COMMUNITIES PREPARING FOR A STORM SEE STORY, PAGE 2
TRAIL GROUP BRINGS HIKERS TOGETHER SEE STORY, PAGE 5
THE
TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE Wellington’s Election Date Might Change
Volume 32, Number 31 August 5 - August 11, 2011
P.W. CHAMBER POKER TOURNEY
Wellington might move its March election date to coincide with either next winter’s presidential primary or the November 2012 general election, heeding a warning from Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. Page 2
Wellington Might Name Tower For Charlie Lynn
The obser vation tower looking out over Wellington’s new environmental preserve could soon bear the name of the late Charlie Lynn. Page 2
Blooming With Autism Hosts Bowling Event At Greenacres Bowl
Blooming With Autism held a bowling fundraiser Sunday, July 31 at Greenacres Bowl. The group raises money for families that need more therapies for children diagnosed with autism. For more info., visit www. bloomingwithautism.com. Page 5
Construction Begins On Dressage Arena
Equestrian Sport Productions CEO Mark Bellissimo has announced that construction is underway on a covered arena and at least one permanent barn in advance of the planned 2012 Global Dressage Festival. Page 7
Seeking Active-Duty Military Members
Wellington The Magazine is looking to honor local military men and women as part of a feature in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Page 7
OPINION Put The Controversy Aside And Come Together For 9/11 About a month from now, Americans will observe the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 1 1, 2001 terrorist attacks, honoring the thousands of lives lost on that terrible day. Wellington will be among the many communities throughout the country to off icially commemorate 9/11, and the village has a very special three-day commemoration planned. Although there has been heated disagreement over the scope and cost of the new Wellington Patrio t Memorial, now is not the time to let a financial debate ruin the spirit of the day. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 2 - 13 OPINION ................................ 4 CRIME NEWS ........................ 6 NEWS BRIEFS .......................8 SCHOOLS .............................15 PEOPLE........................ 16 - 17 COLUMNS .................... 23 - 24 ENTERTAINMENT ................26 BUSINESS ...................29 - 31 SPORTS .......................35 - 37 CALENDAR...................38 - 39 CLASSIFIEDS ...............40 - 45 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
The Palms West Chamber of Commerce held its 2011 Poker Tournament on Saturday, July 30 at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. Approximately 170 people gathered to play. Pictured here is raffle winner Karen Shupler with Assistant Card Room Manager Josh Alderman and Jessica Clasby of the Palms West Chamber. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Principal Butch Mondy Returns To Palm Beach Central High School By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach Central High School will re-open this month with a familiar face in charge, now that Principal Butch Mondy has returned to lead the school. Mondy replaces Dr. Matt Shoemaker, who was promoted to West Area Superintendent last month. Mondy was first named principal at PBCHS in 2006, and spent two years at the school before moving on to become the director of professional development for the Palm Beach County School District. He was succeeded by Shoemaker in 2008. Mondy has 20 years of education experience in Palm Beach County, with 29 total years spent
in public education. A native of Michigan, he received his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University in 1976. In 1990, he received his master’s degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He has spent time as both an educator and an administrator at schools across the county, including Coral Sunset Elementary School, Loggers Run Middle School and Boca Raton Middle School. Prior to his first stint as principal at PBCHS, Mondy was principal at the Jupiter Middle School of Technology. His wife Jane and son Scott are also educators. Mondy said that he was excited to be back in the school after
several years working at the district office. “I found I really missed being in the schools,” he told the TownCrier Wednesday. “I missed being with the students and with the teachers. My passion is really in the school.” Mondy said that it was an easy decision to come back to PBCHS. “The thing that really made the decision for me was that there was a space available,” he said. And with only a week on the job, Mondy said he has been keeping busy getting things in order for the new school year. He said that teachers and parents shouldn’t expect much to be different. “You won’t see too many See MONDY, page 18
Lox Groves Tax Rate Might Drop As Council Reviews 2012 Budget By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council reviewed its proposed budget for 2012 on Tuesday with a recommendation to hold the town’s tax rate unchanged at 1.4 mills. However, during the discussion, Councilman Jim Rockett suggested reducing the tax rate to 1.2 mills. During the Financial Advisory and Audit Committee report, Vice Chair Elise Ryan said that as of the meeting on July 25, the town had received 75 percent of its revenue for the fiscal year and spent only 44 percent. Revenue exceeded expenses by $600,000. “I would like the council to consider that we lower our millage from 1.4 to 1.2, which would take $35,000 out of our revenue stream,” Rockett said, explaining that an initial review showed that they could easily absorb the difference, partially because of revenue coming in from other sources. Town Manager Frank Spence said he felt that the time to consider lowering the tax rate would be at the first public hearing on
the budget Sept. 6. “That meeting is when the council will set the millage,” Spence said. “That meeting would be the more appropriate time, unless you’re looking for consensus or to know that your suggestion is going to be considered.” Rockett said his goal was a get the idea discussed. “I’m looking for the council to give you some direction if there is any direction to give,” Rockett said. “I would like the council to kick it around, and I don’t mean necessarily a vote. I do think it’s easy for us to do, and it’s at the point where I don’t think it jeopardizes our business.” Because of a $2 million contingency fund and having the threat of an expensive lawsuit removed over the Callery-Judge Grove challenge to the town’s comprehensive plan, Rockett said he felt the town was in a situation where it could scale back revenue. “I think we could afford much more than that, but I would recommend that the council at least kick around what they are thinking about the 1.4 versus the 1.2,” he said.
Councilman Tom Goltzené said it might be premature to talk about reducing the tax rate. He pointed out that revenues from electric and communication franchise fees are going down. “We also have a big variable, which is the new town management services contract, and we have no idea what that price is,” Goltzené said. “For $35,000, I really don’t think it’s appropriate right now.” Councilman Ron Jarriel said he would like to hear a recommendation from the finance committee. “I think we’re doing taxpayers a favor by maintaining 1.4,” Jarriel said. “I think everybody else is increasing their taxes around us. I would like to see some benefits to the residents in the future. I see a lot of things we need to do around the town. I’m getting tired of hoarding the money, honestly. Vice Mayor Ryan Liang said that Rockett’s suggestion was something to consider but that he’d prefer to wait until September, when they have firmer numbers. “I’d like to keep that option See GROVES, page 18
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Wellington Unveils Plans For Memorial Dedication Weekend By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington will remember the victims of 9/11 by dedicating its Patriot Memorial during a remembrance ceremony Sunday, Sept. 11, on the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks. Hosted together with the Fire Chiefs Association of Palm Beach County, the ceremony will be the culmination of a weekend filled with events meant to honor those lost in the attacks. It will bring together people from all over the county, state and country as the nation observes the 10-year anniversary. “We will acknowledge 9/11, and at the same time celebrate the construction of a new memorial that will be there forever,” Deputy Village Manager John Bonde said. Last year, the Wellington Village Council approved the memorial, which is under construction at the entrance to the Town Center between Scott’s Place playground and the Wellington municipal complex. It will feature an eternal flame, a flagpole, benches and a fountain. Central to the memorial is a 36foot by 8-foot steel beam pulled
from the wreckage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Vice Mayor Matt Willhite, who conceived the Patriot Memorial project, sought to have the county’s 9/11 ceremony brought to Wellington this year. “I’m with the honor guard,” he said. “So I have been to all of the ceremonies. It moves each year, and last year we put our hat in the ring to host the ceremony.” Wellington was selected to host the ceremony, at which time it will dedicate the memorial. “Things came together as we hoped,” Willhite said. “It will be ready well before the ceremony, and we’re excited to unveil it.” In addition to the ceremony, there will be a weekend filled with events. The Wellington Aquatics Complex will be open Friday through Sunday free of charge. On Friday, Sept. 9, the inaugural “Honor Our Heroes” golf tournament will be held at the Binks Forest Golf Club starting at 1:30 p.m. It will be followed by a showing of the movie World Trade Center (PG-13) at 7:30 p.m. at the Wellington Amphitheater. Saturday, Sept. 10 will kick off with the Jeff Annas Memorial 5K See MEMORIAL, page 18
FLEA MARKET IN RPB
The Village of Royal Palm Beach hosted a community indoor flea market Friday, July 29 at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Vendors sold crafts, housewares, clothes, jewelry and more while the crowd listened to oldies music spun by DJ Terry Harms. Shown here are Dolly Hughes, Attis Solomon and Sharon Lincoln. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 12 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
County Delays Vote On New Acreage Shopping Center By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Palm Beach County Commission delayed a decision last week on rezoning a 30.7-acre parcel along Northlake Blvd. in The Acreage slated for a shopping center, giving the developer time to make changes that will render the project less intrusive to residential neighbors. Some of the neighbors around the site, located between 130th Avenue North and Coconut Blvd. along the south side of Northlake, said the project is not needed or wanted in their neighborhood. The Shops at Indian Trails would include a grocery store,
general retail, two banks, a medical office building, a fast-food restaurant, and a convenience store with gasoline pumps and a car wash. The preliminary site plan calls for a total of 107,566 square feet of commercial use. After hearing concerns from the public about lighting, safety and increased crime, the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission voted 7-0 on July 7 to recommend approval, subject to almost 50 conditions. Developer’s agent Bob Bentz of Land Design South said the project has received widespread support after working with inSee NORTHLAKE, page 18
Pump Station’s Demise Marks End Of An Era In Wellington By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A remnant of Wellington’s past has been removed from the southwestern reaches of the village overlooking the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The original pump station that once drew down water from the farmland that is now Wellington has been dismantled, giving way to a new system that has completely changed the area’s drainage infrastructure. The reconfiguration is the product of the Everglades Forever Act, which stopped Wellington from pumping nutrient-laden stormwater runoff directly into the Everglades. The land that became the Vil-
lage of Wellington in 1995 was originally swampland drained for farming, said former county commissioner and Wellington pioneer Ken Adams, during a recent trip to the former pump site, which now has only a small retention pond with a rusty gate that once opened into the refuge as a memory of a bygone time. “This was so far out originally they were not thinking about development,” Adams said. “All this land was part of the Everglades. During the wet season, you couldn’t walk or drive anything, or even ride a horse. It was just muck land, and most of it under water.” When C. Oliver Wellington bought the land in the 1950s, the goal was agriculture, not houses.
“They wanted to drain it for agriculture,” Adams said. “They had one of the biggest strawberry patches here. They had orange groves; some farmers raised flowers, peppers, all kinds of things.” When the property owners discovered that the government was going to build a dike around what is now the refuge, it gave them the idea to drain the land by backpumping water into the refuge, Adams said. “If they could get grandfathered in that dike with that pump, then they could just pump water over that dike onto the federal government’s side and drain all of these 12,000 acres,” Adams said. “That’s the only reason they bought it, and it worked up until a See PUMP STATION, page 18
Rusting History — Wellington pioneer Ken Adams looks out at the remnants of the pump station that was once responsible for draining swampland, creating what is now Wellington. PHOTO BY R ON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER