The Town-Crier
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August 16 - August 22, 2013 Page 7
NEWS
Lox Groves Might Designate Roads For Golf Cart And ATV Use By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council is reviewing the use of golf carts and other small vehicles on local roads. The council could pass a resolution later this month designating which town roads they can operate on. At a meeting Aug. 6, Town Attorney Michael Cirullo said he had done the review of the legalities of golf carts, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), mini-trucks and other small, low-speed vehicles that had been requested by the council.
Cirullo included golf carts, allterrain vehicles and swamp buggies in his memo. He concluded that low-speed vehicles and minitrucks are permitted without taking any action. “There are rules and regulations in the statutes for those, and I’ve outlined them in my memo,” he said. “You can take action not to allow them, but if you take no action, they are allowed on the road.” Golf carts and swamp buggies, however, would require action by the council, Cirullo said. “The main issue that you would
consider in doing that is to designate the roads on which they could be safely operated,” he said. “You need to have a consideration that they’re safe for the road conditions. Once you do designate those roads, there’s signage that needs to be put up to tell the golf cart and swamp buggy folks, ‘Yes, you can use it,’ but also to warn drivers that there may be golf carts and swamp buggies coming through.” Cirullo said he did not have a format for such a sign but that the first step would be for the council
to decide whether to put it on its agenda for action and to have town administration review the roads for possible golf-cart use. “Once those roads are designated, I would recommend a resolution to designate those roads with whatever review you may use to confirm that vehicles can be safely operated,” Cirullo said. “If you’re going to make a difference between some roads allowing swamp buggies and some roads allowing golf carts, then you would need separate resolutions.” Councilman Jim Rockett point-
ed out that under the information Cirullo had given them, golf carts on roadways must have a rearview mirror and red reflective warning devices on the front and rear. “My favorite standards for golf carts are efficient brakes and reliable steering,” Cirullo said. “One issue that came up was the age [of the driver], and under the state statute, the minimum age is 14.” Councilman Tom Goltzené said the only thing he did not see in Cirullo’s memo was accommodating for tractors and other farm equipment, which Cirullo said is
already covered under agricultural exemptions, which are allowed under state regulations to operate on the road, but require a luminescent triangle on the back. Cirullo also pointed out that there is a separate state statute for golf carts in senior communities. “I did not want to over-analyze that, but I did want to point that out for the record, since it was mentioned,” he said. Goltzené made a motion to bring the topic back at the Tuesday, Aug. 20 meeting for formal consideration. The motion carried 5-0.
Former ITID Supervisor Blasts Beeline Highway Widening Plans By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A former Indian Trail Improvement District official is warning that the Florida Department of Transportation’s planned expansion of the Beeline Highway (SR 710) could spell trouble for The Acreage. During public comment at the ITID Board of Supervisors meeting Aug. 7, former Supervisor Penny Riccio said she attended a hearing that day in Indiantown on the project, which has been in planning stages for the past year and a half. “It’s a very serious issue,” Riccio said. “They have incorporated The Acreage and the Loxahatchee area in their PD&E study, saying that there is more anticipated development.” Riccio said it needs to be made clear that The Acreage is close to build-out, adding that she spoke at the meeting, explaining that
Charter
Renaissance Palms West continued from page 1 clamoring to help, Brannon said. Last week, as she and the teachers trained in their new school for the first time, there was already a group of parents on hand volunteering to help teachers get classrooms ready. “I am overwhelmed by the positive support we’ve gotten from parents,” Brannon said. There are 842 students enrolled at the school this year, with another 345 on waiting lists. But the wait list doesn’t apply to all grades and there are some slots still open, Brannon said. While the school is starting as a kindergarten through sixth-grade school, one new grade will be added each year for the next two years, Reynolds said. Students at the charter school all get their own personalized learning plans, Reynolds said. It’s a data-driven curriculum with benchmark testing to see where the students are and get them where they need to be, she said. In addition to core subjects, such as math and reading, the school will also offer classes in art, music, Spanish and physical education, Brannon added. The school follows the same state standards as public schools and is a step ahead of public schools when it comes to transitioning from the Sunshine State Standards and FCAT testing to the new Common Core standards, Brannon said. Kindergarten to second-grade students at Renaissance Palms West will use the new Common Core standards reading textbook this year. That will make it a little easier for them to make the transition, although the third- to fifthgrade teachers know this is the last
there are only 500 or so Acreage lots left to build, and the population should not increase dramatically from the 39,000 people already in the community. According to an FDOT report, a multimodal Project Development & Environment (PD&E) study is being conducted to evaluate potential improvements to the Beeline Highway from 1 mile east of SR 76 (Kanner Highway) to SR 708 (Blue Heron Blvd.). The proposed improvements include widening the Beeline Highway from about 1 mile east of SR 76 to the Pratt & Whitney entrance. It would be widened from the existing two lanes to four lanes. No widening is proposed from the Pratt & Whitney entrance to Northlake Blvd. From Northlake Blvd. to Blue Heron Blvd., improvements include widening the existing four-lane road to six lanes. A flyover at SR 710 and Northlake Blvd. is also proposed.
Further, a 10-foot, shared-use path on the north side of SR 710 is also being evaluated from approximately 1 mile east of SR 76 to Northlake Blvd. The widening from Northlake to Blue Heron will serve to reduce congestion, as well as to enhance mobility, safety, emergency access and truck movement within and through Martin and Palm Beach counties, according to the FDOT report. The total project length is about 25 miles. The estimated cost for the proposed improvements is about $181 million, which includes $126 million for construction, $5 million for right-of-way acquisition, $29 million for engineering and $21 million for mitigation. The project is in the final stages of public input. Riccio said she thought the underlying reason for the project is to accommodate development of the 4,800-acre Vavrus Ranch prop-
year for Sunshine State standards, Brannon said. Pupils can look forward to stateof-the-art technology in their new school, including two computer labs, two art and music rooms, laptops, a mobile laptop, laptops for teachers, Smart Boards and interactive white boards, among other things, and a slew of software packages that will allow students to do advanced-level coursework or take remedial courses, if needed, Brannon said. There will also be a charactereducation curriculum that teaches children how to be good citizens in the classroom and beyond. “They’ll learn how to be kind, considerate and honest,” Brannon said. Her goals for this year include creating a strategic plan for the school; analyzing student data in reading, writing, math and science, to see how students are performing; creating a culture of academic excellence; recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers; and providing professional development opportunities for them. “This is an exciting beginning,”
Brannon said. “We know we’ll have a good year.” Parents will be able to monitor their child’s progress using a student information system that provides real-time test results and tracks things such as the student’s completion and turning in of homework assignments on time, as well as any disciplinary action. The system will be accessible online — no waiting around for a progress report at the end of the grading period, Reynolds said. Reynolds said demand for charter school options in central Palm Beach County is what led USA Charter Schools to open the Renaissance Palms West campus. The company also opened the Renaissance Charter School at Summit on Summit Blvd. in West Palm Beach this year. The Renaissance Charter School at West Palm Beach on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. opened last year. The Renaissance Charter School at Palms West is located at 12031 Southern Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach. For more information, call (561) 214-6782 or visit www. palmswestcharter.org.
erty, which is planned for 7,600 homes, 2 million square feet of commercial and a 4,000-student campus. “They claim that there’s 26,000 car trips at the corner of Northlake and the Beeline Highway, which warrants the Beeline to be widened from Northlake down to Blue Heron, but Blue Heron is not our concern,” Riccio said. “Our concern lies between Northlake and Haverhill, because the road fails at Haverhill. Haverhill is a heavily urban populated area.” Truck trips through The Acreage to the Beeline are at 12 percent and anticipated to go to 21 percent, Riccio added. “I screamed that we don’t want to be a community of pass-through truck traffic,” she said. “They’re projecting the trips with the truck traffic to go to 54,000.” Riccio asked that ITID board members and Acreage residents
send in comments to FDOT asking the agency not to widen the Beeline from Northlake to Haverhill to six lanes. “That would destroy our neighborhood because they are looking at the Vavrus development also,” Riccio said. “We shouldn’t be lumped into that. We shouldn’t pay for whatever they want to do over there. We need to bombard that office that we oppose that.” Riccio added that the bridge planned to go over the railroad track at Northlake Blvd. and the Beeline will start at the entrance to the Grassy Waters Preserve and go up to an elevation of 18 feet, resembling the overpass at State Road 7 and Southern Blvd. “That’s abhorrent, that’s ludicrous, just to accommodate Vavrus?” Riccio said. Ultimately, the SR 710 corridor could potentially reduce automobile and oil dependence, as well as
vehicle emissions, and provide an economic development benefit to the area, according to the FDOT report. Modern passenger trains would be utilized on the existing railway running parallel to the highway, providing fast service, safe and reliable transportation, wireless capabilities and a comfortable and convenient method of travel. The corridor design fits in line with FDOT’s vision plan for the Florida Intercity Passenger Rail, which connects all major urban areas not commonly serviced by air or rail. Other benefits have been identified with the project, including higher property values, increased commercial activity, increased tax revenue and the development of livable, accessible communities. For more information on the project, visit www.sr710.com.
(Above) Veteran educator Sharon Brannon is principal of the Renaissance Charter School at Palms West. (Below) The school’s technology lab.
The new playground awaits the arrival of students next week. PHOTOS BY LAUREN MIRÓ/TOWN-CRIER