SCHOOL BOARD AMENDS OPENING PLAN MAJOR RENOVATIONS AT WELLINGTON EL SEE STORY, PAGE 3 SEE STORY, PAGE 4 THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Volume 41, Number 20 August 14 - August 27, 2020
Serving Palms West Since 1980
WELLINGTON CAMPS EXTENDED
Wellington Foundation Donates $8,500 To Help Summer Campers
The Wellington Community Foundation Board of Directors recently stepped up to support the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club in Wellington with an $8,500 donation to help first responders and healthcare professionals find a safe place for their children. Page 3
ITID Files Countersuit To Minto Lawsuit Over 140th Avenue Access
The Indian Trail Improvement District has filed a countersuit to a lawsuit brought by developer Minto and the Seminole Improvement District demanding that it be allowed to access 140th Avenue North a few blocks north of Persimmon Blvd. in The Acreage. Page 4
County Supports Request For Real Estate Office Near Acreage Plaza
The Palm Beach County Commission recently gave preliminary approval to a request that would allow a real estate office to be built on what is currently a residential lot at the southwest corner of Orange Blvd. and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road in The Acreage. Page 7
Neil S. Hirsh Family B&G Club Stays Open For Extended Camp
Monday, Aug. 10 was the first day of extended summer camp at the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club in Wellington. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County has extended its summer camp schedule through Aug. 26 to account for the delayed start of Palm Beach County public schools. Page 10
Dogs At Animal Care & Control Shelter Enjoy Bow Wow Luau Party
Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control held a Bow Wow Luau birthday party for shelter dogs on Saturday, Aug. 8. Dogs got a whipped cream cone, toys and other enrichment from shelter staff and volunteers. Page 15 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 22 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE.............................. 8 - 9 COLUMNS............................. 16 BUSINESS......................17 - 19 CLASSIFIEDS.................23 - 24 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
Due to a delayed start to the 2020-21 school year, Wellington Parks & Recreation has extended its summer camps and academies to accommodate families seeking activities to help keep their kids happy, healthy, active and engaged. Programs active at Village Park on Friday, Aug. 7 included Visual Art Camp and Cheer, Hip-Hop & Gymnastics Camp. Shown above, Bailey Gibbons paints whale flukes. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
County Virus Surge Slowing, But It’s Not Time To Relax
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach County saw a slight decrease in the rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths over the past week, but it is not a sign that residents should ease up on social distancing, mask wearing and other precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County Director Dr. Alina Alonso told the Palm Beach County Commission on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The State of Florida has reported 536,962 cases of COVID-19 with 8,277 deaths. “While there have been a few spikes up and down in general, the numbers are going down,” Alonso said. “For Palm Beach County, we have 37,297 cases, which is an increase of 277 positive cases. We have total hospitalizations of 2,814. That represents seven new
cases, and that’s 8 percent of our cases, which is about the same as the state average.” The number of local deaths stood at 936, which is five more in the past week and 3 percent of total cases, she said. “If you remember early on in the pandemic, in March and April, the percentage of deaths was way up, and we kept wondering why that was happening,” Alonso said. “It has been consistent now. We’re just 1 percent above the state average, and we still continue to have the same elderly population, but those are not the new cases now.” The age distribution of the current cases remains highest in the 25-to-34 age bracket, with 7,000. The 35-to-44 bracket has about 6,000, and 15-to-24 has about 4,000. “That is a big bulk of all of our new cases, in that age group,” Alonso said. “There are very few
on either end of the spectrum that are representing new cases.” Florida has tested more than 4 million people, representing 18.4 percent of the total population, and the positivity rate has increased to 13.36 percent of those tested, which is still above the current state goal of 10 percent. “Palm Beach County is the lowest in southeast Florida, and that includes our neighbors to the west in our agricultural communities,” Alonso said. “The highest numbers were Hendry County at 21.3 [percent] and Collier County at 16 [percent]. Miami-Dade has 19 percent. We know that they are really struggling, and so is Fort Lauderdale.” She advised people not to get too excited about the possibility of going into a Phase 2 re-opening, which would include re-opening bars and some other facilities See VIRUS, page 20
Wellington Capital Projects For Next Year Top $14 Million
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council reviewed capital projects included in next year’s budget at a workshop session held Monday, Aug. 10. The $14 million budget for capital improvements in the fiscal year 2020-21 budget covers 29 new or ongoing projects, including distinct portions of larger projects. The capital improvements budget is broken down into $9 million for utilities-related projects and about $5 million for other governmental endeavors. Director of Administrative & Financial Services Tanya Quickel presented the staff-prepared preliminary budget for a workshop before its initial reading at Tuesday’s council meeting. She said that some of the projects utilize grant money and that such projects are only done with matching grants. Village Manager Paul Schofield, who was back on his first day in
the office after recovering from COVID-19 and working from home for the past six weeks, said that in the case of utilities, the costs are captured by developers and users who benefit from the projects. “Existing residents are not paying for this,” he explained. Most of the items in the budget are ones that the council has reviewed in some form previously. “These are all things we have seen before, except the waterside playground. That is new to me,” said Mayor Anne Gerwig, referring to a $400,000 project for a new children’s playground that is funded in part by a $200,000 grant. The proposed budget expenditures includes the following: communications and technology investments of $280,000; neighborhood entrance signage of $80,000; neighborhood parks program spending of $300,000; a parks improvement program of $500,000; village-owned facility improvements to modernize and
