Town-Crier Newspaper December 18, 2015

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WELLINGTON CHAMBER HOLIDAY LUNCH SEE STORY, PAGE 3

NUVISTA SUPPORTS TOYS FOR TOTS SEE STORY, PAGE 7

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TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

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Equestrian Board Supports Permanent Grand Prix Farms Access To PBIEC

Volume 36, Number 49 December 18 - December 24, 2015

Serving Palms West Since 1980

RINGING IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Wellington’s Equestrian Preserve Committee recommended approval of master plan amendments allowing access from the Grand Prix Farms development to the Wellington Country Place development last week. The approvals will replace a temporary access agreement recently approved by the Wellington Village Council. Page 3

Tipsy Salonbar In Wellington Hosts Grand Reopening Celebration

Tipsy Salonbar in Wellington hosted a grand reopening celebration Dec. 10 with Beth Nguyen as head owner, while introducing Dr. Bao Doan and Tipsy’s new med spa, featuring treatments such as Botox and Microdermabrasion. Tipsy is located at 10120 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 100, in the Pointe at Wellington Green. Page 17

Bill’s Bikes Motorcycle Toy Run Brings In Toys For Tots Donations

The 33rd annual Bill’s Bikes Memorial Toy Run was held in cooperation with the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation on Sunday, Dec. 13. Hundreds of motorcyclists rode in a parade, escorted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office from the South Florida Fairgrounds to Dreher Park. Page 21

OPINION History Will Judge The Paris Climate Change Agreement

History will be the judge of last weekend’s historic Paris Agreement, the pact that commits 196 nations to work together in an attempt to limit climate change and stem the continued rise of greenhouse gas emissions. Here is hoping that it leads to a new era of innovation that puts the worst dangers behind us. With luck, history will judge the effort a success, not too little, too late. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS................................. 3 - 9 OPINION.................................. 4 CRIME NEWS.......................... 6 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 8 PEOPLE................................. 13 SCHOOLS.......................14 - 15 COLUMNS...................... 16, 25 BUSINESS......................26 - 27 SPORTS..........................31 - 33 CALENDAR............................ 34 CLASSIFIEDS................ 35 - 38 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

The 32nd annual Wellington Holiday Parade rolled down Forest Hill Blvd. on Sunday, Dec. 13. The event, produced by the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Wellington, featured more than 100 parade entries with close to 3,000 participants. Shown here are Santa Claus (Henrik Nordstrom) and Mrs. Claus (Maggie Zeller) on the Wellington Rotary Club float. SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Residents Support Aero Club Pathway

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Municipal Complex hosted approximately 40 Aero Club residents Tuesday for an informational meeting about the Aero Club Multiuse Path Project. The meeting, led by Village Engineer Bill Riebe and Senior Engineer Patrick Barthelemy, explained the scope of the plan, as well as three design options for the project that will add a pathway, friendly for bikers, skaters, walkers and joggers, through the community. “We want to present our various conceptual design options to you guys,” Barthelemy said, asking residents for their input as the project goes forward. The three options were designed to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, allow for a 6-foot separation between the edge of the roadway and the edge of the path, meet the required drainage standards, and leave a 6-foot clear zone around trees and a 4-foot clear zone from property lines — all while keeping within a $675,000 budget.

The pathway, Barthelemy said, will be topped by at least 1 inch of asphaltic concrete over at least 8 inches of compacted lime rock base, which is over 12 inches of a compacted subgrade. Twenty driveways on 15 lots will be affected as the path runs through the driveway because of ADA crossslope requirements. “The common element that you’ll notice in all three designs is that when we get back here along the canal, we moved all three pathways behind the trees that are along the canal so we don’t disturb any of those, and then we maintain that all the way around until we get back into the homes,” Barthelemy said. “And then the designs are all different from that point.” Option A starts 4 feet off of a property. When a tree is in the path, the path will meander around the tree, maintaining a 6-foot clear zone from the tree trunk. Option A has the following impacts: disturbance of oak tree root systems; close to private property; relocation of existing private entry columns and key pads on three See AERO CLUB, page 18

GL Homes Pitches Plan To ITID SENIORS CLUB DINNER

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report GL Homes representatives gave a presentation Wednesday to the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors on their proposed development west of The Acreage. The discussion included the pledge of a 640-acre water retention area to ITID, to improve all roads affected by the development and to become an activated ITID unit. GL Homes Vice President Kevin Ratterree said the plan was scheduled to go before the county’s Land Planning Agency this month, but it was postponed because the proposed Avenir project in Palm Beach Gardens presented its traffic plan to the county and received approval, which made it necessary for GL Homes to modify its own plan. “Palm Beach County issued approval, and GL Homes had to revise its application to include

Avenir as background traffic,” Ratterree said. “It was too short a time to assess traffic impact.” As a result, the GL Homes application will probably go before the Palm Beach County Commission in March for a transmittal hearing, with an adoption hearing in June or July. The developer is asking to change the land use designation on its 4,900-acre site from 0.1 to 0.8 homes per acre, which would enable about 3,900 homes. The site is to the northwest of The Acreage, east of the federally owned Moss property. Ratterree said that the idea of dedicating a water retention area to ITID came out of a question asked in a meeting with ITID Engineer Jay Foy and Palm Beach County Water Resources Manager Ken Todd on how the development can provide a positive benefit to the area. “Mr. Foy is intimately more qualified than I am to give details

of that, but the idea is that the property, if developed as a reservoir, could hold up to 5,000 acre feet of additional water,” he said. “This area could be used for additional discharge over time, so part of our proposal is the dedication of that property for free to the improvement district.” Ratterree added that an additional 1,125 acres has been set aside for either agricultural use or water purposes, if the South Florida Water Management District is looking for additional water storage. The site itself will have a series of external and internal buffers, and perimeter buffers 50 to 100 feet wide that will provide connectivity for pedestrians and equestrians. “Those elements — the 640 acres, the 1,125 acres, plus the exterior buffer network — represent 50 percent of the site in what we’re calling ‘exterior open space’ that is defined in the proposed See GL HOMES, page 4

Local Issues The Focus At McKinlay Town Hall Meeting

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay and top county staff held a meeting at Loxahatchee Groves Town Hall last Thursday to give updates on projects and issues affecting the western communities. Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Chief Jeff Collins started the discussion, announcing that the new Station 22, currently located in a rented storefront with engines kept outside, will be built on property provided by the new Westlake (Minto West) development and will be four bays with five personnel instead of three, making it a potential battalion station. Another station is planned near FPL’s West County Energy Center. Collins added that PBCFR was in a critical level of deficit spending following the recent economic downturn, but the recent economic

improvement is allowing the department to pull out of it this year. However, new hiring and capital projects were delayed, and now money needs to be restored to the budget to allow for capital improvements. “This will be the first year that we’ve balanced the budget based on ad valorem dollars,” he said. “We will see an actual positive cash flow. We know we have to start funding more positions.” Chris Pettit of the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department credited local special districts for working with the county and other water management entities for helping maintain a fresh water supply and environmental quality. Projects he is working on include one with Westlake’s Seminole Improvement District, a $2 million plan to provide additional water storage, in coordination with

a north county project to reduce discharge to the Lake Worth Lagoon and restore water flow to the Loxahatchee River. “This will capture stormwater otherwise lost to tide,” Pettit said. “The ultimate goal is to benefit the north fork of the Loxahatchee River.” Palm Beach County Legislative Affairs Director Todd Bonlarron said that he and his staff have spent a lot of time in Tallahassee pushing back on the state’s attempts to compromise home rule authority and keep local growth management policy in place. Bonlarron said that the legislature will be back in session on Jan. 12, and he and his staff will be there to try to get legislation favorable to the county enacted and block unfavorable legislation. “Oftentimes what doesn’t happen in Tallahassee is more imporSee TOWN HALL, page 18

The Wellington Seniors Club held its annual installation dinner and dance on Friday, Dec. 11 at the Wanderers Club. The Studio 54 Band played dance music from the 1960s and 1970s, while seniors partied the night away. Shown here are Mae and Tom Loglisci, Eileen and George Kuhnel, Mary and Tony Alfalla, Peg Caliendo and Jerry Springer. SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Coventry Green Wants Fence Along Forest Hill Blvd.

