WESTLAKE’S ELECTION WOES CONTINUE SEE STORY, PAGE 3
CRIME DOWN IN LOX GROVES, MOSTLY SEE STORY, PAGE 4
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
Volume 41, Number 6 February 7 - February 13, 2020
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Lox Council OKs Three-Year Contract Extension For The Town Manager
INSIDE
Western Pines Teacher Receives Statewide Superstar Award
Karen Villalobos, an eighthgrade science teacher at Western Pines Middle School, is the recipient of the first Scientist in Every Florida School (SEFS) Superstar Award. For the first time, SEFS recognized one of the teachers involved in the program, which is designed to literally bring scientists and schools together. Page 3
Groundbreaking Held For Wellington Bay Senior Community
Officials from Liberty Senior Living hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Jan. 31 for Wellington Bay, a new senior living community expected to open in the summer of 2021 on a 45-acre lot near the Mall at Wellington Green. Page 11
RPB’s Cypress Trails Elementary School Marks 30th Anniversary
Riders Ana Sofia Rodriguez, Caroline Mawhinney and Jessica Mendoza, dressed from the musical Chicago are joined by the Spirit of Giving team after capturing first place.
PHOTOS BY MEREDITH BUROW/TOWN-CRIER
Nonprofits Split $1.3 Million At Great Charity Challenge
By Meredith Burow Town-Crier Staff Report Wearing bright costumes inspired by the Broadway show Chicago, riders Jessica Mendoza, Caroline Mawhinney and Ana Sofia Rodriguez rode their partnering equines to victory on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the 11th annual Great Charity Challenge, presented by Fidelity Investments. Exuberant applause rang through the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington when the team, representing the Spirit of Giving Network,
clinched the competition in a nailbiting finish of 94.912 seconds. As a result, Spirit of Giving, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting children and families in Palm Beach County, took home the night’s grand prize of $150,000 — the largest share of approximately $1.3 million given away to dozens of participating charities. The Great Challenge is pretty simple. Each team of three riders is assigned a charity to represent, and each team has a turn at completing the course — a series of
Cypress Trails Elementar y School celebrated its 30th anniversary on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Teachers, administrators, former students and local government leaders mingled while they enjoyed breakfast from the Pirate’s Well. Page 17
Riders Darragh, Daniel and Sarah Kerins celebrate their second-place win with representatives of Wellington Cares.
varying jumps — in the fastest possible time. The team with the fastest time at the end of the night is victorious. The costume theme this year was Broadway Musicals, and the family trio of Daniel, Darragh and Sarah Kerins soared to second place dressed as cats from the hit musical Cats, winning a cool $125,000 for the local nonprofit Wellington Cares. David Blake, Carly Dvorkin and Madelyn Ruskin wore garb from The Great Gatsby and took the third-place prize of $100,000 for the charity Vita Nova. None of the charities represented in the friendly yet competitive event left empty-handed, however, as participation alone guaranteed each nonprofit a $15,000 award. The Spirit of Giving Network received an additional $3,000 grant as its riders won first place in the Best Costume category, as well. “This is our third year participating, and we took a lot of time preparing our costumes and the horses,” said Mendoza, who rode Flashback VDS. “It’s amazing to go out there and win and, especially, to do it for charity.” Aboard Ballerine de Revel, it was also the third time participating for Mawhinney. However, it See GCC, page 7
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council on Tuesday, Feb. 4 approved a three-year contract renewal for Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, along with a one-year option for another year. The contract is unchanged from his first-year contract, except for the time period. Titcomb is wrapping up his first year on the job. “The only thing that changes between his current agreement and this agreement, or the proposed changes, is some legal clarification, because we don’t want to have the same kind of issues that we have had in other agreements,” Town Attorney Brian Shutt said. “All we’ve done is change it to a three-year initial term with a oneyear renewal.” Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia welcomed a three-year extension for Titcomb after working with him over the past year. She had a difficult relationship with Bill Underwood, the previous town manager. “I sat on the last council, and you guys all know what happened,” she said. “We ended up with Mr. Titcomb. I think you’ve done a great job. I think he has shown himself to be a person who easily resolves conflict, and he wants to resolve conflict. I don’t think he has brought any drama into our town. I’m really happy to have him, and I want to change it to 50 years. I think three years is absolutely acceptable. This year has flown by. He represents us in Tallahassee and the League of Cities. He goes to all these functions. It was very prideful to go to Tallahassee with Jamie Titcomb.” Mayor Robert Shorr pointed out a contract timeline correction regarding evaluations.
