “Shawn, I couldn’t be more proud of you. You saved a life. Thank you for your dedication and making us all proud.”</p>
<p class="p3">Mayor Scott Singer said: “You put yourself in harm’s way without regard to your own life, and that deserves some special recognition.”</p>
<p class="p3">Turner could not be reached for comment after the ceremony. But he described the experience to CNN and WPBF 25 News.</p>
<p class="p3">“Scary,” Turner told WPBF. “The water is coming in all around you, and it’s brown water, and I’m in a black interior car. Scariest moments of my life.”</p>
<p class="p3">As the car started sinking, Turner’s two sons let him know his life was in danger even as one of them shot video.</p>
<p class="p3">“Hurry up! Dad! Dad! Get out! Dad! Jump out,” they yelled.</p>
<p class="p3">Pedrone regained consciousness as Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived. She was briefly hospitalized.</p>
<p class="p3">She told CNN she has been epileptic for 13 years, but her last seizure was two years ago. She does not remember the incident or her rescue.</p>
<p class="p3">“Shawn is the hero,” she told CNN. “I’m so very thankful he did what he did. We should all be more like that, ready to jump into action.”</p>
<p class="p3">Turner says he isn’t a hero. “I didn’t do it for the appreciation. I didn’t do it for stardom or fame,” he told WPBF. “I just did it because I saw a bad situation and I knew somebody was in need of help.” </p></div>Finishing toucheshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/finishing-touches2020-04-01T18:08:48.000Z2020-04-01T18:08:48.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960946856,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960946856,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960946856?profile=original" /></a></strong></span><em>This view from the stage shows the restored roof of the auditorium of the historic 1927 Boynton Beach High School. The ceiling still boasts its original Dade County pine beams. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Years in remaking, old Boynton high school soon to raise curtain as arts center</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Jan Engoren</strong></p>
<p>Rescued from demolition by a grass-roots effort and transformed into a dynamic cultural arts and activities destination, the historic Boynton Beach High School is nearly ready to shine as the centerpiece of Town Square.</p>
<p><br />Town Square is a public/private partnership between the city of Boynton Beach and E2L Real Estate Solutions LLC and is scheduled to be up and running this summer, with the old high school to open sometime before then.</p>
<p><br />According to the city, the 20-acre development will be “a place for connecting — connecting the city’s historic past to its vibrant future; residents to each other; community members and visitors to arts, culture and other activities.”</p>
<p><br />The 28,009-square-foot high school building at 125 E. Ocean Ave. was neglected and vacant since 1990, and in need of some major TLC. Assistant City Manager Colin Groff, who is in charge of the project and gave a tour of the site in mid-March, said it took at least eight months of mold remediation, and cleaning up mildew, asbestos and lead paint before restoration of the property.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947072,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947072,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960947072?profile=original" /></a><em>An original crest, depicting a shield, wreath and torches, still adorns the facade of the building.</em></p>
<p><br />When finished, the school renovation alone is estimated to come in at $11.3 million, according to Groff.</p>
<p><br />“We want the community involved in using this building and all the activities we have planned — from art, dance, yoga, karate and fencing classes to rotating public art installations,” Groff said. “We want to bring people downtown to eat, shop, have fun and play. <br />“We are re-creating downtown Boynton Beach,” he says. “This building will be engaged 24/7. This will be the place to be.”</p>
<p><br />Renovations were designed to keep the historical aspects of the 1927 structure intact, as the building is listed on the Boynton Beach Register of Historic Places. Efforts have been made to preserve the bell tower; historic window shapes (bringing them up to code and adding hurricane impact); and the school’s crest, original art on the facade (torches depicting enlightenment and learning) and a shield with laurels representing achievement.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947660,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947660,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960947660?profile=original" /></a><em>The windows of a planned office offer a view of the preserved kapok tree, a landmark near the corner of Ocean Avenue and Seacrest Boulevard. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br />But everything else has been upgraded for modern conveniences — Wi-Fi, air conditioning, elevators and ADA accessibility. Even the bathrooms were redesigned as replicas of the originals with updated hardware and facilities.</p>
<p><br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="141" height="212" alt="7960947468?profile=original" /></a>Diane Valentini, who will manage the new cultural arts center, says it will have an on-site Fred Astaire Dance Studio, “every art class you can imagine,” and will work with the Lake Worth Playhouse to bring live performances to the venue.</p>
<p><br /> Outdoors, a patio space will be available to rent for events, Groff says, and the grounds will include a family adventure park with themes tied to the city’s history. Examples include a ship, a 25-by-12-foot butterfly representing local endangered butterfly species, a large jellyfish figure, a Flagler train and a statue of the Barefoot Mailman.</p>
<p><br />The “pride and joy” of the renovation, says Groff, is the old school auditorium/gym, with its eight original Dade County pine beams. As one of the largest auditoriums in South Palm Beach County, it will seat 300 at tables and 500 in other chairs. It will be the future home of the city’s renowned biennial kinetic art events.</p>
<p><br />“We’re very proud of it,” Groff says.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Plans call for staff to move into the building as soon as a few months and to initiate programs over the summer.</p>
<p><br />The new City Hall is scheduled to open July 21, when construction moves to the outer edges of the project, including building a parking garage, completing the landscaping and breaking ground on a hotel.</p>
<p><br />Eventually the complex will include retail stores, restaurants, residential units and a new fire station and library.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947852,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947852,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960947852?profile=original" /></a><em>Assistant City Manager Colin Groff discusses plans for the exterior of the 1927 high school building, which will be the centerpiece of Boynton’s Town Square. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>City seeks donors</strong></p>
<p>Groff says that the city is looking for donors and that naming rights are available to individuals, organizations, businesses and foundations that would like to support additional technology for the auditorium and other rooms.</p>
<p><br />Rights start at $1,500 for the “Wish Upon a Starfish,” a 3-D graphic starfish, and go up to $2 million to have your name on the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum building.</p>
<p><br />Naming opportunities are available for all aspects of Town Square. In the Children’s Museum, new features include “Water World,” an interactive coastal and mangrove exhibit, available for $150,000, and the “Pepper Patch,” an interactive farming exhibit, for $125,000.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948079,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948079,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960948079?profile=original" /></a><em>Brian Martin installs ceiling tiles in a second-floor classroom of the old Boynton Beach High School, which has been updated with new electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning systems. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p>Reflections and Synesthesia, kinetic art pieces on the plaza, can bear your name for $300,000 and $100,000, respectively. <br />Your plaque on the Barefoot Mailman’s Adventure Trail will cost $20,000.</p>
<p><br />Groff emphasized that the building complex will be secure and safe. “Our residents have made the right decision in going forward with these plans and should be very proud of their new building and downtown,” he said.</p>
