RPB SENIOR EXPO RETURNS ON JULY 22 SEE STORY, PAGE 4
CHAMBER EXPLORES LOCAL TOURISM SEE STORY, PAGE 7
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TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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Wellington Bids Farewell To Retiring Clerk Awilda Rodriguez
Volume 37, Number 27 July 1 - July 7, 2016
Serving Palms West Since 1980
TOASTMASTERS SPEAKFEST 2016
The Wellington Village Council and Florida Association of City Clerks honored retiring Village Clerk Awilda Rodriguez for her 32 years of service on Tuesday. Page 3
Vacation Bible School At St. Peter’s Church
The children’s ministry at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Wellington held its vacation bible school from June 20-24. The theme was “Cave Quest,” where spelunkers (cave explorers) learned religious teachings from the Bible. Page 5
Wellington Foundation Helps Village Campers
Wellington Community Foundation board members met with campers from Wellington’s Parks and Recreation Department on Tuesday morning. The foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to improve the lives of Wellington residents, provided five Wellington children with camp scholarships. Page 7
Palms West Amateur Radio Club Takes Part In National Field Day
The Palms West Amateur Radio Club took part in the ARRL National Field Day at Okeeheelee Park’s Osceola Pavilion last weekend. Field Day tests the capabilities of emergency radio equipment should it be needed during an emergency. Page 15
OPINION Let The Sights & Sounds Of Patriotism Light Up Your Fourth Of July
America loves its three-day holiday weekends — and this particular extended time off is 240 years in the making! Yes, our nation’s Independence Day will be observed this Monday, and amidst the pomp, circumstance and fireworks displays, we have an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how far we have yet to go, as a democratic nation. Page 4
DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS................................. 3 - 9 OPINION.................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 6 PEOPLE................................. 10 SCHOOLS.............................. 11 COLUMNS...................... 12, 19 BUSINESS..................... 20 - 21 SPORTS..........................27 - 29 CALENDAR............................ 32 CLASSIFIEDS.................34 - 37 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The Riverwalk Toastmasters Club presented its SpeakFest 2016 on Saturday, June 25 at Asador Patagonia Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach. Motivational speakers gave guests points to ponder. It was a chance to hone public speaking skills with critiques from experienced speakers. The event included a luncheon buffet and raffles. Shown here are speakers Chris Seville, Derek McSween, Mike Williams, Brooke Samples, Mark Gai, Bryan Hayes, Jay Zeager and Dr. Godfrey McAllister. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Four Candidates File For Seat 2 On Indian Trail Board
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Four candidates have filed to seek Seat 2 on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Supervisor Gary Dunkley will face challengers Ryan Bernal, Steve Roberts and Tim Sayre on the Aug. 30 primary election ballot. Three candidates, incumbent Supervisor Michelle Damone and challengers Betty Argue and Keith Jordano, are vying for Seat 4. If a candidate in either election does not receive more than 50 percent of the votes on Aug. 30, the top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election ballot. Candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the votes on Aug. 30 will be elected outright to a four-year term. Bernal, a financial analyst for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, said he is running out of traffic concerns in The Acreage. “There have been quite a few accidents rather close up and down Hall Blvd.,” Bernal said.
“I’ve grown up out here. My family moved up from Broward some years ago, and for being community roads, they’re not the safest roads. There have been a number of fatal accidents that have happened quite recently, and these are not accidents happening on Seminole Pratt or Northlake. These are accidents happening on Hall, Tangerine and Key Lime.” Bernal believes that ITID has been slow in addressing the high number of accidents. “If I win, maybe I could proactively address these incidents,” Bernal said, adding that most of the people who live in The Acreage are families with children who attend school and use the sidewalks near the roads. “My wife was involved in a rollover on Hall and Temple a year ago with my infant daughter,” he said. “Luckily they’re all right, but we were very fortunate. Others haven’t been.” He also believes that ITID did not do a good job handling issues surrounding Minto’s Westlake
development. “It just seemed like the district kind of rolled over, and it seems there’s no proactive measures being taken for the increased traffic that’s going to happen once GL Homes, Minto and Avenir eventually break ground,” Bernal said. “I’d like to see them be more proactive rather than reactive.” He added that drainage is always an issue in The Acreage, but his main priority is getting the roads ready for the surge in traffic and trying to keep as much of it as possible out of The Acreage and on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Northlake Blvd. “I don’t want to see Temple and Key Lime and Tangerine and Citrus Grove become highways from people trying to find shortcuts,” Bernal said. On drainage, he wants to stay ahead of the issue and not be surprised by storms because of malfunctions in the system. Bernal noted that there is no particular reason he chose to run for See ITID VOTE, page 14
Two New Supervisors Claim Seats On The LGWCD Board
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Two new supervisors — Anita Kane and Simon Fernandez — were elected to the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors at the district’s annual landowners meeting Monday, unseating 18-year veteran Supervisor David DeMarois by a wide margin. Former Supervisor John Ryan chose not to seek re-election. Voting for both seats was based on acreage and proxy balloting, rather than one-person, one vote. Only one seat, held by Supervisor Laura Danowski, is elected by popular vote.
Kane won the first round of voting with 1,884, defeating DeMarois, who had 976. Fernandez won the second round of voting with 1,919, defeating DeMarois, who had 941. Neither of the results was contested. LGWCD Attorney Mary Viator explained that proxy voting consists of a landowner allowing another person to cast a vote for the owner if he or she is unable to be there. While waiting for the results of the first round, Kane, who chairs the town’s Finance Advisory & Audit Committee, thanked residents for showing up.
