BOAT PARADE ON LAKE WELLINGTON SEE STORY, PAGE 3
WESTLAKE COUNCIL TO FILL EMPTY SEAT SEE STORY, PAGE 4
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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ITID OKs Resolution Transferring Assets If Referendum Passes
Volume 42, Number 26 December 3 - December 16, 2021
Serving Palms West Since 1980
NEW HOME FOR AN INJURED VETERAN
Louis Colantuoni with the citizens group facilitating the Acreage incorporation effort presented an update on its progress to the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Page 3
Tackeria In Wellington Hosts Its 28th Annual Thanksgiving Sale
The Tackeria, Wellington’s equestrian emporium, held its 28th annual Thanksgiving sale on Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27 with at least 10 percent off storewide, along with many specially priced items. The sale was a pre-season must for many local horse people. Page 13
Chabad Of Royal Palm Beach Celebrates Start Of Chanukah Holiday
Chabad of Royal Palm Beach marked the start of the Chanukah holiday on Sunday, Nov. 28 with its “Chanukah in the Air” celebration at the Madison Green Country Club. Rabbi Zevi Schtroks lit the menorah, joined by local dignitaries. There were hot air balloon rides courtesy of Air Hound Adventures. Guests enjoyed food, music, a bounce house, latkes with applesauce and donuts. Page 18
Wellington Boys Basketball Off To A Strong Start On Season
Wellington High School boys basketball head coach Matt Colin is cautiously optimistic that the 2021-22 basketball season will be one to remember. For championship basketball teams, a big key to success is having a core of three talented players working together to lead the team. That’s what the Wolverines have this year in Brenden Williams, Terell Edwards and Reggie Reinhardt. Page 21 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 SPORTS..........................21 - 24 PEOPLE................................. 25 SCHOOLS.............................. 26 BUSINESS............................. 27 COLUMNS............................. 28 CLASSIFIEDS................ 29 - 30 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The national nonprofit organization Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) kicked off the building of a specially adapted custom home for injured U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joseph “Blake” DeLoach on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Cornerstone Fellowship Church in The Acreage. Shown above is Tom Landwermeyer of Homes For Our Troops with Blake and Lauren DeLoach, and Richard Cody. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY ERIN DAVISSON/TOWN-CRIER
Indian Trail Board Reviews Possible Improvements At Santa Rosa Groves
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors approved the conveyance of common areas and easements in the Santa Rosa Groves neighborhood at its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Santa Rosa Groves, a rural enclave located west of The Acreage along Carol Street, has had ongoing problems with flooding and road maintenance. The neighborhood has requested activation into ITID to deal with those issues. Once fully activated, it will be known as ITID Unit 20. Created in the 1970s, Santa Rosa Groves is made up of 99 lots ranging from five acres to 20 acres.
The area, north of White Fences, has a long history of flooding problems. Its roads and swales have deteriorated, and the canals are overgrown. During a public hearing, ITID Engineer Jay Foy said the total cost of upgrading the area is about $23 million. “That’s if you did everything — all the roads, all the canals, a pump station, you pave Carol Street, put guard rails around the roads that have canals,” Foy said. He added that the staff recommendation is to do two things initially — install the pump station and put millings on Carol Street. “What I’m about to present to you has everything in it,” he said. “That’s why it’s so high.”
