CORRUPTION REPORT HEADS TO BCC SEE STORY, PAGE 2
TWEENS ENJOY FUN TIME AT LIBRARY SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 5
T H E W E L L I N GTO N
TOWN-CRIER
Wellington’s Hometown Newspaper
INSIDE Opinion
Volume 30, Number 29 July 17 - July 23, 2009
COWS HAVE THEIR DAY
It’s Time To Change The Way Florida Draws District Lines
Two news items released this week regarding events in other parts of the state are vitally important for residents of the western communities, and it’s all because of gerrymandering, the partisan practice of twisting and contorting legislative districts to fit preferred constituencies. The only way to fix this unfair system is to keep politicians out of the redistricting process. Page 4
News Wellington Temple To Buy Village Land
Culminating an effort that began more than a year ago, members of the Temple B’nai Jacob thanked the Wellington Village Council on Tuesday for accepting their bid to purchase a village-owned lot on Lake Worth Road as the site of their new synagogue. Page 2
Area Centenarians Celebrate Birthdays
On Wednesday, two area residents celebrated their 100th and 103rd birthdays at MetCare of Florida’s office near Palms West Hospital. Alcide Cote of Lake Worth turned 103 on Feb. 20, and Acreage resident Ann Freeman will celebrate her 100th birthday on July 26. Page 3
Members of the middle school ministry from Grace Fellowship’s Acreage campus arrived in a big yellow school bus last Friday evening for Cow Appreciation Day at the new Chick-fil-A restaurant on Okeechobee Blvd. near Florida’s Turnpike. Dressed “horn to hoof” as cows, the middle schoolers enjoyed free chicken meals. Pictured above is Pastor Jim Sims (in the cow cutout) with the middle school ministry members. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 7 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
RPB Council Supports Field For Growing Football League By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council has approved construction of a youth football field next year for the village’s growing Pop Warner Youth Football League. But some council members are wondering if the planned location at Lindsay Ewing Park is a good fit. The council discussed the issue at their July 9 budget hearing. The project was conceived by Pop Warner representatives, who met with village staff to discuss building the field, Village Engineer Ray Liggins said. Without a home field, the league is currently using the football field at Royal Palm Beach High School.
“When we sat down and looked at what we had [money and location], it looked like we could accommodate it,” Liggins said. “We have $325,000 in the current budget to do modifications to Ewing Park.” That figure will be augmented with a $200,000 Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grant, Liggins said. The park plans call for a covered seating area, expansion of the existing concession area, scoreboard and scorekeeper’s box, lighting, referee stand and a post rail fence. The field is planned for the coming year with lighting to come through the FRDAP grant the following year, ac-
cording to Village Manager David Farber. Pop Warner coach and treasurer Richard Durr said the league has quickly outgrown the borrowed high school field. “We are in our third season, and we’ve got about 60 to 70 percent enrollment of village kids, with 250 football players and 150 cheerleaders,” said Durr, also a member of the village’s Planning & Zoning Commission. “To date we really don’t have a home or practice fields to play on, so we’ve made it for two years without any real facilities. We’re desperately looking for a place to call home and give our kids an even playing field with some See FOOTBALL, page 18
Wellington Early Retirement Program Deemed A Success
Gary Nikolits: Don’t Expect Quick Real Estate Rebound
Home property values in Palm Beach County will eventually see a rebound, but don’t expect anything to happen over the next year, Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits said this week. Page 7
Features Mustang Adoption July 24-25 At South Florida Fairgrounds
On July 24 and 25, approximately 60 to 70 Mustangs will be available for adoption at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The selection will include yearlings and two- and three-yearold Mustangs, both mares and stallions and possibly a few geldings. Page 18 THIS WEEK’S INDEX NEWS ...................... 2 - 10 OPINION ......................... 4 CRIME NEWS ................. 6 BUSINESS ................... 12 SCHOOLS ...................... 14 PEOPLE ........................ 15 CALENDAR .................... 16 SPORTS ........................ 17 COLUMNS .................... 19 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
By Mark Lioi Town-Crier Staff Report An early retirement offer to longtime Wellington village employees will net the village more than half a million dollars in savings annually, village officials said this week. Looking to reduce its workforce to cope with shrinking revenue, the village offered an early retirement package at the start of June to employees whose age and years with the village combined add up to 62. The deadline for employees to accept the offer arrived Friday, after the Town-Crier went to press, but on Wednesday, Assistant Village Manager Francine Ramaglia said a preliminary review suggests the village will hit the target it was aiming for. “We made a guess, out of
some 58 people that were actually eligible, that 17 would take it, and we didn’t know which ones would take it, but at that time we estimated that our savings would be $600,000 to $700,000,” she said. “And scary but true, they tell me, based on the first pass of the calculations, that the number is about $600,000, and that is with 15 to 17 people actually having signed. I think there are a couple that are iffy, but they have until Friday.” Employees who take the early retirement package get a week’s pay for every year in village service, up to $75,000, as well as continued health insurance benefits through the end of the calendar year, and for the 2010 calendar year for the individual employee, Ramaglia said.
