Town-Crier Newspaper June 29, 2018

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GETTYSBURG EXHIBIT IN WELLINGTON SEE STORY, PAGE 4

SEPTIC PROBLEMS? DANNY’S CAN HELP SEE STORY, PAGE 7

THE

TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

Your Community Newspaper

NOTE TO OUR READERS

Volume 39, Number 26 June 29 - July 5, 2018

Serving Palms West Since 1980

WELLINGTON ROTARY ANNUAL GALA

Starting this week, the TownCrier will be publishing in one, larger broadsheet section through the summer months, rather than a broadsheet section and a tabloid section. Also, the Town-Crier will be taking our mid-summer hiatus the final week in July and the first week in August. After the issue of Friday, July 20, the Town-Crier will not publish on Friday, July 27 or Friday, Aug. 3. We will resume our normal weekly publishing schedule on Friday, Aug. 10.

INSIDE

RPB Council Gives YWCA Extra Time To Vacate Harvin Center

Employees, students and parents of the YWCA Head Start program located in the Kevin M. Harvin Center attended the Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting Thursday, June 21 to ask the council to delay the building’s upcoming demolition. Page 3

Leg-Up Horse Camp At Casperey Stables

Throughout the summer, Casperey Stables in Loxahatchee Groves is offering its Leg-Up Horse Camp for boys and girls ages 7 to 14. The camp offers kids the opportunity to learn about horses in a safe environment. The main focus of the camp is horses, and it includes daily activities such as trail rides, horse care and games that revolve around horses. Page 7

The Rotary Club of Wellington held its 38th anniversary awards banquet and installation of officers for 2018-19 on Saturday, June 23 at the Wanderers Club. The installation was led by Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig. Shown above, incoming President Tom Carreras takes over the gavel from outgoing President Debbie Sanacore. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Three Contested ITID Seats To Be Decided In November

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Seven candidates filed to run for four seats on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors by the time filing closed on Friday, June 22. In the race for Seat 2, incumbent Supervisor Tim Sayre was unopposed in his bid to fill the remaining two years left in the term of the late Supervisor Gary Dunkley. Three other seats each have two candidates seeking the post. Incumbent Supervisor Jennifer Hager is seeking a third them in Seat 1, challenged by Robert K. Carter Jr. Keith Jordano and Joni Martin are running for Seat 3 to replace Supervisor Ralph Bair, who did not file for re-election. Michael T. Johnson and John Rivera are running for Seat 5 to replace Supervisor Carol Ja-

cobs, who also did not file for re-election. Since there are only two candidates running for each seat, the elections will be held in November, not during the August primary election. SEAT 1 If re-elected, Hager would be the longest-serving member of the board now that supervisors Bair and Jacobs will be stepping down. Hager, who is a school teacher and has served eight years on the board, said she wants to “keep up the good fight.” “I don’t want to back down,” she said. “I don’t know the person running for my seat. We’re in a tough situation with this election and there being an extra seat.” She feels confident that Sayre will do a good job serving alongside ITID President Betty Argue, whose seat is not up for election

this year, in keeping up with the board’s current goals. “I just didn’t feel right stepping down,” she said. “I have other goals for my personal self that I’m after. I’m going to be doing an Ironman competition, which is like a triathlon, and I have to give a lot of myself.” Hager added that serving on the board can be stressful. “My youngest is going to be 20 years old, so both of my daughters spent the better part of their teenage years being involved elsewhere,” she said. “Now they’re both at college and away from the house. It’s not that stressful, but it’s something extra added to the plate. Teaching is demanding, and I just feel like I owe it to myself to do something for me.” Yet Hager also feels like she owes it to the people of the comSee ELECTION, page 18

