AIR NATIONAL GUARD BAND CONCERT SEE STORY, PAGE 3
NATURAL KERR OPENS IN WELLINGTON SEE STORY, PAGE 7
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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Wellington Board Suggests Design Changes For Hotel
Volume 38, Number 25 June 23 - June 29, 2017
Serving Palms West Since 1980
4H HOSTS GOAT YOGA FUNDRAISER
Wellington’s Architectural Review Board recommended changes to elevation designs of the planned Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott near the Mall at Wellington Green on Wednesday, June 21. Page 3
Golf Tourney Raises Money For Moms Fighting Addiction
The inaugural Forgotten Mom Celebrity Golf Classic & Community Networking Event was held Saturday, June 17 at Wellington National Golf Club. There was a box lunch, silent auction and celebrity meet-andgreet. Golf was followed by musical entertainment, dinner and a panel of speakers. Page 5
‘Realtors Take The Runway’ Event Raises Money For Hospice
Realtors Take The Runway 2017, a luncheon and fashion show, took place Wednesday, June 14 at the Wanderers Club in Wellington. The money raised will be donated to the Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation. The event was designed to show how to dress professionally in South Florida. Real estate agents from local offices modeled fashions provided by Dillard’s at the Mall at Wellington Green. Page 17
OPINION Expanding Services For RPB Seniors Is A Worthwhile Effort
Roughly five years after the creation of the senior-focused nonprofit organization Wellington Cares, Royal Palm Beach is looking to follow in its footsteps. Royal Palm Beach already offers a wide array of social options for its seniors, including a popular meal program. We have seen the great work that Wellington Cares has done in its community and certainly support such an operation being started in Royal Palm Beach. Such a service would open up numerous new opportunities for Royal Palm Beach residents. Page 4
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The Palm Beach County 4-H group Heavenly Horses held a goat yoga fundraising session at Eden’s Edge Show Stables (3548 162nd Drive North, Loxahatchee) on Saturday, June 17. Cheryl Alker led the class while goats wandered among the guests. Another session will take place Saturday, June 24 at 10 a.m. Shown above, Messi the goat visits with Kaitlyn Ryan. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 11 PHOTO BY JACK LOWENSTEIN/TOWN-CRIER
ITID To Consider Coming Under Inspector General Jurisdiction
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District has not yet come under the jurisdiction of the Palm Beach County Office of the Inspector General, but the ITID Board of Supervisors on Wednesday invited Inspector General John Carey to come back for a discussion on that topic hearing a presentation on what the office does. Palm Beach County, the county’s 39 municipalities, the Solid Waste Authority and the Children’s Services Council are under the inspector general’s watchful eyes. The SWA and the Children’s Services Council both have in-
terlocal agreements. The county and the municipalities came under jurisdiction by countywide referendum. Carey, whose office has been operating at half its allotted strength due to budgetary restrictions, told board members that his presentation was not intended to recruit more organizations to watch over, because he already has his hands full. “I know I’ve had some e-mails and conversations,” he said. “I know there has been some discussion about the district potentially having an interlocal agreement, and I think that’s part of the thought process. So, the first thing I want to say before I get
into talking about my office, is this is not a commercial selling my office to you as far as an interlocal agreement. I’m speaking to you as citizens of Palm Beach County, already taxpayers, about what our office does and some of the benefits of our office.” Carey added that at the end of his presentation, he would be happy to talk about the pros and cons of an interlocal agreement. He said most people have no idea of what an inspector general does, and explained that the first inspectors general were appointed by General (not yet President) George Washington, who was having trouble getting honest, See ITID MEETING, page 7
Star Spangled Spectacular In RPB To Feature More Activities
By Jack Lowenstein Town-Crier Staff Report The Village of Royal Palm Beach will stage its annual Star Spangled Spectacular celebration on Tuesday, July 4 at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. Program Supervisor Carlos Morales expects close to 20,000 people in attendance. “The biggest thing is bringing the community at large together,” Morales said. “It’s just the range, the size of how big this park is, that we’re able to fit all of this together. How many locations have this to offer? I think that’s what makes us unique, and that’s what makes Commons Park unique.” The main celebration at Commons Park will begin at 1 p.m. and culminate with a fireworks display at 9 p.m. “We encourage people to stay,” Morales said. “There is no rush to leave. People can stick around. The music and everything will continue until 10 p.m.” The first event to start the day will be at 6 a.m. That will be the annual children’s fishing tournament, hosted by the Royal Palm Beach Bassmasters. Competitors will meet at the banquet garden in Commons Park.