<p><br />“Bring your mom, grab a cup of coffee at City Hall, drop the kids off at dance or the library, park once and take advantage of everything there will be to offer in our new downtown,” said city spokeswoman Eleanor Krusell. “This is an inclusive complex with something for everybody.”</p></div>Green Markets: Variety is key at Boca Raton’s Saturday markethttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/green-markets-variety-is-key-at-boca-raton-s-saturday-market2020-03-03T19:56:57.000Z2020-03-03T19:56:57.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960931876,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960931876,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960931876?profile=original" /></a><em>About 40 vendors sell fruits, vegetables and other goods in Boca. <strong>Linda Haase/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Linda Haase</strong></p>
<p>Anyone who knows Emily Lilly can tell you where she spends Saturday mornings from November to early May.</p>
<p><br /> It’s the same place she’s been for the past 23 years — the Boca Raton Greenmarket. Lilly, who has been the manager since the venture began, is dedicated to bringing farm-to-table produce, artisan products, delicious food — and more — to customers in a fun, relaxed ambiance.</p>
<p><br /> The market, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through May 9, has a sweet spot at the Boca Raton City Hall grounds, where it relocated after 20 years at Royal Palm Place. There are plenty of trees to provide shade and a stage-like area for musical entertainment.</p>
<p><br /> Variety is key at this market, which has about 40 vendors, says Lilly. In other words, expect the unexpected. Looking for cranberry beans? They’re front and center, along with more than 80 kinds of herbs and spices, lemon peel strips, made-to-order guacamole, jackfruit, gargantuan carrots, truffle burrata, aromatherapy necklaces, organic butterfly pea flower tea and even root beer-float-flavored finishing butter. (Mix it with sriracha and simple syrup for a to-die-for glaze for chicken wings, ham or ribs.)</p>
<p><br /> Be sure to stop by the Broward Beekeepers Association booth, where experts share information on the importance and quirks of bees. (Who knew honeybees have two stomachs or that a queen bee can lay more than 2,000 eggs a day?)</p>
<p><br /> Arrive early and join the free one-hour yoga class, then cool off with coconut water served inside the freshly carved out fruit. Wander around and you’ll discover lush flowers and plants, Mediterranean food, nuts galore, fresh-squeezed juice and more, including a soothing hand wash at the La Cure booth.</p>
<p><br /> Expect a line at “the fish guy” booth, where customers exchange recipes and pleasantries while waiting up to 30 minutes for the coveted smoked fish dip, stone crab claws, homemade mustard sauce, fresh fish and other ocean delights. The market began with a mission, explains Lilly: “to offer produce from farm-to-table with nothing in between.” It evolved, adding local artisans showcasing their products, music and more.</p>
<p><br /> Now, it’s also a Saturday morning destination for the entire family, including the family pup. As for the future? Lilly has one desire. “I’d love better weather on Saturdays. This year it has been horrendous. It does not make for a good outdoor venture.”</p>
<p><br /><strong>New Sunday market</strong></p>
<p>Can’t get to the greenmarket on Saturdays? Or want to double your weekend fun? Head to the newly opened Florida Fresh Market at Mizner Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The market may continue year-round, organizers say. At the south end of the center, between Lord & Taylor and Yard House, the market features a fresh produce center along with local vendors highlighting prepared foods, jams and jellies, breads, local honeys, unique artisan items and more.</p>
<p><br /> “We are excited to offer our guests yet another reason to visit Mizner Park,” says general manager Dana Romanelli Schearer. “With our many offerings and beautiful outdoor space, Mizner Park lends itself to Florida Fresh Market events, especially during the milder South Florida months.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Crocker Partners drops 2 of 3 Midtown lawsuitshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-crocker-partners-drops-2-of-3-midtown-lawsuits2019-10-30T14:10:29.000Z2019-10-30T14:10:29.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Crocker Partners has curtailed its contentious legal battle with the city, dropping two lawsuits that sought to compel city officials to allow it to redevelop Midtown.<br />But Crocker Partners continues to pursue litigation that seeks $137.6 million in damages the developer and landowner claims it has sustained because Boca Raton illegally prevented the redevelopment.<br />By dismissing the two lawsuits, Crocker Partners has signaled that it is giving up its long-held ambition to transform the 300-acre Midtown, located east of the Town Center mall, into a $1 billion live-work-play area with as many as 2,500 residential units near offices, restaurants and shopping.<br />“After trying to work with City Council for four years, revitalizing Midtown is off the table — a tremendous missed opportunity for the city and the community,” Angelo Bianco, Crocker Partners’ managing partner, said in a statement issued three days after his company informed the court on Oct. 18 that it was dismissing the lawsuits.<br />“We are pleased that the Crocker entities have voluntarily dismissed two of their three pending Midtown lawsuits,” city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said in an email.<br />In an interview, Bianco said that after recovering the damages, he will be ready to move on and sell his company’s 67 acres in Midtown.<br />“We will focus all our attention on the (lawsuit) I feel most confident about,” he said. “When we win, we will get paid for the damages we suffered. At least my investors will get the money the city has taken from them.”<br />Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Howard Coates Jr.’s July 19 dismissal of Crocker Partners’ damages case played no role in his decision, Bianco said. Crocker Partners has since appealed the ruling to the 4th District Court of Appeal.<br />Rather, he said he recently reassessed the situation and determined that even if he won the lawsuits, Midtown redevelopment as he envisioned it would not happen.<br />Crocker Partners had sold its holdings in Midtown but reacquired them five years ago with an eye toward redeveloping an area in need of revitalization.<br />Bianco then teamed up with other landowners in the area, assembling 300 acres for the Midtown project.<br />But protracted negotiations with the city led nowhere, and the council has yet to decide whether to allow residential development in Midtown.<br />Even after a pivotal 2018 City Council vote that did not resolve the issue, Bianco said he still thought it would be possible to create a smaller version of the original project.<br />But other landowners drifted away, pursuing other plans for their properties. Bianco said Glades Plaza is under contract for sale and landowner Cypress Realty of Florida has put its property up for sale.<br />An official with Glades Plaza owner Trademark Property Co. declined comment, and Cypress Realty principal Nader Salour did not respond to an email.<br />“I realized the consortium of property owners is gone,” Bianco said. “It is all breaking apart. Why was I trying to get the relief I asked for (from the courts) when there is not going to be any Midtown development? It would be a waste of time and money.”<br />Crocker Partners is a longtime developer whose projects include iconic Mizner Park. Its holdings in Midtown include Boca Center, The Plaza and One Town Center — properties that Bianco said eventually would be sold.<br />The death knell for Midtown sounded on Jan. 23, 2018, when City Council members indefinitely postponed a vote on proposed land development regulations that would have allowed residential development in Midtown if certain conditions were met.<br />Instead, the council voted to have city staff develop a “small area plan” for Midtown, a decision that kicked final decisions at least a year down the road and badly frustrated Crocker Partners and other landowners.<br />The council eventually passed what city officials say are land development regulations on Jan. 8. They address improvements to streets, lighting, parking and landscaping, as well as building heights, setbacks and facades, but not residential development.<br />Crocker Partners’ now-dismissed first lawsuit asked a judge to compel the city to write land development regulations, which the city had said is now moot because it has done so.<br />The second, a Bert Harris Act case now on appeal, seeks the $137.6 million in damages on grounds the delay in enacting regulations created an impermissible building moratorium that took away Crocker Partners’ property rights.<br />In a July 19 ruling, Judge Coates sided with Boca Raton and against all of Crocker Partners’ legal arguments.<br />His order states that the Bert Harris Act provides compensation to property owners who lose existing or vested zoning rights, but not to property owners who do not receive new development rights. It also states that Crocker Partners retained the ability to build commercial, retail and office, as was allowed before and after the City Council passed new development regulations for Midtown.<br />The now-dismissed third lawsuit, filed March 27, claimed the city made misleading statements in public documents and violated the state’s Sunshine Law to prevent residential development in Midtown.<br />It also made the explosive allegation that city officials, including two or more unidentified City Council members, acted in secret to thwart Crocker Partners’ plans for Midtown. <br />In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, city officials said Crocker Partners had made “scandalous” but unsupported allegations which “distract from the fact that Plaintiffs have not stated (and cannot state) a claim for a Sunshine Law violation.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Both sides declare victory in retirement home settlementhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-both-sides-declare-victory-in-retirement-home-settleme2018-11-28T16:30:00.000Z2018-11-28T16:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960827088,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960827088,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960827088?profile=original" /></a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related story: Boca Raton, Delray cases put state’s <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-boca-raton-delray-cases-put-state-s-property-righ" target="_blank">property rights law</a> in spotlight</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Bowing to strong push-back by a developer who contended the Boca Raton City Council improperly rejected its proposed luxury adult living facility, council members have sharply reversed course and approved the downtown project.<br /> The council, sitting also as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners, quickly approved settling a lawsuit filed by Group P6, and then immediately approved its Concierge project unanimously on Nov. 13.<br /> Group P6 gave up some ground in the settlement by reducing the number of living units from 110 to 88 and the number of parking spaces from 127 to 106. <br /> But the deal also required the council members to approve the Concierge if they wanted to settle the case.<br /> It also removed the threat posed to the city by project landowner Robert Buehl, who had announced that he would file a Bert Harris Act lawsuit against the city seeking as much as $100 million in damages. That suit now won’t be filed.<br /> The city did not admit that it had acted wrongly when it voted 3-1 to deny the Concierge on July 23. <br /> Two council members cast the settlement and project approval as the developer and landowner responding to council concerns rather than a hasty retreat from a decision that posed a financial risk to the city.<br /> “So take note any potential litigants to the city of Boca Raton,” said Mayor Scott Singer. “The path to victory is not the mere filing of litigation. Significant response to council concerns is what I think you are seeing here today.”<br /> After the meeting, Group P6 co-owner Ignacio Diaz said the reduction in living units will not hurt the project and will allow him to increase the size of some units.<br /> “This is the optimal mix [of units]. We think it will be more in line with what the market is,” Diaz said after the meeting. “It is a win-win for us and the city.”<br /> Buehl said in an email that he remains “extremely excited” about Concierge, which he said meets a social need in the city.<br /> “I am pleased that the city decided to do the right thing but find it unfortunate we had to force their hand,” he said.<br /> The developer and landowner will build the $75 million senior living facility at 22 SE Sixth St., and will have 26 assisted living and 42 independent living units as well as 20 memory care units. Construction is expected to begin at the end of next year.<br /> Amenities will include a rooftop pool, summer kitchen and lounge, yoga and music areas, wine bar and bistro, full-service restaurant, theater, salon, spa and gym.<br /> The council’s July rejection was unexpected because the project was not controversial. Group P6 has a reputation for following the city’s development rules, its previous condo projects were easily approved, city staff recommended approval of the Concierge, and the City Council unanimously supported a separate downtown luxury ALF last year.<br /> But some council members expressed concerns that the facility would overburden the city’s fire-rescue services and lacked adequate parking.<br /> Council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte questioned whether another ALF was a good fit for the downtown. Speaking of the city’s vision of a vibrant downtown, O’Rourke said she was not sure how much the Concierge’s residents would be engaged in the community since the Concierge would provide many services.<br /> “I’m not against ALFs in our city,” Mayotte said. “I’m just not sure that the downtown is the right location for them. Other places within our city limits are probably more applicable for these types of residents and I just wanted to make that clear.”<br /> Mayotte and O’Rourke suggested the city may need to create a way for ALF developers to pay for the increased cost of providing ambulance service. Group P6 said its ALF would not result in significantly more fire-rescue calls.<br /> City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said there are legal impediments to levying a special assessment only for increased demand for a service.<br /> In his August announcement that he planned to file a lawsuit, Buehl highlighted council member comments about the elderly.<br /> “The statements made by elected officials regarding our city’s elderly residents were absolutely discriminatory and shameful,” Buehl said at the time.<br /> Group P6 echoed Buehl’s age discrimination claim in its August lawsuit that sought to have the court quash the city’s denial of the project.<br /> The developer also noted that it is the city’s obligation, not the property owner’s, to provide fire-rescue services.<br /> The American Seniors Housing Association filed an amicus brief in support of Group P6 in October, saying the project denial “represents an unlawful discriminatory bias against seniors with disabilities and the providers of care and services that seek to meet their needs.”<br /> Other lawsuits remain<br /> The city has another contentious development-related legal headache.<br /> Developer and landowner Crocker Partners sued the city in May, seeking to have a judge compel the city to write land development regulations for the Midtown area and to rule that the City Council’s January delay in adopting them, and instead voting to develop a “small area plan” for Midtown, are illegal. <br /> Crocker Partners filed a Bert Harris Act lawsuit against the city in October, seeking $137.6 million in damages on grounds that the city has failed to adopt the regulations.<br /> Cypress Realty of Florida, a landowner that partnered with Crocker Partners on Midtown planning, also went to court in October, saying in its lawsuit that the city has been “stonewalling” its efforts to develop 10.2 acres.<br /> Crocker Partners and other landowners originally wanted to redevelop 300 acres east of the Town Center mall. But without land development regulations, that plan has died.<br /> In the Concierge case, neither side admitted fault or liability, and each will pay its own attorney’s fees and costs.</p></div>Delray Beach: City improves insurance-rating classhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-improves-insurance-rating-class2018-10-03T15:48:13.000Z2018-10-03T15:48:13.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Jane Smith</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Delray Beach has another bragging right.</p>
<p class="p3">Its Fire-Rescue Department worked to improve the Insurance Service Office rating from a 2 to a 1 in areas it serves.</p>
<p class="p3">Fire Chief Neal de Jesus told the City Commission on Oct. 2 that the Fire Department was evaluated on nine criteria, including personnel training and age of the equipment.</p>
<p class="p3">“Property owners will have to request that their brokers review their premium costs,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">“We will send out a notice to all property owners via their utility bills,” he said. “We will encourage them to reach out to their insurance carrier to let them know that their Fire Department was designated a Class 1 and request a quote.”</p>
<p class="p3">The improved rating will go into effect on Jan. 1.</p>
<p class="p3">The decrease in the nonwind premium will be modest.</p>
<p class="p3">Commercial property owners could see as much as a 4 percent drop in their nonwind insurance premium, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.</p>
