ACREAGE JAM RETURNS THIS SATURDAY SEE STORY, PAGE 3
WELLINGTON MARKS 9/11 ANNIVERSARY SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 5
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Wellington Village Council Honors Top Cops, Top Firefighter
Volume 35, Number 38 September 19 - September 25, 2014
Serving Palms West Since 1980
JEFF ANNAS MEMORIAL 5K RUN
Wellington Village Council members recognized Wellington’s “Top Cop” and “Top Firefighter” last week, bestowing awards upon the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office District 8 Street Crime Unit and Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Battalion Capt. Darla Leal. Page 3
WLMS Students Honor 9/11 Victims
Seventh-grade social studies civics students at Wellington Landings Middle School created a 9/11 Remembrance Wall on Thursday, Sept. 11. This was the fifth year the school organized the activity. Page 10 On Saturday, Sept. 13, more than 1,200 men, women and children came together to run in the seventh annual Jeff Annas Memorial Firefighters 5K and Kids Run in Wellington. Many firefighters ran in gear, joined by members of the community. Shown here are Joe, Devon, Ronan and Adrianna Falcone with Crista Mockenhaupt. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 16
PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
Ballet Troupe Dances To Classic Broadway Hits
On Saturday, Sept. 13, dancers delighted the audience at Wellington Ballet Theatre’s production of “Ballet Off Broadway II” in the theater at Wellington High School. Page 16
Future Heroes Charity Golf Tourney Returns
Wellington American Legion Chris Reyka Memorial Post 390 held annual Future Heroes Charity Golf Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Wanderers Club. Awards were given out during a buffet dinner. Page 17
OPINION
Firing Schofield Would Be A Grave Mistake
A particularly nasty rumor surfaced this week. The word on the street is that members of the Wellington Village Council plan to present a motion calling for the dismissal of longtime Village Manager Paul Schofield. We truly hope that Wellington’s council is not actually willing to undermine the village’s future simply to satisfy a vendetta. To lose Schofield’s insight and leadership would be a massive blow to the community. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 10 OPINION.................................. 4 CRIME NEWS.......................... 6 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 PEOPLE................................. 11 SCHOOLS.............................. 12 COLUMNS.......................14, 21 BUSINESS..................... 22 - 23 SPORTS..........................27 - 29 CALENDAR............................ 30 CLASSIFIEDS.................31 - 35 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
ITID Postpones Permit For 60th Street Connection To RPB Blvd.
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors last week postponed the approval of a Palm Beach County permit to build the improved 60th Street North connection to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. At the Sept. 10 meeting, the permit approval was pushed to November in order to get alternative ideas on improving the roadway. The delay came after a 90-minute debate and public input both for and against the connection. Some residents argued that the connection was associated with the planned Minto West development. Discussion was also interrupted by two recesses that resulted in supervisors’ seating arrangements being changed on the dais after arguments broke out. Palm Beach County Engineer
George Webb said construction is progressing on 60th east of Royal Palm Beach Blvd. and sought a permit to improve the connection and rebuild the bridge at 60th and Royal Palm Beach Blvd. The connection would complete a county project to extend the State Road 7 extension to 60th Street, providing relief to residents on Orange Grove and Persimmon boulevards, who have borne the brunt of traffic since the extension opened in 2007. The link will enable SR 7 passthrough traffic to make the connection on the three-lane 60th Street North link, rather than Persimmon and Orange Grove boulevards, which are intended ultimately to serve primarily local Acreage traffic. The project includes replacing the Royal Palm Beach Blvd. bridge over the M Canal and re-
constructing the intersection with 60th Street North to improve the line of vision for drivers entering Royal Palm Beach Blvd. from 60th Street. A traffic signal will also be installed at the intersection. The connection permit had been deleted from ITID’s August meeting agenda. “We’re here asking the board to reconsider the permit,” Webb said, explaining that he had met with ITID Engineer Jay Foy about possible options to transition from asphalt back down to shellrock west of Royal Palm Beach Blvd. on the existing 60th Street surface. Webb said he had serious concerns about asphalt transitioning to shellrock because of liability and stability. “I was asked to come, but I also wanted to have an understanding with you how we move forward See ITID PERMIT, page 15
Acreage Ceremony Launches Park, Garden Of Hope Projects By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report On Wednesday, Sept. 17, officials from the Indian Trail Improvement District broke ground on Acreage Community Park’s long-awaited southern expansion. Included at the event was a groundbreaking for the Garden of Hope project. ITID Supervisor Ralph Bair thought back to the beginning of Acreage Community Park. “This is the vision we’ve been waiting for since we started this park back in 1995,” he recalled. “It was cold and wet and rainy in March, and the board at that time got the park started up in the north and got the football fields built.” It wasn’t long before kids by the hundreds took to the fields to play, leading to the popularity of the park and eventually requiring the current expansion. “We’re go-
Joyce Gorring, Anaya Valencia, Tracy and Jessica Newfield and PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER Peggy May from Garden of Hope. ing to get this job finished,” Bair said. “Thank you for all your hard work.” For Tracy Newfield, organizer of the Garden of Hope project,
Wednesday was an emotional day. The garden was inspired by her daughter Jessica, a cancer survivor. “I want to thank all the board See PARK, page 7
Wellington Could Require Licensing For Single-Family Home Rentals By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council last week unanimously directed its staff to prepare an ordinance requiring owners of single-family rental homes to get a license similar to one that regulates multifamily rentals. At the Sept. 9 meeting, Village Manager Paul Schofield said that Wellington had instituted a successful program several years ago for licensing multi-family rental units. “That was our biggest issue then,” Schofield said. “One of the things that has happened over the past several years, is we’ve had corporate buyers purchasing large numbers of properties. I think today we have a little more than 1,400 single-family units that we’ve identified as rental properties. Going through and looking at those, what we find is that rental units have code enforcement issues at about twice the rate of owner-occupied units.” Schofield said that about half of those rental units have code enforcement cases. “The question really is, given where we’re at, and the number of institutional buyers, and the number of times that we have repetitive institutional buyers on the special magistrate’s agenda, do we want to consider instituting the rental licensing program for single-family units that are being rented?” he asked. The idea is not to penalize the single-family homeowner who is renting his own home seasonally or is in the process of selling, but to regulate people or corporations that are making a business of it, Schofield said. The cost to run the existing multi-family rental license program is about $70,000 a year for staff time, and Schofield said the numbers of multi-family and single-family units are not far apart. He said the biggest advantage is that the rental licensing program gives Wellington a local agent to contact if there are issues with the home. “We’ve had really good success with it in the multi-family neighborhoods,” he said.
Vice Mayor John Greene favored regulating rentals for code enforcement purposes and having a readily available contact if an issue arises, but did not want to place another financial burden on homeowners. “What I won’t support is what I’m going to call an unnecessary tax,” he said. “You can call it anything you want, but essentially it’s a tax and a financial burden that we’re going to place on homeowners.” Greene asked about the $100, one-time registration fee in effect for the multi-family program. “It’s not intended to be a revenue stream?” he asked. “It’s really about being able to control the neighborhoods and monitor the activity, preserving the integrity of those neighborhoods?” Greene said he would support single-family rental registration but is uncomfortable with the proposed fee. “I’d like to have some discussion about the fee associated with it, because I don’t like the financial burden that it places on the majority,” he said. “Yes, when you look at the number of homes, it’s significant, but when you look at the businesses, we’re only targeting this group.” Planning & Development Services Director Tim Stillings said a majority of the single-family rentals appear to be business ventures and investments. “I would say that a smaller percentage are those who are either trying to sell and have no other choice but to rent, or they can’t make the mortgage and they don’t want to lose the home, and are therefore renting out the house and living somewhere else,” Stillings said, explaining that individual rentals might have been the case when the housing downturn first began, but that investors since have been buying up the troubled properties. Stillings stressed that the $100 is a one-time-only fee. “The $100 fee is pennies per day, so we don’t see it as a financial burden,” he said. “It barely covers See RENTALS, page 15
ART SOCIETY MEETING
The first Wellington Art Society meeting of the 2014-15 season took place Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Wellington Community Center. During the summer hiatus, the board was busy planning the year’s event calendar, which will include art demonstrations, guest speakers, an art show and more. Shown here is Sandra Barbieri with her artwork Save the Bees. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 17
PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Murphy, Domino Face Off For Congress In District 18
Incumbent Patrick Murphy
Challenger Carl Domino
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The race is heating up in one of Florida’s most closely watched congressional contests — the battle between incumbent Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-District 18) and his Republican challenger, former State Rep. Carl Domino. District 18 covers all of Martin and St. Lucie counties, as well as northern areas of Palm Beach County, including portions of Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage. Domino defeated five other Republican hopefuls in the August primary to claim the right to face Murphy on Nov. 4. His focus now is on bringing those factions
together and unifying his party. Domino also wants to bring new issues to the campaign, and contrast himself from the incumbent in terms of finances and political positions. Domino pointed out that his father was an enlisted military man. Not coming from a family of means, Domino worked his way through college and established his own successful businesses. In previous races, some have tried to use Domino’s large personal fortune against him. “I’ve always had to fight this silver-spoon image,” he said. “This time I won’t have to, because Patrick is a silver-spoon kid.” Murphy, 31, was born in the
Florida Keys and grew up working in his family’s Coastal Construction Group, starting as a day laborer and moving up to assistant project engineer and manager. He earned a degree in finance and accounting from the University of Miami, and later rejoined his family’s company. Domino attended Florida State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting. After active duty in the military, he earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. Domino also served 17 years in the U.S. Navy reserves. After working with accounting and money management firms in See DISTRICT 18, page 15