For the initial phase, the millings are estimated at $500,000, and the initial pump station is estimated at $450,000 to $500,000. “The pump station we would put in is not the one where we would collect a grant and have a housed pump station at over a million,” Foy said. “The $500,000 for the road, Carol Street, is millings, and it would be done by district staff.” He noted that the millings project would require a legislative process to go through to show that ITID is saving money, adding that engineering surveys were done on the property. “The land value benefits alone in sales value of the land… is $28 million, but if you add all the other See SANTA ROSA, page 14
Lox Council Approves Grant For Okee Shelters, Benches
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council approved a beautification grant from the Solid Waste Authority on Tuesday, Nov. 16 to install shelters, benches and recycling bins along Okeechobee Blvd. Assistant Town Manager Francine Ramaglia said a window of opportunity came up with an idea to help beautify certain locations along Okeechobee Blvd. that could use aesthetic improvements. “The Solid Waste Authority put out a grant of $750,000 to do beautification and also to decrease light and misuse of public property,” Ramaglia said. “The grant is for five monument signs, some that we already have and are in the county right of way. This is to beautify the ones that are there and to add landscaping, and also to add lighting, which improves safety and detracts from loitering,
littering and other types of activity that we currently have and don’t want to have. It also establishes community pride and identifies our borders coming into and going out of the town.” In addition to the monument signs, multimodal structures would be provided for trash and recycling stations that would be in an enclosure to prevent spillover, as well as bike racks for the multipurpose trail on Okeechobee Blvd., if the board came to an interlocal agreement. “We felt shocked, I guess you could say, to have received almost 50 percent of the $750,000 that they were giving out,” Ramaglia said. “The grant was advertised to all the municipalities in Palm Beach County, and of those municipalities, we came out on top, with $350,000 out of the $750,000.” She said there is a catch that the town has to continue to use the
right of way to place the trash and recycling, benches and multimodal stations. “To do that, the Solid Waste Authority has given us 120 days to work with the county on the permit,” Ramaglia said. “When we spoke with them, they said as long as it looks like we’re proceeding with the permit, we do have the opportunity, and it is written in the contract, that the 120 days can be extended.” She said the town would need to provide a site plan to the county that would not have the design, but simply the location of the multimodal stations. One half of the check will be written upon receipt of the permit, and the other half upon completion of the project. Ramaglia said the stations could be located on town or county property, but not private property. Resident Mary McNicholas, See LOX COUNCIL, page 14
Western Academy Planning Move To Old Palms West Charter School Site
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved a resolution Thursday, Nov. 18 that will allow the Western Academy Charter School, currently located at 650 Royal Palm Beach Blvd., to move to the building vacated by the old Palms West Charter School earlier this year. Western Academy is seeking to move into the old Palms West Charter School location at 12031 Southern Blvd., which was previously a vacant Albertsons store before being renovated into a school 10 years ago. To make the move, Western Academy will need to make significant improvements to the facility. Western Academy is seeking bonds through the nonprofit Arizona Industrial Development Authority not to exceed $17 million to improve and expand the 61,000-square-foot location. The resolution from the council is a requirement of the bond application. Dawn Auerbach, business manager at Western Academy, said the resolution is a necessary condition to approve the bonds that the longtime local charter school needs to move into the new facility. Part of the bond process requires that the borrower must receive approval from the governing body in which it is located, the Village of Royal Palm Beach, confirming that the project is beneficial to the
community. Attorney Claudia Capdesuner representing Western Academy said there is a bond issuance underway through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority that will enable the bond issue. “That authority has the ability to issue bonds, and those proceeds, once they are received, will make their way to a loan to Western Academy, which will then use those loan proceeds to make improvements to the project,” Capdesuner said. Mayor Fred Pinto asked for confirmation that the resolution has no financial commitment from the village and that the resolution is a necessary part of the school receiving bond funds to be tax exempt under the IRS Code. “There’s no financial obligation,” Capdesuner said. “It’s simply that the project is approved here and beneficial to the community.” Councilwoman Selena Samios asked about Western Academy’s plans to relocate. “It seems from the outside that the properties are roughly the same size,” Samios said. “Are you expanding, and that’s why you want to move? Is that a bigger property and you want more students coming in?” Auerbach said that Western Academy currently has 560 students. “This will be a four-year growth, See SCHOOL, page 14