Royal Palm Council Approves Two Programs For Seniors

Chamber Women Host Mixer Benefiting PBC Animal Care & Control

Women of the Wellington Chamber held a Luau Summer Mixer on Thursday, June 21 at the European Wax Center. It was a night filled with wax specials, cocktails, refreshments and a summer look fashion show featuring fashions by Tyler Brooke and the Mixed Bag. The free event benefited Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control with guests bringing animal care items to donate. Page 10 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 15 LETTERS.................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE................................... 8 SCHOOLS................................ 9 COLUMNS............................. 16 BUSINESS............................. 17 CALENDAR............................ 18 SPORTS......................... 19 - 20 CLASSIFIEDS................ 21 - 22 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

By Dani Salgueiro Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council unanimously approved two agenda items concerning senior citizens on Thursday, June 21 — funding for a contract with Lyft and the Young at Heart Senior Referral Program. Soon special Lyft services will be available to Royal Palm Beach seniors seeking a ride within the boundaries of the village. Though Lyft was the only ride service approved, Village Manager Ray Liggins explained that other services, such as Uber, will not necessarily be excluded from this new senior-ride program. Lyft, however, has been responsive and cooperative with the village in order to get the ball rolling. “Uber has programs targeting the senior community, so in the future, I might come back [to the council] with something about them, but for now, we need to get started with Lyft,” Liggins said. The idea of partnering with ride-providing services like Lyft and Uber are so that seniors who no longer feel safe driving, or who

simply would like a more convenient and effective way of getting around, can do so without depending on a bus or other method of public transportation. “The program is intended to introduce the senior population to a safe, convenient and costeffective alternative to driving. Ten years ago, if you lived in Royal Palm Beach and weren’t on a bus route, you didn’t have a whole lot of choices on how to get around,” Liggins said. The program will offer discounted shared rides to the senior population 65 years or older in Royal Palm Beach in order to increase and facilitate senior mobility in the village. The village will pay half of each senior resident’s ride, up to $40 per month, per individual. The village has $40,000 budgeted for the program, which will amount to approximately 3,000 total rides. Liggins compared the program to Wellington’s Senior Transportation and Rides (STAR) program. “I know when we looked at our senior study, one of the things that was talked about a lot was the

STAR program that Wellington has,” Liggins said. “This past year, it served 3,700 rides. So, I think the 3,000 we’re estimating right now is probably a good start.” Rides will be a door-to-door service and will have to begin and end within Royal Palm Beach, or east along Okeechobee Blvd. to Jog Road, or south along State Road 7 to the Mall at Wellington Green. When in place, seniors will be able to sign up for the program through the Parks & Recreation Department. Smart phones will also be a requirement for this program, as Lyft and most other ride services operate through smart phone applications. “I think this is a good start,” said Liggins, who explained that he believes Lyft is working on a program to enable the use of flip phones for this, since Lyft and Uber see a huge market in providing seniors with rides. Liggins also assured the council that all drivers have to pass Lyft’s background checks prior to providing public rides. “I’m very excited about this,” See RPB SENIORS, page 18

LGWCD Now Under Town’s Control After Vote Passes By Wide Margin

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District formally came under the control of the Town of Loxahatchee Groves this week after property owners cast ballots in a proxy vote election based on acreage owned. The vote to make the LGWCD dependent to the town passed 2,988 for and 872 against amid unprecedented turnout during Monday’s referendum. The annual landowners’ meeting of the LGWCD started 15 minutes late due to overflow at the district office. LGWCD Chair Anita Kane urged attendees to remain calm and allow voters who had not yet cast their proxies into the overflowing building.

