Town-Crier Newspaper August 28, 2015

Volume 36, Number 33August 28 - September 3, 2015Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980

TOWN-CRIERTHEWELLINGTON ROYAL PALM BEACH LOXAHATCHEE THE ACREAGE

INSIDE

DEPARTMENT INDEXNEWS ................................3 - 9OPINION ................................. 4CRIME NEWS ......................... 6NEWS BRIEFS ...................... 11PEOPLE ................................12SCHOOLS ............................. 13COLUMNS ......................14, 21BUSINESS .................... 22 - 23SPORTS .........................27 - 29CALENDAR ...........................30CLASSIFIEDS ................31 - 34

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OPINION

Ultima Fitness & Wellness, in cooperation with the Village of Wellington, Walgreens and Wellington The Magazine, hosted a free Wellington Fitness & Wellness Education Day on Saturday, Aug. 22 at Ultima. As part of the event, Ultima and the village collected back-to-school donations. Shown here, Alyssa Yanoss gets her body mass index (BMI) measured by personal trainer Brittany Wallrath. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5

PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

HEALTH & WELLNESS EDUCATION DAY

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Councils choice out of two re-spondents to be the towns new management firm has backed out of its offer to replace the current management company.

Severn Trent Management Ser-vices sent a letter to Town Attorney Michael Cirullo and Mayor Dave Browning on Monday stating that it was no longer interested in providing management services to the Town of Loxahatchee Groves.

Severn Trent is also the manage-ment company for the Seminole Improvement District, which is the special district serving the Minto West/Westlake development.

Due to other contractual obli-gations in neighboring communi-ties, we believe that there may be significant portions of the scope of work from which we would be precluded from performing due

to ethical obligations and even perceived conflicts of interest, Severn Trent General Manager Bob Koncar wrote in his letter. Additionally, given the public opinion presented through various residents at the towns last council meeting, we believe that it would be in the best interests of the town for Severn Trent to withdraw so that the town may pursue an agree-ment with another entity.

The only other responder to the towns request for proposals was Larry Tibbs, who did not meet the town charters requirement that the manager be certified. Tibbs was also embroiled in a high-profile inspector general investigation stemming from his time as finance director with the City of Lauder-dale Lakes in Broward County.

The current management com-pany, Underwood Management Services Group, did not submit a

Severn Trent Backs Out Of Lox Groves Management Job

See LOX GROVES, page 4

Wellington Keeps Close Contact With Manure Haulers

TEXTING AND DRIVING SIMULATION

Its Time For Florida To Have An IndependentRedistricting PanelThe embarrassing failure of the Florida Legislature to craft new congressional districts in accordance with a recent order by the Florida Supreme Court has once again demonstrated that such a nakedly political body cannot craft the fair dis-tricts now called for in Floridas constitution. Therefore, it might be time for Florida to follow the lead of other states and hand restricting power to an indepen-dent commission. Page 4


At the invitation of former County Commissioner Jess Santa-maria, several dozen area residents attended a meeting at the original Wellington Mall on Friday, Aug. 21 to express their opinions about the rise of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.

While many have been sur-prised by the Trump phenomenon, Santamaria said that he was not, attributing it to a negative reac-tion by the public to the continued dysfunction of government and mistrust of elected officials.

It is a rebellion, he said, against the belief that most politicians are beholden to special interests.

His message has been my message for more than 40 years, Santamaria said. It was the reason that I decided to run for county commission. The real root of all

evil in our political system is cam-paign funding. The great majority of elected officials are not working for you or me. They are working for special interests. Theyve been bought. Even if they have not received money under the table, even through the money over the table in campaign funds, they have been bought. What has happened here in Palm Beach County is happening in Tallahassee, and its happening in Washington.

He asked residents to share their opinions on the issue.

Id like to know what it is right here in our community, he said. Id like to hear from my friends and neighbors, what their thoughts are for or against or indifferent.

Featured speakers included Maureen Glasheen, former general counsel to the Secretary of State of New York, who spoke about dis-

Residents Meet To Discuss Trump

Phenomenon

See TRUMP, page 16

By Paul L. GabaTown-Crier Staff Report

Wheels are turning for Royal Palm Beach to involuntarily annex nearly 98 acres of residential land in an unincorporated enclave at the villages south end.

The proposal was approved on its first reading by the Royal Palm Beach Village Council on Aug. 20 and by the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission, meeting as the Local Planning Agency, on Aug. 25. That starts the process of determining whether 21 parcels of land at the southeast cor-ner of State Road 7 and Southern Blvd., totaling 97.94 acres, will be added to village jurisdiction. Both boards unanimously approved the proposal.

The council will readdress the topic at its Thursday, Sept. 3 meet-ing. If the proposal is approved there, it will go to voters in the affected area via a mail ballot in October.

The property is located in un-

incorporated Palm Beach County, behind the Lowes Home Im-provement store.

According to Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Administrator Bradford OBrien, the property is zoned for single-family residen-tial. The village has already ap-proached Palm Beach County officials regarding a required urban services report. OBrien said that the annexation request meets statutory requirements set by the county.

At the council meeting, several people spoke in support of the involuntary annexation proposal.

I appreciate the council picking this up, said Brian Tuttle, a land-owner in the affected area. This is the best way to get rid of this enclave. We dont have to worry about the county serving certain areas, and it can make for better planning in the area.

We are in favor of the annexa-tion, said Sharon Willcox, on be-half of her mother, who is an area

RPB Seeks To Annex Enclave Near Southern And SR 7

landowner. The time has come for that area to be developed.

Willcox questioned whether a vote if the proposal advanced that far would be for residents in the entire village, or just those in the affected region. Village At-torney Jennifer Ashton said that all registered voters in the 21-parcel area would be afforded the op-portunity to cast ballots, includ-ing renters, family members and property owners.

The council unanimously ap-proved the proposal at its first reading. Vice Mayor Richard Valuntas said that the proposal is a good one for the future of Royal Palm Beach.

It makes a lot of sense, Valun-tas said. An enclave is not a good situation, and this lets the people decide. It will make for better planning, and make things more consistent.

Ashton said that while it is called an involuntary annexation, the

The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, Wellingtons Community Services Department and the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club held a texting and driving informational session Tuesday, Aug. 25. PBSO representatives educated attendees about the dangers of texting and driving before PBCFR officers performed an extraction from a car that had been in a simulated accident due to a distracted driver. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9

PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

WELLINGTON APPROVES ACME BUDGETSEE STORY, PAGE 3

URBAN LEAGUE HELPS HOMEOWNERSSEE STORY, PAGE 7

By Julie UngerTown-Crier Staff Report

Last Thursday, representatives from the Village of Wellington, including Projects Manager Mike ODell, gathered with local live-stock waste haulers for their third annual meeting to discuss hauling issues in relation to Wellington and the surrounding areas.

The meetings began when ODell started with the village. The goal was to curtail problems with illegal dumping.

It was pretty obvious that Wel-lington, in my opinion, was getting a black eye because of all of the illegal dumping that was going on. Regularly, we were making the newspaper and the TV news, he said. It wasnt good for Wel-lington, it wasnt good for the

equestrian industry as a whole, and it certainly wasnt good for our neighbors.

ODell told the Town-Crier that he orchestrated the first meeting with haulers to open the lines of communication with these work-ing in the area to educate them about the negative environmental impacts that occur with illegal dumping. That original meeting took place in 2013.

It was something less than cor-dial, ODell recalled. Were out there doing the best we can, and we dont have a lot of places to get rid of the material. Organized disposal sites that were properly permitted were few and far between.

Currently, there are five Florida Department of Environmental Protection-approved disposal

locations: Atlas Peat & Soil, the Solid Waste Authority, Florida Crystals, McGill-Brighton and U.S. Sugar Corp.

We started to understand from the haulers perspective the fact that theyre working 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week all through season, that theyre trying to keep up with it [and] moving it outside Wellington, but the impacts outside of Wellington are also negative to our overall region, ODell said.

At the time, he said, Loxa-hatchee Groves was having issues because some haulers were bring-ing waste into that community illegally. Since then, ordinances have been enacted to stop that.

What came out of that was U.S. Sugar stepping up and opening up

See ANNEX, page 16


The Wellington Village Coun-cil decided Tuesday to look into the methods other municipalities use to negotiate their managers contracts, at the recommendation of Mayor Bob Margolis.

