Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
August 2019
Along the Coast
Volume 12 Issue 8
Boca Raton
Virgin Trains, Boca want to add station City Council agrees to explore idea for downtown stop By Mary Hladky
Doug Levine, manager of the South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment plant, checks on one of the trio of milliongallon secondary clarifier tanks where solids are removed from sewage. About 17 million gallons are treated each day at the plant, which is undergoing a multiyear upgrade. More on the process, Page 9. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Cities rush to fix aging sewer systems
Health, environmental and cost concerns loom By Rich Pollack We live in a flush and forget world. Most of us don’t fully understand what happens when we flush our toilets, or send gallons of water down the drain while taking a shower, doing laundry or washing dishes. Yet at a time when our sewer lines are aging and our septic systems are being blamed for everything from algae blooms to illness, ignoring what is under our roads and yards may no longer be an option. “You can’t just put something in the ground and expect it to last indefinitely,” says Jason Pugsley, vice president of Florida operations for Baxter &
Woodman, an engineering firm that works with several municipalities in Palm Beach County. “Our infrastructure in Palm Beach County is getting to the point where we need to consider either replacing it or significantly improving the systems.” There is a huge cost associated with replacing or improving traditional sewage-collection systems — largely coming out of the wallets of water and sewer customers. There is also a significant cost to the environment, to health and to other existing infrastructure that comes with not acting now and recognizing that some types of buried pipes — though not all — are close to the end of their life expectancy. While we often hear about water service failures, such as the one in Fort Lauderdale last month that affected about
220,000 people, we hardly ever learn about sewer line problems. For example, through mid-July this year, 67 spills in Palm Beach County were reported to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which keeps records of such incidents. They ranged from a spill of 100 gallons from a broken main in Boca Raton in April to a spill of 2,500 gallons of raw sewage just last month in Delray Beach. That spill, due to a sewer line blockage caused by grease buildup, led to sewage flowing into a parking lot near Veterans Park and into a storm-drain system leading to the Intracoastal Waterway. A barrier that had been previously installed by a contractor at a nearby project contained 90 percent of the discharge before it got into the waterway, according to the city. See SEWER on page 8
Many South Florida cities want a Virgin Trains station, but now it looks like Boca Raton will walk away with the prize if an agreement can be reached between the city and the for-profit rail service. Virgin Trains, formerly known as Brightline, notified the city in a July 19 letter that it wants to locate a station in the city — the first city stop to be added since it built the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach stations. Three days later, a company official made a pitch to City Council members, who quickly agreed to explore the idea. “It is an extremely exciting opportunity for us,” said council member Andy Thomson. “We have to make sure it is done correctly.” Two of the city’s largest employers — Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Resort & Club — leaped on board. “It is just so exciting. I am sure you can hear it in my voice,” said former Deputy Mayor Constance Scott, who now serves as FAU’s director of local relations. “This is the best thing that could happen to Boca Raton,” she said, noting that 10,000 students commute from Broward County to the Boca Raton-based university See TRAINS on page 15
Along the Coast
Lethal bronzing a growing threat to palms By Cheryl Blackerby It’s the worse-case scenario for homeowners who have invested in palm trees costing $5,000 to $10,000 each. The trees’ fronds are turning a bronze-brown and new fronds are curling up and dying. The arborist’s news is bad:
Inside Funk-fusion Bassist Bryan Beller plays Boca’s Funky Biscuit. Page AT9
The trees have a new disease that is terminal. In 2006, a relatively new deadly bacterial disease called lethal bronzing hit the Tampa area and quickly spread east, killing palm trees ranging from stately Canary Island date palms to the indomitable sabal palmetto palm, the state tree. It
Winding up on top
Local athletes making national, international names for themselves. Page AT1
Lethal bronzing is an incurable infection that causes palm fronds to turn brown and die. New growth also dies as a result. Photo provided
has become prevalent in Palm Beach County just in the past couple of years. Lethal bronzing, similar but genetically distinct from lethal yellowing, is now common on Florida’s east coast and is causing “significant palm losses in Palm Beach County,” See BRONZING on page 16
Nesting inspires optimism
It’s a good year for sea turtles, researchers say. Page 12
Highland Beach faces tax boost Officials vow to cut 13% increase. Page 10
Beachfront home rejected
Coastal control line wins in Boca. Page 12