April 18, 2019 Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980 TOWN-CRIER THE WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE INSIDE DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ..............................3 - 22 LETTERS ................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS ........................ 7 PEOPLE .................................. 8 SCHOOLS ............................... 9 COLUMNS ............................18 BUSINESS ............................ 21 CALENDAR ...........................22 SPORTS .........................23 - 24 CLASSIFIEDS ............... 25 - 26 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM By Denis Eirikis Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach Sheriff Office Dis- trict 9 Capt. Ulrich Naujoks pre- sented the latest crime statistics to the Royal Palm Beach Village Council last week, which showed that the crime index in the village has fallen for the fifth consecutive year. At the Thursday, April 4 meet- ing, it was noted that while the village suffered an unusual two murders during the reporting pe- riod, after zero in the previous four years, robberies are at the lowest level in more than 20 years. The population of the village has almost doubled since 1998, when there were 8 reported robberies in the village, and only 9 robber- ies were reported last year. More good news included that home burglaries plummeted from 61 in 2017 to 24 in 2018. Vehicle theft dropped from 61 to 45 reports, and aggravated assault fell from 51 to 43 incidents. Larceny, which includes shop- lifting, rose slightly from 663 in- cidents to 690 incidents. Incidents at the Walmart store on State Road 7, which draws customers from across the region, continues to lead the way in that category. Whether crime is on a rising trend or is falling is hugely im- portant. It can affect how much is spent on policing and other related services, how people vote and even property values. “Americans across the country are more afraid of crime, even though the crime rates are down,” Nikki Usher of George Washing- ton University said in a recent interview. “The media is reporting crime more, and in new ways. The more people consume bad news in the world, the more they believe it is more dangerous than it really is.” That might explain the discon- nect between the actual statistics reported and an informal survey this week on Royal Palm Beach Speaks, a social media site that boasts more than 3,000 members. In a self-selected survey, members who chose to respond, by a margin of about 10 to 1, felt crime that is actually rising in the village. “Regardless of what the statis- tics say — and we know they can be manipulated — many Royal Palm Beachers, especially long- time residents, feel inundated by crime, and it is adversely affect- ing our quality of life,” longtime resident Bob Markey said. “Those of us who have been here for years are shocked to the point of consid- ering moving away.” Jamieson Joseph, a transplant from New York, disagrees. “These people have no idea what a crime-filled town is like,” he said. “Ten years ago, few people were posting about crimes on Facebook and social media. We didn’t have cameras/videos on our homes and phones. People just weren’t as aware of crime in the neighborhood as we are now.” Counterpoint Estates resident Rhonda Dunker agreed. “You see the same posts over and over. It’s sort of an onslaught on your brain,” she said. “Posts like, ‘Do you know this person who rang my doorbell?’ … Which may be nothing at all or may be crime related, but it’s still hitting your brain all the time and reg- istering.” She also feels that society is more suspicious and pays more attention to their surroundings nowadays. “We are seeing a lot more online than we ever knew about in the past before the internet and access 24/7 to news, informa- tion and posts,” Dunker said. Dunker noted that she feels much more vulnerable to crime in Royal Palm Beach than she did when living in Wyoming. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Re- porting (UCR) program is a na- tionwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 municipal, college/university, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their atten- tion. However, the FBI specifi- Statistics Show Crime Drop In RPB, But Public Perception Lags See RPB CRIME, page 22 PRETTY IN PINK FASHION SHOW BLOOM EVENT BRINGS MOMS TO MALL SEE STORY, PAGE 3 By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report At a meeting on Tuesday, April 9, members of the Acreage Land- owners’ Association Board of Directors expressed concern about plans by Connect Church to build a new worship center at the south- east corner of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Banyan Blvd. The new facility is in its early stages of planning with Palm Beach County, whose planners reviewed the application recently. Connect Church has a permanent location on Okeechobee Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach with Sunday attendance of about 600, and cur- rently also holds Sunday meetings attended by about 200 congregants at Seminole Ridge High School. ALA Board Member Dixie ALA Discusses Plans For New Church In The Acreage Thiery said she was aware that the church had put in an application for development with the county but was concerned that the church had not made an effort to contact the ALA or the Indian Trail Im- provement District. “We should be working with them to find out what’s going on with building,” Thiery said. “People are supposed to come through us. I got an e-mail from the county, and they kind of acted like they don’t have to recognize us whatsoever. They didn’t tell ITID what was going on either.” Pastor Dale Faircloth said the site, located between Westlake to the south and the Publix shopping plaza to the north, is about 6.75 acres. The design will be similar in design to existing nearby facilities, By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report Outdoor icon Smokey Bear turns 75 this year, and as part of the year-long commemoration, he is appearing at the free Earth Day & Arbor Day Celebration at the Wel- lington Amphitheater on Saturday, April 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. The observance will be immediately followed by a Heart tribute concert featuring Love Alive. “Provided he isn’t called away to a fire, Smokey Bear will be at the event, courtesy of the Forestry Service,” said event organizer Mi- chelle Garvey, Wellington’s assis- tant parks and recreation director. Garvey explained that the kids enjoy meeting the costumed char- acter, who will help the children and the Wellington Village Coun- cil plant a tree on the grounds in honor of Arbor Day. “The celebration begins with proclamations about Earth Day and Arbor Day by the council, who will be planting the commemora- tive tree with the help of Smokey Bear and the children,” she said. The full afternoon of fun and learning features more than 20 local vendors with earth-friendly products, favorite food trucks and more. “We partner with the Public Works Department, the Welling- ton Tree Board, the Wellington Garden Club and the Wellington Art Society, which will be selling nature-related items,” Garvey said. “The Tree Board and the Garden Club [members] will be giving away free seedlings and provid- ing information on proper pruning techniques, composting and just sharing their extensive knowledge with the community.” In addition to the free seedlings and other giveaways, there will be plenty of advice from experts and demonstrations of proper tech- niques. There is even a chance to win a tree in a 15-gallon container that is ready to transplant into some lucky, free-raffle winner’s yard to provide shade in just a few years. By Gina M. Capone Town-Crier Staff Report A new village ordinance regulat- ing nightclubs was given its initial approval by the Wellington Village Council after a public hearing on Tuesday, April 9. Spawned by a request from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office after arrests at a concert in the Suri West parking lot in Wel- lington last August, ordinance 2019-03 is intended to minimize the negative effects associated with nightclubs. Village Manager Paul Schofield explained that the ordinance was written to adopt similar rules like the ones in Palm Beach County, and is designed to combat under- age drinking, while addressing the businesses that may be affected. Planning, Zoning & Building Director Bob Basehart explained that the measure is intended to of “nightclub,” as well as minor definitions of “cocktail lounge” and “restaurant.” Secondly, the standards that are implemented by the ordinance will go into the land development regu- lations. This allows the village to grandfather-in existing businesses that operate as nightclubs and re- quire village approval of any new establishments that want to enter into the same business. Thirdly, the ordinance estab- lishes specific criteria to determine whether a business is a nightclub. If the establishment has four out of six criteria, it would be classified as a nightclub. These criteria are if a cover charge is paid, there is a dance floor or live music, alcohol is served, a onetime membership fee is paid, or the event happens during the specified hours, since Smokey Bear To Be A Guest At Wellington’s Earth Day Event Wellington Moves Forward On New Nightclub Regulations See EARTH DAY, page 22 Women of the Western Communities held its annual fundraiser “Pretty in Pink” Spring Brunch & Fashion Show on Sunday, April 7 at the Wellington National Golf Club. Funds raised benefit the Mary Rubloff YWCA Harmony House and Women of the Western Communities scholarships. KOOL 105.5 Morning Show Hosts Mo Foster and Sally Sevareid once again emceed this event, and Stein Mart provided fashions and accessories. Shown above are Mair Armand, Sally Sevareid, Mo Foster, Maggie Zeller, Jo Cudnik, Allyson Samiljan and Maureen Gross. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 12 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER The diversity of the polo community was on full display during the 10th annual Land Rover Palm Beach International Gay Polo Tournament, held on Saturday, April 6 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Shown above are Bradley Kompo, Celia Taylor, Jose Cano and Josh Elmassien. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER See CHURCH, page 22 ROBERT SHORR NAMED NEW LOX MAYOR SEE STORY, PAGE 4 Children will have a bevy of kids’ activities to enjoy, including face painting, a coloring mural, learning about recycling and re- specting the earth, plus the oppor- tunity to meet the longest-running public service trade character in U.S. history. Born by the hand of graphic art- ist Albert Staehle on Aug. 9, 1944, Smokey Bear was a commission by the USDA Forest Service and the Ad Council. Conceived as painted artwork of a fictional bear named Smokey, the character would become the symbol for for- est fire prevention for generations. Smokey worked with Bambi and other Disney characters on a poster when he was less than a year old. A popular anthem a decade later by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins seemed to give Smokey the middle name “The” to fit the rhythmic lyrics of the song. “But the name has always been Smokey Bear,” Garvey noted. It is a moniker that has been further the efforts that the council has made over the last several years to minimize and eliminate the negative effects that nightclubs have on the surrounding public. He said that some of the issues of nightclubs are underage drinking, patrons overindulging in alcohol and being the cause of accidents, and vandalism in parking lots and surrounding neighborhoods, to name a few. After the PBSO suggested that Wellington adopt the county ordi- nance or something similar, Base- hart said that village staff elected to adopt a similar ordinance that would allow the municipality to oversee the ordinance and fit Wellington’s local needs and objectives. The ordinance has three com- ponents. The first is to specifi- cally define a nightclub. The ordinance amends the definition Groves Council Reviews Upcoming Applications Planning Consultant Jim Fleis- chmann reviewed several items last week that will be coming be- fore the newly configured Loxa- hatchee Groves Town Council in the near future, including devel- opment applications requesting to add retail uses to an existing application for office space, and another requesting commercial use near but not directly on Southern Blvd. Page 3 Broncos Reclaim Lax Rivals Cup With 11-7 Win Over Wellington The Palm Beach Central High School boys lacrosse team trav- eled across town to take on host Wellington High School on Fri- day, April 5 and bested the Wol- verines 11-7 for a big win. The victory marks the first in four years for the Broncos against Wellington, and in the wake of their performance, Palm Beach Central reclaimed the Outback Rivals Cup. Page 23 See NIGHTCLUBS, page 4 GPL TOURNAMENT MARKS 10 YEARS Pages 18 thru 19 2019 GUIDE such as the Acreage library, the Publix shopping center and the Walgreens store. “All that is set by code by the county, so you have to have wrap- around porches and those type of things,” Faircloth said. “By the time you meet their code, you’ve pretty well built a building that looks like the others.” The main building will be on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road with landscaping buffers on the road and a parking lot east of Banyan Blvd. “We’re currently rolling it out to the church,” Faircloth said. “We’re doing that on April 28.” Thiery said she was concerned that the congregation is using ITID roads. “They have some kind of ex- emptions,” Thiery said. “I don’t know what they are… but they didn’t talk to ITID. That’s our drainage, that’s our roads.” Faircloth said the congregation has met at Seminole Ridge for the past four years. “I go out there on Sunday morn- ing and, quite honestly, there’s no traffic on Sunday morning,” he said. Faircloth said Phase 1 of the proj- ect will call for a 10,000-square- foot multi-purpose building with parking and a stormwater basin on-site. “Phase 1 of the building will seat 275,” he said. “There’s a couple of reasons why we haven’t been to any boards to talk about it. One is we just closed on it on Feb. 28, so we really just got the land… This is not something that we have completely rolled out to the church yet.” Faircloth said the church is still at the beginning of the necessary approval process. “If there is concern, and they would be open to have me come talk to them, I would love to do that,” he said. “We’re in the process of trying to put together a master site plan proposal. I’d love to think that we could complete that by the end of the year.” Faircloth said he understands Acreage residents’ negativity to new development. “My guess is the people of The Acreage are feeling put upon with all the development that’s happening, and they’ve become ‘Paws At The Mall’ Lets Guests Meet Dogs And Shop At Dog Retailers Animal Rescue Force of South Florida, Barky Pines Animal Rescue & Sanctuary and Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control hosted Paws at the Mall on Friday, April 5 at the Mall at Wellington Green. During the event, dogs were available for adoption. Mall guests had the chance to play with dogs, shop from a variety of dog retailers, enjoy kids’ activities and more. Page 10 Wycliffe Stiffs Stickball League Celebrates 17 Years At Luncheon The Wycliffe Stiffs celebrated its 17th anniversary at the Wycliffe Golf & Country Club on Thursday, April 4, showing that the game of stickball is alive and well. The luncheon included special performances by players and lots of laughs for guests. Page 17 Volume 40, Number 16 April 19 - April 25, 2019 Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980 TOWN-CRIER THE WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE INSIDE DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ..............................3 - 20 LETTERS ................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS ........................ 7 PEOPLE .................................. 8 SCHOOLS ............................... 9 COLUMNS ............................ 16 BUSINESS ............................19 CALENDAR ...........................20 SPORTS ........................ 21 - 22 CLASSIFIEDS ................23 - 24 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Florida Power & Light repre- sentatives presented plans to build a solar farm on the Iota Carol prop- erty to the Indian Trail Improve- ment District Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, April 17. The Iota Carol property, al- most entirely surrounded by the GL Homes residential property west of The Acreage, was denied permission to build homes there by the Palm Beach County Com- mission in 2017. The land was subsequently sold to FPL. Matt Silver, FPL project man- ager for the solar farm, said the energy center will be called the Sabal Palm Solar Energy Center. “We have a property formerly known as the Iota Carol property, and we are going to be installing our second solar energy farm here in Palm Beach County,” Silver said, explaining that the solar farm will be located on the southern half of the 1,288-acre property north of 60th Street between Carol Street and 190th Trail. “We believe solar energy centers make great neighbors,” he said. “They are virtually silent. There’s no lights at night or anything to that effect. There’s no increase in traffic. Once it’s in operation, there’s no water and certainly no fuel. There won’t be any pipelines or anything like that for a solar plant.” He added that the solar panels sit low to the ground at about 6.5 to 8 feet, and the farm will remove a carbon emissions equivalent of 12,000 cars. “It will power about 15,000 homes right here in Palm Beach County and create about 200 con- struction assembly jobs once it’s under construction,” Silver said. The first phase will remove any invasive exotic plants. “The remaining vegetation will not be taken out because it’s on our neighbor’s property,” Silver said. “I will add that there’s no noise when you’re standing at the edge of the property. It’s essentially ambient noise.” Supervisor Tim Sayre asked how high the fence will be, and Silver said the fence will be six feet. “Did you get a waiver from the county? Because fences across front yards can only be 4 feet high, and I don’t know if they consider all that access front or not because there’s not an actual physical house on it,” Sayre said. Silver said that to his knowl- edge, FPL has not been required to get a waiver, but he would speak to the county about it. “We’re currently in the [devel- opment review] process, so I’m sure we’ll be getting some more comments back,” Silver said. Sayre added that he was aware that the remaining 640 acres is planned for agriculture, but he asked if there were long-range plans. “It’s entirely possible that there could be a second solar energy center,” Silver said, adding that the panels for the planned energy center will be fixed, facing roughly southward. Sayre said that he was con- cerned about plans to bring in a huge transformer on a large truck. “I assume you’re bringing it down Northlake [Blvd.] to Semi- nole Pratt Whitney [Road] and then down Orange [Blvd.] all the way out to the field there?” Sayre asked. Silver said that was one of the discussions FPL would need to have with ITID. The construction is slated to go on for nine months. “You’re going to be moving all kinds of equipment, and I don’t know how many solar panels,” Sayre said. “I don’t know what they weigh, but will you be over- weight on the semis going in and out on the roads?” “They won’t be overweight,” Silver replied. “They will be fol- lowing [Florida Department of Transportation] laws.” Sayre explained that he is con- cerned about the impact on Acre- age roads. “The long-term impact on the roads based on what it does to the substructure under the road with all the weight on it,” Sayre said. FPL, ITID Discuss Plans For Solar Farm At Iota Carol See SOLAR FARM, page 4 FLAVORS FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL OWNER SEEKING MISSING DOG RUBY SEE STORY, PAGE 3 By Gina M. Capone Town-Crier Staff Report Urban Air Adventure Park, an indoor family entertainment attraction, made its debut last weekend, opening at the site of the former H.H. Gregg store in front of the Mall at Wellington Green. The highly anticipated business launched with two days of grand opening festivities. Families gathered at the grand opening to assess and enjoy the unique amenities, such as vir- tual reality, the ropes course and climbing walls, jumping on tram- polines and playing in the tubes playground. Children engaged in recreation while parents watched or passed time snacking at the Urban Café or sipping wine and beer at the New Urban Air Adventure Park Opens In Wellington parents’ lounge, where bar stools and tables face television screens. The cool temperature indoors allowed patrons to enjoy physical activities inside, out of the hot sun, and even host birthday parties in the oversized private rooms. Each party room includes a long table with a television, a private host who attends to all of the details and makes sure the birthday girl or boy has the right decorations and food to enjoy the special day. Saleem Fernandez from Texas and Bobby Kreusler from Florida own the new Wellington facility. Both were on hand to greet the community with a soft opening on Friday, April 12 for first respond- ers, and to meet the