PBC LEARNING FROM IRMA & MATTHEW SEE STORY, PAGE 3
SEAFOOD FESTIVAL MOVING TO RPB SEE STORY, PAGE 4
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Crime Down In RPB, But Car Burglaries Remain An Issue
Volume 39, Number 17 April 27 - May 3, 2018
Serving Palms West Since 1980
JAZZ BANDS AT AMPHITHEATER
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Ulrich “Rick” Naujoks, commander of the PBSO’s District 9 substation in Royal Palm Beach, gave his annual report to the Royal Palm Beach Village Council on Thursday, April 19. Page 3
PWH Celebrates NICU’s Anniversary With A Reunion
Palms West Hospital hosted an anniversary party for the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Saturday, April 21. The event was a reunion opportunity for the babies who were born into the hospital’s NICU, their families and the NICU staff. Along with catching up with one another, everyone enjoyed lunch, dessert and balloon art. Page 5
Farmer’s Daughter Owner To Focus On Landscaping
The Farmer’s Daughter Produce Market & Garden Center, located on Southern Blvd. in Loxahatchee Groves, is closing its doors on April 30. For nearly 26 years, owner Julia Campbell has provided thousands of residents in the western communities with fresh produce, locally made and distributed foods, and beautiful plants and flowers. Page 7
Wellington Holds Earth Day And Arbor Day Celebration
The Wellington Amphitheater played host to environmental education and entertainment on Saturday, April 21 to celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day. Attendees watched demonstrations such as tree pruning and met members of the Wellington Tree Board, the Wellington Garden Club and the Florida Forestry Service. Kids got their faces painted, worked on a mural and met Smokey Bear. Page 9 2018
GUIDE
DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 11 LETTERS.................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 6 PEOPLE................................. 12 SCHOOLS.............................. 13 COLUMNS............................. 14 BUSINESS..................... 22 - 23 SPORTS..........................27 - 29 CALENDAR............................ 30 CLASSIFIEDS.................31 - 33 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The Wellington High School Jazz Band under the direction of Mary Oser and the Wellington Landings Middle School Jazz Band under the direction of Christina Johnson performed on Thursday, April 19 at the Wellington Amphitheater. A sizable crowd gathered to enjoy the smooth sounds. Shown above are Wellington High School Jazz Band members on stage. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 7 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Indian Trail Board Hears About Available Grants For Projects
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors heard a presentation Wednesday by consultant Ryan Ruskay on how to obtain grants and funding to augment money available for capital improvement projects. ITID has several projects in the planning stages that may qualify for funds, including drainage, hazard and park improvements. Ruskay’s firm specializes in finding additional capital improvement money for Florida municipalities. “We represent about 28 cities, counties and special districts across the State of Florida focusing on getting money for capital improvements such as infrastructure,” he said. “First and foremost, it’s addressing what is in your [Capital Improvements Plan].
Obviously, that’s of interest this time of year when you’re looking at budgets. It could be a nice way to bridge that gap to complete projects.” Ruskay recommending looking for available grant money even for projects that can be completed with cash on hand. “Fully funded projects can be looked at more closely to see if they qualify for grants, thereby saving money for other projects,” Ruskay said. “It’s a great benefit to your residents. It produces more projects and allows you to use more of your money toward different projects and increase the quality of different projects that you’re going after.” Ruskay explained that he could work with ITID on general or specific projects that might qualify for grant funding.
“Matching funds, obviously, is an important thing, and it’s often an obstacle when going after grants,” he said. The ITID board initiated its budget discussions for fiscal year 2018-19 in a workshop earlier that evening. “If you’re looking long term, [then] including the projects that are priorities in those documents ahead of time will allow us to go after those grants,” Ruskay said, adding that community support is important in gaining financial support. Ruskay’s firm is also experienced at “stacking” grants on one large project. “That’s using multiple grants on one project… to maximize the results of that final project,” he said. “You can have a recreation See ITID, page 4
CarMax Facility Wins Approval From Royal Palm Beach Zoners
By M. Dennis Taylor Town Crier Staff Report CarMax received approval for two waivers, an exemption and an amendment at the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday. A car wash and a senior housing facility also received approval. Staff recommended approval of the measures, determining that the applications meet the village’s standards. All passed unanimously and will next go before the Royal Palm Beach Village Council. Kimley-Horn & Associates filed the original application in December, on behalf of CenterPoint Integrated Solutions, which builds CarMax facilities. The parcel is located along Southern Blvd. between Al Packer Ford West and the Village Shoppes plaza, at the corner of Southern Blvd. and 105th Avenue North. Sitting as the Local Planning Agency, the board approved a text amendment providing a new definition of vehicle auction sales, adding new regulations allowing CarMax to hold limited auctions of vehicles on their property.
Attorney Christina Bilenki presented the application saying that when a trade-in doesn’t meet the quality standards, match the clientele or has been on the CarMax lot for a long time, it is standard practice to sell the vehicle in an auction. Development Review Coordinator Kevin Erwin said that auctions are popular and can create traffic disruptions, so the definition permitting only sales of vehicles was necessary. Sitting as the Planning & Zoning Commission, the board approved a landscape waiver that eliminated a mandated berm. This will allow passersby to more readily see the cars on the lot. The board also approved accepting tall royal palm trees as shade trees on a one-to-one ratio, so the property will have a similar look to its neighbor, Al Packer Ford West. “Without the waiver, the requirements would virtually obstruct view of the inventory,” Bilenki said. She said that the auto retailer is projecting that it will invest $13 million into the project on land that
has been vacant for more than 30 years, since the village annexed it. CarMax is not developing the entire site at this time. The plans also include construction of a future cross-access connection to the Village Shoppes. The facility, which will retail used autos and do some maintenance, will employ 35 full-time and part-time employees. “CarMax is the nation’s largest retailer of pre-owned vehicles,” Bilenki explained, adding that it is on Forbes’ list of the top 100 businesses. The firm’s business model is to offer transparent prices posted on the vehicle and a five-day money back guarantee. Last year, the company sold 721,000 used cars and donated more than $40 million to charity nationwide. “I’m excited about you being national and coming in and taking the space,” Commissioner Ray Nazareth said. He asked about how the community would be affected. J.M. Dixon of CarMax’s real estate team said that due to the See CARMAX, page 15
Wellington Council Reviews Plans For Utility Funding
By Dani Salgueiro Town Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council gathered with village staff members for a two-hour directions workshop to discuss utility improvement and rate plans on Monday, April 23. The workshop included a discussion about the results of a utility rate study in the village and suggested utility funding plans. The rate study was designed to show the demand and revenue of Wellington’s potable water and wastewater utility services, in order to measure the appropriate funding necessary to not only continue providing these services, but to also be able to plan for necessary maintenance and gradual capital improvement projects for utility systems. The last utility rate study conducted in Wellington was in 2009, when the village ended up with a
breakdown of utility usage and revenue similar to this year’s study. The 2009 study allowed the village to adapt an annual index on utility rates. “In the 2009 rate study, we had adapted an annual indexing of 2.5 percent, and we had borrowing planned in it for the year 2020 or 2021 of about $16 million,” Village Manager Paul Schofield said, referring to plans to gradually increase utility fees based on inflation. “Previous councils elected, for several years, not to do the indexing. So, as a result, our utility rates are $2.4 million dollars less every year than what they would be if we had done the indexing.” The reason that the council put a hold on the 2.5 percent utility index was because of the recent recession’s impact on homeowners. “I think it was the right decision at the time; it hasn’t tremendously See UTILITY, page 15
POLO SEASON FINALE
The final match of the U.S. Open Polo Championships, culminating the winter high-goal polo season, took place Sunday, April 22 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington. While Valiente was favored to win, Daily Racing Form narrowly won the coveted title 10-9. Shown above are Maria Lizcano, Maria Fuenmayor and Martha Guray. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 17 GAME RECAP, PAGE 21 PHOTO BY BETSY LABELLE/TOWN-CRIER
PBSO: Lock Your Doors To Prevent Auto Burglaries
By Dani Salgueiro Town Crier Staff Report Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office District 8 Capt. Rolando Silva presented his annual report to the Wellington Village Council on Tuesday, April 24. The report detailed all emergencies that kept PBSO officers busy from Jan. 1 until Dec. 31, 2017. Silva provided statistical information on the types of arrests, crimes and citations taking place in Wellington throughout the year. Most importantly, he stressed Wellington’s standing as a safe and low-crime community. Although Silva had many good things to say about Wellington’s all-around safety, he had one simple piece of advice that could largely reduce the rate of vehicle burglaries in the community: keep car doors locked. “We’re making it way too easy,” Silva said. “We’re making Wellington an appealing place for people to come from different areas in or out of the county to
come here for one reason — they know that people are leaving their doors unlocked.” Silva displayed a surveillance video from a residential home in the Palm Beach Polo & Country Club neighborhood, depicting a group of men breaking into a resident’s parked car. Silva said that people leaving their car doors unlocked is a huge problem throughout Wellington. The number of vehicle burglaries increased from 2016 to 2017. Silva, along with Village Manager Paul Schofield, explained how something as simple as locking car doors could potentially prevent more than half of them from happening. “The biggest thing that our residents can do to help protect the village and themselves is lock car doors and take their keys out of their cars,” Schofield said. “When you look at residential and car burglaries, they are almost always on unlocked homes and cars.” Locking car doors, Mayor Anne See CRIME, page 4
Powell, Willhite Report On Session At RPB Meeting
By Betsy LaBelle Town-Crier Staff Report State Sen. Bobby Powell (DDistrict 30) and State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86) gave a report to the Royal Palm Beach Village Council on Thursday, April 19. Powell led the update on what the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation has been working on. “We have a great team for Palm Beach County, and we work very well together,” he said. “The issues that we dealt with this year were gun safety reform related to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, education, healthcare, opioids, the tax package and the budget.”
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed by the Florida Legislature, signed Gov. Rick Scott, and put into effect starting March 9. The act combines school safety and firearm safety. The bill includes raising the age limit for buying firearms from 18 years of age to 21, requires a threeday waiting period for all firearm purchases, bans “bump stock” devices, provides $69 million for mental health services, $98 million for school hardening, such as better windows and safety, and $67 million for a “school guardian” program. “As legislators, we were thrown a state of emergency because of what happened down in Parkland,”
Powell said. “Many of our legislators either flew down or drove down right away to deal with the issue first-hand. Unlike a lot of the other incidences that have involved guns, we were in session at the time of the shooting, and, therefore, there was an immediate opportunity to act.” He explained that when the Pulse nightclub shooting happened and when there was a shooting at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, the legislature was not in session. “Because the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students had the aptitude to act and went to Tallahassee immediately to petition the Florida government, See LEGISLATORS, page 4
(L-R) Ben Durgan, State Sen. Bobby Powell, State Rep. Matt Willhite and Tom Valeo.
PHOTO BY BETSY LABELLE/TOWN-CRIER