Martin County Currents September 2015

FREE

Connect the dots to understand anti-CRA agenda Pg 10

cuRRents Volume 5 Issue 4 • September 2015

Martin County

One question remains:Where are the missing public records?Judge rules 'notes' not public records, calls missing emails 'curious’ pg 14

Water quality issues take center stageAs awareness of water quality issues has grown over the past few years,

so has stormwater and sewer projects among our CRAs. Pg 12

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 20152

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Features

All the articles and opinion pieces are authored and/or edited by Publisher Barbara Clowdus,except as otherwise noted. All the typos, mistakes, grammatical errors, omissions, andmisspelled words are hers alone, too. The good photos are taken by someone else. Allcontents are copyrighted 2015 Martin County Currents LLC.

EDITOR BARBARA [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

ColumnistsUnfiltered ........................... 11Barbara Clowdus

One Florida Foundation ............... 18 - 19Capt. Don Voss & Nyla Pipes

Art Kaleidoscope .............. 16Maya Ellenson

Pompano Reporter ........... 21Rich Vidulich

Calendar ............................. 22Editorial ............................. 10

cuRRentsMartin County

PUBLISHER -- Barbara Clowdus PRINTER -- Southeast Offset, Inc.WEBSITE -- Sonic Fish, LLC GRAPHIC DESIGN -- Simone FongA monthly newspaper, Martin County Currents LLC is distributed free throughout the county. Allopinions are those of its authors, and letters to the editor are encouraged. Contact information: MartinCounty Currents LLC, 5837 SE Avalon Drive, Stuart, FL 34997. www.MartinCountyCurrents.com.772.245.6564.

5Gov.'s cabinet to

decide Comp Planchanges

15Questions remain

after public records trial

12Last gasp for CRAs?

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 News Stream 3

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7Pitchford's takescounty to court

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A flock of Black-belliedWhistling Ducks with orange-pink beaks and legs, withwings that flash brilliant whitestripes as they take flight, areamong the assortment of resi-dents at the Caulkins WaterFarm pilot project that mayneed to find new roosts afterFebruary 2016.

Funding to expand the re-markably effective water proj-ect on Citrus Boulevard inIndiantown, which also has be-come a birders' paradise, wasvetoed by Gov. Rick Scott during the lastlegislative session.

The governor nixed the spending, hesaid, because it was more appropriatelydone by water management districts,then pressured water management dis-tricts to cut their tax rates. The SFWMDGoverning Board, after announcing a taxrate reduction, voted instead in Augustto hold their current rate to avoid losingan estimated $21 million in revenues.

The Caulkins water project is nottechnically an Everglades project, butwill make an impact on the St. Lucie andIndian River Lagoon estuaries. If fund-ing is found, it can be expanded to 3,200acres from its current 400-acre pilot pro-gram to store 80,000 to 100,000 acre-feetof water pumped from the C-44 canalthat connects Lake Okeechobee with theSt. Lucie River into Caulkins' fallow or-

ange grove laced with deep ditches.“No question the governor's veto of

water farming was a setback,” saysCaulkins water project manager TomKenny. “It had nothing to do with ourproject, thankfully, but we got caught inthe wash.”

Lauded by environmental officials andscientists throughout the state for its effec-tiveness at storing and cleaning water, thestate's first true water farm seemed also tobe getting a reprieve through a US Dept.of Agriculture grant, for which MartinCounty had agreed to apply.

Closer inspection revealed, however,that a "program" could get up to $2 mil-lion per year for five years, Kenny ex-plains, but individual entities couldreceive only $50,000 per year, insuffi-cient to expand the Caulkins project.

Caulkins funding uncertain

continued on PAGE 4

A flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, theonly duck that roosts in trees, takes flightfrom the Caulkins water project on Citrus Blvd.

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 20154 News Stream

An ancient bacterium that lives inFlorida's coastal waters, Vibrio vulnificus,is not linked to pollution, requires warmsalt water to live (although ocean waterswill kill it), and is usually associated witheating raw shellfish, according to the USCenters for Disease Control and Preven-tion in Atlanta; however, a Vibrio infectioncan be deadly unless treated immediately.

Two deaths have recently occurred lo-cally: Bill Benton, of Ft. Pierce, who diedOct. 14, 2014, three days after swimmingin the lagoon with a cut on his leg, andDavid Trudell, also of Ft. Pierce, died of anunknown bacterial infection July 20, twodays after a fish-fin punctured him whilefishing in the lagoon. No tests were con-ducted to determine what bacterium in-fected Trudell, but his symptoms andquick onset led local officials to concludeit was most likely V. vulnificus.

Hippocrates may have reported thefirst case of V. vulnificus infection in the5th century BC, according to the OxfordJournal, when he described a fatal footwound infection in a man living by theAegean Sea, characterized by black, bul-lous skin lesions leading to death within48 hours of onset.

According to the CDC, a person who

acquires an infection will most often re-cover and won’t experience any long-term effects, but those with preexistingconditions, particularly liver disease, are80 times more likely to develop a blood-stream infection than those who do not. Ifan infection progresses to the blood-stream and causes skin ulcerations, thereis a potential to develop gangrene, or de-composition of body tissue, which mayrequire skin-grafting or amputation.

The bacterium's role in nature is tobreak down dead crustaceans, which iswhy the skin and tissue of an infectedarea will necrotize and has led to confu-sion with “flesh-eating” bacteria, how-ever, approximately 50 percent ofpatients who develop a bloodstream in-fection will die, according to the CDC.

As sea temperatures warm and popula-tions increase, incidents of V. vulnificus alsoare likely to increase; therefore, those whospend time on the water are urged to paycloser attention to any cuts or abrasions ontheir skin, to use soap and water immedi-ately to wash hands and wounds, and todisinfect fishing equipment and knifeswith household bleach. If a cut becomesred and swollen, seek immediate medicalattention, according to the CDC. ■

Bacteria not linked to pollution

“We have submitted our prelimi-nary ideas for expanding the project toSFWMD staff in preparation of Sep-tember's legislative committee hear-ings,” Kenny adds. “We haveproposed switching to a system wherethey, the South Florida Water Manage-ment District, only pay us for waterpumped, i.e. per acre-foot of waterstored. Remember we also take over55 inches of rain each year in additionto that pumped into the facility.”

Kenny also “strongly suggested” tothe water management district that theCaulkins project be re-branded from"water farming" to a more descriptivename, such as “Stormwater Treatmentand Aquifer Recharge System,” notonly to avoid a repeat of the veto pen,but to move away from the perceptionthat the Caulkins project merely trapsrainwater, as do the other dispersedwater projects throughout the state,commonly called “water farms.”

“We are confident that we will re-ceive attention from (SFWMD),”Kenny adds, “ and be ready for lineitem funding when the state legislativesession starts in January.”

The Caulkins project funding ex-pires on Feb. 1, 2016, so the earlier startdate for legislators is fortuitous forCaulkins, creating optimism amongenvironmentalists that the project willcontinue, as well as for owner GeorgeCaulkins, whose father purchased theland in the '60s to grow oranges.

“Failing (state funding),” Kenny says,“we will return to (vegetable) crop farm-ing. I feel like we are a very valuable envi-ronmental tool, and that most understandthat, so we keep moving forward.”

Part of that initiative is to continueto raise awareness of the project, whichwas a “much-discussed topic” at a re-cent Florida Chamber of CommerceEnvironmental and Water Conference,Kenny added, attended by Caulkinsproject engineer Melissa Corbett of theMilcor Group in Hobe Sound. Both willpresent the project at a Rivers Coalitionmeeting in Stuart on August 27.

With the recent, below-averagerainfall totals and with Lake Okee-chobee below 12.5 feet, Kenny adds,no water currently is being pumpedout of the C-44 canal. “We are at restcurrently,” Kenny says. “Our waterlevel is about 23.5 feet, or near emptytoday. The birds are having a feast!”

Caulkins' Facebook page launchedRecognizing the value that an expandedCaulkins water project will bring to theSt. Lucie and Indian River Lagoon estu-aries, a group of local citizens formedthe Caulkins Water Farm Coalition.

“We want to spread awareness ofthis amazing project,” says DebraMelillo, one of the organizers, “andthe tremendously positive impact itwill have on our community, our stateand our environment.”

The group launched a Facebookpage in June, and has arranged radio in-terviews, tours, rotating 30-second radiospots, and are spotlighting the Caulkinsproject among legislative candidates.

“I personally speak about CaulkinsWater Farm at every networking group Ido regularly—and I do many,” she adds,“and am working with Melissa Corbett(of the MilCor Group) and her amazingteam to keep the momentum going.”

For more information, go towww.facebook.com/CaulkinsWater-Farm. ■

Caulkinscontinued from PAGE 3

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Jeff Krauskopf retainsCity Commission seat

The City of Stuart elec-tion August 25 saw in-cumbent CityCommissioner forGroup 2, Vice-MayorJeffrey Krauskopf, holdonto the commissionseat with a 204-votemargin of the 1,326votes cast. He's heldthe seat since 1984,except for the four

years he spent as Martin County Commis-sioner for District 2 from 1990-94.

Endorsed unreservedly for his expe-rience and his commitment to environ-mental issues by the editorial board ofThe Stuart News, Krauskopf will servehis 15th term as city commissioner.