improve customer service (some related to COVID-19 responses) of $100,000; Town Center improvements of $400,000; turn lanes and traffic engineering of $297,000; the ongoing Acme Improvement District renewal and replacement program spending of $740,000; Section 24 trail bridges (a grant in progress) at $400,000; sales surtax projects at $341,000 and the Wellington High School Sports Complex at $1,500,000. “Village parks will receive upgrades and improvements to ensure the safety and usefulness of the neighborhood parks system,” Quickel said. Proposed utilities projects with expenditures next year include: $2,035,000 in water supply improvements, $2,750,000 for work on the water treatment system, force main wastewater system work at $700,000 and $3,700,000 for the water reclamation facility. Schofield said that the village is See PROJECTS, page 20
Wellington Works Toward Regulating Vacation Rentals
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council gave its initial approval Tuesday, Aug. 11 to zoning text amendments designed to regulate vacation rentals in the village, despite dissatisfaction with parking criteria. Village Engineer Tim Stillings explained that the local issue with vacation rentals has been situations where someone rents a large home and then packs it with guests for a party. “The problem has been vacation rentals being used as a party house,” he said. By Florida law, local governments cannot prohibit vacation rentals, popularized by internet companies such as Airbnb, but they can regulate permitted uses in residential areas. This is not to be confused with a homeowners’ association, which can legally and contractually prohibit vacation rentals in its community. Palm Beach County and the State of Florida each provide licensing by vacation rental owners for the collection of taxes. A responsible party must be registered for the vacation rental ownership. The request to modify the use regulations schedule in the vil-
lage’s land development regulations to include vacation rentals is not taking anything away that had been permitted. Rather, it is amalgamating all the related rules in one place to provide easy access for vacation rental users and owners. Stillings said that the supplementary regulations address standards for the number of overnight occupants, day use visitors, parking, licensing, tax collection, database searches, pool regulations, and regulations that apply to other homes that also apply to vacation rentals. The number of overnight occupants is limited to two persons per bedroom. Children under three years old are not counted. There is no provision for guests that might sleep on fold-out couches. Now, a search of a national database is required to ensure that no guest of a vacation rental is listed on the national register of sex offenders. This differs from the current regulation that states that no one listed on that register may reside within 2,500 feet of a school. Further, an affidavit listing the registered renter and the owner’s See RENTALS, page 20
Mail-In, Early Voting Going Well Amid Virus Precautions
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link told the Westlake City Council on Monday, Aug. 10 that 140,000 of the 340,000 mail-in ballots for the Tuesday, Aug. 18 primary election had already been processed by her office, although extensive COVID-19 precautions are in place for those who still wish to vote in person. “Vote by mail has been very busy,” Link said. “We have sent out more than 340,000 ballots already, and we have already received back 140,000. We have the most that we have ever received for an August primary. We are
anticipating that we will continue to be very busy.” Both major political parties pushing mail-in voting has also made a difference, Link said. She added that the free return postage also contributed to the success of voting by mail. “A lot of people have asked me, ‘With that kind of response, are you able to keep up? Are we going to have delayed election response?’ The answer is no,’” she said. “We have been very aggressive with our opening, tabulation and canvassing schedule, so the canvassing board is meeting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” Canvasing board members must See VOTING, page 22
County Scrambling As Census Count Time Is Cut Short
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The deadline for residents to fill out their 2020 Census form has been shortened a month to Sept. 30, Assistant County Administrator Patrick Rutter told the Palm Beach County Commission on Tuesday, Aug. 11. “We have been working very hard for about two years on this, and we’re coming into the absolute home stretch. Last week, the Census Bureau made a modification,” Rutter said. “The end date for residents to fill out their 2020 Census was previously Oct. 31. That has
now been changed to Sept. 30.” That means the “boots on the ground” portion of enumerators going out and knocking on doors of non-respondents will only be available for seven weeks as opposed to having the additional four weeks. “We are in the final hour right now, and I can’t emphasize it strongly enough what needs to be done in these next seven weeks for responses,” Rutter said. The county at this point has counted 60.8 percent of residents, while the state is at 60.1 percent, See CENSUS, page 20
Injured Veteran Liam Dwyer Gets Keys To His New Home
By Callie Sharkey Town-Crier Staff Report Capping a four-year process, Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer and his wife Meghan received the key to their new custom-built, handicap-accessible house through the national nonprofit Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) on Saturday, Aug. 8. The normally wide-scale community celebration was toned down greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that did nothing to stem the excitement and support by the surrounding neighborhood. HFOT President & CEO Tom Landwermeyer was on site to present the key to the Dwyers. “The most important part of
what we do is enabling veterans to rebuild their lives,” he said. “We do not see our mission as charity. We see it as a moral obligation of our country to repay a very small portion of a huge debt that can never be completely repaid for these veterans and their families.” Dwyer was severely injured while serving in Afghanistan after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) during patrol in May 2011. Dwyer lost his left leg, suffered severe injuries to his right arm and right leg, and has undergone more than 50 surgeries during his time in recovery. The process of getting this fresh start here in the western communi-
ties was neither short nor simple. “Four years ago, we got accepted to get a house. Finally, after this year’s trials and tribulations, six surgeries for us this year, obviously COVID-19 and some other challenges in our life, we were looking at this house as the light at the end of the tunnel,” Dwyer said. “In February, when we found out the project had started, that light shone — and as time went on, that light got bigger. Finally, we had a rock-solid date for this key ceremony. Now, all of a sudden, that bright light is us coming out of the tunnel, and we see everything for the first time.” HFOT is rapidly approaching See DWYER, page 22
Homes For Our Troops CEO Tom Landwermeyer presents Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer and his wife Meghan with a ceremonial key to their new home. PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER