Town-Crier Newspaper, December 17, 2010

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WELLINGTON WORKING WITH AREA BANKS SEE STORY, PAGE 4

RPB TASK FORCE WILL MEET IN JANUARY SEE STORY, PAGE 7

THE

TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

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INSIDE ITID Seeks Uniform Procedure For Water Hookup Requests

Volume 31, Number 51 December 17 - December 23, 2010

‘HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS’ PARADE

Indian Trail Improvement District supervisors last week cited a need for a uniform permit procedure for Acreage homeowners seeking to hook up to the county’s water system. Page 3

Wellington Seniors Club Hosts Its Installation & Holiday Luncheon

The Wellington Seniors Club held its annual holiday and installation luncheon Wednesday, Dec. 8 at the Binks Forest Golf Club. In addition to the installation ceremony, seniors danced to music by DJ Bob Flaster, and there was a cash bar and sit-down lunch. Page 9

Royal Palm Beach Thanks Volunteers With Outback Lunch

Royal Palm Beach hosted a holiday party for village volunteers on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Outback Steakhouse. Attendees included members of the Young at Hear t Club, seniors activities volunteers, village council members and village staff. Page 14

OPINION Florida Needs Education Reform Done The Right Way

Everyone knows that changes are needed in Florida’s educational system, and Gov.-Elect Rick Scott has already signaled that education reform is likely to be one of his signature policy issues. However, it is important that such reform is done with all of the stakeholders involved to make sure that parents and teachers buy into the changes. Page 4

Page 38-40 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 2 - 14 OPINION ................................ 4 CRIME NEWS ........................ 6 NEWS BRIEFS ....................... 8 SCHOOLS ..................... 16 - 17 PEOPLE........................ 18 - 19 COLUMNS .................... 27 - 28 BUSINESS ................... 36 - 37 SPORTS ....................... 31 - 44 CALENDAR...................46 - 47 CLASSIFIEDS ...............48 - 54 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

The 27th annual Palms West Holiday Parade, presented by the Palms West Chamber of Commerce, made its way down Forest Hill Blvd. on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 12. The event kicked off with the eighth annual Holiday Mile Race followed b y parade entries making their way through the heart of Wellington. This year’s theme was “Home for the Holidays.” Pictured above is the Knights of Columbus float, which won Best in Show. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY CAR OL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

Freezing Night Temperatures Have Lox Growers Concerned By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Growers in the western communities have been watching the weather closely this past week for freezing temperatures that could cause damage to their crops. Loxahatchee Groves saw five hours of temperatures below 32 degrees on Tuesday, which can cause extensive damage to unprotected crops and trees. Loxahatchee Groves Councilman Ryan Liang, whose family owns Silver Lake, a lychee and longan grove off North Road, said trees on the north side of his property were hit pretty hard. Ice formed on some of the plants where he had sprinklers running in an attempt to keep from freezing. “We didn’t get much frost, but the freeze does damage the leaves and the new growth,” Liang told the Town-Crier on Wednesday. “The new growth is more delicate. The lychees can tolerate some frost, but they can only tolerate so much. The longans are more deli-

cate than the lychees, and it so happens our longans are on the north side of the property, so they got the brunt of the damage.” The family has close to 10,000 longan trees on 40 acres of the farm. Liang said he anticipates his plants will recover eventually, except possibly for some still recovering from frost damage last year. “Some of them haven’t fully recovered yet, so they kind of got beat up while they were still down,” he said. “For tree farms, there’s only so much you can do, irrigate the land to try and hold in the heat, and let the radiance keep the temperature a little above freezing, but basically that’s all I can do. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope it’s not too bad.” Liang said a freeze is felt most by produce growers, unless they have some kind of protective cover, such as Darrin and Jodi Swank of Swank Specialty Produce, a hydroponic farm at D and North roads, which grows its produce in shade houses equipped with

screens and cloths to keep the freezing cold off their crops. “I’ve got a shade house with plastic on the walls and a roof that I pull over in this type of situation,” Darrin Swank told the Town-Crier on Wednesday. “I did pretty good. Some of the shade house, I don’t have the plastic. I just have the screening, but that’s next to my cold-tolerant crops. My eggplant got burned up pretty good.” He added that the bell pepper plants shriveled up badly overnight but appear to have rebounded in the sunlight. He estimated that although he lost a considerable amount of plants, he will still have enough remaining to turn a profit. “Some of my young tomatoes got some burn on the top, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to come back,” he said. “I did pretty well, I think, considering.” The Swanks have two shade houses, 150 by 300 yards with plastic covers, and another 150 by See FREEZE, page 4

Serving Palms West Since 1980

Equestrian Anger Scraps Consultant Plan... For Now By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Concerns surrounding the Village of Wellington’s bidding process, the legitimacy of its advisory committees and the future of its equestrian community arose once again at Tuesday’s meeting of the Wellington Village Council. Plans for the village to negotiate a contract with a consulting firm to develop an equestrian master plan were halted following an outcry from members of the equestrian community at not having been involved in the process. The village put out a request for proposals in August for a consulting firm to help conduct a study of and make recommendations for the equestrian community in Wellington. In November, the selection committee — consisting of Assistant Village Manager Francine Ramaglia, Director of Operations Jim Barnes and Director of Growth Operations Bob Basehart — conducted interviews with each of the six candidates and ranked them. The firm of Simmons & White Engineering was ranked first and would have been awarded the contract that night. But concerns about the scoring process and the involvement of the equestrian com-

munity prompted the council to send the request for proposals back to staff. Mayor Darell Bowen noted that the discussion should be about the council decision, not about the process used to award bids. “We’re here tonight to make a decision as to whether or not to have staff move forward with negotiations for one of these consulting firms,” he said. “We’re not here to talk about or change the process, because the process we use is one that we all approved less than a year ago.” But Councilman Howard Coates said that concerns about Wellington’s bidding process had merit in the discussion. He noted that although two of the scorers had ranked the bid from the University of Florida as No. 1, the third scorer ranked it sixth. “I’m fully in support of a process that comes up with reasonable scoring ranges,” he said. “But the scoring ranges that occurred in this situation, to me, is an indictment that the process is not sufficient… Something is wrong with the process when it allows one scorer to basically overweight that candidate’s sheet because of where he ranked the proposal.” Instead, Coates reiterated the See EQUESTRIAN, page 4

Wellington To Mark Anniversary With A New Year’s Party By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report The Village of Wellington is inviting the community to join in as it celebrates 15 years of incorporation, the opening of its new village hall and the New Year at the Wellington Amphitheater on Saturday, Dec. 31. Residents will have a chance to tour the new village hall building from 10 a.m. to noon. Festivities at the amphitheater begin at 3 p.m. with food, entertainment and fire-

works to start the New Year off with a bang. Both are free and open to the public. “It will be nice to celebrate the anniversary and moving into village hall all at the same time, along with the New Year,” Mayor Darell Bowen said. “We’re celebrating 15 years of incorporation, and we’ve done a lot in those 15 years. Opening village hall is just the culmination of all of that work.” Bowen noted that even 15 years See NEW YEAR’S, page 22

SHOPPING WITH MBSK

Road Bill Setback Sends LGWCD Scrambling For A Backup Plan By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A legislative solution to easement issues hampering the work of the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District hit a bump in the road this week when it lost a key supporter on the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation. The local bill would enable the district to claim rights of way for road improvement projects. On Monday, the LGWCD Board of Supervisors hired the Ramba Law Group to steer the local bill through the legislative process after State Rep. Joseph Abruzzo (D-District 85), chairman of the county’s legislative delegation, said he would not sponsor the bill. Ramba was recommended by the district’s legal firm, Caldwell & Pacetti, in response to a Mon-

day meeting with Abruzzo. “Today, at the eleventh hour, we arranged a meeting at Representative Abruzzo’s request, to present this local bill and what we wanted to try to accomplish through it,” District Administrator Clete Saunier said. Those attending the meeting included Abruzzo, Loxahatchee Groves Mayor Dave Browning, LGWCD Chairman David DeMarois, Palm Beach County League of Cities attorney Trela White, LGWCD legal counsel, and Loxahatchee Groves activists Laura Tindale and Marge Herzog, who oppose the bill on the grounds that it will give powers of eminent domain over road easements at the expense of the powers of the Town of Loxahatchee Groves. “I presented the district’s case, in which we were acting as a fa-

cilitator on behalf of the 77 percent of the property owners who voted favorably to improve their roads, that being North A Road, North C Road, North B Road and South C Road,” Saunier said. “Those voters voted 77 percent in favor of paying for improvements based on those easement rights that are currently in existence for over 20 years that the district has maintained.” Supervisors have agreed that a local bill granting the district power over easements would resolve issues that have been hampering its ability to proceed with approved paving projects. The board has been trying to resolve a number of easement acquisition issues for North D and South C roads that could delay the projects, including foreclosure, divorce proceedSee LOCAL BILL, page 22

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper Charitable Trust and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Community Policing Division partnered to give 100 families from the Glades a shopping trip to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Royal Palm Beach. Shown here, the PBSO’s Lissette Lopez and Deputy Rosanne Young shop with Pat Luma. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 2 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/T OWN-CRIER

Wellington Finalizes New ‘Renaissance’ Zoning Rules

Happy Retirement — W ellington Village Council members thanked Strategic Planning & Economic Development Director Martin Hodgkins for his service Tuesday. Hodgkins is retiring after 40 years in planning. (L-R) Councilman Howard Coates, Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Carmine Priore, Vice Mayor Matt Willhite, Mayor Darell Bowen, Councilwoman Anne Gerwig, Hodgkins and Village Manager Paul Schofield. PHOTO B Y LAUREN MIRÓ/T OWN-CRIER

By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council finalized an ordinance Tuesday creating a new zoning district to attract developers to reinvest in aging neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Residential Renaissance Overlay Zoning District (NRROZD) would allow for a change in land-use designations to attract potential investors to build in as many as 14 Wellington neighborhoods. Under the new zoning, developers could buy adjacent properties in one of several transitional neighborhoods to knock down and rebuild homes. In return, the

developers could receive a density bonus of up to 20 percent. A 10 percent density bonus would be awarded to properties that are rebuilt entirely, those that are LEED-certified or that provide senior housing, but a developer could only get a 20 percent bonus maximum. The measure is part of Wellington’s Economic Development Initiative. The zoning would be limited to the planned unit development district and would require a master plan to be adopted, as well as a permanent form of governance such as a property owners’ association. The areas listed in the staff re-

port that could qualify for the new zoning district include: 12th Fairway/White Pine, Folkstone Circle, Goldenrod Road/Hyacinth Place, Hawthorne Place, Periwinkle Place/Lily Court and Yarmouth Circle, among others. Village Manager Paul Schofield stressed that the new zoning would only apply to those property owners who apply for it. “It’s not mandatory,” he said. “It’s not automatic, and everyone must submit an application in order to be considered. It does not force people out of their homes. It does not help developers buy property, it doesn’t use tax dollars, See COUNCIL, page 22


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