March 2019
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Volume 12 Issue 3
South Palm Beach
Beach project appears dead after county backs out
By Dan Moffett For nearly 13 years, Palm Beach County and South Palm Beach have worked together on a controversial plan to use a network of concrete groins to relieve the town’s chronic beach erosion problems.
They spent $1.7 million and devoted countless hours to the joint venture, consulting with scientists and engineers, lobbying politicians and state officials, and twisting the arms of skeptical residents and neighbors. Now, months before
construction of the groins was scheduled to begin, it appears the project is dead in the water. On Feb. 5, the county sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection officially withdrawing a request for the permits needed to move forward. County environmental
managers say the project has grown too expensive to make sense anymore. “We have determined that the project is cost prohibitive,” said Michael Stahl, deputy director of the county’s Environmental Resources Management department.
What was envisioned as a $10 million plan a decade ago has ballooned now to something closer to $25 million, Stahl said. Though the state has promised to cover half the cost, the new estimate is a deal breaker for the See BEACH on page 18
Ocean Ridge
$675 payment ends Lucibella felony saga By Steve Plunkett
Age is just a dance number The New Florida Follies performs last month at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, which will be the site of two more shows, on March 24 and 31. Some women in the troupe dance into their 80s and beyond. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star Story, Page 32
Lantana
Veterinarian had passion for life and work, friends recall
By Arden Moore, Mary Thurwachter and Rich Pollack Neighbors, family members, longtime clients and anyone else who knew veterinarian Ken Simmons rarely were at a loss for words to describe him. He stood 6-foot-8, but his attitude and actions stood out even more. They talked about his unyielding compassion for pets, his reputation for innovation and most
of all, his determination to get the best out of life every day. These traits were shared by Alice, his wife of nearly 33 years. On the afternoon of Feb. 1, Ken, 62, and Alice Simmons, 59, of Hypoluxo Island, loaded up their 1979 Piper Lance II single-engine aircraft with supplies and their golden retrievers, Lily and Bailey, bound for their favorite and frequent destination, Great Guana Cay in the Bahamas, See SIMMONS on page 33
Ken and Alice Simmons are presumed dead after their plane disappeared Feb. 1.
Onetime Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella walked out of the Palm Beach County Courthouse after his trial with his bank account $675 lighter and with a dark cloud over his Lucibella head gone. The felony case against the Ocean Ridge resident, which lingered in the criminal justice system for 27 months, resolved itself Feb. 21 in comparatively short order: • Prosecutors called five witnesses to testify; defense attorneys also called five. • The jury, seated Jan. 28, a Monday, spent barely five hours — including lunch the following Friday — in reaching its verdict: not guilty of felony battery on a law enforcement officer or resisting arrest with violence, but guilty of misdemeanor battery. • In a 10-minute sentencing hearing Feb. 21, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss upheld the verdict and ordered Lucibella to pay $675 in court fees and ordered no jail time. “I am going to adjudicate you guilty of the misdemeanor battery. I’m going to impose standard fines and court costs,” Weiss said as the crowded courtroom erupted in applause. Contacted days after the See LUCIBELLA on page 24
Inside Election 2019
Your guide to issues, candidates in South County. Pages 15-17
Fresh start
Home tour
Annual Delray event offers a look inside local houses. Page AT1
Taylor-made
Paul Taylor Dance comes to Duncan Theatre. Page AT11
Interfaith group helps provide showers to homeless. Page H1