NEW PBC INSPECTOR GENERAL ARRIVES WELLINGTON EXPANDS GRANT PROGRAM SEE STORY, PAGE 3 SEE STORY, PAGE 7 THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
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Royal Palm Council Favors Plan To Speed Up Dog Park Phases
Volume 35, Number 29 July 18 - July 24, 2014
Serving Palms West Since 1980
EVENT HELPS MILITARY BRIDES
Royal Palm Beach staff is in the process of rewriting parts of the village’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget after a resident suggested a change to the phasing of a new dog park that made sense to members of the Royal Palm Beach Village Council at last week’s budget hearing. Page 3
Young Professionals Sponsor July 19 Concert
The Young Professionals of Wellington are sponsoring a special edition of Wellington’s Tribute Concert & Food Trucks series this Saturday evening at the Wellington Amphitheater. The event will feature food trucks on site from 5 to 10:30 p.m., along with music from Neil Diamond tribute artist Neil Zirconia at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Lazy Bones ’80s Rock Tribute Band at 8:30 p.m. Page 4
Bacio Bacio Bridal Salon in Wellington partnered with Brides Across America last week to help 11 special brides find their perfect gown. More than 12,000 wedding gowns have been donated to military brides through Brides Across America, an organization that helps military brides find the gown of their dreams. Shown here are Hailey Lynn, Sgt. Jamarie Cora, Katie Riker and Bacio Bacio owner Lenyce Boyd. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
LGWCD Approves $1.6 Million Budget With Excess Revenues
Jacobs Family, WPC Sponsor Free Admission Day At Wellington Pool
The Jacobs family and the Wellington Preservation Coalition sponsored a free admission day Saturday, July 12 at the Wellington Aquatics Complex. In addition to free entry, a complimentary hot dog, chips and drink were available. Page 5
Children’s Theatre Presents ‘Mulan Jr.’
The Wellington Children’s Theatre performed Disney’s Mulan Jr. on Saturday, July 12 at Trinity West Church in Loxahatchee Groves. Page 17
OPINION Don’t Become The Next Victim: ‘Lock It Or Lose It,’ Warns The PBSO
It’s the middle of the summer. Days are long, it’s always too hot or too wet, and the magic of summer vacation has dimmed in kids off from school. It’s also prime season for vandalism and petty thefts — especially opportunistic vehicle burglaries. However, that is a problem that can be minimized with a few proactive measures. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 10 OPINION.................................. 4 CRIME NEWS.......................... 6 PEOPLE................................. 11 SCHOOLS.............................. 12 COLUMNS.......................14, 21 NEWS BRIEFS....................... 15 BUSINESS..................... 22 - 23 SPORTS..........................27 - 29 CALENDAR............................ 30 CLASSIFIEDS.................31 - 35 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District approved a resolution Monday adopting a $1.6 million budget for next year, reporting $147,265 in excess revenue and no assessment increase. The budget will include the purchase of a new tractor with a box blade, bush hog and seeder, improvements to the district’s meeting room and a truck sidepour device. LGWCD property owners pay between $107 and $113 per acre, depending upon their location on a paved or unpaved road. “This was a very unusual year,” Supervisor John Ryan explained. “We had $213,000 of project funds from the United States Department of Agriculture that relates back to the recovery from Tropical Storm Isaac, and even though we’ve indicated that we’ve got a surplus of $147,000, that does not count close to $45,000 of remaining billings that we have not been reimbursed for.” LGWCD Administrator Stephen Yohe said his staff plans to submit an additional invoice that would take the excess revenue to $213,000. Supervisor Don Widing thanked
Ryan for his work on the budget, including financial discoveries he made that helped put the district in a revenue position that it had not seen in many years. Supervisor Frank Schiola, who had recommended the purchase of the box blade and seeder, said they will go a long way toward improving the appearance of the community. “It’s going to keep the mowing of our canals down, and it’s going to be more efficient,” Schiola said. “The way we’re mowing our flat lands right now with our mower is very inefficient. It takes a long time. This is going to be a better way of doing it.” Schiola also recommended coordinating with the Town of Loxahatchee Groves on mowing the equestrian trails. He added that he was happy that the district was going to be able to purchase the equipment outright, at a cost of $65,000, with no need for financing. Ryan noted that the budget proposes using $35,000 of reserves to balance expenditures, but that the line items were pretty much carried over from the previous year. Ryan also pointed out that the $95,000 a year for equipment leas-
ing was actually a lease/purchase for the long-reach backhoe and hydraulic arm mower obtained last year. He said the backhoe is used continuously for canal dredging and water flow improvement, while the hydraulic arm mower enables mowing all the way down the sides of the canals. He also noted that the budget includes a 4 percent salary increase and retirement benefits for district employees. Schiola noted that although the district does not carry a large reserve, it does have access to an emergency loan through a bank agreement. Ryan said they had renewed a $400,000 line of credit for emergency funds. “That line of credit is secured first by FEMA and USDA emergency watershed payments and secondarily by the assessment authority of the district,” Ryan said. “The standby fee by the bank is $1,000. That’s a very generous fee.” Widing made a motion to approve the budget, which carried 5-0. Supervisor Robert Snowball said he appreciated the district staff’s ability to hold down the See LGWCD, page 4
Work To Begin Soon On Tennis Center And Community Center
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Members of the Wellington Village Council got an update last week on the $12.5 million twin projects of rebuilding the Wellington Community Center and building a completely new Wellington Tennis Center. At the July 8 meeting, Director of Operations Jim Barnes gave an update on progress since the council approved a bid for the work in March. Barnes said the updated community center site plan is similar to the one originally proposed by the design-build team. “We really don’t anticipate any