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Richard Cosola of Canterbury Circle in Wellington’s Coventry Green neighborhood presented a petition last week signed by his neighbors asking that the Wellington Village Council consider erecting a barrier fence on Forest Hill Blvd. along Palm Beach Polo’s old north course. “It’s very specific,” Cosola said at the Dec. 8 meeting. “It’s to have a barrier along Forest Hill Blvd. where our community ends to just about the top of the hill. You probably all have passed it about a thousand times. We’re that community right after the library. There’s a big problem. We have a completely open space to that sidewalk. Anybody, at any given time, can just walk right from

that sidewalk into the back of our property.” A vehicle could also hop the curb and drive into the area, he said. “Imagine what we’re subjected to,” Cosola said. “We’ve had some burglaries, some vandalism. I’ve put lights up.” Cosola said that the south side of Forest Hill Blvd. has a split-rail fence and a ficus hedge shielding the view of a polo field owned by Palm Beach Polo. “We’re not asking for a ficus hedge, we know about those,” he said, “but maybe a split-rail fence with the proper foliage would be easy to do.” Cosola said that there is a sufficient public easement on the north side to put up a fence and hedge. “You may ask is that [Palm See FENCE, page 18

PBSC Hopes To Open New Campus In Fall Of 2016

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Jacqueline Rogers, dean of health sciences and public safety at Palm Beach State College, gave a presentation to the Royal Palm Beach Education Advisory Board on Monday about the new college campus under construction at Southern Blvd. and B Road in Loxahatchee Groves. Rogers told the board that she was appointed as director of the new campus a week ago. “I’m very excited, and actually you’re the first audience that I’ve gotten to say that in front of,” she said. The first building on the campus is now well out of the ground. “The third floor is ready to be poured, the steel beams are still there, and we’re hoping that it

will be completed next year at this time, perhaps for a late fall or January opening,” Rogers said. PBSC is the nation’s eighthlargest producer of associate’s degrees in arts and sciences, awarding more than 6,000 degrees and certificates each year. It has the lowest tuition in the state and is a steppingstone to higher education, according to a video presentation Rogers showed at the meeting. The college also offers baccalaureate degrees and a variety of technical, health, visual and performing arts, criminal justice, firefighting, paramedic and managerial programs. “If you have ever been taken care of in a dental office, seen a nurse or had the opportunity to interact with a police officer or

firefighter, maybe not in the best of situations, those individuals are 90 percent likely to have completed the programs at Palm Beach State College,” she said. PBSC is far more than just a place students go for two years before heading to a university, she explained. “We are about infusing the county work force and providing training for the jobs that we have here in Palm Beach County,” Rogers said. The college also offers a program called “Finish for Free,” in which dual-enrolled high school students or those in the early-admit program who have completed 30 credits at the college with a 3.5 GPA and decide to finish college there can have their degree paid for.

“That is a phenomenal boost to what parents are able to do to send their kids to college,” she said. “There are a number of opportunities for students to attend college for free, and we want you to take advantage of that.” The Loxahatchee Groves campus will focus on technology and health sciences. “That’s where we’re headed to begin with,” Rogers said. “Our board has approved those programs initially at the first building, [and] we will have multiple buildings at that site, so the first program we will move there is health information technology, which is all about healthcare, but no blood. If you know anyone who really wants to get into healthcare, but they don’t want to interact with

patients day-to-day, but realize the importance of health sciences and healthcare, they can work in health information technology, medical coding, medical transcription [or as a] medical information specialist.” The other program that will be located at the new campus is the nursing bachelor’s degree curriculum. “We have some exciting things coming,” Rogers said. “We are going to have the newest technology at this campus. I looked at some furniture designs today, and what people will see will be beyond their expectations when they walk through the front doors next year.” Rogers hopes to get a certificate of occupancy in September of See NEW CAMPUS, page 18


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Town-Crier Newspaper December 18, 2015 by Wellington The Magazine LLC - Issuu