Town-Crier Newspaper April 27, 2012

Page 1

SNOWBALL, PARKS FILE FOR LGWCD SEAT SEE STORY, PAGE 3

WELLINGTON CELEBRATES EARTH DAY SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 13

THE

TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE Volume 33, Number 17 April 27 - May 3, 2012

Your Community Newspaper

INSIDE

ZACARA WINS POLO’S U.S. OPEN

Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference

The 2012 Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference/Expo is rapidly approaching. The event is slated for May 16-17 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Page 3

Wellington Council Rejects Home On Equestrian Club Land

Citing concerns about encroachment on green space in the Wellington Equestrian Preserve, members of the Wellington Village Council voted 3-1 on Tuesday to reject a proposal that would have allowed a home on a field attached to the Equestrian Club community off Lake Worth Road. Page 7

Sunday, April 22 was the closing day of the 2012 high-goal polo season at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, and it proved to be thrilling as Zacara defeated Lechuza Caracas 10-8 in the Nespresso 108th U.S. Open Polo Championship Finals on Piaget Field. Shown above, Zacara team members hold the cup to celebrate their victory. SEE STORY & MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY ALAN FABRICANT/ALFABPHOTO

Oasis Agency Dream Makeover Luncheon

The Oasis Compassion Agency held its seventh annual Dream Makeover luncheon Saturday, April 21 at Breakers West Country Club. Page 9

Earth Day On The Farm

The Good Earth Farm in Loxahatchee Groves held an Earth Day celebration Sunday, April 22. Families participated in hayrides, pony rides, animal viewing, and enjoyed food and drinks during an afternoon on the farm. Page 13

OPINION Proposed RPB Skate Park A Worthy Cause

Local skateboarders and inline skaters scored a victory earlier this month when the Royal Palm Beach Village Council agreed to include construction of a skate park in the village’s capital plan. Despite concerns that it could end up abandoned like the skate park built a decade ago at the recreation center, the latest proposal is off to a promising start. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 3 - 13 OPINION .................................4 CRIME NEWS .........................6 NEWS BRIEFS........................ 8 SCHOOLS .....................14 - 15 PEOPLE ............................... 16 COLUMNS .................... 23 - 24 BUSINESS .................... 25 - 27 CAMPS .........................28 - 30 DINING OUT ........................ 32 SPORTS ........................ 37 - 40 CALENDAR ...................42 - 43 CLASSIFIEDS ................ 44 - 50 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

Lease Issues Delay New RPB Charter School At Least A Year By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Lease complications have postponed the conversion of the shuttered Royal Palm Beach Albertsons grocery store site into a planned charter school. Charter Schools USA, parent company of the Renaissance Charter School at Palms West, informed interested parents last week that the school would not open as planned in August. According to school officials, the project was thrown off schedule due to difficulties associated with the sale and lease of the building. The delays made an August opening impossible. The situation came to a head at a meeting April 17 with various parties associated with the project. The letter to parents went out April 18. “We really were not expecting it to play out this way, certainly not that the transactions on the facility side were going to be held up,” Charter Schools USA Vice President of Development Richard Page told the Town-Crier on Wednes-

day. “Unfortunately they were, and the result of that was our contractors could no longer guarantee that the facility would be open in time for school opening in August. Therefore we made the decision — and it really was the best decision — to just announce now that it’s not going to happen.” Page said the project was already operating on a tight deadline. “The charter process is always a tight deadline,” he said. “You don’t get approval until late in the fall, and you work with very tight constraints.” The Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved the school’s application for a special exception for the site in March. The school was to have 1,145 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, with about six classes per grade. Page said the school was working on a long-term lease with an option to purchase in the future, but there were multiple parties involved, including outparcel tenants who also were involved with an agreement.

“You had Albertsons, which doesn’t own the property; you have an individual person who owns the property; and then they have a mortgage, so there’s a bank involved,” he said. “You have multiple organizations with easement rights to the property, the vendors around, so there were many parties that were involved, and at the end of the day, certain signatures and signoffs did not get processed fast enough to close the deal.” Page said plans to open a charter school in the area remain in the works, but have been delayed for a year. “Our objective is to open in 2013,” he said. “Whether or not it is at this particular facility still remains to be seen. We are still engaged in dialogue with these folks. However, given the fact that we are definitely delayed for a year, we will consider other alternatives that are out there to ensure that we can be successful with the facility this time.” Page said he did not have any See CHARTER, page 7

Survey Methods Annoy Speakers At Equestrian Master Plan Forum By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington hosted two meetings this month to gather public input on its proposed Equestrian Master Plan, and the hot-button topic at the meeting Monday, April 23 was the methodology being used to carry out the process. Though Wellington was hoping to get residents’ opinions on the equestrian community, several residents expressed concern with the survey used to gather opinions from the community, as well as the involvement of Florida Atlantic University. “Unless you can prove to me that your methodology was accurate, I won’t believe your results,” said Marcia Radosevich, a member of the Wellington Equestrian Preserve Committee.

In an effort to update its master plan, Wellington has been seeking input from the community — both equestrian and non-equestrian — to help map out the future of the Wellington Equestrian Preserve. Already, Wellington has surveyed about 400 people at local equestrian venues and on the bridle trails, said Michael O’Dell, who is overseeing the project. “The people we surveyed were across the board,” he said. “They were riders, both professional and amateur. They were spectators. They were residents. They were people who were just in town for one or two days.” O’Dell noted that Wellington has been meeting with people throughout the community but wanted to give an additional op-

portunity for residents to give their opinions. “We want to see what you think about what we’ve been doing here,” he said. Several residents expressed concerns about the surveys, wondering who had written them. Wellington asked FAU’s Urban & Regional Planning program to help create and administer surveys about Wellington’s equestrian community, FAU Professor Dr. Jaap Vos explained. “The only thing we’re interested in is getting as many people’s opinion as we possibly can,” he said. “We are trying to do that as best as we possibly can. I have no bias. I have no agenda, except trying to get the best information.” The survey was created by FAU See SURVEY, page 18

Serving Palms West Since 1980

RPB Leaders Clash Over Appointments To Zoning Panel By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A discussion over the makeup of Royal Palm Beach’s Planning & Zoning Commission last week led to tense disagreements among members of the Royal Palm Beach Village Council. After nearly an hour of discussion, the council decided April 19 to reject Councilwoman Martha Webster’s proposal to appoint two new commissioners, in favor of a compromise that kept one sitting commissioner seeking reappointment on the board and adding a new commissioner supported by Webster. Webster, recently appointed as council liaison to the commission, said that there have been issues with zoning commissioners who did not work well with staff, as well as people going through the review process. She asserted that an effort should be made to make the board more professional and business friendly. “Planning and zoning is the first

interaction that our businesses or our applicants have with our municipality, so the face of that board is very important,” she said. “The professionalism of that board is very important. The role of that board is to apply the codes and rules, and attempt to stay away from opinions. They’re there to be problem-solvers, to help them through the process and to put on a good face.” The three-year terms of longtime Commissioner Jackie Larson and Commission Alternate Janet Ellis expired in March, while former Commissioner Genevieve Lambiase had resigned. Larson had asked to be reappointed, while both Ellis and fellow Commission Alternate Richard Becher wanted appointments to regular seats. However, Webster asked the council to appoint new applicants — technical writer June Perrin and architect Ana Martinez — to the two commission seats, while addSee APPOINTMENTS, page 18

MBSK FUNDRAISER

My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper Charitable Trust presented its Irish Fest on Sunday, April 22 in the original Wellington mall. Beer and wine was paired with a delicious four-course dinner prepared by the Gypsy’s Horse Irish Pub & Restaurant. The Palm Beach Central High School jazz band performed, and there was a live auction. Shown here are (seated) Mary and Copeland Davis with Al and Lenyce Boyd; (standing) Randy and Leslie Pfeiffer, Helene McLean and Pat Curry. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 12 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

B&G Club Funding Concerns Margolis By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Despite concerns about financing, the Wellington Village Council unanimously approved a measure to extend the construction deadline for the new Wellington Boys & Girls Club. The Boys & Girls Club is slated to move from its location on South Shore Blvd. to a site near Wellington’s water treatment facility on Wellington Trace. In the original agreement between Wellington, Palm Beach County and the Boys & Girls Club, construction was to begin at the end of this month and be finished by Oct. 20. The facility must now be built by Oct. 20, 2013, with construction expected to begin in October of this year. Though he voted to approve the change, Mayor Bob Margolis lambasted the former council’s decision to spend public money on a private entity. “I don’t believe that the village’s

money should be spent on a private facility,” he said. “I can’t argue with the location change, but I can argue with the funding mechanism.” Earlier this year, council members voted to cover the $1.3 million gap in financing, to be paid back over 10 years. The money was in addition to the $700,000 Wellington already promised, as well as $600,000 from Palm Beach County and approximately $1 million in private donations. “I know the residents of Palm Beach County voted to float that bond,” he said. “But the residents of the Village of Wellington never voted to fund the $700,000 or the additional funds.” Mary O’Connor, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, said that other communities have provided similar loans. “We are in a building in West Palm Beach that the City of West Palm Beach built for us,” she said. See B&G CLUB, page 18

Unpermitted Dump Site Has Acreage Officials Worried

Officials are concerned about the fill being dumped illegally on this Acreage property.

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report South Florida Water Management District enforcers are moving to get a 40-acre site in The Acreage, owned by Vila Nursery, cleaned up and permitted after they cited the owner for improperly dumping fill on the site. Indian Trail Improvement District Engineer Lisa Tropepe alerted ITID President Michelle Damone last month in a letter, citing mulch and garbage piles on the site, located on 87th Court North, not far from Pierce Hammock Elementary School. “I am concerned about both the quality and quantity of material that is being spread,” Tropepe

wrote in a letter dated March 9. “The material appears to be mulched organic material with significant amounts of garbage. Plastic bags, whole tires, foam cushions and aluminum cans were observed throughout the site.” The material appeared to be several feet high across several acres, Tropepe reported. She added that it was difficult to determine if adverse amounts of organic material are part of the fill material, but because of the vast area and depth of the piles, sampling would need to be conducted in many areas and at different depths. The ITID engineer cited among her concerns the “adverse impact on the ground/surface water and

its proximity to residential drinking water wells in the area. Second is the closeness of the material to the adjacent swales along Hamlin and Grapeview boulevards. Last is the impact on historic wetlands and whether this filling operation is properly permitted and wetlands properly mitigated.” Although Indian Trail has no jurisdiction over zoning issues, Tropepe wrote that she thought it was in the district’s best interest to reach out to agencies with proper jurisdiction. Damone, who said she had met with Tropepe on Tuesday about the site, praised the SFWMD for taking action. “The South Florida See DUMPING, page 18


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