The council historically has appointed one council member to negotiate, as was done by for-mer Councilman Howard Coates the last time Village Manager Paul Schofields contract was renewed.

I was going to talk about the appointment for someone to ne-gotiate Mr. Schofields contract tonight, Margolis said during council comments. But instead, Im going to just ask the council to consider some things and not make that discussion tonight for a couple of reasons. I had the oppor-tunity to do a lot of research in the last couple of days on what other municipalities do, and I will share

that research with you through staff, if thats appropriate.

Margolis said that he has been involved in three manager contract negotiations.

Its kind of difficult to do, and kind of rewarding, but histori-cally, and the times that Ive been involved in them, Ive always got some constructive criticism from my fellow council members, which I expected to get, and Ive appreciated it, he said. When Mr. Coates was on council, I think he also got constructive criticism.

Margolis said other councils methods vary widely, from dis-cussing the contract at an open council meeting, having legal staff negotiate, or picking two council members to negotiate separately with the manager in order to avoid Sunshine Law violations.

That gives other council mem-bers a perspective; it gives them two sets of eyes and two opinions, versus just having one person ne-

Council Ponders Process To Review Schofields Contract

gotiate the contract, which weve done in the past, he said.

Some municipalities appoint a panel with one or more council members, a human resources at-torney and other members of staff, Margolis noted.

I thought that was kind of unique and kind of bizarre at the same time, he said. Im not advocating any one of them. What Im saying tonight is that maybe there is another way that we should be or could be looking at this. Im not saying our way is wrong, but in researching what other municipalities do in the State of Florida, I found a lot of different options.

Margolis said that he has not completed his research, but that so far, he had found that Wellingtons process of using a single council member to negotiate the contract is not common.

It comes back to us anyhow, so

See HAULERS, page 7

See CONTRACT, page 7

some of their fields, ODell said. It was a means of disposal.

Theyve done some testing, ODell said, and one of the un-knowns is how long it will take to compost the waste mixed in with the soil. Typically, he explained, depending on moisture content and heat, it is a 30-day to 60-day process. However, those numbers have yet to be determined.

The theory behind using the livestock manure is that less fer-tilizer would be needed, since the soil will be enriched, and less water will be needed. I think that the jury is still out on that, ODell said.

Since that first year, hauling to U.S. Sugar has become organized; haulers are no longer coming at all hours. The waste is put onto a field,

laser-leveled, then left to bake un-der the sun for a few weeks. Then the field is planted.

One of the best outcomes from the meetings, ODell said, is that illegal dumping has been dra-matically reduced, and haulers are making their businesses more sophisticated. For a few years, the haulers have been publishing rates on their web sites and standard-izing fees. Loosely, theyve begun organizing.

We have started to see that. We started to see that the haulers are realizing that there is a true cost to this, ODell said.

The difference of sending live-stock waste to U.S. Sugar they take approximately 80 percent of the waste and, by not charging tip-

Michael Stone Urges Wellington Business Leaders To Visit TryonMichael Stone, president of Equestrian Spor t Produc-tions, was the main speaker at Wednesdays Wellington Chamber of Commerce lun-cheon at the Wanderers Club. Stone shed light on plans for the upcoming Palm Beach In-ternational Equestrian Center season, while updating cham-ber members on the Tryon In-ternational Equestrian Center, located in rural North Carolina.

Page 3

TWBA Hosts Social AtThe Wild West DinerIn Royal Palm BeachThe Western Business Alliance held its monthly social event on Thursday, Aug. 20 at the Wild West Diner in Royal Palm Beach. Members gathered to mingle, make friends and build business relationships.

Page 17

Open House Welcomes Visitors To Temple Bnai Jacob In WellingtonTemple Bnai Jacob of Wel-lington held an open house on Sunday, Aug. 23. It was a chance to meet the clergy, sign up for religious school and learn about the temples new youth group. The temple is located in the original Wellington Mall.

Page 15

August 28 - September 3, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

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Reservations Call: (561) 469-1109

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Diners enjoying great food and drinks. Ribbon cutting at the grand reopening. Live entertainment on weekends.

The New Cheers Bar In Wellington Is Fun, Fun, Fun With Great Food!BY JOE NASUTI

Make plans to enjoy what many of your neighbors have already discovered the White Elephant Bar & Grill. Located in the original Wellington Mall, this is the new happening place to be almost any night of the week, inside at the Cheers bar or outside at the cheerful patio bar. Whether its Taco Tuesday, Wings & Wine Wednesday, Ladies & Karaoke Thursday, Live Music Friday and Saturday, or Caribbean Calypso Sunday... there is always something to do at the White Elephant.

Don Patel, one of the partner owners, is no stranger in the restaurant industry. We are truly fortunate that he has brought his talent for making everyone happy to our backyard.

We came for the food, and we were not disappointed. In fact, we were impressed! The menu is a collage of American and international fare.

What caught my eye was the Sweet Potato Gnocchi ($14), sauted with kale and spinach and finished with a taste-tempting coconut cream sauce... incredibly delicious and equally unique. The Curry Shrimp Risotto ($16.50) combines three of my favorites perfectly. This Indian-spiced shrimp with a curry cream sauce over risotto is not to be missed. Other specials include Fish & Chips, Rib Eye, Apple Cider Brine Pork Chops and the popular Pan-Seared Salmon. One of the house signature dishes, the salmon, was perhaps the best Ive ever tasted!Theme nights also have specials. We visited on Caribbean Sunday with Calypso music playing on the patio, piped inside to add to the flavor of the food, such as Jerk Chicken Wings ($10.50).

These jumbo beauties were fried to perfection and tossed in homemade jerk sauce. The Spicy Island Pizza ($14) was our table favorite of the evening, with grilled jerk chicken, jalapeo, red peppers, barbecue sauce and mozzarella cheese... the best pizza ever! Pizza lovers will also love the White Elephants other pizza choices, such as Brisket, Reuben and Margarita Pizza ($14).

Dont forget to leave room for dessert. The homemade bread pudding and unique elephant ear are incredibly delicious, and the perfect way to end your dining experience worth every calorie!

Besides the great food, atmosphere and service, what impressed me most is the White Elephants commitment to our American heroes. Five members of the staff are veterans, including Executive Chef Darrell Langworthy. He is also a veteran of the restaurant industry, formerly from the Sagamore Resort and a highly respected special events caterer at the Palm Beach International Raceway, Ideal Lending and Wellington Events Staffing at the Polo Club. Extra special attention and a 10 percent discount is given to all veterans and first responders firemen, police and paramedics as a thank you for their service and dedication to America.

So, if you are looking for some fun and good food tonight or any night, head to the White Elephant Bar & Grill and tell them that the Phantom Diners recommended a visit.

The White Elephant also is a great place to host a special occasion, party or business function. For more information, call (561) 469-1109.

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com August 28 - September 3, 2015 Page 3

NEWS

trian trails and surface water management of 89 miles of canals and eight pump stations.

Capital projects from the $30 assessment increase with a carry-forward total $1.1 million.

The Acme parks master plan has a carry-forward of $176,000, and the Acme portion of technical improvements, plus the neighbor-hood parks, neighborhood trails and surface water management programs, have an additional $100,000 each.

The total additional capital funding this year is $1.2 mil-lion, and with the carry-forwards, youre looking at almost $2.4 million, Quickel said, explaining that carry-forward money is funds that have been budgeted in previ-ous years for projects that may be unfinished. It is carried forward because it has been approved in a budget period, so the funds move forward.

Councilwoman Anne Gerwig made a motion to approve the budget and assessment, which carried 5-0.

Acme has a new web site, now mandated by law, accessible through a link on the village web site, as well as at acme.welling-tonfl.gov. The web site shows the services that Acme provides, as well as financial information, history of the district and links to services and maps, as well as the water control plan.


The Wellington Village Council on Tuesday approved a larger budget for the Acme Improvement

District next year, keeping the same per-unit assessment as the current year.

Acme is a special taxing dis-trict controlled by the Village of

Wellington focused primarily on drainage and park maintenance services.

Finance Director Tanya Quickel said that the Acme budget is part

of the villages overall budget of $79 million. The total Acme bud-get is $7.3 million, an increase of slightly more than $1 million from last year.

The operating budget is $5.41 million, which is up $1.4 million, or 37.5 percent, and the capital projects budget is $1.2 million, down $430,000, or 26.4 percent.

These changes are because of the transfer of funds from capital into the major maintenance fund part of the operating budget, Quickel said. We have discussed that in all of our budget presenta-tions this year.

The assessment rate will remain the same at $230 per unit, she said, explaining that a $30 increase approved last year increases the annual Acme budget by about $800,000, which is dedicated to capital projects.

The overall budget generates more than $5.5 million from ap-proximately 26,000 units. The largest portion of the Acme budget is from the non-ad valorem assess-ment. The total revenue is just over $6 million, which does not include the allocation of reserves at just over $1.6 million.

There are five primary areas of expenditures within Acme: environmental services, eques-trian trails, neighborhood parks, preserve maintenance and surface water management, whose total cost comes to $3.4 million, which

includes salaries for a total of 22 employees, Quickel said.

Environmental services costs include the replacement of two mosquito sprayers and one ve-hicle, along with salaries for four employees.

For equestrian trails, materials and supplies have been added for upkeep and repairs and major maintenance of $100,000 for fenc-ing, footing and crossing replace-ment, as well as two full-time staff members.

Neighborhood parks include major maintenance of $200,000 for equipment and grounds main-tenance, with four full-time posi-tions and 3,120 part-time hours.

Wellington Environmental Preserve maintenance has been increased with the addition of a boardwalk and pergola, as well as one position, plus 1,560 part-time hours.

Surface water management has an increased operating budget for aquatic weed control and major maintenance of $1.25 million for surface water rehabilitation, canal bank reclamation and swale maintenance, with 11 dedicated full-time positions.

The operating budget of $5.41 million is up almost $1.5 million, and thats from the transfer of maintenance from capital to the operating budget, Quickel said.

Maintenance includes 24 neigh-borhood parks, 67 miles of eques-

Wellington Village Council Approves $7.3 Million Acme Budget


Michael Stone, president of Equestrian Sport Productions, was the main speaker at Wednesdays Wellington Chamber of Com-merce luncheon at the Wanderers Club.

Stone shed light on plans for the upcoming Palm Beach Interna-tional Equestrian Center season, while updating chamber members on the Tryon International Eques-trian Center, located in rural North Carolina. The new show grounds opened last year and shares com-mon ownership with the PBIEC facility in Wellington.

People say, Where is it? Where is Tryon? Stone said. The horse show is actually in Mill Spring, which is about 10 miles from Tryon, but Tryon has a huge history in equestrian sport.

The area is centrally located, approximately 30 miles from Asheville, 60 miles from Charlotte and 30 miles from Spartanburg, S.C. There are direct flights from West Palm Beach to Asheville two or three times a week, making it convenient to bounce back and forth between both locales.

Equestrian Sport Productions CEO Mark Bellissimo and his partners started clearing the area in the fall of 2013, which was mostly hills, valleys and ravines.

By March, 2014 millions of tons of earth were removed, Stone said, pointing out the conve-nience of the locations proximity to the highway. The state of North Carolina has actually agreed to redo this junction for us, to make it more accessible. During some of our big events, weve already blocked the highway.

Tryons equestrian venue will eventually be home to six all-weather rings and four grass are-nas. The lighted main arena is to have 6,000 seats, and there will be 1,000 permanent stalls for horses. The resort is built on 1,400 acres at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A hotel will open in 2017, and will drop into the show grounds, Stone said. It will be two stories at the top of the hill, and then drop down six or seven stories.

One of the key features to the plan was to have the location ac-cessible with barns all across, and climate-controlled viewing areas.

Theres no need for golf carts, Stone said. People can walk everywhere. The other feature is that there are very few tents; almost everything is permanent. We built permanent vendor booths

and permanent stalls permanent everything just to get away from the look of tents. Its much more attractive.

There are 12 vendor buildings, all air-conditioned, Stone said, broken into groupings of two or three spaces each.

From October 2013 to July 2014, the focus was on building the main arena. By April 2015, the elevated areas leading to the barns were created, allowing spectators to see multiple rings at the same time. A great deal of parking was created, as was a VIP club.

The interesting thing about the VIP club is that we got all that built in that short space of time with full-scale catering kitchens, Stone said. We have a grill, a diner, a sushi bar, a coffee bar, a caf for the riders and a Mexican

Michael Stone Urges Wellington Business Leaders To Visit Tryon

The Wellington Village Council recognized the Wellington Wild 01 softball team at its meeting on Tuesday for winning the 14B USSSA Road to Orlando World Series Championship held July 18-25. The village will hold a celebratory parade and ceremony recognizing the team, as well as honoring the Wellington Little League Intermediate All Stars baseball team for its national title on Saturday, Aug. 29. The parade will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Montauk Drive, near the Wellington Municipal Com-plex, and end at the Wellington Amphitheater, followed immediately by a recognition ceremony at the Wellington Amphitheater, after which the Turnstiles Band will perform a Billy Joel tribute concert, starting at 8 p.m. For more info., visit www.wellingtonfl.gov.

WELLINGTON HONORS SOFTBALL TEAM

See CHAMBER, page 16

Equestrian Sport Productions President Michael Stonedescribes the Tryon International Equestrian Center.


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these risk factors are probable contributors to Alzheimers and dementia. Perhaps it is time to swallow that latest information and start to examine your lifestyle.

Alzheimers has, unfortunately, risen to have affected more than five million Americans and con-tinues its upward surge.

One California research team, Tina Hoang of the Northern Cal-ifornia Institute of Research and Education and Christine Yaffe of the University of California, dis-covered that too much television, plus a sedentary lifestyle, caused some 950 people who developed dementia to suffer even worse if

Many Non-Biological Risk Factors For Alzheimers And DementiaOPINION

they had poor grades in school. Mary Ann Malack-Ragona of

the Alzheimers Disease Resource Center believes that loneliness in older age is often a key factor in the onset of Alzheimers and dementia. Too many people, as they grow older, live cloistered lives and fare worse than counter-

Footlooseand...

By JulesW. Rabin

While there are many risk fac-tors for Alzheimers disease and dementia, recent studies have shown that there are a number of non-biological risk factors. The more research conducted, the more risk factors like too much televi-sion watching, poor school grades and adult loneliness indicate that

The embarrassing failure of the Florida Legislature to craft new congressional districts in accordance with a recent order by the Florida Supreme Court has once again demonstrated that such a nakedly political body cannot craft the fair districts now called for in Floridas constitution. Therefore, it might be time for Florida to follow the lead of other states and hand restricting power to an independent commission.

Last week, a Leon County judge postponed a decision about Floridas still incomplete congressional redistricting map after legislative leaders failed to agree on how to redraw the boundaries. The Florida Supreme Court had ordered the Republican-dominated legislature to redraw eight congressional districts over the summer, after ruling that the lawmakers had drawn boundaries to favor incumbents, violating the anti-gerrymandering fair districts rules that voters added to the Florida Constitution in 2010.

While the legislature has until mid-October to complete the revised congressional map, a draft of the redistricting proposal was supposed to be ready in time for a hearing this past Tuesday. But a special legislative session ended last Friday without a plan after the two chambers deadlocked on the issue.

Senate President Andy Gardiner said in a statement that his chamber is not prepared to relinquish control to the trial court, and would prefer to come back into special session to find a compromise. His counterpart in the lower chamber, Speaker Steve Crisafulli, was not as confident that such a deal could be reached. After all, these are the same people whose budget brinkmanship nearly led to a fiscal disaster just two months ago.

While we respect the legislatures wishes to attempt to resolve the issue internally, it is apparent in Floridas toxic and dysfunctional political environment that this will not occur any time soon. A wiser, more pragmatic method moving forward would be to create an in-dependent commission, void of political shenanigans, bias and influences, to create future

districts, both congressional and for the legislature itself. An independent commission would eliminate or at least greatly diminish the harmful political displays that have continually marked the redistricting process in Florida. It would be far more likely to follow the dictates of the fair districts amendments.

This is not a unique concept. Currently, 21 states utilize some form of a non-partisan or bipartisan redistricting commission, 13 of which use redistricting commissions to exclusively draw electoral district lines.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission that redistricting commissions such as Arizonas, whose redistrict-ing commission process is completely independent of the state legislature, are constitutional.

Arizonas constitution requires its independent redistricting commission comprised of two Democrats, two Republicans and an independent chair to start from scratch each cycle, rather than redraw existing districts.

While members of the Democratic caucus in Tallahassee have proposed a change to an independent redistricting commission, such a change is unlikely to gain support from the dominant GOP leadership. Therefore, such a change would most likely require the same citizen-initiated referendum process that enacted fair districts in 2010.

The concept of one-person, one-vote mandates that districts should be roughly equal in population. Other factors which should be considered include the federal Voting Rights Act, geographical features, respect for communities of interest, district shape and potential com-petitiveness. How to create those districts is best left to those outside the legislature.

An independent redistricting commission is not possible in Florida currently, but in light of current events, its an idea which merits strong consideration. The residents of our state deserve better than what they are being presented out of Tallahassee.

NEWS

parts with more social contacts, she said.

Well, that settles it! Its time for a party. And as you know, Im always up for an extra party or two. After all is said and done, remember this old, but true, adage: when it comes to your brain, use it or lose it!


The Loxahatchee Groves Wa-ter Control District on Monday approved a South B Road mainte-nance map necessary to provide a quit-claim deed to its 60-foot ease-ment on B Road so that the town and area developers, including Palm Beach State College, could proceed with road work there.

The developers Palm Beach State College, Loxahatchee Eques-trian Partners, Solar Sportsystems and Atlantic Land Investments have agreed to pave B Road as a condition of their development, and the Town of Loxahatchee Groves asked the LGWCD to grant a quit claim to its easement in order for the road improvement to proceed.

LGWCD Administrator Steve Yohe recommended approval of the map, prepared by A&B Engi-

LGWCD Approves Map And Maintenance Agreements With Townneering, which will be recorded in the Palm Beach County records.

Supervisor John Ryan made a motion to approve the map.

That appears to be the next step in preparation for the quit claim, Ryan said.

Supervisor Laura Danowski said that she would like to see letters or some type of notifications to go to residents explaining what the red flags along the road mean.

I think it would go a long way to goodwill and community relations that just a short letter be mailed to the residents saying whats happening, Danowski said, explaining that some res-idents may think a portion of their land is planned for con-demnation.

LGWCD Attorney Mary Vi-ator said that there would be no condemnation in relation to the maintenance maps.

Even if were going to noti-fy the landowners, there was a procedure set forth in the local bill that sets forth the continuous maintenance, operation and con-struction of these particular areas to identify those areas that weve been actually utilizing, Viator said, explaining that the local bill will provide the easement to that particular area. Theres not going to be a condemnation or any other steps taken to that extent.

Ryan said that the surveys and maintenance map dont really af-fect the ownership of the property, and the completion of the map, including surveys of canal ease-ments for use as equestrian trails, would relieve the property owners of any associated liability.

LGWCD Chairman Dave De-Marois asked whether the canal itself was safe, and Yohe said it was.

Supervisor Frank Schiola asked if the approval process would delay any future surveys. We want to get this surveying done as quickly as possible, he said.

Yohe said the field work had been completed.

In other business: The board approved a Col-

lecting Canal maintenance map for the berm from South B Road to Folsom Road prepared by the engineering firm Erdman Anthony.

Ryan said the approval of the map would open the way for the Town of Loxahatchee Groves to make improvements along the road, including the construction of culverts in the area.

This finals up what we did at the last meeting with regard to A Road to B Road, so this completes Collecting Canal, Ryan said. This opens it up to whatever

bridge culvert construction or other work is anticipated by the town with respect to trails.

Viator added that improvements by the town would be subject to permitting by the district.

The board also approved an amendment submitted by the town to the 2015-16 fiscal year agreement with the town for the districts construction and mainte-nance of town roads to reimburse the district in an amount not to exceed $93,738.

It also approved an agreement with the town for additional road maintenance of town roads. The district agreed to provide watering services for town roads similar to district lettered roads, as district manpower and operating equip-ment is available.

LGWCD staff determined that hedging services exceed the manpower and equipment it has

available to perform the work as requested, but individual roads can be evaluated by staff on a case-by-case basis as to the condition of the area requested to be hedged. The district also agreed to replace signs when staff is available.

These comments are provided in the spirit of goodwill to assist the town whenever possible, and tempered with the responsibility and priority of the district to pro-vide its basic services, the staff report continued.

The board also re-elected De-Marois as chairman, and elected Schiola as vice chair, Ryan as secretary/treasurer and Supervisor Don Widing as deputy secretary/treasurer. Danowski, who is serv-ing her first term as a supervisor, turned down a nomination as deputy secretary/treasurer, saying that she would like to get more experience first.

Lox GrovesFirm Backs Out Of Job

continued from page 1new proposal, although it is eli-gible for a one-year contract re-newal. Its current contract expires Sept. 30.

The respondents presentations last week received more than a dozen protests by residents urging for the renewal of the Underwood contract.

Vice Mayor Ron Jarriel said that he was disappointed to hear of the withdrawal of Severn Trent, which is a large firm that manages a num-ber of municipalities and special districts in Florida and Georgia.

I felt like they had the resourc-

es that could benefit the people of Loxahatchee Groves, Jarriel said, adding that he planned to meet with Town Manager Bill Underwood this week to review the agenda package for the council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

I dont know what direction were going to go in right now, Jarriel said. We have several directions we can go. I look at it, we had three people we could have chosen. Tibbs is out of the picture. My vote was for Severn Trent because they had so many resources. The next in line is Underwood Management. They have participated in the RFP for the simple fact that we can extend their contract a year.

Jarriel said that his concern with Underwood was whether the firm

would be asking for more money. The current contract is for $27,083 per month.

At one time, [Town Manager Bill Underwood] told me that he was going to ask for a two-year ex-tension and an increase, he said. When we went out for the RFP, he told me that he would only ask for a one-year extension instead of two and that he would not be asking for an increase.

Jarriel said that he thought the company got a $125,000 increase, in essence, when the former man-ager, Mark Kutney, was released, and Underwood himself took over in October 2014 as town manager.

Jarriel said another option might be to find a road ranger manager while they go out for another RFP.

Theres still a couple of options

out there, but Im hoping that Un-derwood will stand by his word and not take advantage of Severn Trent backing out, and maybe take a one-year extension without an increase, he said, adding that the situation is further complicated by the recent resignation of the towns legal and code enforcement firms.

Jarriel said he hoped to hear more input from residents at the council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

I dont mean the handful of people who have tried to fight us on everything that weve tried to do, he said, listing the approved Palm Beach State College campus, the new town hall and the paving of roads. I hope that we have a full house where everybody will come and speak and try to give

us some direction on what the residents want.

Browning, who voted against seeking new proposals in June along with Councilman Tom Golt-zen, said Tibbs did not qualify for the contract and that issuing another RFP would take the town beyond Underwoods current Sept. 30 term.

The other thing that we can do is extend the contract with the current management team for another year, Browning said. Thats what most of the residents of Loxahatchee Groves want, and thats what I support. The other thing would be to kind of start from scratch and try to find a manager and a clerk and all those things to plug in.

Browning said that the lack

of responses to the towns RFP revealed what he had said earlier about the town developing a repu-tation for going through managers. Underwood is the fourth manager the town has had since it incorpo-rated nine years ago.

There are not a lot of manage-ment teams out there that are jump-ing up and down about managing Loxahatchee Groves, Browning said, adding that he thought the past RFP was put out too quickly, without enough time to process it. Theres too much stuff going on, and the timing was bad.

Goltzen said that he understood Severn Trents decision.

Im glad Severn Trent listened to the voice of the people, and I would hope that others do the same, he said.

Calling Actors: Fright Nights Casting Call

Do you think you have what it takes to scare people? Are you a drama student? Do you need community service hours? If so, take part in Fright Nights casting call for scareactors!

To be a member of the cast, you must bring two forms of identifica-tion, as well as your ability to scare the living daylights out of people, but in a fun way. The casting call is set for Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Perfect Vodka Amphitheater at the South Florida Fairgrounds, starting at noon.

Fright Nights is the premier haunted house attraction in South

Florida. With four full haunts, crazy midway scare zones, theme park rides, live music, food and entertainment, Fright Nights will be the areas top Halloween season destination in 2015.

Each year, Fright Nights is dedicated to bringing new haunt-ed attractions, and 2015 will be no different. In past years, there has been everything from flesh-eating zombies to twisted carnivals, haunted prisons, evil clowns, haunted hotels, ghostly graveyards, insane asylums, corn mazes, haunted hayrides, psychot-ic hillbillies and more.

Located at the South Florida Fairgrounds, there will be acres of scares and plenty of parking. The event will be open for four weekends, including Halloween.

For more information about Halloween Fright Nights at the South Florida Fairgrounds, call (561) 793-0333.

Shulamit Hadassah

Bingo NightShulamit Hadassah will hold

a bingo event on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Station 30 on Stribling Way in Wellington. Admission is free, and attendees are asked to either donate $5 for projects or bring a dairy/pareve appetizer or dessert. Reservations are required. To RSVP, contact Sandi at [email protected] or (561) 389-4186.

Trail Association Ice Cream Social

Set For Sept. 7The September meeting of

the Loxahatchee chapter of the Florida Trail Association will be given over to a Labor Day family ice cream social extravaganza. Socialize with FTA members on Monday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Okeeheelee Nature Center.

Guests will learn about FTA membership during a family opportunity on helping with rec-reational wilderness foot paths in Palm Beach County.

Wilderness foot paths in Palm Beach County are extensive, with many rustic paths maintained by Loxahatchee chapter members.

These footpaths are used for woods walking, hiking, back pack-ing, jogging, running marathons, nature photography and more. They travel through natural pine flatwoods, sand dunes, oak scrub and wetland areas.

Using the trails has benefits, in-cluding helping to relieve weekly stress. The fresh air, sunshine and wildlife on a Florida nature trail increases vitality, energy and opti-mism. The trails provide a connec-tion with nature that is beneficial to health and attitude. Helping to maintain them provides exercise in a social group through Clip and Walks to trim excess foliage growing into the paths.

The Okeeheelee Nature Center is located in Okeeheelee Park on Forest Hill Blvd. between Jog

Road and Floridas Turnpike. The FTA will meet in the screen room behind the nature center at 7 p.m. A road turn-in sign will be displayed. For more details, call Margaret Brabham at (561) 324-3543.

Hand & Stone Massage Grand Opening Sept. 6Hand & Stone Massage and

Facial Spa, located at 2863 S. State Road 7, Suite 300, in Wellington, will hold its official grand opening on Sunday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Special promotions will be shared on the spas Facebook page. For more info., call (561) 221-6996 or visit www.handandstone.com/spa/store/Wellington.

NEWS BRIEFS


NEWSULTIMA FITNESS HOSTS WELLINGTON FITNESS & WELLNESS EDUCATION DAY

Walgreens Store Manager Karen and volunteerDunneane Pase-Slone, Assistant Manager Clelvis

Gonzalez and pharmacist Krista Strathie.

Martial arts assistant instructor Christian Pope-Guerriero,instructor Erin Davisson, assistant instructor

Lindsay August and master instructor Ryan Maass.

Ultima Fitness & Wellness, in cooperation with the Village of Wellington, Walgreens and Wellington The Magazine, hosted a free Wellington Fitness & Wellness Education Day on Saturday, Aug. 22 at Ultima, located at 12799 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in the Wellington Plaza. As part of the event, Ultima and the village collected back-to-school donations. Wellington teachers who attended were eligible to receive a donation of school supplies for their classroom. Meanwhile, teachers, students, parents and families learned how to live healthier and be better prepared for the school year. PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Paulette Wiggins on an elliptical machine.

Instructor Erin Davissonworks with Josie Wilson.

Alyssa Yanoss with Mark and Sydney Whitaker.

Maria Marker leads a kids yoga class.

Jeanine Wiernik from Universal Living Sproutsgives Krista Strathie an organic sprout salad.

James Rust tries the MarkPro Recovery System with

Dr. Addison Seitter. Denzil Soleyn gets a flu shot from pharmacist Krista Strathie.Sharon Soleyn tries organic

wheat grass juice.

Joan Perlman at one of theexercise machines.

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CRIME NEWS


AUG. 21 A deputy from the Wellington substation of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office was called to Isles View Drive last Friday morning regarding a business burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 1:58 and 2:08 a.m. last Friday, the alarm for Cilantros Gourmet Deli went off. According to the report, two masked males broke a glass window to gain entrance to the deli, attempted to remove the ATM machine and knocked over items while trying, unsuccessfully, to steal the machine. The incident was caught on video surveillance.

AUG. 18 A deputy from the

PBSOs Royal Palm Beach sub-station was called to the Walmart store on Belvedere Road last Tuesday afternoon regarding a shoplifting incident. According to a PBSO report, sometime be-tween 2:25 and 2:30 p.m., Amy Methner was observed walking around the store putting items in a plastic bag. She attempted to exit the store but was stopped by a store employee. She was arrested for retail theft.

AUG. 19 A deputy from the PBSOs Wellington substation was called to a home on Snowberry Drive in the Sugar Pond Manor community last Wednesday morn-ing regarding a vehicle burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 6 p.m. last Tuesday and 5 a.m. last Wednes-day, someone opened the unlocked side door of the victims 2005 Chevy Pacifica and removed $1.25 in change from the center console. DNA evidence was gathered from the vehicle.

AUG. 20 A deputy from the PBSOs Acreage/Loxahatchee substation was called to a home on 61st Lane North in The Acreage last Thursday regarding an in-stance of vandalism. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 11:45 a.m. and noon, someone threw the victims Samsung Gal-axy Note 3, valued at $435, into a pond.

AUG. 20 A deputy from the PBSOs Wellington substation was called to a store on State Road 7 last Thursday afternoon regarding a theft. According to a PBSO re-port, sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., while the victim was shopping at Jo-Ann Fabrics, one person distracted the victim, while another stole the victims $500 Prada wallet from the victims shopping cart.

AUG. 20 A deputy from the PBSOs Wellington substation was called to a restaurant on State Road 7 last Thursday afternoon regarding a theft. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 4:30 and 5 p.m., while paying for his purchase at Flakowitz Deli, the victim left his wallet on the counter. According to the report, when the victim looked for his wallet later, it was missing.

AUG 20 A deputy from the PBSOs Wellington substation was called to Basin Street South in the French Quarter community last Thursday morning regarding the delayed report of a residential burglary. According to a PBSO re-port, sometime between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. last Wednesday, someone broke into the victims home and stole multiple pieces of jewelry, valued at $1,850. According to the

report, the victim fixed her front door after realizing that the home was broken into.

AUG. 21 A deputy from the PBSOs Royal Palm Beach substa-tion was contacted by a resident of Citrus Grove Blvd. in The Acreage last Friday regarding the delayed report of a stolen tag. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 5 p.m. on Aug. 7 and 11 a.m. on Aug. 11, someone stole the tag and decal off of the victims work vehicle.

AUG. 21 A deputy from the PBSOs Royal Palm Beach substa-tion was contacted by a resident of Victoria Grove last Friday regard-ing a case of fraud. According to a PBSO report, someone had been using the victims credit card in New York City and New Jersey between Aug. 16 and Aug. 21. According to the report, the victim received two credit card company letters, and an existing Kohls card had $700 in unauthorized charges billed to the account.

AUG. 21 A deputy from the PBSOs Acreage/Loxahatchee substation was called to a home on West Epson Drive in the Royal Ascot Estates community last Friday afternoon regarding a case of fraud. According to a PBSO re-port, at 12:48 p.m. last Friday, the victim was contacted by someone claiming to be from Florida Power & Light, demanding that $461.12 be sent through Western Union. According to the report, the victim sent the money, then determined that the call was a scam and con-tacted the PBSO. The victim called Western Unions fraud division, but the money had already been received, sent to an account in the Dominican Republic.

AUG. 22 A deputy from the PBSOs Royal Palm Beach sub-station was called to a residence in Greenway Village South last Saturday morning regarding a theft. According to a PBSO report, sometime between noon on July 4 and 10 a.m. last Saturday, someone entered the victims home and stole approximately $37,200 worth of jewelry, including a 3 carat sol-itaire diamond yellow gold ring, a 14k yellow gold ring with three rubies and a yellow gold ring with three diamonds.

AUG. 22 A deputy from the PBSOs Acreage/Loxahatchee substation was contacted by a resident of 83rd Lane North in The Acreage last Saturday afternoon regarding a case of fraud. Accord-ing to a PBSO report, sometime between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. last Saturday, the victim became aware of multiple unauthorized charges made to her Bank of America debit card in the Miami area.

AUG. 22 A deputy from the PBSOs Royal Palm Beach substa-tion was contacted by a Tamarac resident last Saturday regarding a theft. According to a PBSO report, the victim accidently left her wallet on the counter while making a return at the T.J. Maxx store on State Road 7 sometime between 4 and 4:30 p.m. According to the report, the victims SunTrust debit card was later used at a Speedway gas station.

AUG. 23 A deputy from the PBSOs Acreage/Loxahatchee substation was contacted by a resident of 88th Road North in the Rustic Lakes community Sunday morning regarding a stolen tag. According to a PBSO report,

THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOX IS PROVIDED BYCRIME STOPPERS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY. CRIME STOPPERSIS WHOLLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT SHOWN HERE.

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is asking for the publics help in finding these wanted fugitives:

Leonardo Contreras, alias Leonardo Contreras-Morales, is a white male, 6 tall and weighing 225 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. His date of birth is 06/20/79. Contreras is wanted on felony charges for attempted first degree mur-der with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and aggra-vated assault with a deadly weapon. His last known address was Alcazar Street in Royal Palm Beach. He is wanted as of 08/20/15.

Candace Revers, alias Candace Ferri-era, is a white female, 55 tall and weigh-ing 180 lbs., with brown hair and green eyes. Her date of birth is 07/12/85. Revers is wanted on felony charges for public assistance fraud. Her last known address was Tigris Drive in Royal Palm Beach. She is wanted as of 08/20/15.

Remain anonymous and you may be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimestopperspbc.com. Candace Revers

Leonardo Contreras

See BLOTTER, page 16

Masked Thieves Attempt To Steal

ATM From DeliThe Truth behind SupplementsBy Ryan Bishop, L.A.c, LMTUltima Fitness and Wellness

Health Coaching Acupuncture Weight Management Workshops & Lectures Therapeutic Massage Corporate Wellness Programs

During my continuous education on wellness and physiology of our physical body I have discovered a man by the name of Dr. Royal Lee, who died in 1967. He is considered the greatest nutritionist of the twentieth century. Yet today his works and name go largely unnoticed because his message threatened some of our countrys mightiest institutions. Dr. Lees basic message is the ultimate cause of most modern disease is malnutrition brought on by industrially produced foods and improper supplementation. Though he was called the Einstein of Nutrition, Dr. Lee was also a mechanical genius, with countless patents and inventions to his name that can be found in everything from standing food mixers to electric dental drills. He was also a farmer, a researcher, an activist and a philanthropist who

was decorated by humanitarian and scientific societies alike. Since 1929, Standard Process has been dedicated to the field of nutritional supplements and the whole food philosophy introduced by Dr. Lee, with the goal to provide nutrients as they are found in naturein a whole food state where he believed their natural potency and efficacy would be realized. Many of todays supplements include fillers or poor quality nutrition that doesnt get absorbed by our bodies. Standard Process whole food supplements are highly effective and now available at Ultima Fitness and Wellness. For more information please call 561-795-2823, email our Wellness Director at [email protected] or stop by Ultima Fitness, 12799 W. Forest Hill Boulevard, Wellington, FL 33414.


NEWS


The Urban League of Palm Beach County and the Village of Wellington conducted a Pre-serving Homeownership Clinic on Saturday, Aug. 22 at Village Park on Pierson Road to provide residents with the opportunity to speak one-on-one with lenders, certified housing counselors and legal assistants from the Florida Legal Aid Society.

Jean Louis, director of housing for the Urban League, explained that the purpose of the clinic was to reach out to the community.

People who are facing fore-closure, having financial difficulty paying their mortgage, he said, can come and meet with a certi-fied housing counselor, as well as servicers and investors, to see how they can get a solution to help them through their financial crisis.

Representatives from Fannie Mae, the Bank of America, Legal Aid and Ocwen Financial were available to meet with residents who needed guidance and assis-tance.

Residents pre-register either through their lenders, loan ser-vicers or through calling, or by just walking in. Some are able to speak with their lender directly. Some will need assistance from the Urban League.

As a HUD-certified counseling agency, our job is to make sure that the people who come to our events follow through, Louis said, ex-plaining that those who can work

with the lender themselves come to events such as last weekends as a follow-up.

If someone is in need of assis-tance and cannot attend events such as the Preserving Home-ownership Clinic, they can go to the Urban League of Palm Beach Countys office in West Palm Beach. Thats what were here for, Louis said.

There is a false misconception about Wellington, he explained, that there is not a need for the Ur-ban Leagues services and support.

Wellington has several dif-ferent phases. You may go in one phase in Wellington where everything is well, but if you go in another phase, things arent doing well, and people need help, Louis said.

The critical moment, he said, is when that first mortgage payment is missed. That is the crucial point when someone needs help. The need is everywhere, he said. Theres always a need.

Wellingtons most recent event was intended to serve as a re-minder to the community that even though the housing market has improved, there is still help available.

Louis said that often, homeown-ers will call their lender, only to be told that the lender did not receive a document, and the homeowner keeps receiving a denial letter.

Maybe the reason you keep getting denied is that there is some-thing that you didnt do properly. It may be your financials. You need

to sit down with someone who can redo the budget with you, he said. When we redo the budget, there may be a way to show the lender that there is sufficient income in the household. If a modification is offered, it will be affordable for them.

Last year, the Urban League of Palm Beach County was able to help more than 500 people with the service.

Our goal is always to serve as many people as possible, Louis said. We dont have a cap. There isnt a cap at the Urban League. You come in, and we are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you are coming in for mortgage assistance, yes, we will always be glad to help you We will never close the door on someone.

Louis pointed out that even if someone made a loan modification last year, there may be something the league can assist them with this year. There may be other is-sues that can be addressed by the league that can be caught before an individual has a foreclosure issue.

For instance, you have people coming in and you look at a mort-gage statement, he said. The interest is low and the payment is low from principal and interest, but you notice that there is an issue with the escrow. It isnt that the mortgage is not affordable, it may be that the lender sent them out with a letter telling them that they need to renew their insurance. For some reason, you dont respond in

Urban League, Wellington Team Up On Homeownership Clinic

Lydia Callender, Radhame Nunez, Karen Lanthier, Jean Louis, DrekyraCollins and Kindery Latson of the Urban League at last Saturdays event.


time. So the lender would then pur-chase what we call a forced-base insurance. Now your insurance was supposed to be $2,500, but whatever the lender purchased, if it is $6,000. That would increase your mortgage payment.

In such a case, Urban League counselors can help solve that problem and, perhaps, make the payments more affordable.

The Urban League, Louis said, has been around for almost 43

years and serves the community in many capacities. The league has its housing department, youth em-powerment programs, after-school programs and more, all of which are free.

Bringing events to Wellington is important to Louis, who strives to help anyone and everyone who could use the assistance of the Urban League.

It is our pleasure to work with the Village of Wellington and the

entire team, he said. They have been very helpful in putting this event together, and we want to thank them very much, and the entire community to allow us to come in here, not only one day and one time, but we want to work with the Village of Wellington in any capacity that we can.

For more information, call (561) 833-1461, visit www.ulpbc.org, or stop by the office at 1700 N. Aus-tralian Ave. in West Palm Beach.

HaulersWorking Togethercontinued from page 1

ping fees, are effectively subsidiz-ing the industry is advantageous to the haulers, but U.S. Sugar has yet to determine if this is a viable use of the product over the long term, ODell explained.

During the meeting, it was discussed that the most important part of the waste is the shavings. ODell explained that, at Welling-tons large horse shows, stalls are completely cleared out weekly as horses come in and out. It isnt the same as having a horse consistently in a stall. The stalls are disinfected and new shavings are put down. The shaving use is

exponentially higher through this process than through normal stall mucking.

Theres a tremendous amount of shavings that leaves this partic-ular area, and thats what makes it valuable, or we think makes it valuable, for a soil amendment, ODell said.

On average, he said, horses pro-duce 50 pounds of waste a day, and 20 percent of that is thought to be shavings. However, the increase in shaving portion during the season is not consistent throughout the year it ends when the season ends.

Best management practices have had an impact on cleaning the water, ODell said. Best management practices have been employed throughout the nation. Ive been studying this now for

more than four years, and anywhere you go in the nation where there are high populations of some form of animal and a waste production stream that comes from that, theyre looking to utilize it.

In areas where the animal popu-lation is consistent, many compa-nies have found ways to recycle the waste as fertilizer, a source of energy and all kinds of other uses. The idea isnt new, he stressed. The challenge here is we have so much in such a short period of time, he said.

