News

By Dan Moffett

    Manalapan town commissioners will be watching election results in Hypoluxo on March 14 with unusual interest — and unusual impatience.
    The resolution of the Hypoluxo mayor’s race will enable the towns to resume talks over a new water contract. Manalapan is hoping to lock its neighbor into a renegotiated long-term deal for services that will solidify the future of the town’s utility system.
    Negotiations came to a standstill in November when long-term Hypoluxo Mayor Ken Schultz died. Manalapan commissioners hope to jump-start talks with Schultz’s successor, either interim incumbent Mike Brown or challenger David Karpinia.
    Manalapan Vice Mayor Peter Isaac says the delays are costing Hypoluxo’s 550 customers.
    “I mean, it’s ridiculous that government stops when there’s an election,” Isaac said during the Feb. 28 town meeting. “They’re losing $1,000 a day.”
    A Manalapan consultant’s report estimated that a revised deal with lower rates on the table since last fall could save Hypoluxo residents roughly $30,000 a month.
    Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf said as soon as the new mayor is seated, she will try to elicit a response to the proposal.
    In other business:
    • Commissioners unanimously approved a landscaping contract for $46,900 with Chris Wayne and Associates of Jupiter to finish the Audubon Causeway bridge project. Wayne was the only bidder, and commissioners are wondering why the town has had problems attracting bids.
    Stumpf said she invited 30 landscaping companies to submit bids, but only eight did. Outgoing Mayor David Cheifetz wondered if the applications are too complicated.
    Town Clerk Lisa Petersen said she would contact the seven companies that didn’t return applications and ask why.
    • Incoming Mayor Keith Waters said he would look into complaints about management of the La Coquille Club and its relationship with the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. Waters said he hoped to have a report ready by the March 28 town meeting.
    • Waters commended Cheifetz, who decided not to run for a third term, for his service, citing his success in guiding Manalapan through some contentious issues.
    “You were able to bring calm, elegance and a certain sense of order to this town,” he told Cheifetz.