MEET RPB COUNCIL CANDIDATES RENATTA ADAN-ESPINOZA AND JAN RODUSKY SEE CANDIDATE PROFILES, PAGE 7 THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Wellington Council Gives Final OK To Winding Trails Project
Volume 38, Number 9 March 3 - March 9, 2017
Serving Palms West Since 1980
HORSES HEALING HEARTS GALA
About 70 people showed up at the Wellington Village Council meeting Tuesday where, after several hours of discussion, the council gave final approval to the nine-lot Winding Trails residential project to be built on the former Wanderers Club executive golf course. Page 3
West Fest Brings Weekend Of Western Fun To Commons Park
West Fest returned to Royal Palm Beach Commons Park from Friday, Feb. 24 through Sunday, Feb. 26 with singing, dancing, carnival rides, a petting zoo, an old west encampment village and more. Throughout the weekend, the Ham Bone Express pig races and the Paul Bunyan International Lumberjack Show entertained guests. Page 5
Wellington Dog Park’s Mardi Paws Offers Pet Fun For A Good Cause
The second annual Mardi Paws hosted by Courtyard Animal Hospital took place Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Wellington Dog Park. Proceeds will benefit SHARE (Shepherd Help and Rescue Effort). There were nail trims, dog vendors, kids games, whipped cream treats and lure chasing for dogs. Page 6
OPINION Get Involved In Area Relay For Life And Dance Marathon Events
Hope springs eternal, and with spring just around the corner, there are two major events taking place next weekend as part of the hopeful fight against cancer and pediatric diseases such as cancer. One is the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life, which returns to the western communities on March 11. The second event is the Children’s Miracle Hospital Network Dance Marathon, which will return to Wellington High School on March 10. Page 4
DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS................................. 3 - 8 OPINION.................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE................................. 13 SCHOOLS.......................14 - 15 COLUMNS...................... 16, 25 BUSINESS......................26 - 27 SPORTS......................... 33 - 35 CALENDAR............................ 36 CLASSIFIEDS.................37 - 41 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The sixth annual Horses Healing Hearts White, White West Party was held on Friday, Feb. 24 at the Wellington National Golf & Equestrian Club. The evening featured live and silent auctions, music and a buffet dinner. Shown above are Wendy Picard, Lisa Ruth, Mary Rosoff, Daniel Hartwell, Dawn Cotler, Laurie Chaplin and Liz Olszewski. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 20 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
ELECTION 2017: LOX COUNCIL, SEAT 5
Dave DeMarois: Big Changes Needed In Town Government
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report After serving for 19 years on the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors, Dave DeMarois is challenging Loxahatchee Groves Vice Mayor Tom Goltzené in the race for Seat 5 on the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council. The election will be held Tuesday, March 14. DeMarois served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam and later worked for 30 years with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. He spent much of his service with PBCFR working in the western communities. He also spent 33 years as a reserve deputy for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “That pretty much covers all I’ve done,” he said. “My record stands for itself.” DeMarois is most well known in the town for his service on the LGWCD board for 19 years,
including 14 as chairman. He was unseated in last year’s district election. “The value that I have to the community and to the taxpayers is that I am going to try to work better with the water control district and the town, where we can save taxpayers money and give them a better value for their dollar,” he said. DeMarois is proud of his service with the LGWCD. When he joined the board in 1997, he noted that there weren’t any paved roads in Loxahatchee Groves. DeMarois worked to find funding to get shellrock for every road in the community and later county funding to pave some of the district’s roads. When Scripps was going to be built north of The Acreage, and Palm Beach County decided to lay water lines in the area, DeMarois and the LGWCD board used the
Dave DeMarois opportunity to improve the canals on North Road and bring fire hydrants to the area, saving residents on their insurance. Cleaning out the canals in Loxahatchee Groves, decreasing flooding after major storms and automating district flood control See DEMAROIS, page 19
Tom Goltzené: Keep The Town Heading In The Right Direction
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Wrapping up his second threeyear term on the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council, Vice Mayor Tom Goltzené is hoping that town voters return him for a third term on Tuesday, March 14. Goltzené, who holds Seat 5, is being challenged by longtime Loxahatchee Groves resident and former Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Chairman Dave DeMarois. A resident of Loxahatchee Groves since 1991, Goltzené grew up in Miami before attending college in Ohio, where he earned a degree in business administration. He returned to Florida and worked for the Keyes Company, and later the Development Corporation of America, which was absorbed by Lennar in 1987. Goltzené worked for Lennar for a short time. Moving to Palm Beach County, he worked for a private corporation in Palm Beach
Gardens before starting his own landscaping company in 1992. He sold that company in 2005. He was also involved in tree farming in Loxahatchee Groves for a number of years. In recent years, Goltzené has gotten into cattle ranching, which is his current occupation. He leases property in Wellington, Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage. He will have 850 acres in cattle by this summer. “I’m full-time involved in cattle ranching,” he said. Though Goltzené has had many different occupations, he worked in fields that he found interesting and was able to apply his business degree toward. “I got into politics about six years ago,” he noted. The catalyst for seeking a council seat was an interaction with the town about cattle licensing. “I realized at that point that they didn’t understand the Freedom to Farm Act,” Goltzené said. “So, I got involved in local politics.”
