Town-Crier Newspaper November 4, 2016

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SFWMD PLUGS CORBETT BERM BREACH WELLINGTON LANDINGS MOCK ELECTION SEE STORY, PAGE 3 SEE STORY, PAGE 19 THE

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

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Groves Council Gives OK For B Road Resident To Seek Commercial Use

Volume 37, Number 42 November 4 - November 10, 2016

Serving Palms West Since 1980

WICKED AT THE WANDERERS CLUB

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council approved the preliminary reading of an ordinance Tuesday that would allow the owner of a residentially zoned property on B Road now surrounded by commercial uses to ask for commercial use on his property. The applicant was Seth Brier, who owns property near the Palm Beach State College campus. Page 3

Relay For Life Kickoff Event At The Wellington Community Center

The Relay for Life of Western Palm Beach County held a kickoff party on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the new Wellington Community Center. The Relay for Life of Western Palm Beach County merged the Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Acreage/ Loxahatchee and West Palm Beach relay events. It will be held March 11, 2017 at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Page 5

Halloween Fun At WHS Trunk-Or-Treat Program

Wellington High School’s DECA program and the Village of Wellington hosted their annual trunk-or-treat event Saturday, Oct. 29. Participants decorated their trunks in Halloween fashions from sweet to scary, and everything in between. Then, children poured in to do some trick-or-treating. Page 7

OPINION Take Time To Honor Our Nation’s Veterans

As a divisive national election draws to a close, it is all-together fitting and proper that the end of next week brings an observance that can help bring people back together. Next Friday, Americans near and far will spend the day remembering the past, while actively pondering the nation’s strength and future. Friday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, where those who have served in the branches of our military services will be recognized for their role in preserving the freedom and lifestyle we enjoy. Thankfully, there are a number of events planned to honor veterans. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 12 OPINION.................................. 4 PEOPLE................................. 13 SCHOOLS.......................14 - 15 COLUMNS...................... 16, 25 NEWS BRIEFS....................... 18 BUSINESS......................26 - 27 SPORTS..........................31 - 33 CALENDAR............................ 34 CLASSIFIEDS................ 35 - 38 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

The Young Professionals of Wellington hosted its annual Wicked at the Wanderers Club party Saturday, Oct. 29 to benefit the Kids Cancer Foundation. Participants dressed up for a costume contest and casino night with a silent auction. Shown above are Sam Cruz, Gabie and Enrique Ervesun, Brett Morris and Jessica Merrell. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 12 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Lox Manager Responds To OIG Report Citing Shortcomings

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council heard Town Manager Bill Underwood’s response Tuesday to an audit report from Palm Beach County’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) citing about 20 areas for improvement in town government. Underwood said he planned to write a letter to the inspector general indicating that the council would consider the recommendations, although many of them have already been addressed. The scope of the audit report was to determine whether controls over contracts, vendors and fixed assets were in place and working effectively to safeguard the assets of the town. The scope included a review of activities from October 2013 to September 2015, and found about 20 questionable activities, including $229,019 in questioned costs

and $1,765 in identified costs, and found that some of the town’s internal controls need improvement. The report also found that some of the town management company’s practices did not align with the town charter, in providing some reimbursements for mileage and training expenses that the contract did not provide for. Underwood said part of the $229,019 included $95,171 for land research management. “The current agreement, contrary to their position that they believe the agreement was terminated, does not have a termination date. The current agreement identified two specific tasks, the comp plan and the Planning & Zoning Board, both of which were going on when we got here and are continuing even to today,” Underwood said, explaining that all invoices were approved by the manager and former manager. He said that other charges for

miscellaneous items were not documented the way that the OIG considers proper, including credit card charges that were not documented consistently, such as the cost of materials during the remodeling of the new town hall and an invoice for about $250 for food and refreshments during the dedication ceremony. “We admit, sometimes you lose a piece of paper,” he said, although the cost was reflected in the monthly credit card invoice. “That was regarded as insufficient to meet their requirement.” The report also cited missing signatures on some statements by the manager, although he asserted that his signature is not required. “It’s a procedure that we have internally, but since they didn’t see my signature on some, they said, ‘OK we’re going to do that,’” he said. The audit report also identified See OIG REPORT, page 4

Negron Versus Moore: New District, Same Adversaries

By Ron Bukley and Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Republican State Sen. Joe Negron is seeking re-election in Senate District 25, challenged by Democratic candidate Bruno Moore. Negron currently represents the Treasure Coast-based District 32. However, seats in the Florida State Senate were recently redistricted due to a court order. The newly drawn District 25 covers all of Martin and St. Lucie counties, and extends into northern Palm Beach County. Locally, it includes parts of the Acreage/ Loxahatchee area. Negron is a lifelong resident of Florida, born in Palm Beach County. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Stetson University and a law degree from Emory University. A practicing attorney, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2006. He was elected to the Florida Senate in 2009. If re-elected, Negron is