general public at the grand opening on Saturday, April 13. By Gina M. Capone Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington’s Architectural Re- view Board approved exterior modifications for the 6,000-square- foot Ford’s Garage restaurant site at the Mall at Wellington Green on Wednesday, April 17. The burger and beer chain is slated to open on June 4, and the Wellington restaurant will be the first to open on the east coast of Florida. Ford’s Garage was seeking board approval of a metal insulated canopy, railings, colors and modi- fications to the exterior elevations of the building. The Planning & Zoning Department received a justification statement from Sol Design LLC, the architect of record. Representing Ford’s Garage was Stacy Cofield, joint venture partner for Ford’s Garage South Florida, as well as Carlos Molnar and Joseph Caiazza of Sol Design. “This is our first meeting for the exterior canopy area and en- closures for the patios,” Molnar said before the meeting. “We have been under construction for a couple of months now at the Mall at Wellington Green for the interior work, and now we are working on bringing along the exterior.” The restaurant will be located near the main entrance to the mall near the food court. The Welling- ton location is important to Ford’s Garage. “We have roots here because of our past association with Outback Steakhouse,” Cofield said. “Tim Gannon, one of our original found- ers of Outback, resides in Palm Beach and has for some time. So, we are resource-rich here with past management and employees. We have a very rich relationship with Starwood Capital Group as well.” Starwood Capital Group is the owner of the Mall at Wellington Green. Cofield explained why Ford’s Garage is unique. “The restaurants are unique because all of the food is fresh. We don’t use any frozen By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington officials are hoping that before the upcoming hurricane season begins, as many people as possible will register for the new Wellington Alert system that pro- vides emergency information from the village, Palm Beach County and the Federal Emergency Man- agement Association’s integrated public alert system. “It is so important that residents register now before a storm hits our area,” said Liz Nunez with Wellington’s public communica- tions department. “We are going to be very active on getting as many people signed up as possible.” Residents should expect an intensive campaign over the next few weeks trumpeting the new community alert system that re- places the old Code Red system. People who received the older While most people are likely to sign up for alerts in English, speakers of other languages can get their alerts translated in 11 languages, including Spanish and Creole, Nunez said. Registration for Alert Wel- lington is simple. Just go to the village’s web site at www.wel- lingtonfl.gov starting next week and sign up. Even with the word just now starting to get out, there are already several hundred names on the list. “Of course, we want to get as many people as possible,” Nunez said. Nunez noted that because of the village’s growing senior popula- tion and that, as a group, the senior segment is less likely to use social media, the village is offering plenty of assistance getting seniors signed up for the new alert system. Using a computer is necessary Wellington Board OKs Ford’s Garage Restaurant At Mall Sign-Up Now For Emergency Info From ‘Alert Wellington’ See ARB, page 4 Flavors of Wellington, the annual food and wine festival hosted by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, returned to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Friday, April 12 for an evening of music, food and fun. Shown above are Wycliffe Golf & Country Club’s Executive Chef Christopher Park, Chef Zoltan Beders, Shayn Klis and Jesus Longo, who took the Best in Show Display award. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER “Divine Wine and High Tea With an Oriental Flair” was held on Sunday, April 14 at the original Wellington Mall. Proceeds went to the Vivian and Adrienne Ferrin Memorial Scholarship Fund. My Lovely Couture provided fashions for a fashion show. Shown above are Hildreth Stoddart Brown and Audrey Gordon. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 15 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER See URBAN AIR, page 4 DESIGNER’S TOUCH HAS A NEW HOME SEE STORY, PAGE 7 products. There is a heightened awareness of the service. There is uniqueness in the brand. The menu is innovative. We are a family driven restaurant,” he said. The original location of Ford’s Garage opened in the historic dis- trict of Fort Myers in 2012, close to the famed winter residence of Henry Ford. With 12 locations, Ford’s Garage at the Mall at Wel- lington Green will have a similar feel, with the ambiance of being in a service station in the 1920s with vintage Ford vehicles and gas pumps. The menu has an assortment of gourmet burgers, chicken and vegetarian products with salads and light fare to please everyone. They also specialize in “comfort food” with the likes of homemade meatloaf, chili and macaroni and cheese. American craft beer is the spe- cialty of the restaurant, but they also offer wine and cocktails, as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Code Red messages must sign up for the new system. “That way, the contacts and names