October 2015
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Along the Coast
Six towns to study barrier island fire district By Dan Moffett
Six coastal municipalities are joining forces to explore forming a barrier island fire district that could reduce rising costs, improve response times and sever dependence on mainland governments. The proposed district would stretch roughly 18 miles from South Palm Beach on the north to Highland Beach on the south and include Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Gulf Stream. The six municipalities, which total some 10,000 residents, currently have individual contracts for fire-rescue service with Palm Beach County, Boynton Beach or Delray Beach. The cost of those contracts has increased steadily over the last decade, and talk among officials in Boynton and Delray about consolidating their departments with the county is raising new concerns about future coverage for the A1A communities. Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger says the possibility that Delray might stop providing service to his town, and also Highland Beach, is a “profound shift” that the island municipalities cannot ignore. “Delray continues to pursue shifting fire-rescue to the county, and now it appears Boynton is doing the same thing,” Ganger said. “We really can’t afford to sit back and see what happens.” Ganger and Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher are leading an initiative exploring the feasibility of a barrier island district. On Sept. 17, representatives of the six municipalities met in Gulf Stream and agreed to contribute toward a study, if the cost is right. Thrasher is hoping the study costs $100,000 or less, and he expects as many as a half-dozen vendors to bid. If the price is too high, he allows that the coalition may splinter. See FIRE on page 6
South Palm Beach
South Palm Beach
Population = 3,000 Contracts fire protection from Palm Beach County Tax Rate = $4.32 Amount spent on fire protection = $883,000 Percentage of town budget = 33%
E Ocean Ave
1
Along the Coast
Building fees growth reflects local rebound By Rich Pollack
Manalapan
Existing Fire Station at Manalapan Town Hall Palm Beach County owns all of the equipment.
Manalapan
Population = 440 Contracts fire protection from Palm Beach County Tax Rate = $3.04 Total spent on fire protection = $901,000 Percentage of town budget = 27%
Ocean Ridge
E Ocean Ave
Population 1,800 Contracts fire protection from Boynton Beach Tax Rate = $5.35 Total spent on fire protection = $979,000 Percentage of town budget = 29.6%
Volume 8 Issue 10
Ocean Ridge
1
Woolbright Road
Briny Breezes
Briny Breezes
Population = 600 Contracts fire protection from Boynton Beach Tax Rate = $10 Total spent on fire protection = $330,000 Percentage of town budget = 50%
Drive along State Road A1A and you’ll see the subtle signs of a steadily recovering economy. In Manalapan, several older homes have been bulldozed to make way for new and larger luxury homes that are rising out of the ground. A short distance away crews are remodeling an aging condo for new owners who want a place with a more contemporary appearance. Not far down the road in Highland Beach, a multimillion-dollar luxury condominium project is being built on what had been one of the last remaining empty parcels of land in town. All up and down the coast, South Florida’s economic rebound can be seen in the construction that’s taking place — and in the resulting revenues municipalities collect from building-permit fees. “As the economy gets better, construction increases,” says Mike Desorcy, Highland Beach’s building official. “When people are doing well, they spend more money.” See BUILDING FEES on page 12
Along the Coast
Proposed Fire Station
Gulf Stream
May be located in Briny Breezes Needs to be equipped
1
Gulf Stream
George Bush Blvd
Population = 900 Contracts fire protection from Delray Beach Tax Rate = $3.90 Total spent on fire protection = $410,000 Percentage of town budget = 9.6%
Existing Fire Station # 2 serves Delray Beach and Gulf Stream, and is not part of the proposed new district
Atlantic Ave
Delray Beach 1
Linton Blvd
Highland Beach
Highland Beach
1
Existing Fire Station at Highland Beach Town Hall. The town owns one rescue truck.
Inside
Spanish River Blvd
Boca Raton
Plein air artists
Federal Highway
Delray happy with new look that was decade in making. Page 23
Painters celebrate the great outdoors of Florida. Page 18
Old Winn-Dixie
Joe Gillie says so long
10-story apartment complex in works for Boynton site. Page 27 Pages AT9-25
Sargassum: Too much of a good thing? By Cheryl Blackerby
Population = 3,550 Contracts fire protection from Delray Beach Tax Rate = $3.95 Total spent on fire protection = $3,295,000 Percentage of town budget = 29%
SOURCE: Town of Gulf Stream RFP, prepared before approval of final 2015-2016 budgets
Sargassum seaweed blankets the Ocean Ridge beach in July. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Old School Square chief looking ahead to retirement. Page 20
Sargassum, the brown free-floating algae that turns up on Palm Beach County’s beaches every summer, is essential for marine life. The thick masses of seaweed stretch for thousands of miles in the Atlantic Ocean, giving safe sanctuary and nutrients to fish and endangered sea turtle hatchlings. Onshore, the seaweed helps keep expensive replacement sand on beaches, offers crucial delicacies such as crabs and snails to seabirds, and provides nutrients to plants on dunes. But scientists, and certainly beach resorts, are wondering if there is too much of a good thing. See SARGASSUM on page 15
Black magic women The witch is alive and well this Halloween season! Page HH1