WELLINGTON HOLDS BUDGET WORKSHOP SEE STORY, PAGE 3
FIRST MEETING OF NEW RPB ED BOARD SEE STORY, PAGE 7
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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INSIDE
Wellington Again Considering Park For Folkstone/Yarmouth
Volume 39, Number 31 August 17 - August 23, 2018
Serving Palms West Since 1980
‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ IN WELLINGTON
The Village of Wellington is again considering a linear park in the Folkstone/Yarmouth neighborhood as part of its Safe Neighborhoods Program, and a community information session on the proposal will be held at the park site on Thursday, Aug. 23. Page 3
Lox Council Approves Amendments For Groves Town Center
The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council last week approved the preliminary reading of an amendment to the 90-acre Groves Town Center application with several conditions recommended by the council sitting as the town’s Local Planning Agency. Page 4
The Dance Arts Conservatory Broadway Stars program staged their production of Legally Blonde on Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12 at the Wellington High School theater. Catherine Boynton starred as Elle Woods under the direction of Jaycie Cohen, who was also in charge of the musical staging. Shown above are Warner, played by Noah Lupowitz, and Boynton as Elle Woods. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY EVE ROSEN/TOWN-CRIER
Royal Palm Beach Hosts Annual Senior Expo At Recreation Center
The annual Royal Palm Beach Senior Expo was held on Friday, Aug. 10 at the Royal Palm Beach Recreation Center. Vendors shared information on health and wellness, caregiving options, insurance, travel information and more. Blood pressure checks and blood tests for diabetes were available, as were freebies and raffles. Page 10
Wellington Holds Graduation Ceremony For SWAG Interns
The Village of Wellington held a graduation ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 7 for Students Working to Achieve Greatness (SWAG), a summer program for students recruited from Wellington and Palm Beach Central high schools. SWAG gives students the opportunity to have a paid, 8-week internship during the summer in order to provide the students with important life skills. The graduation was to celebrate the students finishing their internships. Page 15 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 15 LETTERS.................................. 4 PEOPLE................................... 8 SCHOOLS................................ 9 COLUMNS............................. 16 CALENDAR............................ 18 BUSINESS............................. 19 NEWS BRIEFS....................... 20 SPORTS................................. 21 CLASSIFIEDS.................23 - 24 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
Lox Council Switches To Back-To-Back Meetings
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council agreed last week to switch to two meetings per month on a Tuesday at 7 p.m., followed by an additional meeting on Wednesday to complete the agenda, along with a public input meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia cited meetings that typically go to 1 a.m. since the council took on the roles of the Local Planning Agency and the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors. “I would like to split these meetings,” Maniglia said during council member comments toward the end of the marathon Aug. 7 meeting. Maniglia actually made her comments after 1 a.m. on Aug. 8. “This is crazy. We used to have two meetings,” she said. “I would like to put the LPA and the water
control district on one day and the town council another. These folks have something to say, but it’s a quarter after one. This is unacceptable.” She asked other council members about a public question-andanswer period at 6 p.m. “That’s where the issues are that really affect these folks,” Maniglia said, and made a motion to go to two meetings a month, with a question-and-answer period for the public at 6 p.m. Councilman David DeMarois seconded the motion. Vice Mayor Todd McLendon said he had brought up the idea before of going until 10:30 p.m., and if they did not finish the agenda, to continue the following night. “That way, we only have the one agenda that staff has to prepare,” McLendon said, pointing out that having a meeting every two weeks may interfere with council members’ plans. But Maniglia said that every
meeting would become drawn out. “It’s going to happen every single meeting, so why don’t we put the two meetings back-to-back and split them?” she said. “These guys will all change their plans, so they can come to the meeting. They’ll sit through the evening, and then at 10:30 p.m., they’ll be told to go home and come back the next night.” DeMarois suggested meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays, as it was previously, but McLendon objected. Maniglia said council members could still go on vacation, and the council could meet with four members. “We’ll fill in for you,” she said. “We’re not all going on vacation at the same time, and by the way, I never go on vacation, so you can guarantee I’ll be here.” McLendon asked Maniglia if she was suggesting meeting on See MEETINGS, page 18