are as current as possible,” Nunez said. The system will call a traditional home landline, send a text to a cell phone and/or an e-mail to reach residents. There is an associated app called “Alert Me Mobile,” which can be downloaded for free and works on Apple or Android phones or smartwatches. “The messages can alert you about hurricanes, storms, torna- does and other weather events, evacuation orders, boil water notifications, road closings — both emergency closings and things like inconvenient lane closures before a commute — and even commu- nity events,” Nunez explained. “It lets residents determine what information they would like to receive and how they would like to receive it.” Indian Trail Workshop Considers Changes In Staff Benefits The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors wrestled with its organizational and salary-range chart at a workshop Wednesday, April 17, trying to keep staff salaries and benefits competitive, so it does not lose experienced staff in a competitive job market. Page 3 Bronco Girls Lacrosse Team Dominates Seminole Ridge 16-2 The Palm Beach Central High School girls lacrosse team host- ed rival Seminole Ridge High School on Wednesday, April 10 and dominated the Hawks 16-2. The victory added to the celebration of the Broncos’ se- nior night. Palm Beach Central (6-9) opened up the contest in control of the tempo. Page 21 See ALERT, page 4 DIVINE WINE & HIGH TEA Pages 16 thru 17 2019 GUIDE Kreusler, a West Palm Beach na- tive, knows the area and works in the sports management business. He believes, as does Fernandez, that Wellington is the perfect com- munity for Urban Air Adventure Park, which has 79 franchise stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Fernandez, an entrepreneur and businessman, owns four Urban Air franchise locations in Texas and Arkansas, and now in Florida. “Urban Air Adventure Park is a big deal out west and is now catching on in the east coast,” he explained. “All of our stores are well staffed, clean and sanitized, where we take pride in the décor, and what we offer families.” The father of three girls, Fernan- Patron Brostrie Scayle (center) is helped in a virtual reality adventure by Urban Air staff members Erik and Adam Dokken. PHOTO BY GINA M. CAPONE/TOWN-CRIER Wellington Seniors Club Spring Dinner Dance The Wellington Seniors Club held its annual Spring Dinner Dance on Friday, April 12 at the Mayacoo Lakes Country Club. Lu White & Friends played oldies music that kept guests dancing all evening. One lucky person from each table won the fresh floral centerpieces. Page 13 Wellington Garden Club Presents Unique Tour The Wellington Garden Club’s largest fundraiser of the year brought a sold-out crowd on a special tour of the Deeridge Farms gardens on Saturday, April 13. The tour covered more than 60 acres of farms and gardens. Page 10 Volume 40, Number 17 April 26 - May 2, 2019 Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980 TOWN-CRIER THE WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE INSIDE DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ..............................3 - 18 LETTERS ................................. 4 PEOPLE .................................. 8 SCHOOLS ............................... 9 NEWS BRIEFS ......................13 COLUMNS ............................ 16 BUSINESS ............................ 17 CALENDAR ...........................18 SPORTS ........................ 19 - 20 CLASSIFIEDS ............... 21 - 22 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Loxahatchee Groves has a new neighbor, on an 80-acre site, grow- ing sod for the Miami Dolphins and the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Matt Tacilauskas manages the facility, located north of North Road between B and C roads. He said that the first planting of sod is now growing. “That’s the first field we plant- ed,” Tacilauskas said. “We’re hop- ing it will be ready for use during the football season this fall.” Tacilauskas was a golf course superintendent for 20 years, most recently at the Palm Beach Coun- try Club, before he started working for the Dolphins, first as a consul- tant and then taking over the sod operation. The Dolphins organization bought the site last year and has been busy preparing the land and transplanting more than 1,000 na- tive sabal palms that were on the site to the front to act as a buffer. The Dolphins previously were using independent contractors in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina to haul in sod. The fran- chise saw the opportunity to source the sod locally, keeping the busi- ness in Florida and cutting down on the environmental footprint to transport it. The site includes 100 percent water retention to ponds located on site. “We’re injecting a lot of their ways into this place in regard to how it’s set up environmentally,” Tacilauskas said. “One-hundred percent of this property is self- contained. Right up to the perim- eter, all the water comes back to these ponds.” The site includes a maintenance Loxahatchee Farm Growing Sod For Miami Dolphins See SOD FARM, page 7 ANNUAL WELLINGTON EGG HUNT RESCUED FOALS AT PURE THOUGHTS SEE STORY, PAGE 3 By Denis Eirikis Town-Crier Staff Report The Marines are ready to land in Royal Palm Beach, which is great news for area nonprofit organiza- tions as squads of retired Marines and other veterans act as a free cavalry, showing up to provide manpower and skills, ready for hard work. Unified Dream, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Royal Palm Beach, is made up of about 50 local veterans. Under the command of retired Marine Corps Sgt. Jake Hampu, Unified Dream partners with local organizations in need of help. Their mission is that of serving organizations needing manpower, while providing disabled Marines with the therapeutic value of Retired Marines Organize To Serve The Community working hard alongside others on a detail of cooperation for mutual benefit. Helping other nonprofits and thereby helping themselves, they bring light where lives may have grown dark, lost in the shad- ows of time after active duty. “We breed warriors, send them off to battle, bring them back, give them a DD 214 and handshake,” said Hampu, who explained that society too often writes these service men and women off and forgets them as they return, broken by war. Hampu recounted heartbreaking stories of loss as he described that some veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are so un- derserved, sometimes so broken, that they have started to commit suicide at startling rates. “Vets By Gina M. Capone Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Rolando Silva pre- sented the PBSO’s District 8 an- nual report comparing statistics from 2018 to the previous year at the Wellington Village Council meeting on Tuesday, April 23. “This report will reveal that we have had a banner year,” explained Silva, commander of the PBSO’s substation in Wellington. “As far as our trajectory with reported crimes, it is continuing to get better.” Silva led the council through a PowerPoint presentation focused on crime statistics. “Person crimes, property crimes and crashes are all down,” he noted. “Arrests are down a little bit with robberies. We had 13 rob- bery arrests in 2017, and we had one less in 2018, but the arrests for burglaries are up about 14.10 percent.” Mayor Anne Gerwig asked Silva to clarify the difference between a robbery and a burglary. “A robbery is when the victim is a person. So, if you take some- thing from a person with threat or actual violence, this constitutes a robbery,” he explained. “This is always a felony and is a serious crime because the victim is a per- son. A burglary is a theft of break- ing and entering into a structure or a car.” Vehicle crashes tend to increase slightly during the equestrian season, but Silva said that is not surprising. “This slide shows there was a 13 percent reduction in crashes [in the off season],” he said. “It goes down a little bit during the summer and picks back up during the season. I think that is good news.” Traffic citations and warnings are up from the previous year. “These are up about 15 percent for citations and 25 percent in written warnings,” Silva said. “We went down a little bit in verbal warnings. But we like to think that some of these efforts resulted in keeping By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors has set Wednesday, May 1 to hold its first public hearing on the budget for fiscal year 2019-20. “At this point, there are no pro- posed increases,” ITID President Betty Argue told the Town-Crier on Wednesday. The board was able to add another culvert crew and add a district executive director, as well as create a road improvement fund, relying on carryover from this year for a proposed budget of $18,576,613. “The budget has increased, but the assessments have not,” Argue said. ‘The reason for the budget increasing is because we’re creat- ing those additional pots of money for future planning, like the road repaving of the existing R2 roads did have an assessment increase for the 2018-19 budget year in anticipation of capital projects, including paving and drainage im- provements, culvert replacement and swale renovation, responding to residents’ complaints about bad conditions. “It was for increased funds that we needed for infrastructure im- provements like the culvert crew and equipment that we would need to do that,” Argue said. “We’re finding that it is far more afford- able for us to go this path with [the] amount that we have to do, rather than contracting each individual one out.” Argue said that the implementa- tion of a second culvert crew will cut the total completion time about in half, from the year 2050 to 2030. “It’s still 10 years away from being complete on that, but we’re Wellington Council Pleased With PBSO’s Annual Report ITID To Hold Public Hearing May 1 On Next Year’s Budget See PBSO REPORT, page 18 Thousands of eggs, hundreds of kids and beautiful weather added up to another successful Wellington Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 21 in Village Park. The free family event included music, prizes and vendors. Even the Easter Bunny himself took the time to come out and join the fun. Shown above, Ashlynn Jurgens and Verona Campbell count their eggs. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER The Pilot Polo Team won the CaptiveOne U.S. Open Final, de- feating Las Monjitas 12-7 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington on Sunday, April 21. Completing a perfect season, Pilot captured the inaugural Gauntlet of Polo. Shown above, Pilot team members Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Matias Gonzalez and Curtis Pilot celebrate their victory. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 14 PHOTO BY GINA M. CAPONE/TOWN-CRIER See VETS GROUP, page 18 REP. LOIS FRANKEL VISITS BINKS FOREST SEE STORY, PAGE 7 down the crash numbers.” Silva compared how Wellington measures up to other similar com- munities in terms of crime. “Population-wise, we are in the middle between Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens,” Silva said. “When it comes to residential burglaries per 100 residents, or per capita, we are down at the absolute lowest. So, I think that is remarkable. When it comes to vehicle burglaries, we are still the lowest.” Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone was impressed by how well Wel- lington stacks up against its peer municipalities. “This is a remarkable slide. It reflects what a great job you are doing keeping our crime rate the lowest,” Napoleone said. Village Manager Paul Schofield, however, noted one item that is way up. “One thing that was up dramati- cally was traffic stops,” he said. “The PBSO has been making more [and] the drainage improvements needed.” The unused budget amounts from this year will cover increases, plus create contingencies to cover capital improvements in its five- year plan. “We’ve proposed that there be an increasing amount appropriated each year to go into a pot to do the road repaving plan,” Argue said. “We will be at $2.8 million from this proposed budget. That’s how much money we would have set aside for the road repaving proj- ect. I don’t think it’s going to be enough, but we’re working toward it, so that when it needs to be done, we don’t have to have a huge tax increase to cover it. That’s why it looks like a budget increase, but it isn’t really because we’re still stay- ing within the assessment dollars that we have.” Argue noted that the district ITID Board Agrees On Format For Executive Director Interviews The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors scheduled Wednesday, May 29 to interview candidates for a new district manager, which they renamed “executive direc- tor” to clear up confusion. Page 3 Stephen Passeggiata Looks To Make Impact For The Wolverines Spring football has arrived, and area gridiron enthusiasts await with great anticipation to see what the local high schools have to bring to the turf. The Wellington High School football team returns a diverse weapon in rising senior Stephen Passeg- giata. At six foot, three inches and 230 pounds, he hopes to lead the Wolverines back into the postseason. Page 19 See ITID BUDGET, page 18 PILOT WINS GAUNTLET Page 15 2019 GUIDE come home, often disabled, and we are forgotten,” Hampu said. He explained that the objective of Unified Dream is to provide veterans with a good mission, a sense of camaraderie, and the wonderous, therapeutic value of working together as a team to advance worthy causes. Their service has been greatly appreciated in the 18 months since the organization began. “Jake and the veterans are the real deal. This is almost too good to be true,” said Christina Nico- demou, executive director of the Delray Beach Children’s Garden. The veterans have been de- ployed to the Children’s Garden at least monthly for a year. “Jake and a squad teach carpen- Unified Dream founder Jake Hampu works with children on a carpentry project. Bridge Opening, Charter School Among Concerns At Tuttle Royale By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council last week reaffirmed its commitment to a charter school being built as part of a large de- velopment at the village’s southern end, and also expressed a desire to have the new bridge at Southern Blvd. and Tuttle Road open as soon as it could be. Developer Brian Tuttle is lead- ing the Tuttle Royale project along the south side of Southern Blvd. just west of State Road 7. It will include a variety of residential and commercial uses on the site of the former Acme Ranches community. Included will be a K-12 charter school with a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) theme. Tuttle said that be- cause of the Sunshine Law, he felt it was best to bring the matter up at a public meeting to ask the full council about their current attitude toward a charter school at the site. “My question is, in general, is the council excited about seeing the charter school or, in general, is the board leaving it up to the devel- oper,” Tuttle said at the Thursday, April 18 meeting, adding that the land could also be used for other options, such as office and medi- cal space. Tuttle also asked if the council really felt they needed the charter school, given that there are several in Royal Palm Beach already. Councilman Richard Valuntas said that he liked the idea. “One of the things that is in- See TUTTLE, page 4 Grace Family Medicine Hosts Grand Opening In Wellington Plaza Grace Family Medicine held a grand opening ribbon cutting on Thursday, April 18 at 12785 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 8E, in the Wellington Plaza. Grace Family Medicine is a direct primary care office for all ages. They offer free meet-and-greets to get to know the doctor, with an appointment and same day or next day doctor visits. Page 13 Ceremony At Braman Honors Teacher, School Employee Of The Year Braman Motorcars presented the 2019 Teacher of the Year and School-Related Employee of the Year with a free two- year lease on a new BMW on Thursday, April 18. The Palm Beach County School District also presented the winners with a check for $1,500 during the festivities. Page 10