“There’s a really nice group of people here tonight, and I think that’s wonderful,” she said. “Regardless of what happens this evening, I do want to let everybody know that I have really enjoyed traveling the 8,000 acres of Loxahatchee Groves the last couple of months. I’ve heard a lot of stories and met some really spectacular people, and it really is an honor to be in this community and be a part of the community.” Fernandez, who owns several local businesses, said the board needs to get the district back on track. “There’s a lot of people who See LGWCD, page 7
Wellington Council Agrees To Return Fluoride Into Water
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council reinstated water fluoridation after an almost four-hour public forum on Tuesday that included dentists and pediatricians speaking in favor and members of the Fluoride Action Network speaking against. The village started fluoridation in 1999, but it was discontinued in 2014. The forum started off with fluoridation opponents alleging that they had not been properly noticed of the format of the meeting. Village Manager Paul Schofield said staff had properly advertised the meeting on May 25, but no specific invitations had been sent to advocates on either side of the debate. He said they had received a response from the Fluoride Action Network on May 31. Naomi Flack of Palm Beach Gardens, with the Fluoride Action Network, told council members that they had not been told that a representative would be able to speak for 15 minutes. Mayor Anne Gerwig said that all the meetings had been public, including discussion of the format for the hearing. About 40 people spoke, who were about evenly divided for and against fluoridation. Village Engineer Bill Riebe led off the discussion with a staff presentation, noting that it was essentially the same as the one made by staff in 2014. Riebe reported that research on fluoride began in the early 1900s. In the 1930s, researchers discovered that low levels of fluoride reduce tooth decay. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first community to fluoridate drinking water. By 2013, 70 percent of the U.S. population was receiving fluoridated drinking water. The village evaluated its fluoridation program between 2000 and 2014 and reported no adverse health effects, but in 2014, the
council discontinued the program in a 3-2 decision. “It was thought to be in the best interests of public health at the time,” Riebe said. He said fluoride naturally occurs in Wellington water at 0.2 micrograms per liter, and is present in the village’s finished water at about 0.12 micrograms per liter. The hydrofluorosilicic acid that was used in the village water is mined in Florida and certified by the National Science Foundation, he pointed out. “It’s pretty toxic stuff in pure form,” he said, adding that it is used in very small amounts. “We know how to handle it safely.” He added that the process is carefully monitored by the Palm Beach County Health Department and the Florida Environmental Protection Agency. The recommended amount is from 0.5 to 0.68 micrograms per liter. The level would be monitored every two to four hours, and the process automatically shuts down if the level exceeds the limit. Riebe said anti-fluoridation advocates talk about arsenic that occurs naturally with fluoride, but the level is well below the dangerous level, and is below detectible levels in the finished water. He pointed out that the American Dental Association and Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S Department of Health & Human Services and numerous other health organizations all strongly recommend fluoridation. Riebe said that six Palm Beach County utilities, including Palm Beach County and the City of West Palm Beach, about 50 percent of the population, receive fluoridated drinking water, and all of Broward County receives fluoridated water. The cost to fluoridate would be about 63 cents per person per year, he said. Riebe also pointed out that opponents claim that fluoridation causes a variety of adverse health See FLUORIDE, page 14
Cultural Center Expansion Plans Moving Ahead
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report It will be two years before the project is completed, but plans are being finalized for the longawaited expansion of the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Village officials conducted a workshop in February regarding the facility’s expansion, and now the results of that workshop are coming into place. “We’ve got the plans. We’ve finalized that. We have a formulation for the budget, and hopefully we’ll get into the crux of the expansion in the next budget year, which starts in October,” Royal Palm Beach Parks & Recreation Director Lou Recchio said. “You’re looking at 2018 as far as having the whole project completed.”
There was a programming meeting last September, followed by a site analysis in December. In 2016, there has been a review of the conceptual plans in February, followed by public input shortly thereafter. In May, the conceptual plans were revised and the plan was presented to the Royal Palm Beach Village Council. Now, the village is working on cost estimates before finalizing the plans. Since the design is done, Recchio explained, the architect is online, and the council has to be in agreement. The next step is going to bid to get a general contractor to start constructing the addition. Moving forward with getting a general contractor on staff will happen in October. Next year’s budget goes to the See CULTURAL, page 4
WRMC To Show Off Renovated Maternity Area July 11
New parents Tatum Williams and John Exantus with twins Rose and Ruby in the newly redesigned maternity area at Wellington Regional Medical Center.
PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report With almost 200 babies born a month at Wellington Regional Medical Center, hospital officials recently renovated and expanded the 30-year-old post-partum unit. The unit will be unveiled to the public Monday, July 11 during a community open house from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Seventeen of the rooms are suites, one is a mini-suite, and there are nine regular rooms, all of which recently have been redone, explained Director of Maternal Services and Nurse Leader Rebecca Boyer. The unit includes two sections, the birthing center and the postpartum wing. In between the two sections is a nursing station with a holding nursery. “We have a nursery available to our patients if they are tired, if they need to get some rest. We do some procedures in there. We have
a procedure room right behind it,” Boyer said. “I’m in here many times at night, and a lot of times, especially our C-section moms, just need a bit of a break during the night.” For the most part, she explained, the hospital keeps mothers and babies together. “The great thing about these suites is that they’re family-centered, and the suites allow more space for the families to visit during the time that a mom and her newborn are here in the hospital,” Boyer said. Each suite features a spacious bathroom, a queen-sized bed, a glider chair, two televisions, a crib (or double cribs, for multiples), a “man cave” sitting room with a couch that can easily become a bed, a sink, a refrigerator and more to ensure that new families are cozy and relaxed as they recover from birth and bond with their new See WRMC, page 14