PBSO: CRIME IS DOWN IN ROYAL PALM SEE STORY, PAGE 3
DR. ALONSO: COVID CASES INCREASING SEE STORY, PAGE 4
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TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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RPB Manager: COVID-19 Will Have Prolonged Impact On Activities And Budget
Volume 41, Number 15 June 5 - June 18, 2020
Serving Palms West Since 1980
CAR PARADE MARKS MEMORIAL DAY
At the Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting on Thursday, May 21, Village Manager Ray Liggins warned of another 18 months to two years of COVID-19-related restrictions on activities, as well as budget shortcomings related to the virus pandemic. Page 3
Residents from the Wellington community and beyond participated in a car parade to mark Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 23 in the Polo West neighborhood. The parade honored the Davis family for their military service, as well as all those who died in service to the nation. A total of 11 brothers in the Davis family have served in the military, including Wellington resident Julius Davis. Two brothers’ lives have been claimed by COVID-19. Shown above, are Julius Davis and event organizer/neighbor John Lacy with the signs in front of the Davis home. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9
Louise Nervik Enjoys Creating Pillow Pal Dolls For Children
After a career working in the banking industry on New York’s Long Island, Louise Nervik was enjoying her retirement in South Florida and keeping busy working with her hands in her quilting groups. She found a new mission in life in 2013 while attending a quilting club meeting and seeing “pillow pal dolls” made by volunteers. Page 4
Commissioner McKinlay To Be Sworn-In As New FAC President
On Wednesday, June 10, Palm Beach County District 6 Commissioner Melissa McKinlay will be sworn in as president of the Florida Association of Counties. McKinlay will be the first person from Palm Beach County to serve in this position since former County Commissioner Karen Marcus more than 20 years ago. Page 7
Star Golfer Brooks Koepka Brings Lunch For Staff At WRMC
Golf star Brooks Koepka, who grew up in Wellington, returned to the community on Friday, May 29 to salute the local healthcare workers fighting COVID-19. Koepka brought the Churasco Grill food truck to Wellington Regional Medical Center, along with popcorn, adding some fun to the day for the workers at the hospital. Page 13 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 SCHOOLS................................ 8 PEOPLE................................. 14 COLUMNS............................. 16 BUSINESS............................. 17 CLASSIFIEDS................ 19 - 20 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Wellington Officials Prepared As Hurricane Season Begins
M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report While the COVID-19 pandemic has been dominating life over the past several months, the Village of Wellington has not forgotten that hurricane season got underway this week. With three named storms already on the books, the 2020 storm season could add another layer of danger to an already unprecedented year. According to Mayor Anne Gerwig and Village Manager Paul Schofield, Wellington has already been preparing for months to make sure that the community is as prepared as possible should a major storm come this way. Experts have predicted a busy storm season. “We do not see any difference between our work in any other year,” said Schofield on preparing for storm season while also fighting a pandemic. He did note that the number of people on village crews are smaller to maintain social distancing. For months, village staff has been doing preventative mainte-
nance, storm water preparations, tree trimming and debris removal. “The canals have been cleaned, and the generators serviced,” Schofield said. “We have made sure everything is ready.” Schofield added that an unannounced drill will be held in the near future to ensure nothing still needs to be done and that the village is prepared to face a storm emergency. He added that the biggest challenge is with debris management. Schofield explained that the village gets reimbursement for debris removal but can’t go onto private property in gated communities unless the homeowners’ association has signed an emergency agreement allowing Wellington staff to enter and do the work. “The hardest part is always getting the HOAs to sign and return the agreement,” he said. Gerwig said hunkering down amid the backdrop of COVID-19 will pose different trials for residents, and maintaining all the services that the village provides is always a challenge. “These are
uncharted times,” she remarked. She advised that all residents make sure their hurricane supplies are on hand and their storm plan is up to date. “The village has contingency plans, and the residents should have them, too,” Gerwig said. “They should have enough medical supplies and medications to last them a few days in case they can’t go out and get more.” COVID-19 could require some updates to the hurricane supply list. “Now their hurricane kit should include cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer,” Gerwig said. “Thanks to our staff, we have never had a situation where our water was an issue, but we have all learned that isopropyl alcohol is an excellent sanitizer.” Gerwig said that a challenge in the past was to find enough hotel rooms for people from out of town who come in and help the area recover, but that provisions have been made for that situation. She also reminded residents See HURRICANE, page 18
Regional Planning Agency Advises ITID On Road Strategy
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A mobility plan that meets the safety and needs of Acreage residents would also address increasing traffic from surrounding developments that encroach on Indian Trail Improvement District roads, Kim DeLaney with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council told ITID board members during a workshop presentation on Wednesday, June 3. Such a plan could include treelined streets with separated pedestrian and equestrian paths, bioswales and safe crossings, with medians, bump-outs and other means of traffic calming to control pass-through or local traffic, DeLaney said. Her presentation followed several workshops held recently with ITID residents to get input on what types of amenities and traffic control they would like to see in the
community. “We’ve been working with the district on the development of a mobility plan,” DeLaney said. “What we’re trying to assist with in the community is planning for mobility at Indian Trail. The goal of the plan is to create a safe, interconnected transportation network of complete streets.” The network would focus on the most congested parts of The Acreage — the southeastern area and around Northlake Blvd. “The traveling public in ITID is not just the cars, it’s the people on bikes, people on foot, but you also have folks driving golf carts, and you have sidewalks that are a little narrow,” DeLaney said. “If you’re in a pandemic and meeting social distancing, it’s very hard for two people to ride or walk on a 5-foot sidewalk.” DeLaney said she noticed that the community has a lot of children.