There will be an adult beach volleyball tournament for ages 18 and up that starts at 10 a.m. Teams will be entering as twosomes. The popular cornhole tournament is back and open to all ages. That starts at 5 p.m. New this year is a ladder golf tournament, another game to add to the list of things to do, at 3 p.m. The village partnered with Salty Dog Paddle to bring paddleboard and kayak rentals to this year’s festivities. These rentals will be available from 1 to 8 p.m. “It’s the first time that we’ve partnered with them for this. I think that will be something exciting and new,” Morales said. “People should definitely look out for that.” The Food Truck Invasion will return to the celebration, along with arts and craft vendors. Those are available starting at 1 p.m. “We’ll have an assortment of food trucks throughout the event,” Morales said. The one event of the day that isn’t located at Commons Park is the Mayor’s Firecracker Golf Tournament, which will be held at the Village Golf Club. It starts at 8 a.m. Mayor Fred Pinto will play
in the golf tournament this year. “I think it’s fantastic that the mayor is participating in the golf tournament, because it gives him a chance to be with the residents, as well as build a relationship with local golfers,” said Rochelle Wright, Royal Palm Beach’s program coordinator for special events. “It’s great for everyone to come together for this event.” The golf tournament costs $75 for individual golfers, $300 for a foursome and $100 for hole sponsors. “We have a lot of raffle prizes, and a lot of giveaways,” Wright said. “We’re going to have free food, and it’s a great event.” Lunch will be a barbecue buffet, free of charge to all who compete. As the day starts to become night, live entertainment will show up on stage at Commons Park. Wonderama will play current hit songs starting at 4 p.m., followed by Lazy Bonez, the Amazing ’80s Rock Show, at 6 p.m. To close out the night, the Boss Project, a Bruce Springsteen tribute band, will play covers of Springsteen’s Americana hits. For more children’s activities, visit the kids zone at Commons See RPB FOURTH, page 15
RPB Council OKs Funding For Senior Transportation Plan
By Jack Lowenstein Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council last week gave its seal of approval to a report studying senior services in the community and took action on funding a program to help senior citizens get around the community a bit more easily. At the Thursday, June 15 meeting, consultant Phil Gonot of PMG Associates shared his final report with the council on ways to improve senior services in the village. “We looked at a radius of about 10 miles of the village and who’s providing services in that area,” Gonot said. “There is a total of 48 different organizations. Some of them do multiple things, so they were listed several times. But what we do have is an inventory of what they do, how they provide services and what they can provide to your citizens.” The council received Gonot’s verbal report and responded to
each point that was proposed. One of the biggest concerns and issues that the council, the Senior Citizen Ad-Hoc Advisory Board, Gonot and the community had addressed is the need for improvements to transportation services for the senior citizen population in Royal Palm Beach. Like he did at the senior advisory board meeting the week before, Gonot explained the three types of senior transportation programs that he looked at: a fixed-route trolley system, a subsidized taxi program called STAR (Senior Transportation and Rides) and a door-through-door escorted rides program. Two of these systems are available in Wellington. The Village of Wellington finances a STAR system, offering a fixed number of taxi rides monthly to qualifying seniors. The local nonprofit Wellington Cares, meanwhile, offers See SENIORS, page 15
WELLINGTON ROTARY INSTALLATION GALA
The Rotary Club of Wellington held its 2016-17 awards banquet and officer installation Saturday, June 17 at the Wanderers Club in Wellington. Outgoing President Tom Neumann passed the gavel to incoming President Debbie Sanacore. Shown above, Sanacore receives her presidential plaque from Tom Neumann. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
Two Newcomers, One Incumbent Vie For LGWCD Seats
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Three candidates for the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors are vying for two available seats in the Monday, June 26 election. Political newcomers Connie Bell and Karen Piesley are challenging incumbent Frank Schiola, a two-term supervisor and now board president. Longtime Supervisor Don Widing chose not to seek re-election. The prevailing issue among the candidates seems to be the inability of the Town of Loxahatchee Groves and the LGWCD to work well together, and how long it takes to get things done, especially with the transfer of district roads to the town. “The district and the town need to work together,” Schiola told the Town-Crier on Tuesday. “Let
the district go ahead and grade the roads and take care of the hedging and things like that… and save money for the taxpayers. The town needs to work with the district on getting the roads paved and reducing the dust out here, and reduce the amount of time we spend out here pushing dirt.” Schiola believes that all the roads should eventually be paved. “Pushing dirt is a waste of money,” he said. “Eventually, you’ve got to add dirt. The dust is dirt flying away… So, you pave [the road], you stabilize that surface and all you’ve got to do is come in and maintain that surface.” Four of the five LGWCD board members, including the two seats up this year, are elected through proxies on a basis of one-acre, onevote, which dates back to when the district was primarily agrarian with See LGWCD VOTE, page 15
Gerwig’s Speech Highlights Wellington Initiatives
Mayor Anne Gerwig addresses Wellington Chamber members.
PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual State of the Village luncheon Wednesday, June 21 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig marked her second State of the Village address to chamber members. “It has really been an exciting year,” said Gerwig, who will be sworn in next week as the first vice president of the Palm Beach County League of Cities. She has been focusing on responsive government and gaining community input. “You only come to meetings when you’re mad about something,” Gerwig said, noting that youth baseball, the swim team
and controversial properties such as K-Park garner a strong reaction from the community. Instead of waiting for the community to react, Gerwig has the village seeking community input. For example, on each table, there were notecards for luncheon attendees to provide feedback. “We’re planning community charrettes, where the community can come together and talk about something before it’s something that you’re mad about,” she said. Wellington, Gerwig said, was recently named No. 36 in the nation by Money magazine, and No. 19 by the South Florida Business Journal. Cost of living; income; education level; the ability to live, work and play in the community; and the value of living in Wel-
lington were some of the criteria focused on for the recognitions. Wellington, the fifth-largest municipality in Palm Beach County, does many unique things, Gerwig said, including providing the Keely Spinelli Education Grants to all 11 Wellington public schools. Each school receives $27,000 to use toward assisting the lowestperforming students. The grants are named after Spinelli, a late Wellington school principal who Gerwig knew from her years with the PTA at Binks Forest Elementary School. “Her heart went out to the kids who needed a little extra help,” she said of Spinelli. Those 11 Wellington schools, Gerwig said, are also home to See GERWIG, page 4