RPB Seeks Public Input Regarding The Future Of SR 7
By Denis Eirikis Town-Crier Staff Report During the height of the pandemic, with the Regal Cinemas on State Road 7 shuttered and no return to normalcy in sight, the owners of the property informally approached the Village of Royal Palm Beach with an idea to change the village’s comprehensive plan to allow developers to raze the theater and replace it with residential apartments. While that particular request did not move forward, village officials anticipate similar requests as developers respond to lower demand for brick-and-mortar stores — known nationally as the so-called “retail apocalypse” — and the currently high demand for apartment-style housing. In response, Royal Palm Beach has contracted with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) to help the village navigate the many complex pressures from developers, residents and transportation planners. “This move is proactive,” Mayor Fred Pinto explained. “We don’t want to be caught flat-footed as pressures to redevelop the corridor mount.” The village teamed up with the TCRPC to host a public kickoff meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Royal Palm Beach Cul-
tural Center as it moves toward developing a community-based vision for redevelopment along the SR 7 commercial corridor. The TCRPC is tasked with a study that advances transit improvements and provides detailed recommendations for future land use and land development regulations, as well as zoning modifications, to implement the vision. The issue is bigger than Royal Palm Beach, however. “The Mall at Wellington Green is in receivership and sits on a parcel of land that is large enough to fit a small city,” TCRPC Project Manager Dana Little said. He went on to describe how market forces such as the “retail apocalypse,” COVID-19 and the brisk housing market mean that the village needs to plan ahead as pressures to redevelop the corridor mount. The study addresses SR 7 from just north of Okeechobee Blvd. to just south of Southern Blvd. Locals can expect significant changes along this segment of the corridor in the future. While a widened and completed State Road 7 extension north is expected to add 6,000 trips a day to SR 7 south of Okeechobee, there will also need to be transportation solutions created for any new trips generated See SR 7, page 4
Westlake Eyes Adrenaline Boost From Planned Amusement Park
By Louis Hillary Park Town-Crier Staff Report Westlake officials are hoping the Adrenaline World amusement park will become a fun destination for families throughout southeast Florida and a local jobs creator. Plans for the park were approved by the Westlake City Council on Monday, Nov. 22. “We are so excited to bring this new recreation venue to Westlake,” said John Carter, vice president of Minto Communities, the master developer of the 3,800-acre municipality. “Adrenaline World will be a huge attraction and source of fun for families in Westlake and all across Palm Beach County.” Westlake City Manager Ken
Cassel said he expects the 14.4acre park to become a regional draw, pulling in family fun-seekers from as far away as Broward and St. Lucie counties. “Plus, we think it will create a lot of jobs in the area, part-time and full-time. Especially for young people just out of high school,” Cassel said. Palm Beach Gardens resident Johan Kriek, one of the principals in the venture, said that Adrenaline World plans to employ more than 200 people once it opens in the spring of 2023, featuring the longest go-kart track in Florida. “This is about family fun and excitement... to an extreme so that your adrenaline pumps,” said Don-
aldson Hearing of the architectural firm Cotleur & Hearing, representing the park’s developers. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s really, really exciting, and it’s totally family oriented with fun for all ages.” Located in the Westlake Landings development at Persimmon Blvd. just west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road across from the planned Publix shopping center, Adrenaline World will contain multiple indoor and outdoor recreation venues. The indoor recreation building will contain an arcade, virtual reality games, various themed climbing structures, a trampoline park, laser tag arenas and miniature golf. Party rooms for birthdays and
An artistic rendering of the planned Adrenaline World amusement park recently approved for Westlake. special events will be available for rent, and food service will be provided as an amenity to those using the facilities. The outside portion of Adrenaline World will be home to a multi-level go-kart track, along with a small-kid training track. All go-karts will be powered by sustainable electric batteries to reduce
noise and eliminate exhaust fumes. Additional outdoor entertainment will include a dinosaur park, splash pad, rope course and cloud climb. “We’ll have an observation deck, which can be utilized for some of the party events, but also an opportunity to grab something See ADRENALINE, page 14