lantana police department - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T05:35:19Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/lantana+police+departmentLantana: News briefshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/lantana-news-briefs-32024-02-28T15:57:51.000Z2024-02-28T15:57:51.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>Top cop —</strong> Sgt. Tom Dipolito was recognized as the Lantana Police Department’s Employee of the Year for 2023 during the Town Council’s Feb. 12 meeting.</p>
<p>“In addition to his detective bureau case assignments, Sgt. Dipolito has been instrumental in researching, gathering data and implementing several large-scale projects for the Police Department,” Police Chief Sean Scheller said to Dipolito, who was promoted to sergeant last year.</p>
<p>Support for the Fishing Derby — In a nod to the Lantana Chamber of Commerce, the Town Council agreed to waive rental fees for the recreation center and for the permit to install a tent for the Fishing Derby. The derby, an annual event sponsored by the chamber, takes place May 4, with activities spanning the entire week. The charge to rent the center is typically $25 on weekdays and $75 an hour on weekends and holidays. </p>
<p><strong>Two new trucks —</strong> The Town Council authorized the purchase of two new vehicles for the Public Services Department— a 2024 Petersen TL-3 grapple truck for grounds maintenance and the parks and recreation divisions, and a 2024 Altec AT238P bucket truck for putting up banners, building maintenance, maintaining decorative lighting, holiday decorations and trimming trees.<br />Cost of the grapple truck is $216,405; the bucket truck is $156,812. The funds will come from the American Rescue Plan Act.</p>
<p><strong>Shropshire promoted on Planning Commission —</strong> Former Town Council member Ed Shropshire has been appointed to a voting seat on the town’s Planning Commission, moving up from his alternate position. The council chose him to replace Veronica Cobb, who was appointed to the commission in September and resigned less than two months later.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;"><em>— Mary Thurwachter</em></p></div>Lantana: Town makes plans for new police stationhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/lantana-town-makes-plans-for-new-police-station2016-11-30T17:54:58.000Z2016-11-30T17:54:58.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Willie Howard</strong><br /><br /> Lantana’s Town Council recently hired consulting engineers to oversee the renovation of a water-damaged building on North Eighth Street to create a new headquarters for the Lantana Police Department.<br /> The council unanimously approved an $83,450 contract with Mathews Consulting Inc. at its Nov. 28 meeting for the design, permitting, bidding and construction administration needed to transform the vacant, uninhabitable building into fresh offices for the town’s police officers and administrative staff.<br /> Design work should be completed in time to put the project out for bid in January, Lantana Police Cmdr. Robert Hagerty said. If the project moves forward on schedule, construction will begin in March and will be completed by mid-July.<br /> The town’s 42 police officers and administrative employees currently work from two small buildings near Town Hall, which is on Greynolds Circle south of Lantana Road.<br /> The 10,000-square-foot building that will be renovated is about three times the size of the existing police building.<br /> The Nov. 28 vote to proceed was made with no discussion from the council.<br /> The town plans to use a $500,000 state grant to pay for the renovation work, along with some town funds if needed. The town’s lease on the building extends through 2048.<br /> The new location will allow police to keep a close eye on the town’s new sports fields and will be close to the Water Tower Commons, the retail and residential complex being developed at the former A.G. Holley hospital site on the north side of Lantana Road east of Interstate 95.<br /> In other business at its Nov. 28 meeting, the Town Council approved a $59,565 contract with Mathews Consulting to oversee the design and construction of an 8-foot-wide path along North Eighth Street, extending from Lantana Road north to the sports complex. The North Broadway neighborhood project includes two basketball courts and traffic-calming work on North Eighth Street.<br /> The town is scheduled to receive $362,000 from Palm Beach County for the improvements, including $46,700 in Community Development Block Grant money. <br /> The town will contribute $26,000 to match the block grant. Lantana Development LLC, the developer of Water Tower Commons, will chip in another $33,000 in exchange for having the walking path extended along its property.</p></div>Lantana: Officer honored for work on Hypoluxo Island theft casehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/lantana-officer-honored-for-work-on-hypoluxo-island-theft-case2016-11-02T17:30:00.000Z2016-11-02T17:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Thurwachter</strong><br /> <br /> No stranger to “employee of the quarter” awards from the Lantana Police Department, Officer Edward Tavcar made another appearance at the Town Council’s Oct. 24 meeting. This time, he was recognized for his diligence in investigating a theft incident that resulted in the recovery of about $15 million in paintings, statues and relics.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960686873,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960686873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="96" alt="7960686873?profile=original" /></a> “I appreciate all of them (awards), but this one is kind of special,” Tavcar said after Chief Sean Scheller recognized him. “This wasn’t a one-man show. There were a lot of moving parts and there was a lot of cooperation. It was really a team effort between 20 or more law enforcement officers from Lantana and PBSO.”<br /> “The case,” Tavcar said later, “was like a movie. How did little Lantana ever get involved in something like this?”<br /> The case involved millions of dollars of artwork, a scorned lover, days of surveillance, lots of police and a couple of New York lawyers.<br /> At the end of October the victim’s lawyers were still in the process of identifying the stolen artwork, 99 percent of which had been recovered, Tavcar said.<br /> According to Tavcar, on Sept. 20, Hypoluxo Island homeowner Nicholas Zoullas told police his ex-girlfriend, Stacy Cliett, 43, had stolen “millions in artwork, relics and statues” from his home.<br /> Two days later, Zoullas’ lawyers met with Cliett and her friend Todd Stephens, 52. The two told police they had to take the art away from Zoullas’ home (where Cliett still resided) because of a mold problem in the house. But they refused to reveal where the artwork had been taken.<br /> “We found out the mold had already been mitigated during the summer,” Tavcar said.<br /> A private investigator contacted police a few days later to tell them the couple used a Lake Worth warehouse to store the artwork. Police said surveillance observed Cliett and Stephens loading artwork into a Lexus. When confronted by police at a gas station later, Stephens told police he was just helping Cliett move the artwork.<br /> After securing a search warrant for the warehouse, police found much of the missing artwork and crates bearing shipping labels with Zoullas’ name on them.<br /> Cliett and Stephens were arrested and face grand theft charges. Both bonded out of jail. Stephens, police records show, was out on bond for a separate money laundering case.<br /> In other Lantana news last month, the Town Council approved a Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grant application to the state for construction of a recreation center picnic pavilion. <br /> The project would include a roof, flooring, picnic tables and lights at a cost of $148,000. Lantana would need to provide a 25 percent match of $37,000. <br /> The pavilion would replace the old shuffleboard courts at the Recreation Center. If the state awards the grant, construction would take place next year.</p></div>