changes to the footprint of the building,” he said. “What we’re working on now are refinements to the internal layout and distribution of the program space in the facility.” As with the original proposal, there will be an area to the front of the building that is open green space that can be programmed or used for informal gatherings. Possibly the most dramatic and functional difference will be the elimination of the steep hill visitors need to climb to get into the current building. “We won’t have the grade issues that we currently have,” Barnes said. “We will be accessing this
at grade to the parking lot. The building and the entry will be at the same grade.” Councilman Matt Willhite was concerned about the driveway to the entrance having parking spaces. “It comes in to what is basically a bunch of parking spots,” Willhite said. “Wherever the vehicles go, they have to meander through parking where people are pulling out. I made a request to the design team to see what the feasibility is of continuing that road straight out and close the other driveway.” Willhite thought that the driveway redesign would make more of See PROJECTS, page 16
ITID OKs Spending Plan With Higher Assessments
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors approved a nearly $13 million preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2015 at a workshop Wednesday, July 9. At the workshop, supervisors instructed ITID staff to reduce a proposed 9.41 percent average assessment increase by equalizing reserves in individual units where some had excess reserves. ITID President Carol Jacobs said she favored the limited assessment increase in light of resident demands for improved drainage and better roads, as well as funding efforts to fight overdevelopment in the area. The total budget of $12,974,864 will be about $136,607 less than last year’s $13,111,471 budget. Jacobs pointed out that the current budget is still significantly less than the Fiscal Year 2006 budget of almost $14 million. “We kept it the same for all those years that the recession was going on,” Jacobs said. “This budget
we’re proposing now is still lower than 2005-06. Most of you in the audience are pretty active, and you know we have a lot going on in the district. It would be unrealistic to lower this budget. It would be wise to keep it where it is.” The budget includes a $77,000 increase in the administration department, from $1.66 million to $1.74 million. The parks department was virtually the same at just over $1 million. Maintenance was down about $760,000 from $5.92 million to $5.16 million. M-1 Basin improvements were up more than $445,000, from almost $1.7 million to just over $2.1 million, while M-2 Basin improvements were up about $104,000, from almost $154,000 to more than $258,000. The average assessment with the proposed increase would be $466 per year, or about $39 per month. Supervisor Jennifer Hager asked whether there were alternatives to increasing the assessment. Director of Finance Donald See ITID BUDGET, page 16
SANTAMARIA KICKOFF
A large crowd was on hand for a campaign kickoff event hosted by Michelle Santamaria last Sunday at the original Wellington Mall. Santamaria is running without a party affiliation in the race for Palm Beach County Commission in District 6 with the hope of succeeding her father, term-limited County Commissioner Jess Santamaria. Shown here, Michelle Santamaria greets supporters. MORE PHOTOS INSIDE PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
ITID Hears From Minto, Consultants On Development
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Minto West representatives presented their revised plans to develop the 3,800-acre former Callery-Judge property with less residential development but increased commercial uses at the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, July 9. Meanwhile, ITID consultants hired by the district to address development projects in the area also gave reports. In late June, Minto West submitted a new plan to Palm Beach County that reduces the number of homes from about 6,500 to 4,549, but increases the non-residential space from 1.4 million to 2 million square feet. The developer currently has approval for 2,966 homes and 235,000 square feet of commercial space.
ITID supervisors have registered deep concern about the impact of such a large development on the surrounding community, mainly due to its traffic increases. Minto West planner Donaldson Hearing of Cotleur & Hearing said his goal was to invite discussion with ITID to reach agreement in some areas. “I truly believe that while we have differences, if we could enter into an open dialogue, we can achieve our goals much more effectively, your goals as well as our goals,” he said, pointing out that they had offered to make any members of the Minto staff available to ITID staff to discuss issues and impacts. Hearing said the changes Minto West has made so far are based on what the developers have heard from the community. “I’m sure See ITID MINTO, page 7
Sick Jaguar Has Sanctuary Asking Community For Help
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Isabella, fondly called Bella, is leading a pampered life. Few jaguars have the luxury of being cared for by Judy Berens at the Panther Ridge Conservation Center in Wellington. Berens works diligently to raise awareness for the need to protect animals like Bella. It all began 20 years ago, when Berens acquired a small exotic cat as a personal pet. “I had that animal a couple of years before people started telling me about cats in trouble, cats in need,” she recalled. “What started out as one cat, and one cat only, mushroomed over the years.” In her current location for the
past 15 years, Berens has been the primary caretaker for as many as 24 exotic felines. A former equestrian, she rode for 35 years, and Wellington was the place to be. Berens’ lush 10-acre landscape nestled in the heart of Wellington’s equestrian community is home to 17 cougars, caracals, cheetahs, clouded leopards, jaguars, leopards, ocelots and servals, along with a few barn cats. She has a special relationship with each cat, many of which have survived abuse, abandonment and neglect prior to joining the Panther Ridge family. Berens and Bella, however, have a particularly special and unique relationship. Born in September 2009 to two
of the jaguars at Panther Ridge, Bella was rejected at birth. An ultrasound revealed that her mother was unable to produce milk. “Nature told her to walk away from that baby,” Berens said. “We kept coaxing her to go back and take care of the baby. She just wouldn’t. She put her head in the corner, and she actually was distressed. It was very sad. It was heartbreaking.” Eventually, Berens was able to get to Bella and feed her. From there on, Berens was Bella’s adopted mother and has enjoyed watching her grow from a baby to an adult. Jaguars like Bella are listed as See JAGUAR, page 7
Panther Ridge’s Bella the jaguar needs your help.
PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER