LIBRARY LAUNCHES ‘READ DOWN FINES’ SEE STORY, PAGE 3
THE ‘WAR ON CANCER’ STREET PARTY SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 5
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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INSIDE
Vote Gives Wellington Council More Control Over Board Appointees
Volume 35, Number 20 May 16 - May 22, 2014
Serving Palms West Since 1980
CULTURAL DIVERSITY DAY IN RPB
Members of the Wellington Village Council soon could have the power to add and remove volunteer board and committee members at will. The council gave preliminary OK Tuesday to an ordinance allowing them to remove their own appointees “without cause.” Page 3
Palm Beach Equine Change Gets Initial OK
Tying the expansion of Wellington’s bridle trails to a land use change for the Palm Beach Equine Sports Complex divided the Wellington Village Council on Tuesday. The council voted 3-2 to approve an ordinance that designates the complex as a commercial recreational site, allowing it to expand its veterinary practice. Page 7
Caribbean-Americans for Community Involvement (CAFCI) and the Village of Royal Palm Beach held the 12th annual Cultural Diversity Day on Saturday, May 10 at Veterans Park in Royal Palm Beach. The event featured vendors, food stands and live entertainment, all put together by the CAFCI Cultural Committee, shown above. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10 PHOTO BY FABIANA OTERO/TOWN-CRIER
Wellington Seniors Host Spring Dinner Dance
The Wellington Seniors Club held its Spring Dinner Dance on Friday, May 9 at the Mayacoo Lakes Country Club. Attendees enjoyed a dinner, dancing and a raffle. Page 10
Wellington Ballet Theatre Presents ‘Snow White’
Wellington Ballet Theatre presented Snow White last weekend. Directed by Rocky and Dorie Duvall and choreographed by Melissa Waters, the dancers presented a unique showing of the classic story. Page 17
OPINION
It’s Graduation Time Again: Our Advice To The Class Of 2014
Next week, hundreds of young men and women will walk across a graduation stage and bid goodbye to the life they have long known. The community will come together to celebrate this meritorious occasion as the Class of 2014 joins the world of adulthood and responsibility. As we do every year, the TownCrier offers some advice to our graduates. Page 4 2014
SUMMER
CAMP GUIDE
PAGES 24 & 25
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Wellington Education Panel Seeks To Fight ‘Summer Slide’
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report To help keep local children motivated throughout the summer, the Village of Wellington is launching a summer reading and math incentive program. Initiated by the Wellington Education Committee, the program aims to encourage local students in kindergarten through fourth grade to keep a log of all their summer reading and math activities, with a celebration at the end of the summer for participants. The concept was approved by the Wellington Village Council on Tuesday. “We wanted to start a new program to support math and reading,” Committee Vice Chair Michelle McGovern said. “As some of you may know, there’s
something called the ‘summer slide’ — that’s what happens to kids when they’re not in school every day. Despite the successes we’ve seen them make during the school year, they take a step back.” To help prevent this, the committee has been discussing ideas to keep children motivated. “Anything we can do to support those kids going into the next school year, we’d like to do,” McGovern explained. The Wellington Education Committee has been one of the village’s more pro-active committees and earlier this year secured a grant from Wellington to help local students struggling in math and reading. Named the Keely Spinelli Grant, the program awarded nearly $275,000 to 11 Wellington public schools.
McGovern said the incentive program would be a way to continue to keep all children — but especially those who struggle — interested in reading and math all summer long. “We would ask the kids to keep math and reading logs over the summer,” she said. “At the end of the summer, we would hope Wellington would host a special free movie night. We’d really step it up and ask businesses to come and support the children, and then offer some incentives for those kids who come and turn in their math and reading logs.” This is similar to other programs promoted by local libraries, Barnes & Noble and other organizations. “We accept all of it,” McGovern said. “We want our kids reading See SUMMER ED, page 4
Madison Green Resident Seeks To Save Neighborhood Trees From Removal By HOA
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Angelique Palmer of Madison Green’s Wyndham Village is on a crusade to save more than 200 oak and mahogany trees along the streets of her neighborhood that are scheduled to be cut down and replaced with palm trees. “I went to a board meeting when I found out the board was planning on bringing down the trees that line the swales in our community,” Palmer told the Town-Crier on Monday. “It’s more than 200 trees. I asked, ‘How can you bring them down when you haven’t taken a vote?’” Joe Gall, president of the threemember homeowners’ association board, told her that he had spoken to several of the neighbors and most of them wanted the trees down. Palmer said she asked the board what she could do to stop them from cutting the trees, and they told her she would need to get a
petition signed by at least 100 of the 192 homeowners. “I went around with a petition paper,” she said. “I don’t want our trees replaced with foxtail palms.” Palmer said she knocked on doors until she had 100 signatures. “I could have gotten more, but it takes a long time,” she said. “You knock on every door and you have to explain. Many of the people didn’t know what was going on.” She submitted the petition at a meeting in December. But later, residents received a flier from the HOA stating that the tree cutting had been stopped due to the petition, but that the board was still considering cutting down the trees. The flier stated that the roots of the trees had lifted the sidewalks, causing a liability hazard, and that foxtail palms grow large, giving a uniform tropical look. The flier asked residents to send in their votes whether they wanted the trees replaced or not. At a meeting in March, Gall
announced that the HOA had received 49 votes in favor of cutting the trees, and only five in favor of keeping the oaks and mahogany. However, Palmer told the board that she was submitting her petition as votes. “That’s what the people who signed the petition told me to do. They said, ‘No, we’re not going through this again, just turn them in again,’” she said. “We resubmitted our signatures as votes. At that meeting, they said it didn’t matter how many votes we had, since it was a matter of safety, they were just going to go ahead and continue with the cutting.” Palmer said if it is a safety issue, she believes that there are alternatives to cutting the trees. “I mentioned this at the board meeting,” she said. “To begin, you can cut the roots of the trees, put up root guards and fix the sidewalks. That’s what is done not only in Madison Green, but throughout See TREES, page 16
ITID Might Change Roads To Block Minto West Traffic
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Wednesday night that would look into ways to mitigate impacts the community will feel from the proposed Minto West development. Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize a limited traffic study, look into an area-wide approach for developmental impacts caused by Minto West and establish a level of service for ITID roads. The resolution will also allow ITID representatives to draft a “protective concept plan” for the area and ask the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization to remove ITID easement roads from its 2040 plans. ITID Attorney Mary Viator stressed to the board that Indian Trail is limited in its ability to address Minto West. “Decisions related to approving Minto West are not in the district’s authority,” she said. “Palm Beach County staff has, however, asked ITID to comment on how the development may affect the district.” Earlier this year, the board hired land-use attorney Marty Perry to help develop strategies to address the influx of proposed developments in the area. Perry put together several consultants. He
said his team believes the Minto West project could be a “disaster” for The Acreage without careful long-term planning. “It will be a disaster for this area without some kind of long-term regional approach to the roads,” Perry said. “The only way I see to protect these roads is to look at conceptual planning. We have to look at neighborhoods within The Acreage and make a plan to protect the roads within those neighborhoods by preventing traffic from going through them.” Perry said Minto’s location poses a problem. “It’s smack in the middle of The Acreage,” he said. “When I first got involved with this, my first reaction was that Minto West by itself will represent a pretty significant impact.” But other developments could also impact The Acreage, Perry said, pointing to the GL Homes property to the west and the Avenir project in Palm Beach Gardens. “If [Minto West] is approved at 6,500 homes, GL Homes could come in and ask for at least that many,” Perry said. “All potential developments have the ability to impact the road structure in this area which, quite frankly, is inadequate for the current population, let alone future populations.” Although ITID does not have See ITID, page 16