<p class="p3">“It will again be determined by how the companies have set up a rating system and many policyholders may see no change in premium due to the better protection class,” Karen Kees, Insurance Office spokeswoman, said in an email.</p>
<p class="p3">Homeowners who have nonwind coverage through Citizens Property Insurance Corp. would see no reduction, Kees wrote. That insurer groups classes 1 through 6 together. Homeowners with private policies could see a 1 percent drop in their nonwind premiums, Kees estimated.</p>
<p class="p3">The city provides fire-rescue services to Gulf Stream and Highland Beach on the barrier island. De Jesus said property owners there could also qualify for the rating discount. </p></div>Health & Harmony: Health-minded foodies savor new tour in Boca Ratonhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/health-harmony-health-minded-foodies-savor-new-tour-in-boca-raton2017-08-29T18:00:00.000Z2017-08-29T18:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960735292,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960735292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960735292?profile=original" /></a><em>Tour leader Meridith Hootstein gets the group off to a healthy start with a short session of yoga and relaxation.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Lona O'Connor</strong></p>
<p>They hunted. They gathered. They tramped the streets of downtown Boca Raton in 85-degree heat. This intrepid group of six was in search of healthy food.<br /> Savor Our Cities, a new business that leads foodie tours in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, launched a new tour during the summer focusing on fresh juices, raw foods, vegan and vegetarian fare, all locally grown or produced when possible. <br /> Other Savor Our City tours try out restaurants and shops with a variety of food and geographic themes.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960736064,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960736064,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960736064?profile=original" /></a><em>Grace Mendez at Raw Juce pours for Sarah Caines as her friend Dana Rakowski takes a sip during their tour of Boca Raton establishments. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> After a half-hour of yoga and relaxation on the roof of a downtown building, the group followed tour leader and yoga teacher Meridith Hootstein downstairs for their first tasting, at Raw Juce.<br /> They tried about a dozen blended juices, blue, green, red and orange, containing combinations of ginger, carrots, acai, goji berries, chia seeds, apples, cinnamon — any fresh produce that could be put through a juicer. <br /> Juices are considered helpful for digestion, energy and ridding the body of environmental toxins. For those not quite ready to give up caffeine, there was even cold-brewed coffee.<br /> Crossing Federal Highway, they headed to Royal Palm Place, first to GourmetPhile, a tiny shop packed to the ceiling with wines and exotic foods. After inspecting GourmetPhile’s offerings, they adjourned to a tasting room with chic raspberry walls where they tasted salad with a locally made ginger dressing, organic white and red wines, vegan cheeses and an assortment of olives, nuts and pickled vegetables. They tried vegan dark chocolate squares for dessert. <br /> GourmetPhile employs a raw food chef and offers a variety of milk-based cheeses, wines and other delicacies for private parties in its tasting room. <br /> Next stop: Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, a few doors away in Royal Palm Place. The Farmhouse Kitchen serves locally sourced and organic meats (including bison), vegetables and wines. For her vegan/organic/raw group, Hootstein chose lettuce wraps with lentil and butternut squash filling.<br /> At this point, the group members declared themselves too full to eat another bite, but Hootstein coaxed them a few steps farther to LovJuice, which opened in Royal Palm Plaza this summer. LovJuice offers a variety of juices and energy shakes, but since the group had juiced up at the beginning of the tour, Hootstein directed the foodies to a piquant garbanzo bean salad and peanut butter bites, with shots of watermelon citron and spicy carrot juice. <br /> Hootstein, a yoga teacher, was introduced to Denise Righetti, the CFO (chief foodie officer) of Savor Our City, by their mutual friend Emily Lilly at the Boca Raton Green Market. <br /> Savor Our City offers a variety of themed food tours in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, including American and international tours and walking tours of restaurant-rich target areas such as Atlantic Avenue and Pineapple Grove in Delray and Royal Palm Place in downtown Boca Raton.<br /> The vegan/vegetarian/raw tour was Righetti’s idea for including a new group of eaters.<br /> “Denise was looking for someone to lead the vegan tour, and my name came up,” said Hootstein, who runs Blossoming Lotus Yoga.</p>
<p><strong>Diet experiments don’t always work</strong> <br /> Elena Brodskaya, of Boca Raton, had a keen interest in the tour since she is the co-founder of the South Florida Vegan Education Group.<br /> “Meridith approached us to get our feedback for future tours,” said Brodskaya, who works at a women’s addiction treatment center and started the vegan group with her partner, Keith Berger, as a way to educate the public about the vegan lifestyle. She’s been a vegan for 10 years, Berger for 13 years. <br /> They are frank about the fact that sometimes dietary experiments don’t work out as expected. When they recently tried eating raw foods, Berger found he was “uncomfortable and cranky” for the first few days, although that passed. <br /> Brodskaya decided to step away from an all-raw-food diet. “I didn’t really take to it,” she said. <br /> Nonetheless, she picked up a bag of crunchy beet chips at LovJuice and offered them around to the group as they walked back to their cars.<br /> <br /> <em>Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.</em></p></div>Delray Beach: City Commission keeps CRA board independenthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-commission-keeps-cra-board-independent2017-05-31T15:30:00.000Z2017-05-31T15:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <strong> </strong><br /> With a 15-minute soliloquy, Delray Beach’s mayor cast the deciding vote to keep the Community Redevelopment Agency board independent from the City Commission. <br /> “The hasty manner in which we got here does not produce an environment in which cooler heads prevail,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960727689,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960727689,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="100" alt="7960727689?profile=original" /></a>Glickstein said he regretted not hitting the pause button two weeks ago, and that he and his commission colleagues had spent the intervening 14 days talking to residents on both sides of the issue and many in the middle. <br /> But his support was conditional.<br /> “Things must change,” he said, starting with the City Commission’s appointment of four members this month to the seven-member CRA board.<br /> His other conditions include: The CRA will pay for all city-identified projects in its district; the CRA will circulate documents for public land sales over 1 acre to the City Commission and city attorney before developers can submit bids; and the CRA staff will communicate better with city staff and commissioners.<br /> Glickstein also wants to see the CRA end “the backdoor funding game.” At times, he said, when a project was denied money by the city, the developer went to the CRA. The agency was seen “as an off-the-balance sheet, out-of-public-scrutiny source with a seemingly magical money pot that has been for far too long viewed as something other than what it is: taxpayer dollars.”<br /> The mayor followed up a week later with a memo to the CRA leadership detailing the conditions for his support of an independent CRA board.<br /> At the May 16 commission meeting, nearly 40 people spoke on the CRA. The speakers included downtown business owners, former city staffers, a former mayor, current and former CRA board members and longtime residents. Four current CRA board members, including Chairman Reggie Cox, sat in the front row of the packed commission chambers.<br /> Vice Mayor Jim Chard, who agreed May 2 to discuss the CRA takeover, supported keeping the independent board two weeks later. Chard pointed out the agency’s many accomplishments, including trees along 12th Street and the Atlantic Grove development on West Atlantic. <br /> “The issue is communications,” he said. “Better communications will be easier to do than the nuclear option.”<br /> Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson also voted to keep the board independent.<br /> The tumultuous debate over the CRA in the past two weeks brought the city together, Johnson said. “Thirty-two years is not long in the redevelopment world,” she said. “Blight and slum conditions still exist in the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.”