“It says evaluations will be performed annually before March 31, and I think that should be changed to Dec. 31, because when you look at the one-year extension option, it says he’d be reviewed for one year provided he’s had satisfactory performances, and it must be done by the first of January,” Shorr said. Councilwoman Laura Danowski, a former Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District supervisor, provided a copy of the evaluation form that the LGWCD board used with former District Administrator Steve Yohe for consideration as a template for Titcomb’s evaluation. “It was pretty simple, pretty straightforward,” Danowski said. Councilman Dave DeMarois questioned a clause in the contract that referred to a supermajority of the council to terminate Titcomb without cause. “I know that our charter is being reviewed,” DeMarois said. “Let’s say next year the charter is changed and takes it down to just a majority. This contract, because it’s a three-year contract, would it still require a supermajority?” Shutt said the wording of the contract would still stand unless the wording were changed. Maniglia said she would not agree to that kind of change. Shorr asked if the charter could be referenced so that it could reflect whatever changes there are in the charter. DeMarois said that clause was locked in with the previous manager. Maniglia said she understood the concern, but Titcomb’s contract is not the same situation. Danowski said she would prefer not to reference the charter in Titcomb’s contract. DeMarois said a similar situaSee MANAGER, page 4
ANNUAL VINCEREMOS DINNER & AUCTION
Many Useful Resources Are Available Through 211 Helpline
Hawk Basketball Girls Easily Defeat Royal Palm Beach 71-18
The Seminole Ridge High School girls varsity basketball team hosted rival Royal Palm Beach High School on Thursday, Jan. 30 and easily defeated the Wildcats 71-18. Page 23 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 20 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE................................... 8 SCHOOLS................................ 9 COLUMNS............................. 18 CALENDAR............................ 20 CLASSIFIEDS................ 21 - 22 SPORTS.......................... 23, 25 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report Tuesday, Feb. 11 — 2/11 — is 2-1-1 Awareness Day. It’s part of a national initiative seeking to generate awareness of the 2-1-1 phone system that connects callers to resources on just about anything that is available in the five county Palm Beach and Treasure Coast area. Part of 16 such local systems in Florida, it covers Palm Beach County as well as Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Indian River counties. The program started as a crisis management program, but now also branches out into a wide array of government services. For example, the suicide pre-
vention hotline rings there. Veterans services for veterans and their families can be helped by knowledgeable veterans staffing those lines, children’s services, special needs services, elder services and much more are available. Just dial 2-1-1. The number is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it is there even if a person merely needs to talk to someone. “We are doing proclamations at more than 90 municipalities in the area to build awareness of the 2-1-1 program,” Community Relations Specialist Patrice Schroeder said. Randee Gabriel, a program manager with 211 Palm Beach/ Treasure Coast, gave one such
presentation at a recent Wellington Village Council meeting, saying that awareness of the existence of the resource line is critical. Mayor Anne Gerwig agreed, noting that she was with a group recently when a person asked about available resources. “Three people said simultaneously, ‘2-1-1,’” she recalled. Gabriel and Schroeder are hoping that the next time such a situation occurs, even more than three will know about the resource line that helps people find important information. “There is phone triage, so the caller presses a button to be directed immediately to the right See HELPLINE, page 4
The Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center held its 33rd annual Dinner & Benefit Auction on Friday, Jan. 31 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Guests dressed in “Wild West Chic” enjoyed a silent and live auction, call to the heart and formal dinner, capped by a mechanical bull riding competition at the end of the night. Shown above are Sarah Menor, Natalie Weaver, Morgan Childs and Jolie Lobdell-Squadrito. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY MEREDITH BUROW/TOWN-CRIER
RPB Seeking Public Input On Village Hall Project
By Denis Eirikis Town-Crier Staff Report The Village of Royal Palm Beach plans to start building a new Village Hall next year, and residents and interested parties are invited to attend a conceptual design public input meeting to be held Thursday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Attendees will be provided with a presentation, including a short video, and be asked to provide comments, input and suggestions as the village builds for the future. Village Manager Ray Liggins said he looks forward to hearing what the public has to say about the project. “Our staff and architects can carefully study something and come up with great ideas, but
public involvement is key,” he said. “Someone from the public invariably has an idea what will make things better. In fact, I regard the rebuilding of the Cultural Center as a huge success exactly because members of the public brought some wonderful ideas that we incorporated into final design. Public input helped turn a good design into a wonderful design that we can all be proud of.” While it has been renovated several times since, the existing Village Hall was built in 1976. Back then, Okeechobee Blvd. was a sleepy, two-lane country road and the village boasted only about 2,800 residents. Since then, the population of the village has increased more than tenfold to about 40,000, and Okeechobee See VILLAGE HALL, page 4
An artist’s rendering of the proposed new Royal Palm Beach Village Hall.