ART FEST IN WELLINGTON ON JAN. 26-27 SEE STORY, PAGE 3
SHOOTING RANGE NEARS COMPLETION SEE STORY, PAGE 4
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Volume 40, Number 1 January 4 - January 10, 2019
Serving Palms West Since 1980
2019 POLO SEASON OPENS AT IPC
Memorial Service On Jan. 10 Will Honor Slain PBSO K9 Cigo
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is not alone in mourning K9 Cigo, the first ever K9 officer killed in the line of duty in Palm Beach County. Inviting the community to help honor the fallen K9, a public memorial service for Cigo will take place on Thursday, Jan. 10 at the Coral Sky Amphitheater at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Page 3
The 2019 high-goal polo season’s opening day at the International Polo Club Palm Beach got off to an exciting start on Sunday, Dec. 30 with Dutta Corp claiming an 11-10 victory over Patagones in the Herbie Pennell Cup final. From ice cream and champagne during the half-time divot stomp to amazing sports cars, the event was a day for all ages to enjoy. Shown above, Christine Wheeler, Johanna Klausen, Mary Bryant McCourt, Lucine Dadrian and Helene Siegel enjoy tailgating. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10 PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER
Royal Palm Will Begin Planning Several New Projects In 2019
Historical Society Welcomes The New Year At Wellington National
The Wellington Historical Society celebrated the start of 2019 with its inaugural New Year’s Eve Bash on Monday, Dec. 31 at the Wellington National Golf Club. The evening featured a gourmet dinner and dancing, raising money for the new Wellington Historical Society. Page 7
Sem Ridge Basketball Girls Win Rising Stars Holiday Tournament
On Thursday, Dec. 27 and Friday, Dec. 28, the Seminole Ridge High School girls basketball team competed in the Rising Stars Athletics Holiday Tournament and made school history by winning the championship 61-38 against Palm Beach Central High School. Sixteen teams competed in two divisions. Page 19 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE................................... 8 SCHOOLS................................ 9 BUSINESS............................. 15 COLUMNS............................. 16 CALENDAR............................ 18 SPORTS......................... 19 - 20 CLASSIFIEDS................ 21 - 22 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report With several existing projects just finished or nearing completion, Royal Palm Beach residents can expect several new improvements in the planning and development stages during 2019, village officials told the Town-Crier this week. While the newly renovated and expanded Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center has just opened, Village Manager Ray Liggins is already looking forward to the community’s next major upgrades. “The two new things that are going to have an impact on residents in the village for years into the future are the plans for the remodel and expansion of the recreation center and potentially village hall,” Liggins said. These projects will be a major point of discussion for the Royal Palm Beach Village Council this year.
“The architect is putting together some ideas, adding more space for offices and rental space, showing where we can expand,” Liggins added. “These will be presented to the council at a planning session in April. Following that, based on estimates and budget, we’ll go down the path of having some public input meetings on it.” Mayor Fred Pinto agreed that these major initiatives will be discussed and decided over the coming year, hopefully with plenty of public input. He said that he is looking forward to discussing the future of the Royal Palm Beach Recreation Center in April. These large projects are just in the beginning stages. “There’s no money in the budget for it yet,” Liggins stressed. “What’s new is the concept of adding to and remodeling both facilities. They are very significant
projects… Money-wise, these are probably our two biggest projects going forward, and the planning starts this year.” Liggins also noted that the village has a continuing goal of keeping services up and taxes down. “We have our goal to balance the budget with no tax increase,” he said. In other projects, the council will be having a communication strategy meeting soon, with the village’s web site and electronic plan review process being updated and enhanced. “Some of the other things that we put a lot of effort into and will continue to put effort into in 2019 is to work toward making our four major community events, all held at Commons Park, even better than they are,” Liggins said. These are the Seafood Fest/West Fest event held in the spring, the Fourth of July celebration, the Fall See ROYAL PALM, page 4
2019 Wellington Plans Keep Focus On Quality Of Life
By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Village of Wellington’s goals will remain much the same in 2019 with an objective of maintaining a premium standard of living while further improving quality of life for residents. “We want to continue focusing on the day-to-day operations of the village maintenance and capital improvements, but at the same time continue to get new amenities, schedule new activities and hopefully get resident input on those types of options to keep it a great hometown,” Assistant Village Manager Jim Barnes told the Town-Crier this week. Day-to-day operations include existing resources and existing facilities that will have new features, including adding and maintaining roads and sidewalks, parks and other facilities, assessing and maintaining the existing infrastructure, and recommending a replacement process. “We are in good shape in the event of a storm event,” said Barnes, who noted that Wellington’s annual paving program goes on every year to improve the quality of roads and other basic infrastructure in the community. Those capital improvements include building new infrastructure to continue to provide efficient, quality service and meet federal standards. For example, the village is currently constructing new, modern water treatment and wastewater treatment plants concurrently. “They are $17 million each and have been in the planning for years,” Vice Mayor Michael Drahos said. “All the money is saved and accounted for in the utilities fund. It is possibly our biggest initiative for 2019.” Both are major projects, Barnes said. “We’re in the early stages of
improving the water plant, and we are in the mid-phase for the wastewater plant. In addition to the plant work on the utility side, we can do the study evaluation and analysis of the utility system water lines and sewer lines throughout the village,” Barnes explained. “We can identify areas that need replacement, going through that process of evaluating and making condition assessments of the existing lines that are in place, and based on the results of that, recommending projects for the replacement of lines.” Mayor Anne Gerwig is proud of the many activities and events done for the enjoyment of Wellington residents. “There’s going to be more of the same great hometown events,” she said. “We have the amphitheater programming that is ongoing, the lakeside events will continue, the successful Bacon & Bourbon Fest event will be returning, and several craft beer events are in the works.” Gerwig invited residents to check out the events calendar online at www.wellingtonfl.gov/ events to see the latest about what’s going on in the community. Barnes gave more specifics about upcoming local activities. “Existing events will continue, such as the schedule of concerts at the amphitheater, and we will have three or four of the family fun days in the first quarter,” he said. “There is Brewfest, a craft beer festival, in February; a four-day Pop-Up Biergarten in March; and the Bacon & Bourbon event will be held again in March as well.” Drahos believes that the social activities are an important part of the village’s lifestyle. “They really have a community feel and are one of the strengths of Wellington,” he said. One project that might come See WELLINGTON, page 4
CAFCI WELCOMES NEW YEAR IN RPB
ITID Will Direct Resources Where Most Needed In 2019
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Indian Trail Improvement District will see greater focus in 2019 on the implementation of programs that have already been put in place in recent years. Betty Argue, president of the ITID Board of Supervisors, said the district is in good shape financially, and the board will concentrate on working more efficiently. “I keep saying that we have to stay the course with our focus on the drainage infrastructure,” Argue told the Town-Crier on Wednesday. “We’re going to be stepping up our lobbying effort relating to water drainage projects and going after funding for canal restoration, as well as trying to make the district more efficient, so that all of our resources are being productive.” Argue believes that the district is well on its way toward goals that were implemented in recent years.
“I’m looking forward to the completion of Acreage Community Park and moving forward into the next phase of improvements with respect to horse trails, traffic calming and the R3 road plan,” she said. “We have a public hearing, and notifications have been sent out.” The R3 plan, which is designed to improve general purpose roads, will be discussed in a special workshop on Jan. 31. The district is also working with Santa Rosa Groves to make that rural neighborhood an activated unit, so ITID can help resolve drainage issues that arose during severe rains last spring. “We’re having another public information meeting for the residents of Santa Rosa Groves on Jan. 8 to answer any questions, because the HOA is having a vote to ask the landowners,” Argue said. “They’re asking the residents if they want to activate as
an Indian Trail unit and turn over all the easements related to the South Florida Water Management District permit to ITID.” ITID Manager Rob Robinson, who was promoted last year from director of operations and maintenance, is doing a great job learning the administrative role, Argue said, adding that he has put together a good team to focus on the priorities of the district. “He has been really good about putting together the right people to get the job done,” Argue said. “I’m really happy with that. I’m looking forward to his ability to lead the district where the board is wanting to go.” ITID is also working on increasing its water storage capacity, which will be discussed at a special workshop in January. “I really wanted to set up a workshop with the new board members to get a comprehensive presentation and See ITID, page 4
CAFCI hosted its 29th annual New Year’s Eve Gala on Monday, Dec. 31 at the newly renovated Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center with dinner and a midnight champagne toast. DJ Mighty Mike kept the party going while guests enjoyed door prizes, a 50/50 raffle and more. Shown above are Winsome GenusMartin and Junette Powell. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5
Lox Groves Ready To Address Challenges In 2019
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Town of Loxahatchee Groves has a number of challenges in 2019, including the search for a new manager or management company, maintaining and improving infrastructure, and re-establishing a working relationship with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Town Manager Bill Underwood told the Town-Crier this week that his immediate focus is on infrastructure issues. “We’re moving forward with getting a grader,” he said. “We’ve got three good employees who are operators with the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District. We’ve patched a lot of potholes. We’ve laid a lot of rock, and we’re
going to be putting down much more rock real soon.” Funding will be through a combination of gas tax money, district funds and the general fund, Underwood said. “We’ve completed roughly a dozen catch basins on the roads, and we’re continuing that program,” Underwood said. “Hopefully, we’ll try to get more than that done this year, so the roads drain well. We’ve done a lot of repairs to the canal banks where they’re sloughing off.” Underwood said the equipment that the town inherited from the LGWCD required a lot of repairs. “It was not working very well,” Underwood said. “If the equipment they sold was worse than the equipment we have, then I guess
it’s a good thing they sold it. It has been continual repairs.” Replacing the equipment will be slow, he said, since the town currently does not have the ability to take out loans for more than 36 months. There is also a charter question on the March referendum asking voters if they want the town to allow a loan for up to 10 years in order to provide 50-50 matching funds to residents who want their roads paved. A policy was approved for residents to apply for road improvements with a 50-50 match, but the companion referendum item failed the first time it was on the ballot, so the town is trying again. “We’ll see how that goes, and we’ll be able to do some road
repairs, assuming it passes,” Underwood said. “We’re going to try to get another tractor for mowing because we’ve had some issues with the large and smaller tractors.” Other plans include selling or trading in the long-reach excavator. “We’re going to swap that out for other equipment because it really doesn’t fit very well in Loxahatchee Groves,” he said. “Most of the berms are too narrow.” The town will continue work on its equestrian trail system, which recently opened up due to the LGWCD’s acquisition of ownership of canal easements before the district merged with the town. “We’ve opened all the gates, and one of our issues, which is
why we need a new mower, is to keep the berms mowed so they can be used,” Underwood said. “We mailed out to all of the landowners where they abut the berm advising them that they were being opened up, and if they had a concern or issue, that they should contact us. Thus far, we’ve had less than a dozen folks [respond].” The council will continue its search for a new manager or management company to run the town, which began with the hiring of an assistant manager and district engineer. “A manager search firm comes in next week,” Underwood said. “We’ll see where that goes.” Underwood said the major issue will be whether a new manager or See LOX GROVES, page 18