Joe Negron in line to become senate president when the new legislature convenes. “My goal is to make sure that this community has a strong voice in Tallahassee on the issues that concern Florida’s families,” he said. Curiosity, perseverance and commitment, Negron said, are three traits of his that are ideal for service as a state senator. With

Bruno Moore years under his belt, he already is familiar with what it takes to represent the area in Tallahassee. The top three priorities in his campaign, he said, are finding a permanent solution to stop the harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee, to continue the economic growth in Florida and provide citizens with good jobs and careers, and to improve the See DISTRICT 25, page 19

Proposal For 1,030 More Homes Near The Acreage Gets First County OK

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Palm Beach County Commission gave preliminary approval last week to Iota Carol’s 1,288acre Delray Linton Groves project. The commissioners transmitted the project to Tallahassee for comment on a plan that changes the land’s designation from one unit per 10 acres to “western communities residential,” a newly created designation that would allow the developer up to one unit per 1.25 acres. That’s similar to surrounding approvals, and would increase the current 129 allowed units to 1,030 units with more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space. The site, located two miles west

of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and north of 60th Street North, is almost surrounded by GL Homes’ 4,872-acre Indian Trail Groves project, which was approved in September for a similar density, allowing the development of up to 3,897 homes and 350,000 square feet of commercial use. To the south, separated by only one small piece of property, is Minto’s 3,800-acre Westlake project. Other projects in the area include the Sluggett property at the northwest corner of Southern Blvd. and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, Lion Country Safari’s 254-unit residential amendment that was approved six years ago, See IOTA CAROL, page 19

FALL FEST IN RPB

The Village of Royal Palm Beach held its annual Fall Fest on Friday, Oct. 28 and Saturday, Oct. 29 at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. Activities included live entertainment by a variety of tribute bands, food and craft vendors and many activities for children, such as interactive carnival rides, the kids fun zone, a pumpkin patch and a petting zoo. Shown above are Sophia and Leland Girard with a baby goat in the petting zoo. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 21 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Pine Tree Wants Out Of Agreement With Wellington

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Pine Tree Water Control District Board of Supervisors will meet Monday, Nov. 7 at the Wellington Municipal Complex, where the supervisors will continue discussing the termination of an interlocal agreement with the Village of Wellington that has been in place since 2004. The Wellington Village Council, at its Oct. 25 meeting, approved Pine Tree’s request for the termination of the agreement. The Pine Tree Water Control District comprises about 4,000 acres located west of Flying Cow Road and east of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Pine Tree was created in 1971 as an independent special district. It does not have ad valorem taxing authority, but uses a special assessment to fund its duties and related activities. Annexed a decade ago,

the district lies within Wellington’s municipal boundaries. Most of the district, about 2,800 acres, is owned by the South Florida Water Management District, which has a representative sitting on Pine Tree’s three-member board. The SFWMD recently decided during budget discussions not to pay its assessment to Pine Tree, as well as several other special districts, because it asserted that it did not receive any benefit in return, explained Wellington Director of Administrative & Financial Services Tanya Quickel, who serves as liaison to the district. She added, however, that the SFWMD’s decision is not related to the district’s decision to terminate its agreement with the village. Quickel said that the Pine Tree board has discussed excluding the SFWMD property from the district. The interlocal agreement proSee PINETREE, page 4

Experience Of A Lifetime For Elbridge Gale Students

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Fifth-grade students Sophia Tomlinson and Sofia Derk recently went on the trip of a lifetime with their parents and their teacher, Marggy Pereira. It all began with an after-school movie-making club created by Pereira and fellow science teacher Emily Sagovac in May. The club knew about the White House Film Festival because Pereira’s sister, Daniela, was part of one of the winning teams at the 2015 festival. Nineteen students worked with their teachers and volunteers to create a three-minute video to the theme of “The World I Want to Live In,” which they completed in a short time. They competed

against elementary, middle and high school students. The film was submitted to the third annual White House Film Festival. Teacher Cherie Christopher also made a cameo appearance in the film. The students developed three potential topics for their movie. Daniela, a 19-year-old film major at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and her friend Julissa Perez volunteered to lend their film expertise. Pereira and Sagovac helped coordinate the students as Daniela filmed and worked on the script. “I refocused everybody,” Sagovac said. “This was a lot of fun. It was something that I’ve never done before. The kids really enjoyed it… We were just as excited

as the kids to meet after school for our movie-making club.” In just three hours, over the course of two days, they made the film that was submitted. Twenty-seven films were chosen, and their teams were invited to the White House, Pereira said. Elbridge Gale’s film was selected as one of the finalists, chosen as a top 10 video and shown at the festival. “It was really, really fun,” Tomlinson, 11, said. “It was so exciting to go there and see everything.” Derk, 10, was in shock when they arrived. Washington, D.C., didn’t look how she expected. “We were the last video of the top 10 to be shown,” she said. “To See VIDEO, page 19

Adults Daniela Pereira, Emily Sagovac and Marggy Pereira with students Patrick McDermott, Sofia Derk, Sophia Tomlinson and Lilly Beach.

PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER


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