GAUNTLET OF POLO RETURNING TO IPC SEE STORY, PAGE 3
WATCH OUT FOR VACCINE SCAMMERS SEE STORY, PAGE 4
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TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE PBC Legislators Support Bill Banning Fireworks In Equestrian Areas
Volume 42, Number 2 January 15 - January 28, 2021
Serving Palms West Since 1980
LOX GROVES TRAIL RIDE POKER RUN
The Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation approved without objection a proposed bill prohibiting the use of fireworks in Wellington’s Equestrian Overlay Zoning District on Thursday, Jan. 7 during a hearing on local bills held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Page 3 PHOTO BY SPORTFOT
McLain Ward Soars To Victory In $75,000 Bainbridge Grand Prix
McLain Ward capped off the first week of competition at the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival with top honors on Sunday, Jan. 10 in the $75,000 Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix. Ward and Catoki topped four speedy entries with the only double clear effort of the day to claim the title. Page 15
RPBHS Girls Basketball Focused On Getting Better Every Day
Royal Palm Beach High School varsity girls basketball coach Ivana Soberal has high expectations for her team this year. She understands that the key to the annual success of her program is rooted in her players’ ability to grasp and eventually master basketball’s fundamental skills. Page 21
PBCHS Basketball Girls Chasing Hardwood Dreams
Teamwork will make the dream work. It may be a cliché, but that’s what is necessary for the Palm Beach Central High School varsity girls basketball team to achieve its dream of finishing the regular season on a high note and then making a deep run in the state playoffs. Page 21 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE.............................. 8 - 9 SCHOOLS.............................. 10 COLUMNS............................. 16 BUSINESS............................. 19 SPORTS................................. 21 CLASSIFIEDS.................23 - 24 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The second annual Loxahatchee Groves Scholarship Trail Ride & Poker Run was held Sunday, Jan. 10. A total of 49 riders helped raise $2,000 for scholarships through the 5.6-mile trail ride. Shown above, Karen Rayside on Echo takes a card from Brad Rae of sponsor Southern Palms Bed & Breakfast. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Wellington’s Equestrian Committee Offers Input On Proposed Golf Cart Rules
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington’s Equestrian Preserve Committee gave input Wednesday, Jan. 6 on the village’s plans for a new golf cart ordinance. Assistant Planning, Zoning & Building Director Michael O’Dell has been making the rounds of local public forums, boards and advisory committees as he seeks input on the proposed regulations. A presentation on the public input is expected to head to the Wellington Village Council in the spring. Last week’s presentation was much the same as the one offered at previous forums on the topic. Now that pathways of more than 12 feet wide are being completed, and others are being widened from their current eight-foot width, it is expected that golf cart use will grow. The proposed rules would apply to use not only on the pathways, but elsewhere in the village.
O’Dell’s slides explain that state law makes it legal to use golf carts on local streets that have a posted speed limit of less than 25 mph, within HOAs, on a golf course or private property. If a golf cart is street legal, it is a different type of vehicle in the eyes of the law. It will have a vehicle identification number, a license plate and must meet other motor vehicle requirements and follow the same regulations as a car. Such vehicles can be driven on any roadway with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less. They must be driven by a licensed driver. Such vehicles are actually considered a slow-moving car and, therefore, are not permitted on the pathways. Wellington is currently accepting input to develop regulations to allow traditional golf carts to be legally used on its pathways. This is of particular interest to the equestrian community. Golf carts have been a source of internal
transportation for local equestrians for years. The draft ordinance recommends a maximum speed of 15 mph on pathways, and requires drivers to be licensed and at least 16 years old. “The council is trying to help the village by adopting something that works for the community in Wellington,” O’Dell said. Further, the ordinance also provides occupancy limitations, requires a Wellington registration sticker, certain safety equipment and the signature of the golf cart’s owner to acknowledge that the owner understands the rules. Committee members had a wide-ranging number of questions: Where does the money from the fee go? (To the village to fund the registration program.) How do you prove you have insurance? (You do so when you get the sticker from the village.) Can you See GOLF CARTS, page 7
Health Director: County Working To Solve Vaccine Supply Shortages
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Florida Department of HealthPalm Beach County Director Dr. Alina Alonso told the Palm Beach County Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 12 that her staff is looking into shortages of COVID-19 vaccines coming in from state and federal sources, as well as problems getting appointments. “What I really want to concentrate on is talking about the vaccine and let you know how we’re proceeding,” Alonso said. “This is an ever-changing and moving situation.” She said many hospitals are in trouble nationwide as the number of cases soar. “We continue to be number one in the world in terms of cases with 22 million cases,” she said. “Next
closest to us is India, followed by Brazil. In terms of the states with the highest numbers, there is California and Texas, and Florida is number three.” Florida surpassed its previous high peak in December with a new spike on Jan. 2, bringing the number of cases to more than 302,000. “We had the feeling that the curve was coming down,” she said. “But we’re not sure this curve is coming down yet.” Vaccinations, per the governor’s order, are only for residents and staff of long-term care facilities, people age 65 years and over, and healthcare personnel, she said. “The issue here is that a lot of people want to get vaccinated because they have co-morbidities,” See VACCINES, page 18
OPENING DAY AT IPC
Opening day of the 2021 season arrived at the International Polo Club Palm Beach on Sunday, Jan. 3, beginning with the Bobby Barry Cup final, in which Palm Beach Equine defeated Beverly Equestrian 13-11. Shown above, Palm Beach Equine’s Gringo Colombres was named Most Valuable Player. SEE STORY, PAGE 15 PHOTO BY ALEX PACHECO
Attorneys Update Westlake On Lox Council Eyes Road Connection Litigation Chip Seal Paving To Fix OGEM Roads
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Seminole Improvement District Attorney Robert Diffenderfer addressed the Westlake City Council on Monday, Jan. 11 regarding litigation that SID has filed against the Indian Trail Improvement District, which is trying to block road access from Westlake. “That litigation was filed jointly with Minto to Indian Trail, which intends to block roadways to the east,” Diffenderfer said. “There is an issue, which has been around for a long time, about the legal entitlements to accessing the roads. It has been a live issue for Indian Trail.” He said that a mediation date has been set for Wednesday, Feb. 3 between ITID, Minto and SID that he feels positive about. “I tend to be optimistic by nature, so I’m optimistic about this one,” Diffenderfer said. “It will be
an opportunity which we haven’t had, to let both sides sit down and both sides talk. For various reasons, we haven’t been able to do that in the past.” He said SID’s position is that it has had a mutual right of way agreement for access with ITID since 1966, when Callery-Judge Grove bought the land that is now the City of Westlake. No significant development had occurred at that time in the area. “The parties wanted to make sure they at least had access to their respective properties, so they got into this mutual property agreement that allows for a mutual, non-exclusive right of way to get in and out,” Diffenderfer said. “Basically, they bought a piece of property that was otherwise landlocked.” The area that was described was a 100-foot strip along the northern edge that is now 60th Street
North. “They dedicated all of that for those purposes in favor of the general public,” he said. Diffenderfer said Palm Beach County has designated 60th Street and Persimmon Blvd. as thoroughfare roads. “The issue of access is probably not popular in a lot of people’s minds out here,” he said. “But the issue has been around forever.” Diffenderfer believes that it is important for the Seminole Improvement District to maintain a strong position to retain access if ITID chooses to deny the road connections. However, he does not yet know exactly what ITID wants. “We have not had a sit-down,” Diffenderfer said. “The position they have taken in their pleadings is that a mutual right of way agreement does not mean that those properties to the east are not See ROAD SUIT, page 4
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Loxahatchee Groves Public Works Director Larry Peters made a presentation Tuesday, Jan. 5 to the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council regarding a proposed new method to repair OGEM roads using a chip seal process. Peters said he has been working with several contractors to come up with a means to improve degraded roads that were paved with open-graded emulsified mix (OGEM) years ago and found a contractor who could repair the roads using chip seal process. “I’ve walked the roads with this gentleman, and he’s given us a proposal,” Peters said. “He has a contract with Lee County to provide these exact same items, and he’s here to give a presentation.”
Peters explained that the company had offered to do all 12 miles of OGEM roads at once or in fourmile segments over three years. Kris Shane with Asphalt Paving Systems said his company does all types of paving and believes that he and Peters had come up with a permanent solution to fix the town’s OGEM roads. Shane said the process is in two steps, beginning with a six-inch to eight-inch soil and cement subsurface, over which the chip seal surface is applied. The soil and cement base is solid and resistant to damage caused from standing water. “Chip seal is one of the oldest forms of paving,” he said. “It has been around since the 1890s. It’s still widely used all over the UnitSee CHIP SEAL, page 4
Delegation Supports ITID Incorporation Study Bill
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Without objections, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation accepted the Indian Trail Improvement District’s local bill to allow the study of incorporation on Thursday, Jan. 7 at a hearing held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. State Rep. Rick Roth (R-District 85), who sponsored the bill, noted that it was the second year that the bill has been submitted. “It was approved unanimously by our delegation last year,” Roth said. The bill died in committee last year and never made it to the floor for a vote.
“This is an incorporation bill, and we did make a change in order to require 10 percent of residents to sign a petition in order to be able to have a referendum to incorporate,” Roth said. “This is a good bill, and I believe an appropriate way to move forward for the Indian Trail Improvement District.” ITID President Betty Argue said her board had approved resubmission of the bill. She pointed out that ITID has grown since it was created in 1957 for water management purposes. “Indian Trail now maintains not only 162.4 miles of canals, but also nine rural and equestrian parks and more than 458 miles of roads,” she said.
ITID was created for the purpose of reclaiming the lands within its boundaries for water control and water supply, as well as protecting the boundaries from the effects of water by using construction and maintenance of canals, ditches, levees and dykes, pumping plants and other works and improvements, Argue explained. The legislative boundaries include about 17,000 lots encompassing 110-plus square miles, along with citrus groves and sugar cane production. As a special district, ITID provides drainage, road grading, road improvements, and parks and recreation programming. “We are the local government
for the taxpayers in The Acreage. We have approximately 45,000 residents,” Argue said, explaining that ITID is filing the bill to make necessary boundary revisions to remove, not add, certain lands from the boundaries. The district also wants to propose a procedure to study the feasibility of an elector-initiated conversion of the district to a municipality, subject to the execution of interlocal agreements with the Village of Royal Palm Beach and the City of Palm Beach Gardens. She added that over the past several years, there have been attempts by neighborhood groups or individuals to create a munici-
pality. But there has never been a referendum conducted on incorporation. “After careful consideration, our board felt that the district is the appropriate entity to study the feasibility of the conversion, to review the feasibility study and develop a draft charter with an incorporation committee that includes members of our public, and then to conduct a referendum based on facts and community input,” Argue said. “The referendum could not be done without a 10 percent petition of the registered voters.” A motion was made to support the bill, which carried without opposition.