“The roadway network is so challenging to cross. We have locations where there are three crossing guards at one intersection,” she said. “That’s an unusual condition. What that tells us planners is there’s something breaking down in the transportation network that requires that many traffic-safety officers.” DeLaney said this problem could be mitigated with lighted, raised and/or stamped crossings that would make them safer for everyone. Bump-outs at intersections would provide less crossing distance for pedestrians, as well as slow down traffic and provide space for aesthetic landscaping. She said equestrians are also being considered, with proposals for preserving, improving and extending safe riding trails. “We have riders in the region,” See ITID ROADS, page 4
Local Property Value Estimates Remain Strong
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report All four municipalities in the western communities show growth in property value estimates for 2020 over 2019, according to preliminary figures released by Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks last week, with some areas showing more dramatic growth than others. Wellington had a fairly conservative 2.52 percent growth in property value, which was 1.87 percent before new construction was added. Property values in Loxahatchee Groves grew 7.28 percent (4.89 percent before new construction). Royal Palm Beach had an 8.19 percent increase (4.45 percent without new construction). The fast-growing City of Westlake showed a 104.11 percent increase (62.52 percent before new construction), but its total property value remains much smaller than the other communities. Across the entire county, taxable property values have increased 5.51 percent from 2019 to 2020 (3.99 percent before new construction), for a total property value of $209.5 billion in Palm Beach County. Wellington, with a total value estimation for 2020 of $8.86 billion, has the largest total value in the western communities, but a
relatively small new construction value of $55.9 million. Wellington Village Manager Paul Schofield said the small increase in Wellington’s total value is due in part to the recent devaluations of the Mall at Wellington Green and the slowing down of new construction. He added that the figures are subject to change. “The single biggest change in ours was commercial because of devaluation of the mall,” Schofield said, explaining that the Mall at Wellington Green received two devaluations over the past two years totaling about $44 million. “Given that we’re a community approaching buildout, [and] we’ve had very little in new construction, I’m not at all displeased with those numbers.” Schofield added that the devaluation of the mall reflects the overall depressed condition of shopping malls across the nation due to rapid changes in the retail shopping environment, amplified by closings due to COVID-19. “Malls across the nation are in trouble,” he said. “It is an industry that is trying desperately to reinvent itself. I would give [Wellington Green owner] Starwood [Retail Property Management] very high marks because they are rethinking what they are doing, See VALUES, page 4
SRHS GRAD PARADE
Members of the Seminole Ridge High School Class of 2020 took part in a graduation parade on Saturday, May 30 to celebrate their achievements. The parade started at Citrus Grove Park and ended at Acreage Community Park. It was organized by Seminole Ridge High School Project Graduation with help from the Indian Trail Improvement District. Shown above are Kayla McKenzie, Valeesha Clairvoyant, Howie the Hawk and Oliver Brown. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Lox Council Ponders Bond Options For Roadway Projects
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council considered several funding options for road improvements on Tuesday, June 2. Attorney Steve Sanford with the law firm Greenberg Traurig, which has been retained by the town to provide financial services, reviewed the financing options. Sanford explained that in 2017, the town held a successful bond referendum wherein Loxahatchee Groves was authorized to issue revenue bonds not to exceed $6 million to finance roadway proj-
ects. The bonds would be secured by both the five-cent and one-cent local option gas tax. “Those bonds can be issued in more than one series, and any series of bonds would have a term not exceeding 30 years,” Sanford said. In addition, in 2019, the town held another successful bond referendum, which authorized the town to issue up to $4 million in special assessment bonds in one or more series to finance roadway improvements specifically on North B Road, Los Angeles Drive, San See BONDS, page 18
Guido Weiss Challenging Lois Frankel For U.S. House Seat
Guido Weiss hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel.
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Democrat Guido Weiss of Wellington, a former legislative advisor to U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel for Florida’s 21st Congressional District seat in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Aug. 18. “I think I can bring a different approach, being from the western communities, whereas [Frankel] spends most of her time in downtown West Palm Beach, downtown Delray Beach,” Weiss told the Town-Crier. “The western com-
munities don’t always have that amount of input.” The district includes all of Wellington, as well as large portions of central Palm Beach County, extending from coastal West Palm Beach and Delray Beach to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Previously the mayor of West Palm Beach, Frankel has represented the area in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013. The winner of the Aug. 18 primary will face one of several Republicans vying in a primary. However, the seat tends to favor the Democrat.
Frankel won her current term in 2018 unopposed. Weiss, 30, a U.S. Navy Reserve officer, said that Frankel has been in public office of some form longer than he has been alive and tends to focus on coastal areas, as well as funding sources, such as big agriculture. “The district stops in Wellington and West Boca, in terms of the western communities of Palm Beach County, but you don’t have a representative who has spent a lot of time in these communities engaging with them,” Weiss said. See WEISS, page 18