The village is taking advantage of a federal program that reimburses 65 percent of the cost of providing insurance to separated employees, she said. Ramaglia said the extended health insurance coverage served as a major incentive, particularly for those employees who are not yet eligible for Medicare. “That’s the best thing we could do,” she said. “It’s the insurance that helped people make the decision, because most people will stay at work longer than they wished to, only to remain insured.” Most of the employees who take the offer will leave village service next month, Ramaglia said. Although pleased with the success of the offer and the See RETIRE, page 18
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Council Begins Budget Review By Mark Lioi Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council approved a preliminary property tax rate for the coming fiscal year Tuesday, putting forward a tax rate increase with the intent of lowering the rate somewhat as the budget process moves forward. Council members voted to approve a millage rate of 2.807, the so-called “rollback rate” that would maintain property tax revenues at the same level as last year, while cautioning that they would strive to lower the rate during the budget review process. The village must set preliminary tax and assessment rates in July to fulfill state requirements. Municipalities can lower the rates before final adoption in September, but not raise them. Village staff had recommended a preliminary millage rate of 2.5 mills, up 14 percent from last year’s rate of 2.34 mills. This would come close to countering the 15 percent drop for the year in the value of taxable property in the village. Village Manager Paul Schofield told the council the median home price in the village last year was $200,000, but is now about $160,000. Last year’s median home, assessed at last year’s rate, yielded $468 in revenue. “The average ad valorem tax return at 2.5 mills would be about $400 on that home, about $68 less than the median home paid last year,” he said. “It is about $26 more than it would pay if we stayed at 2.34.” Schofield cautioned that while some will see the rate as a tax increase, he stressed that it would produce 10 percent less revenue than it did last year. The adopted preliminary non-ad-valorem surface wa-
ter assessment rate is $175 per unit, up $29 or 20 percent from last year, and the solid waste collection assessment was set at $165 per unit for curbside service, up $3 or two percent. Village staff prepared a draft budget for 2010 balanced at the 2.5 millage rate, Schofield said. “Our budget recommendation for this year is projected to be very close to $83 million, and that compares to last year’s budget of $103 million, so we are looking to present to you a budget that is about $20 million less than last year,” he said. Schofield said that the draft budget reflects substantial decreases in general government expenses, particularly administrative costs. Areas that are recommended for increased spending include law enforcement, the village’s new Safe Neighborhoods program, and infrastructure investment. “The changes in spending reflect a change in emphasis to community reinvestment,” Schofield said. “What you see in the Safe Neighborhoods program are programs designed to improve and maintain our older and more challenged neighborhoods.” The village is spending $2.1 million on the Safe Neighborhoods program, funding neighborhood advocacy, code enforcement, nuisance abatement and outreach activities. For law enforcement, the village is facing a six-percent increase in its contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, amounting to $410,000 on a total contract of $7.5 million. Spread among the approximately 22,000 housing units in Wellington, Schofield said the village would spend $53 per unit for Safe Neighborhoods. “We’ve put another See BUDGET, page 18
SNOW AT THE ZOO!
The weather forecast called for snow last Saturday and Sunday at the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach. Kids of all ages had the opportunity to play in 40 tons of snow during the zoo’s annual “Winter in July” event. Shown above is Snow Queen Meghan Mayo with Elizabeth Bauer. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Health Official Promises ‘Cancer Cluster’ Answers By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A top Palm Beach County health official promised Wednesday to ascertain whether or not there is a “cancer cluster” in The Acreage by next month. Dr. Alina Alonso, acting director of the Palm Beach County Health Department, offered an update on the investigation of a possibly higher-than-normal incidence of cancerous brain tumors in The Acreage at County Commissioner Jess Santamaria’s monthly community forum at the original Wellington Mall. “I don’t claim to be an expert in terms of cancer or epidemiology or the studies that are done in this area, but as a
mother and member of this community, I can certainly be an expert in the anguish and the concern I see in the community as we search for answers as to why people get sick with certain diseases,” she said. Alonso said the Florida Department of Health was alerted in May of reports of a high incidence of brain tumors affecting children in The Acreage, and the county health department launched an investigation using the same protocol as investigations at the federal level so that the results would be compatible with data from other studies. The protocols are very strict to make sure that the investigation is systematic
and conclusions are clear, Alonso said. After contacting members of the community, investigators came to realize tumors of different types are afflicting different age groups, not just children, and as a result, the scope of the investigation was expanded, she said. The tumors identified will be divided into groups, with the greater interest still being central nervous system tumors affecting children, she said. This stage of the investigation, expected to be completed by mid-August, will determine whether cancer rates in the community are higher than normal, she said. Evidence of higher rates of cancer will prompt a search for causes, particularly sub-
stances that could trigger whatever types of cancer are prevalent in The Acreage. Because so much research has gone into discovering which substances cause particular types of cancer, the various types of cancer must be catalogued first, Alonso said. “It’s somewhat difficult, it’s tedious, it’s painstaking and has to be done — and it has to be done correctly,” Alonso said. Alonso also cautioned that connections between the environment and cancer rates are very difficult to prove. “You have to show a cause and effect,” she said. “You have to show that this tumor that is in children is being caused by this agent that is in
the water or in the food or in whatever substance you’re looking for.” Once cause and effect are established, Alonso said, further investigation can refine aspects of the cluster such as genetic disposition or general health condition, she said. “We’re trying to get this done as quickly as possible,” she said. “The department does understand your need.” Information on the investigation is being posted on the health department’s web site at www.pbchd.com, Alonso said. Information is also available by calling the county health department’s Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control at (561) 840-4564.