In the future, ODell would like to standardize how end-users are charged. He explained that some firms charge by weight and others by load. Haulers look at a manure bin and determine a price for the owner to empty it. Sometimes

they wind up charging the same when the bin is full and fills one truckload as when it is overflowing and fills two which costs the hauler more.

ODell suggested that paying by weight might be a more effective way to standardize the system.

For the haulers, having a con-sistent location to dispose of waste would be advantageous. They could calculate their time, how much fuel it takes to get there, the truck maintenance necessary, and any other fees associated with moving waste, and really determine their cost of doing business.

The haulers are in favor of fig-uring those things out, but the big wildcard is a permanent location to put it.

Through its meetings, the vil-

lage learned that for the haulers, being within a 10-minute radius of Wellington would be ideal. The idea of a local collection facility has been discussed, but theres no industrially zoned land nearby.

I think the conversation, amongst Wellington to the haul-ers, and even to the haulers them-selves has been tremendous, ODell said.

He was quick to thank U.S. Sugar for their help with the current solution, even if its not a permanent one.

Without them, we would be fighting this problem even more, ODell said. Theyve come to the rescue, so to speak, of the industry. But is this a viable option for the long term? My concern is the regulations. My concern is water quality requirements.

While the jury is still out on how viable accepting waste is for U.S. Sugar, there are still many other factors to consider.

Overall, the removal and dis-posal of waste affects the envi-ronment. The Everglades are in our back yard, ODell said. Its something that we should treasure.

Approved haulers for the 2014-15 fiscal year are: Trucking by Duques, Wellington Agricultural Services, Salmana Enterprises, Palmetto Mills, Southern Waste Systems, Garcia Brothers, Little Palm Landscaping Removal Horse Manure, T.A. Steinman and J.H. Hauling & Services.

The approved list of haulers and disposal sites for 2015-16 will be posted in October on the villages web site.

ContractHow To

Negotiate?continued from page 1

what Id ask you to do is possibly put this as an agenda item for Sept. 10, and at that time have the coun-cil do some research and share. Well have a chance to talk about this at our next agenda review meeting, Margolis said.

That way, at the Sept. 10 meet-

ing, the council could either ap-point a council person to negotiate, or decide on another selection method, he said.

Again, Im not saying that what weve done is incorrect, but there are some other options that have certainly opened my eyes that we may want to consider, Margolis said.

Councilwoman Anne Gerwig asked to clarify the process for two council members negotiating the contract, and Margolis said each

would negotiate with the manager separately.

Village Attorney Laurie Cohen said that she has concerns about that method, because it would place the manager in an odd posi-tion of trying not to be a facilitator for discussions that have occurred between one council member, and becoming an intermediary to the other. Its something that would have to be very carefully done, Cohen said.

Margolis said another option

that he was interested in was hav-ing the village attorney negotiate the contract and make a presenta-tion to the full council.

Im not trying to reinvent the wheel, but there are some other options out there we may want to consider instead of just picking a point person to negotiate the con-tract, he said.

Cohen also offered to do some research on negotiating meth-ods, and Margolis said that Lynn Tipton at the Florida League of

Cities might be a good source of information.

She is the eyes and ears of every municipality in the State of Florida, and she might be a good person to ask for some feedback, he said.

Gerwig asked about council members discussing both the village attorney and village man-ager reviews outside of public meetings.

We cannot talk about anything were going to vote on, but for us

to have conversations with each other outside of a public meeting about either one of these things would be improper? she asked Cohen.

I would recommend that you not discuss it, because even though youre not voting on the evaluation itself, the evaluation could lead to a vote for or against retaining either one of us, Cohen said. I think it would be inappropriate for you to discuss that outside of the Sunshine Law.

A 20-year plan to dramatically reduce phosphorus levels of agri-cultural water entering the Florida Everglades is working, thanks to proper implementation of best management practices by grow-ers, training by the University of Floridas Institute of Food & Agri-cultural Sciences, and cooperation with state and federal agencies.

It is a partnership that has worked, said Samira Daroub, a professor of soil and water sci-ence at the UF/IFAS Everglades Research & Education Center in Belle Glade. It is one of the suc-cess stories in the area and also in the country.

This year, the agricultural area

has seen a phosphorus reduction of 79 percent, with an average in past years of more than 50 percent. State law requires a 25 percent re-duction. Monitoring by the South Florida Water Management Dis-trict shows an average number of 94 parts per billion of phosphorus in the water substantially better than the 500 ppb in 1986.

The story is much bigger than even this astounding result, said Jack Payne, senior vice president of agriculture and natural resourc-es at UF/IFAS. The marketplace wont always take care of places like the Everglades, and thats why the work of public land-grant university scientists is so import-

ant. Its science in the service of society.

The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services works with UF/IFAS researchers and personnel from the SFW-MD to develop and adopt best management practices (BMPs) for different types of agricultural operations.

The BMPs are designed to benefit water quality and water conservation, while maintaining or enhancing agricultural production.

In 2014, the total phosphorus load reduction was 63 percent, attesting to the success of the partnership, said Daroub, who has worked since 2002 to help farmers

with BMPs in reducing phospho-rus. She added that they have taken a three-pronged approach:

Soil testing before fertilizing to see how much fertilizer, if any, is necessary;

Regulating when and how much water can be pumped off of the farms; and

Cleaning out sediment from the canals before farm water is released into a maze of waterways that lead into the Everglades.

Anyone farming in the Ever-glades Agricultural Area (EAA) must obtain a permit to do so, and they have to attend a BMP training workshop to get and maintain that permit. Daroub and

researchers conduct the twice-a-year workshops for nearly 250 farmers, ranchers and their per-sonnel, including U.S. Sugar Corporation, Florida Crystals and the Sugar Growers Cooperative the three largest farming entities in the EAA.

Paul Allen is co-owner of R.C. Hatton Farms, which grows a variety of vegetables and sugar cane in Pahokee. He noted that the SFWMD board, environmentalists and the entire audience gave grow-ers a standing ovation this month when the 79 percent reduction was announced and growers were honored for their efforts.

Its something Ill never for-

get, said Allen, who was there with his son. Were all really happy about it and really proud.

The UF/IFAS program also fo-cuses on new and innovative best management research. Daroub and researchers are currently conduct-ing a five-year paired farm study to evaluate the impact of floating aquatic vegetation on sediment properties and phosphorus loads from eight cooperating farms within the EAA.

Controlling floating aquatic vegetation may help reduce phos-phorus loads on certain farms by reducing the generation of highly mobile organic sediments, she said.

Program Highly Successful In Keeping Phosphorus Out Of The Everglades


NEWSTEXTING AND DRIVING INFORMATIONAL SESSION AT WELLINGTON B&G CLUB

District chiefs Jose Gonzalez and Bruce Arbeitwith District Capt. George Springthorpe.

Capt. Amanda Vomero, Cadet Chief Brandon Yurick andDistrict Chief Bruce Arbeit with PBCFR teen cadets.

The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, Wellingtons Community Services Department and the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club held a texting and driving informational session Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the Boys & Girls Club. PBSO representatives educated attendees about the dangers of texting and driving before PBCFR provided a demonstration, performing an extraction from a car that had been in a simulated accident due to a distracted driver. PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Palm Beach County Fire-Rescues specialoperations team with cadets.

PBCFR officers prepare to extract victims from the vehicle.

Officials with the vehicle after the extraction process.

Rescue workers remove a victim from the shattered car.

KELLER WILLIAMS AGENTS ENJOY GIRLS NIGHT OUT AT SANDA GAN SPA

Keisha Delahaye, Fran Broadhead, Jessica Peacock and Rossy Soto of Sanda Gan with Nancy Jennings of Keller Williams.

Melissa Race enjoys a facial treatment from Pat Morris.

Keller Williams held a Girls Night Out At The Spa event for agents, friends and family Tuesday, Aug. 25 at Sanda Gan European Day Spa in Wellington. Donations benefited KW Cares, Keller Williams nonprofit organization to help take care of agents when they are in need of financial help. For more info., visit www.kwcares.org. PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Keller Williams agents with Maxine Turner of Sanda Gan.

Maxine Turner of Sanda Gan with Keller Williams broker

Nancy Jennings.