<br /> “It’s foolish to think this conversation started two weeks ago,” Commissioner Mitch Katz said. “It started two years ago when then-Commissioner Al Jacquet was outraged that Old School Square expenses were fast-tracked in front of work that was needed in the Northwest/Southwest neighborhoods.”<br /> Katz supported disbanding the CRA board because he thinks elected officials should be in charge of deciding how taxpayer dollars are spent.<br /> Commissioner Shelly Petrolia supported the disbanding even though it would be more work for the commission to take over the CRA. “I will bite the bullet,” she said. “I can do it.” <br /> In her four years as a commissioner, Petrolia said, “Many CRA decisions did not have the support of the taxpayers.”<br /> She also said that at a City Commission goal-setting session the previous week, all five commissioners agreed their focus should be on West Atlantic Avenue, not Congress Avenue.<br /> Nearly one-third of the speakers agreed.<br /> “I’m mad as hell, the CRA is giving you lip service,” said barrier-island resident Steve Blum. “It has nothing to do with race or historic events. It’s about who do I want to handle my $30 million.”<br /> Frances Bourque, the principal money-raiser for the Old School Square complex, said, “For the last 30 years I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with the CRA.”<br /> Bourque, who lives in the Delray Dunes Golf and Country Club, spoke about giving the CRA board members another chance. “There’s humanity in every decision,” she said. “It’s not just about the dollars.”<br /> Residents of The Set have been waiting, said Cox, who lives in the area. (The Set is the new name for the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.) “It’s time to move forward.”<br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-3">Dispute over naming policy</span><br /> The uproar started at the May 2 commission meeting. Commissioners were upset that the CRA board passed a building naming policy while the city is trying to craft one. The naming policy became the tipping point after drawn-out negotiations with the iPic theater owner and the loss of a West Atlantic developer.<br /> When the mayor asked the city attorney what could be done, Max Lohman replied “little” because the CRA is an independent board. He proposed a “nuclear option” with a resolution dissolving the CRA board and having the city commissioners sit as the CRA members. That’s how a majority of the CRAs in Florida are run, including in Boynton Beach and Boca Raton. <br /> The CRA covers 20 percent of Delray Beach, from Interstate 95 to the ocean, where property values are the highest. Its current budget is $17 million from city and county tax dollars. With other sources, the agency will have $31.5 million to spend this budget year. The amount includes a $3.1 million line of credit and the $3.6 million land sale to iPic.<br /> Delray Beach’s redevelopment agency is considered successful. Since its 1985 start, the CRA has created a vibrant downtown and the Pineapple Grove arts district. The agency also won recent awards from the Florida Redevelopment Association for beautifying Federal Highway and offering incentives to Fairfield Inn & Suites Hotel to open on West Atlantic Avenue.<br /> At the agency’s May 11 meeting, the building naming policy was rescinded without discussion. The board members also evaluated their executive director and gave Jeff Costello a 5 percent raise, with Cox voting no. <br /> Cox said he talked privately with Costello about his low rating. The evaluation forms show that Cox rated Costello 77 on a 155-point scale over budget, personnel and communication problems. The evaluations were done prior to the latest kerfuffle with the city.</p></div>Delray Beach: PAC money and community support drive Delray electionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-pac-money-and-community-support-drive-delray-electio2017-03-29T19:00:00.000Z2017-03-29T19:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br /> A political newcomer and a seasoned public servant will join the Delray Beach City Commission after they were handily elected March 14.<br /> The most contentious race was between retiree Jim Chard and his main contender, political novice Kelly Barrette, for Seat 2. Two others — police officer Richard Alteus and social worker Anneze Barthelemy — also ran for that seat, but garnered less than 10 percent of the vote each. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960719658,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960719658,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="98" alt="7960719658?profile=original" /></a>Chard took 56 percent of the vote and Barrette was a distant second with 28 percent. “I am interpreting the results as a mandate to get things done,” Chard said.<br /> Chard says he will work to implement his plan to rid the city of rogue sober home operators and wants to create a list of all capital improvements needed and find a way to pay for them, even if it means issuing a bond. <br /> He also thinks Delray Beach needs more upscale office space so that it no longer loses premier businesses to Boca Raton.<br /> Said Barrette: “I’m proud of the campaign that I ran, which was almost entirely supported by citizens. I haven’t decided how I will stay involved in Delray politics or if I will run for a commission seat again.”<br /> The Chard-Barrette contest quickly turned into a battle between development and establishment interests and Barrette’s grass-roots, controlled-growth supporters.<br /> Chard raised just under $70,000. His major contributors include a variety of development interests — iPic theater, Swinton Commons mixed-use project, Delray Place retail center and hoteliers — as well as a co-founder of an upscale sober home facility; three former mayors; two former city commissioners; three board members of the Beach Property Owners Association; and the chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency.<br /> He used nearly half of that money to pay his campaign consultant, Cornerstone Solutions, $32,955.98. Most of it went to direct mail, email and telephone campaigns, according to Chard’s campaign finance reports.<br /> Rick Asnani, a co-founder of Cornerstone, also runs political action committees and electioneering communications organizations, such as Keeping Citizens First Inc. The organization sent out at least two mailers in support of Chard, did a telephone poll of residents regarding the iPic project and made automated phone calls backing Chard.<br /> As of Feb. 28, the organization raised $50,000, all of it coming from two other PACs. The PACs have no contribution limits, nor do they have to report how much they spend on any one candidate. The money the PACs raised was given to Cornerstone Solutions or Keeping Citizens First. (State law limits contributions to individual candidates to $1,000 per contributor.)</p>
<p> Records show that one of the PACs giving to Asnani’s organization received $5,000 from investor Carl DeSantis, one of the early principals of the Atlantic Crossing project; $2,500 from Isram Realty Holdings, which owns the Delray Square retail center, and $1,000 from the Dunay, Miskel and Backman law firm that represents iPic and Swinton Commons.</p>
<p> The money fueled an anti-Barrette campaign of mailers and automated calls that dismissed her as a part-time resident who fights issues on social media, such as Facebook.</p>
<p> Chard said he has no control over what the PACs do. He said Asnani’s team showed him polling results on residents’ opinions on the iPic complex. Chard said he approved the message of the automated calls made by Keeping Citizens First. <br /> “I sent out my own mailers,” he said. “I didn’t see the version the PAC sent out, but I gave input into what was covered.”<br /> He said he will not be swayed by his contributors. “I have been saying no to developers on the city’s SPRAB [Site Plan Review and Appearance Board, where he served as vice-chair], I have a five-year track record of saying no to developers,” Chard said.<br /> Barrette, who started the Take Back Delray Facebook page, took no money from developers. She raised just under $30,000 from like-minded residents, colleagues and two current city commissioners. Donors included longtime resident Peter Humanik, frequent commission critic and CPA Ken MacNamee, Urban Greenway critic John Cartier and landlord Benita Goldstein. <br /> Barrette spent $14,659.06 on mailings. Her postcards were typical political ones that compared her political stance to Chard’s, she said.<br /> In the Seat 4 race, Shirley Johnson raised $30,000 and garnered nearly 64 percent of the vote. She doesn’t have political <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960719266,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960719266,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="98" alt="7960719266?profile=original" /></a>experience, but she has the support of community leaders in the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods. A retiree from IBM, she says her top three priorities on the dais will be safe neighborhoods, youth activities and sustainable growth.