Tom Goltzené He was able to solve his problem fairly quickly, but he ran for office to help others who were going through the same issue, where the law might say one thing but was being applied differently. Goltzené tries to keep his focus on service to the residents. “I’m qualified by the fact that I have experience doing it. I feel that See GOLTZENÉ, page 17
Palm Beach State Opens New Campus By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 attended the grand opening ceremony for Palm Beach State College’s new Dennis P. Gallon Campus in Loxahatchee Groves on Tuesday. The first campus building is three stories and 50,000 square feet. It welcomed its first 700 students on Monday for the first day of classes. Dr. Maria Vallejo, the founding campus provost, said PBSC’s fifth campus had been a long time coming. After several false starts, then PBSC President Dr. Dennis Gallon finally requested a feasibility study for the Loxahatchee Groves campus in 2012. In 2014, the state legislature approved $6 million to begin construction of the first building, which is part of phase 1, and allotted another $9 million in 2016. “This portion of the first phase cost $30 million,” Vallejo said. “That $30 million included the site design, paving, drainage, utility infrastructure, furniture, fixtures and equipment.” The college’s master plan calls for two additional buildings in the near future for phase 1 depending on the enrollment and construction funding from the state. “This is where we will need the community support in Tallahassee,” she said.
PBSC Board of Trustees President Charles K. Cross said it’s not every day that a college gets to dedicate a new campus. “This is an exciting milestone in Palm Beach State College history,” Cross said. “We especially want to thank the Town of Loxahatchee Groves for welcoming us to your community. We hope that all the residents are pleased with the beautiful campus and that they embrace the opportunities that this campus brings. We are very fortunate to have a forward-thinking leader, President Emeritus Dr. Dennis Gallon, who looked beyond the now more than a decade ago.” He also credited Gallon’s successor, Ava Parker, for picking up where he left off. Cross also thanked state elected officials for their support, many of whom attended the opening, local officials, and college staff, who saw that the campus was prepared to accept the 700 students enrolled in classes that began Monday. Parker said it was wonderful to actually start classes and have the opportunity to speak to students who were sitting at new desks and were excited to have to drive only five minutes rather than 25 minutes to another campus. “We are so proud that we have 700 students enrolled on the first day of class just yesterday,” she See CAMPUS, page 17
Former Palm Beach State College President Dr. Dennis Gallon helps cut the ribbon to open the campus named in his honor.
PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER
Royal Palm Beach Council Candidates Participate In Forum
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Two incumbents and two challengers for seats on the Royal Palm Beach Village Council squared off in a candidates forum Monday hosted by the Town-Crier. Former Councilman Richard Valuntas is running against Councilman David Swift for the Group 2 seat, while Education Advisory Board Member Renatta AdanEspinoza is challenging Councilwoman Jan Rodusky in Group 4. Swift grew up in Michigan and has a bachelor’s degree in science from Adrian College and a master’s in science from Eastern Michigan University, specializing in aquatic biology. He worked for the South Florida Water Management District as an environmental scientist for 34 years. Swift has 29 years’ experience as a councilman and vice mayor
in Royal Palm Beach. His accomplishments include voting to improve emergency services and law enforcement by merging the old village fire and police departments with far larger county agencies, selling the village’s water utility to the county for $70 million, and dramatically reducing the village’s ad valorem tax rate over time. The village now has $89 million in reserves and no debt, Swift noted. “As the longest-serving elected official in the history of the village, the record shows that fiscally, I have played an important role in making Royal Palm Beach what it is today,” he said. Valuntas grew up in South Florida. His three children were born in Royal Palm Beach and attend local schools. He served as a councilman from 2010 to 2016 and was vice mayor in 2011 and See FORUM, page 4
Fast-Paced Gladiator Polo Takes Wellington By Storm
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Gladiator Polo, presented by U.S. Polo Assn., a new-to-Wellington special arena polo event taking place at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival arena, is taking the polo community, and the rest of Wellington, by storm. Gladiators ride through the ring. Polo ponies and their riders race around the arena. The delicious smells of an authentic Asado wafts through the VIP area. The crowd cheers for its favorite team. It’s an exciting and eventful, free and open to the public extravaganza with three more preliminary rounds on March 10, 16 and 31, before the final on April 8. On Friday, March 10, the fourth
game, the $33,500 Crixus vs. Priscus match will take place, with gates opening at 6 p.m. and the game starting at 7 p.m. and running to approximately 8:30 p.m. Team Crixus, sponsored by U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management, includes players Matias Magrini, Santi Torres and Mike Azzaro. Team Priscus, sponsored by Richard Schechter and Bainbridge Companies, features Jeff Hall, Jeff Blake and Julio Arellano. “Gladiator Polo is an event everyone can enjoy — from families who sit together and root for their favorite teams to couples who stay for the after-party,” said Mark Bellissimo, managing partner of the International Equestrian Group and organizer of the event.
The Gladiator Polo craze started Thursday, Jan. 26 when residents and polo enthusiasts packed the arena, enjoyed the Asado and saw the first game. Riders fly through the arena, which is only 150 feet by 300 feet — much smaller than grass polo, where players gallop across an open field the size of nine football fields. The action is condensed into a small area, making every move more impactful and more dramatic. Polo players typically learn in the arena, and then choose to play either in arena polo or field polo. Some of the top polo players in the world have been attracted to Gladiator Polo in Wellington. Sebastian Merlos of Argentina, See GLADIATOR, page 19
Gladiator Polo players Juan Martin Zubia and Tommy Biddle battle for the ball as spectators get an up-close view.
PHOTO BY DAVID LOMINSKA