“I would ask everybody to remember that we’re all neighbors, and we’re all friends, and we’re all here to look out for each other’s best interest,” Kane told the crowd. “Regardless of how this vote goes tonight, we are all still living in this same town together. Remember to be kind and respect each other.” On legal staff’s recommendation, Kane was elected to chair the annual landowners’ meeting because she was familiar with the procedure. LGWCD Attorney Mary Viator explained the process of the referendum, that by state statute, the landowners must vote in the same manner by which the district’s governing body is elected, which See LGWCD VOTE, page 18

REALTORS GIVE BACK

Realtors Take the Runway 2018 took place Wednesday, June 20 at the Wellington National Golf Club. The money raised was donated to the Hospice Trustbridge Foundation. Local real estate agents modeled fashions provided by Dillard’s at the Mall at Wellington Green. Shown above is event chair Maureen Gross with WPTV news anchor Kelley Dunn, who served as master of ceremonies. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 15 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

ITID Discusses Reduced Budget; Hearing On July 18

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Indian Trail Improvement District staff presented a revised fiscal year 2018-19 budget of $11,892,896, which is $88,006 lower than the current year, to the ITID Board of Supervisors last week. The June 20 discussion came after a request by board members to rein in spending at a May workshop, although several questions remain regarding the allocation of funds. Next year’s budget will go to its formal public hearing on Wednesday, July 18 at 6 p.m., just prior to the board’s next meeting. ITID Manager Rob Robinson said the budget still has questions to be resolved. “During the past several months, we’ve been agonizing over this,” he said. “There has been a lot of back and forth, going into the season with a lot of loose ends with staff and getting everything tightened up. It was quite a process.”

Robinson said that the budget includes a 20-year culvert replacement plan, pointing out that many are past due for repair. “We looked at a couple of items that were issues for the community, and by board direction, one of them was a 20-year culvert replacement plan,” he said. “The majority of the culverts are exceeding their expected life span. Most date back to the 1980s and prior. 1980 was a place-holder that engineering had come up with to identify culverts that they had no real historical data on. It could be that some of the culverts underneath our roads are older than 1980.” Robinson explained that pipe extensions added in the 1990s for roadway safety have led to emergency repairs that resulted in increased procurement costs and logistical issues for maintenance. Other issues looked into included canal improvements. “Hurricane Irma proved a lack See ITID BUDGET, page 4

McKinlay Secures Second Term Without Opposition

By Dani Salgueiro Town-Crier Staff Report Incumbent Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay (D-District 6) was automatically re-elected to another four-year term last week when no one challenged her by the time filing closed on Friday, June 22. Having been first elected in November 2014, McKinlay is currently serving as mayor of Palm Beach County, a largely ceremonial position that rotates among the commissioners each year. “My goals will not change much from what they have been the last four years,” McKinlay said. “Infrastructure in the Glades area and tackling the need for afford-

able housing there will remain [top goals] for me.” Although she is proud of the progress already made in the Glades, McKinlay hopes to continue putting her energy toward getting the right type of funding necessary to enhance some of the more disadvantaged areas of the district. “[Palm Beach County’s] Economic Sustainability Office has been monitoring the progress of the investment going into the Glades, infrastructure wise, and it reported this month that, since January 2015, there have been more than $370 million invested into the community,” she said. “There has been a lot of work put into building the necessary rela-

tionships and making all [of the change] happen, because it really is a great amount of work that goes into getting the necessary funding. But now we have more than 600 new affordable housing units in the Glades.” Along with her determination to support the Glades area, McKinlay has put forth and plans to continue putting a large amount of her energy into finding solutions for the opioid crisis affecting South Florida. “In these past four years, I have also put my energy toward the opioid crisis, because there are a lot of people who need our help,” she said. McKinlay is pleased with the improvements that she has started

to see evidenced in South Florida recently, but she is cautious and aware that the issue remains difficult and will take a long time to fix. “We are definitely starting to see a reduction of the overall reported opioid overdoses in our area, and I am so happy to see those numbers, but I also think the number is still too high,” she said. “People still have too much access to these drugs. There is still a lot of work to do and a lot of people who will continue needing our help.” In her first four years as commissioner, McKinlay has also worked closely with some of Palm Beach County’s school board members, and she looks forward to continuing to work with school See McKINLAY, page 4

Melissa McKinlay


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