News

By Mary Thurwachter

    The Lantana Town Council turned down Chamber of Commerce President Dave Arm’s request to split the cost of a new awning for the Chamber’s home, a town-owned building at 212 Iris Ave.
    Council members, at the Aug. 28 meeting, said the town should not pay anything for the awning, a $1,500 project, since maintenance of the building, according to the 2013 contract, is the responsibility of the Chamber of Commerce.
    The Chamber leases the building for $1 a year. It’s a good deal, everyone agrees, but when it comes time for sprucing up, the Chamber has looked to the town for financial support in the recent past. When the building needed to be restuccoed and painted, a $10,000 project, the town agreed to pay half.
    That was different, Mayor Dave Stewart said, because the building was deteriorating and the town was helping to preserve one of its assets. “I don’t know what the public purpose of buying an awning would be,” he said.
    Arm argued that the expense of the awning should be shared by the town.
    “This is a signature building owned by the town and an obvious landmark,” Arm said.
    Council member Phil Aridas said he didn’t think the town should bear any responsibility for purchasing the striped awning.
    “We give it [the building] to you for a dollar a year,” Aridas said. “You should get what you want and pay for it.”
    Stewart said he had talked to the Wellington mayor about ethics complaints she faced, which included expenses such as paying a tip of 18-20 percent instead of 15 percent, and purchasing a dessert for more than $5.
    “The inspector general is very concerned about spending money that is inappropriate, and I don’t want to be sitting before an ethics commission for spending $750 for an awning,”  he said.