Traffic A Concern As Board OKs Acme Ranches Changes
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report “Traffic” seemed to be the word on everyone’s mind at the Tuesday, Aug. 14 meeting of the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission. Sitting as the Local Planning Agency, the board approved a number of land use changes for the former Acme Ranches land. The primary topic was traffic at the nearby intersection of State Road 7 and Southern Blvd., among the busiest intersections in Palm Beach County. Changes in the land use plan might make it subject to more cars but less traffic. Whether one chooses to believe the rosy-sounding plans of the developer and his team about a bypass of the busy intersection, or the warnings of three residents who spoke against the proposed changes, because of drainage, property access and parking, everyone agreed the traffic is terrible and shouldn’t be made any worse. Stressing that the evening’s
agenda covered only land use approvals, Royal Palm Beach Development Review Coordinator Kevin Erwin put forth seven applications for comprehensive plan changes for approval. Five were submitted by Urban Design Kilday Studios in order to move forward on plans for a mixed-use commercial and residential development located on the south side of Southern Blvd, approximately a quarter mile from the intersection of SR 7 and Southern Blvd. One was to allow the school to be planned, and one was a housekeeping measure. The primary topic was the enclave once known as Acme Ranches. Annexed into Royal Palm Beach three years ago, developer Brian Tuttle has big plans for the area, now referred to as Southern Boulevard Properties. There are many hoops to jump through in building a development in Royal Palm Beach, and the purpose of the meeting was only to determine which set of hoops each
parcel of property would be using in its development plans. Erwin explained that the changes to the land use designations only allow the applicant to move forward with planning. Later meetings will review the zoning, drainage, parking, access, traffic and more. The approvals only mean that a mixed-use commercial complex is planned for a property that was once targeted for 10 parcels of single-family residential, that open space and low residential land will now be designated as commercial, moving each to another pod, that low residential will become single family, and another parcel of low residential will be designated for use of a school. It might be noted, as it was by members of the board, that each of these uses involve traffic. First up on the agenda was some 11 acres with the village’s single family residential and open space land use designations, and Palm See ACME, page 4
Wellington Approves $17 Million Update For Water Plant
By Dani Salgueiro Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council discussed water plant improvements and the village’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program on Tuesday, Aug. 14. The council unanimously approved the plan for the renewal, replacement and expansion of the village’s water treatment plant on Wellington Trace, as well as the $17 million funding for the project. The project will completely update the nearly 30-year-old reverse-osmosis plant, replacing smaller pumps, reconditioning the laboratories and control rooms, generator fuel system improvements and other miscellaneous piping enhancements. “All of these improvements will extend the lifecycle of the assets,
improving operational efficiency and reliability,” Utilities Director Shannon LaRocque said. “This is not so much a complex construction project, but it is very complex as it relates to operations. It takes a lot of coordination in order to make sure that operations aren’t interrupted, and we can continue providing water service to our customers at all times.” Village Manager Paul Schofield explained that the $17 million cost was the lowest of three final bids on the project, and that the money to pay for it will come from already available utility funds. “We will not need to borrow any money for this,” Schofield said. The council members were pleased overall with the funding and project plans. “I think it’s important to let residents know that we all went See WATER PLANT, page 18
AMAF HOSTS ANNUAL INTERFAITH DINNER
The American Muslim Alliance of Florida (AMAF) held its fifth annual Interfaith Dinner on Sunday, Aug. 12 at the original Wellington Mall. The group’s second annual Scholarship Award Ceremony also took place. Imam Mohamed Ismail spoke about “Islam and Democracy,” while a number of political candidates each gave a brief introductory speech. Shown above are scholarship recipients Kashfaa Tashin, Jevon Brown, Sireen Hilo, Houy Ung and Sana Shareef. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 22 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Paddock Park Residents Seek To Keep Horses
By Chris Levy Town-Crier Staff Report Some residents of Paddock Park Phase I seeking to be allowed to keep horses on their properties addressed their wishes to the Wellington Village Council on Tuesday, Aug. 14. Marysue Jacobs, who owns a residential property on Haymarket Court, is leading the charge for those residents of Paddock Park I in favor of allowing horses to be kept in the neighborhood. She began her 15-minute presentation by providing 131 comment cards from neighbors she claimed were in support of her cause, which represents just under 50 percent of the area’s properties. Jacobs was calling for a change in code to allow residents of Paddock Park I to keep horses on their property. She suggested placing Paddock Park I within the existing Equestrian Overlay Zoning
District (EOZD) and Equestrian Preserve Area (EPA). She further suggested limiting the development to two horses per acre, versus the four horses per acre the village permits within other areas designated for horses. “I think it’s one of the nicest neighborhoods in Wellington. It’s one of the oldest neighborhoods in Wellington, and for many, many years, even before Wellington was Wellington, it was one of the first areas where there were horses in Wellington,” Jacob said. “We back up to the horse trails.” Jacobs feels that allowing horses in Paddock Park I will be a benefit for the neighborhood. “It’s one of the few places in Wellington that’s really family oriented and has a lot of year-round residents,” Jacobs continued. “I’ve been here 30 years. Originally, most all the horse people were in See PADDOCK, page 18
Miller Named Director Of Educational Technology
By Dani Salgueiro Town-Crier Staff Report Long-time Royal Palm Beach resident Dr. Adam Miller, the former principal at Golden Grove Elementary School, has taken the next step in his administrative career by becoming the new director of educational technology for the School District of Palm Beach County. Through his new position, Miller will take an important role behind the scenes to equip Palm Beach County students with the technological resources they need in order to succeed while in school and, eventually, in their future careers. “I will be overseeing any technology that comes into our
classrooms, things such as our projectors, document cameras, Chromebooks and the many different software programs we use in our schools,” Miller explained. “The overall goal is that by the time students graduate from high school, they are ready to go into college or ready to go into the workforce prepared and with the skills that are necessary today, which, of course, involves a lot of technology,” Miller aims to successfully integrate new resources and programs that will facilitate and encourage student technology interaction, as well as encouragement for teachers to integrate new technology-based lessons into regular curriculum. “A big thing we are going to be
pushing this year is Google Classroom, through which Google-certified educators — [ranging] from elementary to high school — will be trained on the latest educational technology so that they can implement that technology into their classrooms and also share it with other teachers at their schools,” Miller said. Miller’s priorities in his new position go hand-in-hand with the new wave of STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — focus in Palm Beach County schools. In many ways, this is a major switch from the old paradigm of discouraging students from using technology to find answers, he explained.
“There’s now even the term ‘BYOD,’ which means bring your own device, which allows students to bring their cell phones or tablets on certain days for lessons or instruction that some schools are testing out. Overall, we are starting to look at a real 21st-century classroom,” Miller said. Along with the incorporation of technology into all schools and classrooms, Miller hopes to encourage student collaboration and creativity. “This is also a way to encourage students to collaborate more in the classroom,” he said. “Students have more opportunities to work together on projects — especially since they are learning programs like Google Docs and Google
Slides from as early on as in kindergarten. On these projects, they will learn how to make projects look exactly how they want them to look, so they will be able to be creative in that aspect.” Miller has been involved in improving children’s education since he began his career as a teacher in 2001. He later evolved into an administrator and served as the principal of Golden Grove for the past five years. Miller hopes to continue evolving into another resource for students and teachers through which they will have access to a more modern classroom. “Just like with being a principal, there is a lot of leadership involved in being a director,” Miller said. See MILLER, page 18