GREEN SCHOOL AWARD
Florida Atlantic University’s Pine Jog Environmental Education Center held its Green Schools Recognition Program luncheon on May 9. Elbridge Gale Elementary School was awarded the Green School of Excellence Award and was recognized with a Judge’s Choice Award from the South Florida Science Center & Aquarium for curriculum integration. Shown here is Laura Arena and the Tuesday Gardening Gators with the Green School award. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
LGWCD Scrutinizing Culvert Conditions
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors discussed the condition of culverts Monday, focusing on their ability to move water during storms. Supervisors are concerned that some of the culverts might not be able to function as well as they should. The issue came up during a recent report on the condition of culverts by Loxahatchee Groves Planning & Zoning Board Member Keith Harris to the Roadway, Equestrian Trails & Greenway Advisory Committee, and at a subsequent Intergovernmental
Coordination Committee meeting on April 23. “It raised issues that are mainly town issues rather than water control district issues, but because we’re involved in the permits for bridges over the canals, he presented this at the [intergovernmental] meeting, leading up to further discussion with the town,” Supervisor John Ryan explained. LGWCD Administrator Steve Yohe said many of the culverts and bridges are in poor condition, and the report raised issues regarding ownership of bridges and culverts, maintenance and replacement responsibility. “At some point in time, this isSee LGWCD, page 7
Canal Project Has Wellington Neighborhood Upset
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Concerned about the loss of some of their trees planted along canals, residents of Larch Way came out Tuesday night to ask the Wellington Village Council to reconsider plans to cut 25 feet from the canal behind their homes. During public comment, several homeowners expressed concern that Wellington would be cutting down mature foliage, not just invasive trees. “There’s a lot of confusion about what is going on,” resident Doug Terry said. Terry said that eight to 10 years ago, Wellington tried a similar program to reclaim the canal bank. “The whole council came out to
our canal and decided it was really adverse to the community,” he said. “It seems they just put it off, and here we are again.” Originally, Terry said he was told that Wellington would be removing only the Brazilian pepper and Australian pine trees. “I thought that was a good idea,” he said. On April 29, Terry said he spoke with his neighbor, who noted that her ponytail palm tree had been tagged for removal. “[Public Works Director] Mitch Fleury decided he was going to reclaim the easement,” Terry said. “They’re going to use a barge to dredge the canal. The barge is in the water, not on the canal bank,
not 25 feet into the easement. It’s just beyond understanding that they could be allowed to just clearcut everything and not take into consideration the residents who pay more to live on the canals and waterways.” He said removing all the foliage would change the character of the neighborhood. “It’s beautiful, and they want to make it into a drainage ditch,” Terry said. “I think it’s going to depreciate the value of the properties.” Although the property technically belongs to the Acme Improvement District, Terry said he has maintained it for more than 30 years. “I just have the right of enjoyment, and they’re going to
take that away from me,” he said. “I don’t think that’s right.” Councilwoman Anne Gerwig noted that she met with Terry and other neighbors. “I explained it is the right-of-way, it’s not the easement,” she said. “We’re not reclaiming the easement. My personal viewpoint is if we don’t have to take the trees out, then why would we? But if we do, then what are we bringing in there?” She suggested calling a public meeting to address residents’ concerns. “If there’s a way to do this without disrupting all these trees, then we should know,” Gerwig said. Village Manager Paul Schofield said he would put together a pub-
lic meeting. He said Wellington has recently started maintaining its canals, necessitating the tree removal. “To the best of our ability to determine, prior to 2008, there hadn’t been much maintenance of our canals,” he said. “Most of them haven’t been deepened or widened, and they are drainage canals. What we’re talking about is a right-of-way, and it’s up to the council whether you want to remove those trees or not. But if we don’t remove them, there is no practical way to return those canals to their designed sections and let them flow water.” Schofield said councils in the See CANAL, page 16