<br /> She did send some mailers that compared herself with opponent Josh Smith, but she did not do automated phone calls.<br /> Her contributions came from development interests with projects proposed in the city — including iPic, Swinton Commons and Delray Place South. They also came from lawyers, including former Commissioner Jordana Jarjura, political action committees for firefighters and Realtors, two board members of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, and two former mayors. <br /> Angie Gray, a former city commissioner who held Seat 4, was her campaign consultant and received $5,000 for that work. Gray also donated to Johnson’s campaign, as did community activist and retired educator Yvonne Odom.<br /> “I told developers and others at the first forum, they are going to be misled if they thought contributing to my campaign buys approval,” Johnson said. “I will judge everything on whether it is good for Delray.”<br /> Her opponent, Josh Smith, a retired educator, could not be reached for comment. <br /> He raised nearly $18,000. His major donors included $1,000 from Rosebud Capital Investment partnership (a major Atlantic Avenue property owner), $1,000 from restaurant owner and city Parking Board member Fran Marincola, $1,000 from Seaside Builders, $1,000 from commission critic MacNamee and his wife, $500 from Commissioner Shelly Petrolia’s husband, Anthony, and $500 from the land-use law firm Greenspoon Marder.</p></div>Along the Coast: Modest raises for employees in most towns’ budgetshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-modest-raises-for-employees-in-most-towns-budgets2016-08-31T16:03:06.000Z2016-08-31T16:03:06.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong><br /><br /> The good news is that most local government employees throughout the coastal communities of south Palm Beach County may be seeing raises in the upcoming fiscal year. <br /> The not-so-great news is that for many of them, these raises will probably do little more than help them keep up with the increased cost of living in South Florida. <br /> On average, most of the communities along the coast are proposing employee pay increases of about 3 percent, with some considering a little more and others a little less.<br /> The proposed salary increases, for the most part, are an attempt by local governments to make up for recent years when there were no raises, while at the same time making sure that budgets remain financially sound. <br /> “There were several years during the economic downturn where there wasn’t a lot of movement in terms of compensation and benefits,” says Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb. “Times are better now with higher property valuations and as a result, there’s a little more flexibility for municipalities to catch up on government market-rate compensation.”<br /> There is, however, only so much local governments can do. <br /> “We always want to be as generous as possible, but we have to be conservative so as to not create an unstable fiscal situation,” Titcomb said. <br /> For some towns enjoying the benefits of increased property values, creative approaches to recognizing employees can help maintain that delicate balancing act. <br /> In Manalapan, for example, commissioners are considering a 3 percent pay increase for employees, up from 2.5 percent last year. <br /> At the same time, however, town leaders are developing a longevity rewards program to compensate employees for their loyalty. <br />After five years, a full-time employee would receive a lump sum payment of $1,250; after 10 years, $2,500; after 15 years, $3,750, and after 20 years, $5,000. <br />Part-time employees would be eligible for half as much.<br /> In Ocean Ridge, commissioners are considering merit raises for employees that would range from 2 percent to 5 percent, depending on several factors, including performance. <br />The town also recently changed its health insurance plan to one that Titcomb says provides better benefits to employees — whose premiums are fully covered by the town — and significantly lowers deductibles for family members.<br /> In Highland Beach, commissioners are considering a 3 percent, across-the-board pay increase for all employees beginning Oct. 1 and have instituted a longevity pay plan, similar to the one being considered by Manalapan. Employees receive pay increases when they reach 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-year milestones. <br />In addition, the town is considering an incentive program where employees are rewarded for ideas that improve efficiency and effectiveness. <br />Beginning in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, employees will also get $1,000 they can use to help with medical costs not covered by their health insurance plan. <br />It is a change in the health insurance, however, that is partially responsible for civilian employees starting the process of forming a union. <br /> In the past, employees were covered by a preferred provider organization, in which the town paid 100 percent of employee premiums and 85 percent of family coverage premiums. <br />In July, however, the town switched to a three-tiered plan that includes a health maintenance organization plan and two preferred provider organization plans. <br /> Employees who join the HMO would save money on their family plans, while there would be increases for both employee and family coverage with the PPO plans. <br />Some employees who say they want to maintain the high level of coverage they received in the past have balked at the increased rates. <br /> In South Palm Beach, commissioners are considering a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase for employees, while in Gulf Stream, a 2.5 percent increase — down from 3 percent last year — has been proposed. <br /> Some communities are considering a combination of a cost-of-living increase and merit raises. <br />In Lantana, commissioners are considering a cost-of-living raise of just about 1 percent and a merit raise of up to 5 percent. <br /> In Delray Beach, commissioners are considering merit raises up to 5 percent while insurance premiums have dropped by about 5 percent for health, dental and vision coverage. <br /> In Boynton Beach, police officers and employees covered by the Service Employees International Union could receive a 3 percent increase, while fire and rescue personnel and employees not covered by the union would receive a slightly lower increase under the proposed budget.<br />In Boca Raton, rather than put a squeeze on employee benefits, city officials propose adding 76 new full-time positions to their municipal workforce numbering 1,423. <br />The extra personnel will add $5.5 million for salaries and benefits to the city’s $392 million operating budget.<br />Boca Raton has scheduled public hearings on its proposed budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 and Sept. 26 in the City Council chambers at City Hall. </p></div>Boca Raton: City, beach district strike deal to pay for projectshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-beach-district-strike-deal-to-pay-for-projects2016-08-31T13:59:41.000Z2016-08-31T13:59:41.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br />The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District and the city have hammered out an agreement that will have the district paying 50 percent of all beach renourishment projects and Intracoastal dredging in Boca Raton.<br /> District Chairman Robert Rollins happily announced the meeting of minds Aug. 26. The pact will officially be signed at the district’s Sept. 6 meeting.<br /> “I feel pretty good that we were able to get that done,” Rollins said. “The city’s happy with it and we’re happy with it.”<br /> The agreement will also enable the district to send the city a $1.5 million check for last spring’s partial renourishment of what the city calls its central beach, between Red Reef Park and the Boca inlet. <br /> Arthur Koski, the district’s lawyer and interim executive director, told commissioners in July that city officials had requested the money. But his advice was not to pay without an agreement in place. <br />Members of the City Council and the district commissioners informally agreed at a June 9, 2015, joint meeting that the district would pay half of beach renourishment costs, up from its customary one-third share. Three weeks later, commissioners approved a document saying just that, and another concerning a second phase of building sports fields at DeHoernle Park.<br /> But the city said both needed revisions. In November, it returned a new proposal that combined the two documents and six other contracts between Boca Raton and the city into one “master” agreement. <br />Among other things, the district objected to the proposed life of the agreement —30 years — and said one year was more palatable. <br /> The new beach agreement, which will stand alone from the proposed master pact, compromises at 10 years.