Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
May 2019
Volume 12 Issue 5
Along the Coast
Years-old tickets stun drivers as Boynton red-light cameras wink back on By Charles Elmore
An Ocean Ridge resident said he felt “outrage” after receiving a notice in February demanding $401.80 for a 2015 ticket generated by a red-light camera in Boynton Beach. “Warning: Your license may be suspended,” the letter said. Three or four years later? Better buckle up. Similar shocks potentially await thousands of drivers in the latest chapter of the off-again, on-again saga of redlight cameras. Attorney Ted Hollander of the Ticket
Clinic, which has an office in Boynton Beach, said he can understand why drivers might feel whipsawed. “There’s been tons of confusion,” Hollander said. “It’s been a mess for 10
years.” Nearly all participating cities in Palm Beach County turned the cameras off after lower-court action seemed to put their legality in question in recent years,
Along the Coast
Sheriff, Lantana considered for police service By Dan Moffett
Collecting plastic in trek around state, former lifeguard says recycling is not enough By Ron Hayes For four years, Bryan Galvin sat on the beach behind the St. Andrews Club in Gulf Stream, ready to rescue exhausted swimmers from unexpected riptides. Galvin, 28, quit that lifeguard job in February, and on the morning of March 1 he started walking south from Amelia Island, near the Georgia line, on a 1,200-mile mission to rescue the beaches. “This isn’t a beach cleanup,” he wants you to know. “It’s an awareness trek.” PlasTrek 2019, he calls it. Galvin and his fellow traveler, Heather Bolint, 32, are trekking the perimeter of mainland Florida, picking up as much plastic flotsam and jetsam as they can carry along the way. On that first morning, they set forth in a blue Dodge Dakota with a canoe on the roof for paddling across inlets, 150 burlap bags and a smartphone to photograph plastic and other debris they salvaged from the sand. Balloons, coffee cup lids,
ABOVE: Bryan Galvin and Heather Bolint walk the St. Andrews Club beach in Gulf Stream last month as they pick up and photograph plastic and other trash on a three-month, 1,200-mile trek covering the entire Florida coastline. LEFT: The trekkers wear their message on their backs. Photos by Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
See PLASTIC on page 14
House of the Month
Key West flair in Ocean Ridge. Page H19
See RED LIGHTS on page 15
South Palm Beach
Reduce Refuse Rethink
Inside
but a Florida Supreme Court decision upheld the camera law last year. Alone among its county peers,
As one, the eight police officers in South Palm Beach have come forward and asked the Town Council to allow their department to join forces with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Council members say they are surprised. And they are listening. “As a town, we can’t be afraid to look into other options,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “We can’t put blinders on.” Councilman Mark Weissman said the town has an obligation to INSIDE listen when an entire Police department comes salaries forward and speaks Page 14 with one voice. “One hundred percent of the officers want this,” Weissman said. “This isn’t 30 percent or 50 percent — but 100 percent.” The council unanimously voted on April 9 to invite both the Sheriff’s Office and the Lantana Police Department to make presentations about a possible takeover. Fischer said the presentations would be “educational” for the council and could be scheduled before summer. Under state law, only contiguous jurisdictions can consider contracting for police services. For South Palm Beach, that means the sheriff, Lantana and the town of Palm Beach are the options. Councilwoman Stella Gaddy See POLICE on page 14
Mother’s Day Mom and daughter team helps build Habitat home for another mother and daughter. Page H1
A Summer of Culture
Our guide to the season ahead. Page AT11