Angelo J. Valverde, LLC ................................................... Angelo ValverdeBootz Culture Camp ........................................................ Jeanne Bootz BrownBuffalo Wild Wings ......................................................... Cisco CastroCAP Photography ............................................................ Carol PorterCard Solutions International ........................................... Jay BroderDog Training by Kelly ................................................... Kelly Shwiner

Welcome New and Renewing TWBA Members

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Hugs and Kisses, Inc. .................................................... Jean MorrisK&E Travel ................................................................... Mark ElieLEAP3 Technologies, LLC .............................................. Ray Wordsman Miguelitos Cancun Grille ............................................. Miguel LopezRichards Lawn Service ................................................ Richard VeltenRoyal Palm Beach Rotary Club ........................................ Bruce Elkind

Royal Palm Dental Associates,P.A. .................................. David Goldberg D.D.S. Sanda Gane European Day Spa ....................................... Maxine TurnerSecurity Self Storage Mindful Storage .......................... Julie Sinclair Tindall Company, PA ....................................................... Greg TindallWellington Collegiate Academy ...................................... Anna OaksThomas M. Wenham, Inc., FCPM .................................... Thomas Wenham

A new era in building business relationships.

THE WESTERN BUSINESS ALLIANCEThe Western Business Alliance is an alliance of businesses committed to strengthening and supporting our members through economic growth, education, and community awareness.

Join now and see for yourself.www.TheWesternBusinessAlliance.com

561.600.3820

SunTrust Bank

The Western Business Alliance, Inc.

SunTrust Banks, Inc. is one of the nations largest and strongest financial services companies, with total assets of $189.9 billion as of March 31, 2015,

but most importantly, we are an organization driven by purpose and a personal touch. We are passionate about Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being. Helping instill a sense of confidence in the financial circumstances of clients, communities, teammates and shareholders is at the center of everything we do.

Visit www.SunTrust.com to learn more.

UPCOMING EVENTSPlease join us for a Members Only Speed Networking Breakfast

at Royal Palm Mazda on Thursday September 10th. The fun starts at 8:00 AM.

Log onto www.TheWesternBusinessAlliance.com to register.Please join us for our September Social at

The White Elephant in Royal Palm Beach on Thursday, September 17th. The fun starts at 5:30 PM.

Log onto www.TheWesternBusinessAlliance.com to register.


Sign Up For CodeRed

NotificationsThe Village of Wellington en-

courages residents to sign up for its CodeRed Emergency Notification System, a high-speed telephone communication service for emer-gency notifications.

The system allows village staff to call targeted areas of Wellington in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action, such as severe weather, evacua-tions and boil-water notices.

The system is capable of dialing 60,000 phone numbers per hour. It then delivers a pre-recorded mes-sage describing the situation and possibly including instructions requiring action on the part of the recipient. Once the situation is remedied, another call will be placed signaling that the issue has been addressed.

In addition to receiving a phone call, residents can elect to receive notifications via e-mail, text mes-sage or the CodeRed Mobile Alert app available to iPhone and An-droid users. The app is geo-aware and will send a notification to the

subscriber if an alert is issued for their specific location.

Register now for the service at www.wellingtonfl.gov/codered.

New Wellington Chorale Seeks

SingersDr. Ed Palmer has changed the

name of his Palmer Singers at Wellington to the new Wellington Chorale, and he invites singers to join the group.

Singers with experience and able to read music are urged to consider the Wellington Chorale. Palmer, the director, has sung with world-famous groups, including the professional Robert Shaw Chorale and the Roger Wagner Chorale.

Palmer studied voice with Met-ropolitan Opera bass-baritone Giorgio Tozzi and Richard Miller of the Oberlin Conservatory, and has taught on the college level.

The Wellington Chorale will be a group of 24 singers, highly trained by Palmer in songs from many genres. Members sing with meaning, as opposed to the sound of many large choruses. In rehears-

al, singers grammatically diagram the text and analyze the music.

For more info., call Palmer at (561) 659 3641 or e-mail [email protected].

Volunteer Training At

VinceremosThe Vinceremos Therapeutic

Riding Center, located at 13300 6th Court North in Loxahatchee Groves, will hold volunteer train-ing sessions on Saturday, Aug. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 3. from 4 to 6 p.m.

The mission of the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center is to expand and enrich the lives, bodies and spirits of children and adults with physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities through the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding and other equine-assisted activities.

The nonprofit needs volunteer team members for the upcoming fall session. Volunteers at Vincer-emos do more than give of their time and energy. They change lives and help special individuals achieve their dreams. They make

lifelong friends and join a larger community of fun-loving, ener-getic, individuals intent on making a difference.

Volunteers assist riders dur-ing their weekly lessons, groom horses, help maintain the facility, assist with administrative tasks and much more.

Volunteers are needed at all times of the day, but especially in the afternoons and on Saturdays.

The fall session begins Sept. 8. Available times are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call Volunteer Coordinator Deb Ras-mussen at (561)-792-9900.

Garden Club To Meet Sept. 9

The Wellington Garden Club will meet Wednesday, Sept. 9 at Village Park, located at 11700 Pierson Road.

A business meeting will start at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a program at 12:15 p.m. on the benefits of urban food gardens, presented by Dr. John Zahina-Ramos.

Zahina-Ramos, who has au-thored a book explaining a five-year study of home and com-munity gardens, will delve into how just one backyard garden can make an impact on energy and water conservation. Using his ex-perience with sustainable organic agriculture and storytelling, he will explain how to save money by growing your own food.

Guests are welcome, but seating is limited. To reserve a seat, e-mail Jim Wenham at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.wellingtongardenclub.org.

WellingtonGym Closure

The gymnasiums at Welling-tons Village Park will close be-ginning at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 and remain closed through Monday, Sept. 7 for the annually scheduled maintenance of the gym floor surfaces. The gyms will resume normal operating hours on Tuesday, Sept. 8. During the closure, program registrations can be completed online at www.wellingtonfl.gov.

Register Now At Dance Arts Conservatory

Fall registration is now open for the Dance Arts Conservatory. The schedule can be viewed at www.danceartsconservatory.com/2015-fall-schedule.html.

Classes are filling up quickly, and there is only a short time left to take advantage of a special offer: when the years tuition is paid in full, there is a 10 percent discount, and the registration fee is waived.

To register, call Randy at (561) 296-1880.

Ballet Show At WHS Theater

Purchase your tickets now for Wellington Ballet Theatres pro-duction Going Hollywood to be performed at the Wellington High School theater on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. It is reserved seating, and tickets start at $15. The production features music from a wide range of movies. For more information, visit www.wellingtonballettheatre.org.

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Daily chef-prepared meals

Weekly live entertainment

Clubhouse, heated pool, hot tub and gazebo

On-site pharmacy services, groceries and personal shopping

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Spacious rental apartments (furnished short-term units available)

Large theatre/auditorium

Weekly housekeeping

On-site healthcare services

Discover Your Place in the Sun!

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Lifes just more fun in the sun whether its fishing

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scheduled transportation is available for shopping

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here with fun-loving friends who enjoy life as

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Fun in the Sun

Join us for lunch and a tour.


PALMS WEST PEOPLEWellington Rotary Visits PICU AtPalms West Childrens Hospital

Mac McDonald Earns MBA From Northwestern U.

Marshall Mac McDonald IV recently graduated from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., with a masters de-gree in business administration. He has moved to Philadelphia, Penn., to work for the Vanguard Group.

Before his admission to North-western, McDonald attended Wellington Christian School and the Brooks School in North An-dover, Mass., where he graduated in 2005. He studied economics at Cambridge University in England and graduated from Carleton Col-lege in Northfield, Minn., in 2009 with a bachelors degree, graduat-ing cum laude in economics.

McDonald passed the certified financial analyst examination in 2012 while working as a unit trust equity portfolio manager at Inves-

Amanda Cook of Royal Palm Beach was named a 2014-15 Out-standing Undergraduate Scholar during an April 16 ceremony at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. This was the 39th year RIT has presented this award to honor its students.

The bronze medallion award was given to 104 students who have met the criteria a mini-mum grade-point average of 3.85 out of 4.0; completion of more than two-thirds of the credit hours required for a bachelors degree; and demonstrated community en-

co in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., before beginning the MBA program at Northwestern.

gagement, such as creative work, serving student committees, civic activities, employment or inde-pendent research. RIT chooses less than 1 percent of the students from all five campuses worldwide for the annual honor.

Cook is pursuing a bachelors degree in me

Town-Crier Newspaper August 28, 2015

Documents

Transcript of Town-Crier Newspaper August 28, 2015