<br /> “That’s a time frame we can live with,” Rollins said.<br /> The city’s dredge contractor left Boca Raton April 25 after completing about 20 percent of the central beach renourishment. Weeks Marine Inc. will return in December to finish. Ú</p></div>Boca Raton: Mayor praises Boca Raton’s ability to attract quality businesseshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-mayor-praises-boca-raton-s-ability-to-attract-quality-2016-06-29T14:16:20.000Z2016-06-29T14:16:20.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> Mayor Susan Haynie used her State of the City 2016 speech to cement her place as Boca Raton’s biggest booster. <br /> Gaining her highest marks are the thriving business community and the explosive growth of Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Regional Hospital. She said the city now provides “destination health care.”<br /> “They used to say if you got ill you had to go to the airport to get on the plane to go to the Mayo Clinic or the MD Anderson [Center],” she said. “And for an aging population of baby boomers, I think that’s a really important community asset for us.”<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960656489,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="100" class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960656489,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960656489?profile=original" /></a> FAU has transformed from a single building to a campus accommodating 30,000.<br /> “This is what’s fueling the attraction of so many quality businesses here in town, because we have an educated workforce,” Haynie said at the June 7 meeting of the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations.<br /> The mayor had the statistics to back up her claims: Boca Raton has 30 of the 62 corporate headquarters in Palm Beach County. <br /> “So we’ve done a great job as far as attracting businesses here,” she said.<br /> The city also has 12 million square feet of office space, more than West Palm Beach — “That’s been our challenge, to fill vacancies up,” Haynie said — and has created and retained more than 8,400 jobs in the last six years.<br /> “That’s an amazing number for a city of this size — 8,400 jobs,” Haynie said. “And the wonderful thing is, these people come and they find homes and they shop in our stores and patronize our restaurants, send their children to our schools. It’s really making us a much younger and more vibrant community.”<br /> Haynie said the top concerns today are the same as those a local newspaper listed in 1966: traffic flow, speed limits, zoning, high-rise apartments, architectural review standards that relate to community appearance, disposal of city-owned land and parking problems in the downtown business area.<br /> In the ensuing 50 years the city’s population has swelled from 20,000 to about 93,000. <br /> “I don’t see us ever going much higher than that. … I never, ever see us exceeding 100,000,” Haynie said.<br /> That means not annexing the mostly gated communities between the western edges of the city and Florida’s Turnpike, which would dissolve the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.<br /> State lawmakers set up the district to disband if the city annexed all the district land out to the turnpike. <br /> “I don’t ever see the city annexing the beach and park district out of existence,” Haynie said.<br /> The mayor said the City Council’s top priority this year is developing and evaluating a master plan for the City Hall campus. The first floor of City Hall is still off limits during repairs from the rainfall soaking it got in late March. <br /> And the Community Center, built in 1968, also is showing signs of age. <br /> “We love our Community Center, but when you travel to other cities in our county, this is a very sad building,” she said.<br /> Haynie said there are no plans to move the City Hall and Police Department elsewhere in the city and said an off-the-cuff comment at May’s strategic planning sessions sparked the rumor.<br /> “I have no intention of relocating City Hall from beyond the campus where we stand today.”<br /> She also said the council hopes to complete a comprehensive waterfront plan this year.<br /> In the meantime, she is eagerly waiting for the Hyatt Place hotel to open in a few months at Federal Highway and Palmetto Park Road, giving downtown its first hotel in years. Haynie recalled when the only hotel downtown was the since-closed Howard Johnson’s. <br /> “It’ll be nice to have more of a business-type hotel in our downtown,” she said. “That is something we have wanted for a long time.”</p></div>Delray Beach: Two city ballot questions passhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-two-city-ballot-questions-pass2016-03-30T15:34:14.000Z2016-03-30T15:34:14.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p> Delray Beach voters overwhelmingly approved changing the city charter to give the City Commission authority to appoint an internal auditor. The vote was 9,318 to 3,144.<br /> The vote on a second referendum question, on allowing the City Commission to change its civil service code by local ordinance instead of by holding a referendum and submitting a local bill to the Florida Legislature, received a closer approval, at 6,402 to 5,569.<br /><em>— Jane Smith</em></p></div>Delray Beach: City agrees with neighbors of Caring Kitchen: Time to movehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-agrees-with-neighbors-of-caring-kitchen-time-to2015-04-29T18:38:04.000Z2015-04-29T18:38:04.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Tim Pallesen</strong><br /><br />It began with a request to give homeless people a shower — and ended with city commissioners saying the Caring Kitchen must move.<br />Christians Reaching Out to Society, known as CROS Ministries, serves nearly 100,000 hot meals to poor people each year in a city-owned building at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northwest Eighth Avenue. <br />“It’s a critical need and nobody wants it in their backyard,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said.<br />Neighborhood opposition wasn’t evident until a March 31 City Commission meeting where the Caring Kitchen sought city approval to build a 165-square-foot addition to its 3,061-square-foot building, in order to accommodate showers and a washer and dryer.<br />“We’re talking about dignity and self-esteem by giving the homeless clean clothes and a shower,” architect Gary Eliopoulous said in presenting the request.<br />But neighbors seized the opportunity to ask that the Caring Kitchen be moved someplace else because of the vagrants it attracts to their residential neighborhood.<br />“The food pantry has been tolerated since it opened in 1997,” Reginald Cox said. “To add to it would add insult to injury.”<br />Neighbors said homeless people leave trash in their yards. Deborah Wright, who lives across the street, said she can no longer invite her grandchildren to her home after she saw a couple having sex in the Caring Kitchen parking<br />lot.<br />“I’d hate to see someone injured, murdered or raped,” Wright said. “We’re not asking for you to eradicate the Caring Kitchen. Just look for a better location.”<br />At the April 21 meeting — where city commissioners unanimously agreed with City Manager Don Cooper’s recommendation that the Caring Kitchen be moved — the Caring Kitchen withdrew its request to provide showers.<br />“We will work together to work this out,” Glickstein assured Caring Kitchen administrators. <br />Cooper estimated that the search for an appropriate new location could take two years. Wright asked for two months.</p></div>Boynton Beach: New archivist has passion for preservationhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boynton-beach-new-archivist-has-passion-for-preservation2013-02-27T19:00:00.000Z2013-02-27T19:00:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p><span><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960433856,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960433856,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="334" class="align-center" alt="7960433856?profile=original" /></a></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Susan Swiatosz is the new keeper of the Boynton Beach City Library’s archives. <b>Rich Pollack/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
<p><span><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span><b>By Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>For most people, the box sitting on the table upstairs in the Boynton Beach City Library could easily be nothing more than a collection of old papers tucked inside file folders. </p>
<p>But to Susan Swiatosz, that carton could very well be a treasure chest packed with jewels of local history. Then again, it could be as much a historical void as Al Capone’s vault. </p>
<p>“You never know what you’re going to find when you open a box,” says Swiatosz, who took over last month as keeper of the Boynton Beach City Library’s historical archives. “It could be a bunch of dead bugs or it could be the most important piece of paper ever.” </p>
<p>A modern-day history detective of sorts who spent the last 5½ years as the archivist at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Swiatosz is now focusing her efforts on continuing to build the collection of papers, photographs and files that fill the shelves of the Boynton Beach City Library archives. </p>
<p>“I like puzzles,” she says. “In an archive you’re dealing with unique papers and materials and there’s the puzzle of figuring out how to organize what you have and how you’re going to make it accessible.”</p>
<p>Another of her challenges is making sure the community knows about the nuggets of historical gold that can be mined.</p>
<p>One way Swiatosz hopes to get the word out is by continuing the tradition of hosting exhibits like those started by her predecessor, Janet DeVries, who left in November to become an archivist at Palm Beach State College’s Harold C. Manor library.</p>
<p>A possible exhibit, she says, could be based on the 17 boxes of files and folders donated to the archives by the Boynton Beach Woman’s Club, which includes everything from financial records to names of those who won the club’s fashion shows over the decades. </p>
<p>Open to the public by appointment, the archives are often thought of as the domain of writers and researchers working on scholarly tomes. But these collections are also available to students in need of historical facts as well as residents trying to learn more about a long-lost relative. </p>
<p>Helping every visitor find the information they’re looking for is what’s Swiatosz’s job is all about and the first order of business is making sure she knows where everything is on those rows of shelves. It’s a task that meshes perfectly with her organizational skills. </p>
<p>“I love organizing things,” she said. “It’s just my thing.”</p>
<p>Armed with a passion for preservation, and a master’s degree in it from Colombia University, Swiatosz spent two decades helping restore old buildings in New York City before deciding to shift gears and start a second career as a librarian. </p>
<p>The turning point, she says, was Sept. 11. </p>
<p>“It made me think about how short life can be,” she said. “I put my apartment up for sale and said, ‘if it sells, I’m going to library science school.’ ” And she did. Graduating from the School of Information and Library Science at the Pratt Institute in New York before taking the position at the Flagler Museum.</p>
<p>For Swiatosz, her training in libraries and preservation blends perfectly with her new job. </p>
<p>“If I could have hand-picked someone to succeed me as Boynton Beach City Library archivist, it would have been Susan Swiatosz,” DeVries said. “Like me, Susan has a love of history and a tenacity for finding the answers to obscure questions.” </p></div>Boca Raton: Lake Wyman future cloudy after city withdraws supporthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-lake-wyman-future-cloudy-after-city-withdraws-support2012-07-04T16:52:08.000Z2012-07-04T16:52:08.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> The Lake Wyman restoration project, dropped with a 4-1 vote by the Boca Raton City Council, could still be brought back to life.<br /> “It’s never actually dead,” said Daniel Bates, the county’s deputy director of Environmental Resources Management. “If the city changes its position then we’ll do whatever we can to build it as quickly as we can.”<br /> The council’s action, reversing an earlier decision and coming the same night the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District agreed to pay half the capital costs, surprised County Commissioner Steven Abrams. Abrams led the county entourage that first presented the Lake Wyman proposal last July.<br /> “It’s disappointing,” Abrams said, noting that no one from the city told him the funding would be reconsidered. “This was a perfect opportunity for Boca Raton to get back its tax dollars from the county and the state.”<br /> Dave Roach, executive director of the Florida Inland Navigation District, which approved $2.1 million in grants for the work, had looked forward to restoring the canoe trail in Rutherford Park and building a six-slip boat dock.<br /> “Unfortunately it doesn’t appear any of these public improvements are going to happen,” he said.<br /> The council agreed May 8 to partner with FIND and the county if the Beach and Park District matched the city’s costs. The Beach and Park District received its staff evaluation June 18 and approved a $225,000 grant to Boca Raton on June 26.<br /> But the city was simultaneously withdrawing its support.<br /> “What’s been good about the project all along is that there’s free money,” Mayor Susan Whelchel said. “What has troubled me about the project all along is that it really has not been in our control.”<br /> The restoration would scoop out a spoil island FIND owns just east of Lake Wyman Park and create a 3.3-acre basin for seagrass to offset possible seagrass damage when the Intracoastal is dredged. Reopening Rutherford Park’s silted-in canoe trail would increase mangrove flushing and make the trail passable at low tide. <br /> Eleven acres of Australian pines and Brazilian pepper would be removed from the spoil island and two smaller islands FIND owns. <br />A boardwalk would be lengthened and picnic and beach areas added along with an observation platform. <br /> “Rutherford Park was a treasure when it was built, and it’s been allowed to fall apart,” resident Arlene Owens said before the council vote. “I’m highly in support of it for my kids, my grandkids and everybody else’s kids.”<br /> Steve Reiss, who lives across the 14th Street canal from the park, said trucks hauling fill would at some points be only 15 feet from the water.<br /> “There’s real liability if those truck drivers take a wrong turn because they’re going to be right on the edge,” Reiss said.<br /> Bates said the county will continue to pursue a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which will be valid for five years. <br />Roach said that would enable FIND to construct the seagrass basin by itself, though the agency has no immediate plans to do so.<br /> “When we need to build it, we will build it,” he said, adding that his agency will need seagrass mitigation credits in the next five years to dredge the Intracoastal in northern Delray Beach.<br /> Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said the navigation district benefits the most from the restoration plan but would not cooperate with city requests to move an access road, dredge the 14th Street canal and pay for an independent study of tidal flushing.<br /> “I’m hopeful that FIND will understand that the conditions that we asked for were not egregious,” she said.<br /> Roach said the current grant can be extended to September 2014, but Bates said the extra year was included in the county’s self-imposed June 30 deadline. <br /> While that date has passed, Bates said his department could look for other grants and even reapply to FIND in the next grant cycle if the city decides it wants the restoration.<br /> “We’d certainly like to do the project,” he said.<br /> Abrams recalled paddling in Rutherford Park in 1990 and said there was not much demand for the canoe trail at first. Since then, he said, city-owned shuffleboard courts have given way to skateboard areas as Boca Raton became more family-oriented. <br /> “There’d be a lot of use for it now,” Abrams said. </p></div>Boca Raton: Ornament a tribute to Pearl Cityhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-ornament-a-tribute-to-pearl-city2011-11-30T17:30:00.000Z2011-11-30T17:30:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960358897,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960358897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" class="align-center" alt="7960358897?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span>The new Boca Raton Garden Club ornament highlights the </span></p>
<div style="text-align:center;"><span><br /></span></div>
<p> </p>
<p>The Boca Raton Garden Club released its 18th annual holiday ornament, a commemoration of the Pearl City section of the city.</p>
<p>The Garden Club’s 24-karat-gold-plated 2011 ornament depicts the Tree of Knowledge, a huge banyan on Northeast 12th Street that was a gathering place in the black community started in 1915.</p>
<p>The Boca Raton subdivision, designated a historic district in 2002, is along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks north of downtown.</p>
<p>The ornament, which sells for $16, was presented to City Council Nov. 22 and sales started at the tree-lighting ceremony Nov. 25. </p>
<p>See <a href="http://www.bocaratongardenclub.org">www.bocaratongardenclub.org</a> for more information.</p>
<p><i>— Margie Plunkett</i></p>
<div><i><br /></i></div>
<p> </p></div>