Town-Crier Newspaper January 26, 2018

Page 1

RPB SEEKS STATE MONEY FOR CANALS SEE STORY, PAGE 3

CHAMBER SERIES ON CYBER SECURITY SEE STORY, PAGE 7

THE

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

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INSIDE

Wellington Hires Outside Counsel For League Of Cities Suit

Volume 39, Number 4 January 26 - February 1, 2018

Serving Palms West Since 1980

USET’S ‘TRIUMPH IN TRYON’ EVENT

The Wellington Village Council on Tuesday gave consent to pay for outside counsel services regarding legal action with the Florida League of Cities. The Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, an entity of the Florida League of Cities, denied claims involving the village. Village Attorney Laurie Cohen believes that the village is owed money. Page 3

New Premier Café In Wellington Holds Grand Opening Event

A grand opening celebration was held at Premier Café on Thursday, Jan. 18. Local dignitaries, business leaders, educators, friends and family stopped by to recognize the new addition to Premier Family Health, owned by Dr. Vincent Apicella and Dr. Mariaclara Bago. Premier Café serves healthy food options and high-quality coffee products. Page 7

Pet Haven Rescue Holds Annual Pooch Party At The Wanderers Club

Pet Haven Rescue held its fourth annual Pooch Party on Saturday, Jan. 20 at the Wanderers Club in Wellington. After visiting several hurricane-hit areas and rescuing countless dogs, it was time to get back to normal. What better way than a poolside fundraiser to raise the money needed? Page 17

OPINION

Deadly Flu Season Means Taking Steps To Curtail Its Spread

Did you get your influenza shot last fall? We hope so, because the 2018 flu season is looking like a rough one. According to the Florida Department of Health, flu activity is high and has continued to increase over the winter months. The sharp increase has been above peak activity when compared to recent flu seasons, and these increases have been seen in all age groups and all regions of the state. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ..............................3 - 13 OPINION ................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS ........................ 6 PEOPLE ................................ 14 SCHOOLS ............................. 15 COLUMNS ............................ 16 BUSINESS .....................26 - 27 SPORTS .........................29 - 31 CALENDAR ........................... 32 CLASSIFIEDS ............... 33 - 36 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

The United States Equestrian Team Foundation’s “Triumph in Tryon” Gala to support the U.S. teams at the World Equestrian Games took place Friday, Jan. 19 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington. Shown above are Olivia and Bill Weeks with Michael and Connie Taylor. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 20 PHOTO BY BETSY LABELLE/TOWN-CRIER

ITID Board Defers Decision On Selecting A New Manager

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement istrict Board of upervisors interviewed two candidates for its vacant district manager position on ednesday. However, the board deferred a decision for two weeks after convincing Director of Operations aintenance ob obinson, who has been serving as acting manager, to reconsider his decision not to apply for the ob permanently. ast month, the board developed a shortlist of candidates, and they interviewed two of those candidates Wednesday. Former Wellington Engineer Bill iebe and

ichael Brillhart were deemed well- ualified. wo other candidates from the shortlist, Christopher Quirk and Eve WalkerAlsdorf, did not appear for the interview. obinson initially applied for the ob but withdrew his application on consideration of the potential salary di erential and the added time involved with the manager’s position. resident Betty Argue urged obinson to think about the position after seeing him at work during Hurricane Irma and responding effectively to other district matters. he asked human relations attor-

ney ara onlon what the board’s options were. he board could move forward with a selection if you so choose, onlon said. f the board doesn’t feel ready to make a decision, for whatever reason, and if you want to schedule more time with the candidates to learn more about them, the board could certainly postpone or defer to a later date. Argue said she felt both candidates interviewed were interesting. However, she felt that the process was not conducive to knowing whether the person would actually be e ective on the ob. upervisors alph Bair and See ITID MANAGER, page 4

Royal Palm Beach Mourns Former Mayor Matty Mattioli

By Jack Lowenstein Town-Crier Staff Report Former oyal alm Beach ayor atty attioli was being remembered this week as a true public servant who dedicated his retirement to the betterment of his community. attioli died onday, an. 22, at age 0, ust shy of two years after he stepped down from village government after 22 years on the oyal alm Beach Village Council, including si years as mayor. attioli was first elected to the oyal alm Beach Village Council in 1 . He was elected mayor in 2010 and served three two-year terms until retiring in 2016. ominic atty attioli was born on ay 8, 1 2 , in Bryn awr, enn. He served honorably in the . . avy during orld ar , and he was employed by Corning lass for most of his adult life. Before moving to oyal alm Beach with his late wife, arion, Mattioli also served as a local elected official in ennsylvania. Friend and local business leader ess antamaria believes attioli will be long remembered by his

adopted hometown, as his loved ones and those who knew him re ect on attioli’s life. “He was one of the longestserving elected officials in oyal alm Beach for some 22 years, antamaria said. A true good e ample of the public servant, who served honorably, solely for oyal alm Beach, and is one of the main reasons for making the village a great place to live. He’s one of the mainstay foundations of the 22 years that he served and made oyal alm Beach what it is today. Following his devotion to public service, antamaria said, were his devotion to faith and the Catholic Church. He will also be remembered as a very loyal, longtime member of Our ady ueen of the Apostles, antamaria said. He was a staunch member of the church. He never failed. He was there week after week, day after day, supporting the church from the 1 80s to today. omeone who immediately agreed with antamaria relating to Mattioli’s devotion as a parish-

Matty Mattioli ioner is Father Andy udnicki, pastor at Our Lady Queen of the Apostles. For me, he was like my grandpa. He was always carrying a positive attitude, and to the point that when arion died, every year, I invited him to come to spend Christmas and Easter with me, Rudnicki said. Rudnicki said Mattioli was a See MATTIOLI, page 4

Wellington Council Approves Money For Sports Fields At Greenbriar Park

By Betsy LaBelle Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council approved a resolution Tuesday to transfer $2.5 million from one park project to another in order to more quickly make additional multi-use sports fields available to the community. The change will allow the village to build new fields at reenbriar ark, located at 2 reenbriar Blvd., ad acent to the e isting ellington og ark. reenbriar ark phase one will include the construction of two fields, with space available for two additional fields. he fields will be multi-purpose fields designed to accommodate various recreational sports and activities. he field’s base surface will consist of Bermuda grass, and the field si e will allow for a degree of e ibility, since lines of play

can be marked for di erent sports perimeters. Village anager aul chofield said that the project was moved up to accommodate calls for additional field space. “We will start with phase one and the parking that goes with it, chofield said. e will have this under construction as soon as possible. his pro ect has had enough interest, and we have heard you all loud and clear. he pro ect repurposes reenbriar ark. hile the nearby dog park has long been a fi ture in the community, the ma ority of the park has been vacant, undeveloped space that has in recent years served as a village tree nursery and as a debris site after Hurricane Irma. he multipurpose fields will be built over a stormwater management site, along with a parking See MORE FIELDS, page 19

ANNUAL TEMPLE GALA

Temple Beth Torah honored its past temple presidents at its annual gala on Saturday, Jan. 21. Guests enjoyed a “Black, White and Glam” theme with music, a silent auction, and a variety of wines and specialty cocktails, along with diverse cuisine. Shown above are gala chairs Jennifer and Andrew Goldstein, Debra and Todd Barron, and Pam and Anthony Tahan. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY JACK LOWENSTEIN/TOWN-CRIER

Groves Delegation Reports Successful Tallahassee Visit

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report he o ahatchee roves delegation met with state officials at alm Beach County ays on an. and an. 10, lobbying for two local bills. One would allow the o ahatchee roves ater Control istrict to become dependent to the own of o ahatchee roves. The other asks for a matching grant to fund the paving of D Road from outhern Blvd. to Okeechobee Blvd. own anager Bill nderwood, C resident Anita ane, ayor ave Browning, Councilman odd c endon, Vice ayor on arriel and erla nderwood participated. eetings included gatherings with tate ep. att illhite - istrict 86

and the sta of tate en. Bobby owell - istrict 0 , who sponsored the bills in their respective houses, as well as other members of the alm Beach County egislative Delegation. t was a united front, with the town and the water control district supporting House Bill 10 that provides for an election by the water control district to become dependent to the town, Bill nderwood told the Town-Crier. “We also have House Bill 262 , which is a request for an appropriation to improve oad from outhern Blvd. to Okeechobee. Town officials provided lawmakers with the conceptual plan and cost estimates of about .6 million for the project. “We’re asking the state for a See LOCAL BILLS, page 19

Para-Olympian Becca Hart An Inspiration For Many

By Betsy LaBelle Town-Crier Staff Report ebecca Becca Hart of ellington has become an international star in para-dressage. Her energetic personality and dedication to both her ob at tarbucks and her goals to compete at the highest level in her sport keeps Hart busy. Hart works full-time as an opener at tarbucks on the corner of Wellington Trace and Forest Hill Blvd. am there at 0 in the morning, she said. sually, am working until about noon, and then go do my horses after. Originally from ennsylvania, she thrives in the community of Wellington. “There are two sides to this community, the e uestrian side

and the really great family atmosphere, all prospering together. It’s that marriage of the two that is uni ue to ellington, and the only place like it in the world. I moved here specifically for that horse community. Fortunately, also work for tarbucks. o, get to see both sides of the community, Hart said. It’s something that she truly enjoys. t has been absolutely fun, and I’ve gotten to know people I met through my ob at tarbucks and invited them to come watch me at the competitions, Hart said. t has been an absolute pleasure to be in ellington for my own professional goals to compete during the winters with the phenomenal facilities, and opportunities for

training, which makes all the difference. And it’s just a wonderful place to live. You can take an evening o and go to the ocean, or there are just so many other wonderful things to do. It’s a wonderful place to call home. Born with familial spastic paraplegia, a genetic disease that causes muscle wasting and lack of control from the waist down, Hart continues to inspire everyone with her huge heart. A three-time aralympian 2008, 2012 and 2016 , she finished the io 2016 aralympic ames in ninth individually, seventh in the musical freestyle and fifth with the . . team. ecently, two international FE ara- ressage C E ualifying competitions took place at the See HART, page 19

Rebecca Hart aboard El Corona Texel with (L-R) Rowan O’Riley, Melissa MacLaran-Velix and Michel Assouline.

PHOTO BY BETSY LABELLE/TOWN-CRIER


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