ALLIGATORS, COYOTES A LOCAL CONCERN OPEN HOUSE PROMOTES THE CAPSTONE SEE STORY, PAGE 3 SEE STORY, PAGE 4 THE
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Royal Palm Beach Council Honors Pop Warner National Champs
Volume 41, Number 4 January 24 - January 30, 2020
Serving Palms West Since 1980
POLO FOR A PURPOSE EVENT
The Royal Palm Beach Village Council began its first regular meeting of the new year on Thursday, Jan. 16 by taking a moment to honor the Royal Palm Beach Wildcats youth football team. The team captured the U12 Pop Warner National Championship for the second straight year. Page 3
CAFCI Hosts Its Annual MLK Day Celebration
Freedom — and applause — rang through the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center on Monday, Jan. 20 as hundreds of people attended the 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration hosted by CAFCI. A continental breakfast prior to the event was followed by speeches and live performances remembering the late civil rights leader. Page 7
Relay For Life Glow In The Dark Fun Run Held At RPB Commons Park
The American Cancer Society hosted its Relay for Life Glow in the Dark 5K Fun Run on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. Attendees adorned with glow sticks ran to raise money for cancer programs. Page 11
Wolverines Improve Streak To Four With Victory Over Jupiter
The Wellington High School boys basketball team hosted Jupiter High School on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in a big district matchup, besting the Warriors 58-43 to earn a fourth-straight win. Page 17 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 15 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 6 SPORTS..........................17 - 18 BUSINESS............................. 19 PEOPLE................................. 20 SCHOOLS.............................. 21 COLUMNS............................. 22 CALENDAR............................ 24 CLASSIFIEDS................ 25 - 26 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
Lead by team captain Ashley Busch, polo team Monarch Reign was victorious in this year’s Polo for a Purpose charity match on Monday, Jan. 20, defeating Horse Scout 8-4. The event raised money for childhood cancer patients and their families. Polo for Life Inc. hosted the event, which included a Vendor Village and Kids Zone. After the game was a ticketed auction with an authentic Indian dinner, garnering further proceeds to support childhood cancer organizations. Shown above is polo player Ashley Busch with Polo for Life co-founder and childhood cancer survivor Brandon Phillips, and young cancer heroes Emma LaPaglia, Johan Antigua, Calliah Pierre and Geo Marquez. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY MEREDITH BUROW/TOWN-CRIER
Lox Council Hears Plans To Convert Paintball Site To New Entertainment Park
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council heard plans Tuesday, Jan. 21 by Piquet Entertainment Park to redevelop the existing Hot Shots Paintball property at 16169 Southern Blvd. Council members expressed openness to the plan, as long as it did not violate noise and lighting codes. The proposal would require a large-scale land use plan amendment, rezoning and development of a major site plan. Maria Christina Natanson, representing Piquet Entertainment Park, said the proposed entertainment complex would have family-friendly uses, including bowling, a roller rink, go-carting, rock climbing, arcades, laser tag and restaurants, as well as a picnic area around one of the two water
bodies on the site and a community room for use by residents. Natanson said the owner, Nelson Piquet, is a former Brazilian racecar driving champion who also works with recognized racetrack designers. She added that the developer will work to preserve trees and water bodies on the property. Joni Brinkman with Urban Design Kilday Studios said her firm is working with the developers to assist them through the process. “You are all familiar with this property,” Brinkman said. “It’s about 19.5 acres, and it’s located in the southwest boundary of the town’s borders. Duck Puddle Farm is to the north with Palm Beach State College to the east, and to the west is unincorporated Palm Beach County.” The current zoning is commercial recreation, carried forward
from county zoning before the town incorporated, although the town’s land use designation is rural residential with one housing unit per five acres. “Obviously, it is an existing paintball facility,” she said. “We have met with town staff, and as this property does not have a land use designation associated with it right now that would allow for the commercial recreation to be developed further in your town, we would have to process a largescale land use amendment, which requires that it be transmitted to the state for review. When it comes back, we would have to process a rezoning and also a site plan approval, which most likely would be a commercial planned development.” Brinkman said the developer plans to comply with all the town’s See LOX COUNCIL, page 7
ITID Working With New Contractor To Finish Acreage Community Park
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail improvement District Board of Supervisors heard an update Wednesday, Jan. 22 on the status of Acreage Community Park and the change of contractors required to finish the project. The meeting was held at Royal Palm Beach Village Hall due to flooding from a leaky water heater at the ITID office. ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson pointed out that the board terminated its contract with Rosso Site Development in December after several delays in finishing the largely completed park expansion. “Right now, we are working with a new potential contractor,” Hanson said. “Unfortunately, we could not have the agreement prepared for tonight’s meeting because they were still working on some of the cost estimates. Also, not only our legal, but also our special legal counsel relating to the construction aspect of it has not had a chance to review everything.” Hanson said the current goal is to have the contract on the agenda at the Wednesday, Feb. 12 meeting, which will include all the costs for completing the project and also fixing any problems caused by the previous contractor. Hanson said a meeting was scheduled with Craig A. Smith & Associates, the construction manager, as well as the new potential contractor, Jock Trucking. ITID staff will also be at the meeting, he said, adding that ITID Operations & Maintenance Director Rob Robinson will have a bigger role
to make sure the project stays on schedule. “We’re anticipating that it won’t take more than 90 days, and it could be less than 90 days, for them to complete the project once the contract is executed and they receive notification to proceed,” Hanson said. ITID President Betty Argue pointed out that the contract coming back to the board will not include all repair estimates for damage done to completed work. “The contractor can’t look into the crystal ball and know that until they get in and start working,” Argue said. “They have already let us know that. There are some things that we anticipate. We’re going to try to have those things, at least have a unit price, and address it from that perspective… Other items that need to be repaired or redone will be a claim against the bond. We’ve verified that with the bond counsel.” Hanson said there are visible damages to the project that will be included. “They should be included, but any damage that’s not seen, the unintended or unseen aspect, we will not have that and have to come back at some point,” he said, adding that he felt the meeting with the bond counsel had been productive and that he had taken them to see damage at the site. In other business, the board approved a request by Florida Power & Light to convey a 40-foot easement to the Sabal Palm Solar Energy Center for a 230-kilowatt transmission line, which will run west from the M Canal for about 1.5 miles. The transmission line See ITID, page 13
TEMPLE BETH TORAH MASQUERADE GALA
RPB Seeks Resident Input In Planning Crestwood North Park By Denis Eirikis Town-Crier Staff Report The Village of Royal Palm Beach is planning a new park to be built along the M-1 Canal, adjacent to the Lennar’s new BellaSera neighborhood. The park will be along Crestwood Blvd. North, across the canal from H.L. Johnson Elementary School. The village is actively seeking input from all residents through January, and a public input meeting was held at the Royal Palm Beach Recreation Center on Tuesday, Jan. 21 to solicit comments and feedback on the new five-acre facility, tentatively named Crestwood North Park. Royal Palm Beach Parks &
Recreation Director Lou Recchio explained that the village is pursuing a $400,000 recreation grant through the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The LWCF is a federal program that provides grants for acquisition or development of land for public outdoor recreation. The competitive grant program promotes and fosters partnerships to enhance and sustain Florida’s natural and cultural resources, and to provide increased outdoor recreational opportunities for Florida’s citizens and visitors. The park sits on five acres of M-1 Canal waterfront that the developers of BellaSera were required to set aside for a village
park that will be open to the public. Recchio explained that the village is formally required to get input from residents before applying for the $400,000 grant, which the village would be required to match. Recchio estimated that the entire project, including design work in 2021 and construction in 2022, would cost about $1 million. Madison Green resident Joanne Diasio came out to the meeting to ask the village to place an emphasis on boating, kayaking and fishing. “I’d like to see the entire waterfront to be one long covered boardwalk where people have plenty of room to intermingle and fish,” she See RPB PARK, page 4
Wellington’s Temple Beth Torah celebrated its inaugural Service Award Masquerade Gala on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Wellington National Golf Club. Stephanie and Roger Grave de Peralta (shown above) were recognized for their years of service and support. Guests were treated to a masqueradethemed gala with cocktails, dinner, silent and live auction items, and casino games. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 15 PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER
Wellington Eyes Foreclosing On Big Blue Preserve
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report A disagreement years in the making is winding its way through the court system. The end result could be the Village of Wellington assuming ownership of the controversial Big Blue Preserve. The Big Blue Preserve is a 92acre Cypress hammock, the largest remaining stand in South Florida, and an important environmental conservation area frequented by many native animals. It is surrounded by the Palm Beach Polo community and owned by Glenn Straub. The fact that it is preserve land on private property has been a difficulty for the village, and a bone of contention with Straub,
dating back nearly to Wellington’s incorporation. After accruing more than $6 million in code enforcement fines, the Village of Wellington has now taken action to foreclose on the property. “We have just filed a motion for summary judgment on the matter,” Village Attorney Laurie Cohen said. “It has to be set for hearing, and if the court enters judgment in our favor, it will schedule a sale of the property. I would say the whole process could take up to six months, but it is always possible that the court could deny the motion for summary judgment. If that happens, then we will have to have a trial. That would likely take longer. It’s
very hard to estimate the timeline at this point.” The current situation began when the village acted to enforce land development regulations and PUD master plan regulations some 15 years ago. “The preserve and Polo are the successor to the developer, and is, therefore, bound to the PUD,” Cohen said. She said that in a 2004 court order, the owner was required to submit a restoration plan and a habitat plan for the entire preserve. The village filed comments on the plan, and the owner never responded to the comments. Cohen continued that just over five years ago, Straub clear-cut some 4.5 acres of preserve land.
The village stopped further such action with a code enforcement suit, and the magistrate ordered that the measure be rectified with a daily fine applied, which was upheld by an appeals court. That fine now amounts to about $6.5 million. While it is hard to put a price on environmentally sensitive land, often referred to as a treasure, the magistrate does, and the parcel in question isn’t worth the $6 million owed. “The 4.5 acres won’t cover the fine, so we are foreclosing on the entire preserve,” said Cohen, who added that if the village wins the summary judgment, there are no other junior lien holders. Cohen said that if the court al-
lows the foreclosure, someone can buy the parcel at auction for the amount of the fine plus as little as $1, if they outbid other potential purchasers. “They used to auction on the courthouse steps; now it is done electronically,” she said. In a judicial sale, the buyer would get legal, clear title to the land. But the parcel’s future is not in legal jeopardy. “The buyer would still be the successor to the developer and is still bound to the PUD, which states the land will be protected in perpetuity,” Cohen said. However, Wellington is not expecting to actually take ownership, although it is a possibility. “I don’t think it will come to See BIG BLUE, page 7