Usually running unopposed,Krauskopf faced challenger Stuart artistChristine de la Vega in this election, whogarnered 42.3 percent of the vote toKrauskopf's 57.7 percent. Named 2009Hispanic Artist of the Year by then-Gov.Charlie Crist, de la Vega is well knownfor her Florida wilderness landscapepaintings and has been active in severallocal organizations, including Citizensfor Responsible Growth.

Mayor Kelli Glass-Leighton, who wasunchallenged in this election, retains herseat for Group 4. All the city commissionraces are non-partisan, and each electedofficial will serve two-year terms. ■

Gov. Rick Scott and his Cabinet are re-viewing the county's proposed changesto Chapters 1, 2 and 4 of the MartinCounty Comprehensive Growth Man-agement Plan, Amendment 13-5, fol-lowing objections to the judge's rulingin a legal challenge that initially foundthe changes “not in compliance” withstate law.

First challenged in 2013 by multiplelandowners, including Becker Holdings,Consolidated Citrus, Lake Point, andMidbrook 1st Realty, which owns theHobe Grove property west of theFlorida Turnpike and south of BridgeRoad, the case was heard Sept. 30 andOct. 1, 2014, by Administrative LawJudge Christine Van Wyk in Stuart.

The county had already reached out-of-court settlement agreements with allthe landowners except Midbrook 1st Re-alty by rewriting a majority of theamendments, thus Judge Van Wyk re-viewed what she called “the amendedamendments.”

Martin County Commissioner EdFielding announced at the June 9county commission meeting that thecounty had “won” its legal battle,which turned out to be premature. Fol-lowing Van Wyk's recommended orderon June 2 stating that the changes werenot in compliance, attorneys for bothMidbrook and Martin County re-sponded with their “exceptions” to thejudge's order. Fielding indicated duringthe meeting that he anticipated the

county being able to reach another out-of-court settlement with Midbrook, butit did not materialize.

Midbrook attorneys argued that thejudge's order had not gone far enoughto overrule the changes, and the countyargued that she had gone too far—butthe judge was not swayed by either sideto change her mind. As a result, thelegal challenge to the Comp Planchanges crafted in 2012 by Maggy Hur-challa has been blocked from becominglaw until the review by the Governor iscompleted.

The landowners challenged theamendment on the basis that “relevantand appropriate data and analysis” hadnot been used in crafting the rewrites,thus leaving landowners unable to de-termine the county's “predictable stan-dards” for use of their land.

The contested rules include a 4-1super-majority vote by county commis-sioners for development proposals withundefined standards—other than “couldaffect” waterways or water supply gen-erally—that would trigger the super-majority vote. Van Wyk did not object tothose changes.

The eastern and western urban serv-ices boundaries also were combined—asthey had been prior to 2009, when it wasdetermined that the coastal area was sig-nificantly outpacing the growth of in-land areas. Re-combining the twodistricts into one to determine futurehousing needs for all areas would block

any additional homes in the county's in-ventory for approximately 15 years,which Van Wyk found “illogical” andcontrary to state statute.

All parties involved in the case, in-cluding interveners, are prohibited fromcontacting the Governor or any of hiscabinet or staff members, and none ofthe rule changes are in effect until a finalruling is rendered. ■

County raises taxes,considers more feesA projected tax increase of 2.3 percenton Martin County properties won tenta-tive approval in June by commissionersfor its 2016 budget, which will be final-ized during a Board of County Commis-sioners meeting Sept. 22.

Martin County's proposed $368.2million budget for the next fiscal year isabout 4.67 percent higher than thisyear’s budget, records show, which doesnot include tax revenues from other tax-ing agencies and districts, including theMartin County School Board, which re-duced its tax rate by .52 percent, theSouth Florida Water Management Dis-trict, which held its rate, and increasesby the Children's Services Council andall municipalities.

Commissioners Doug Smith andJohn Haddox attempted to dissuadethe commission majority of Ed Field-ing, Sarah Heard, and Anne Scott from


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Comp Plan changes sent to Gov. Scott


adopting a tax increase, urging thatthe commission look to the anticipated$6 million increase in revenues as a re-sult of rising property values to ad-dress ongoing needs and, instead ofraising ad valorem taxes, to stimulatethe economy in order to further in-crease revenues.

“It's a philosophical difference,”Haddox said to Anne Scott. “Would younot consider utilizing opportunities atthe fairgrounds, to make use of thatprime property to attract some light in-dustry...to attract some manufactur-ing?” Without hesitation, Scottanswered, “No.”

The proposed tax increase passed 3-2, with Haddox and Smith dissenting.Commissioners also discussed addi-tional options to raise revenues at anAugust 18 workshop, including anothersales tax referendum, adopting a FPL“franchise fee” that would add a 5.6 per-cent increase to electric bills for the next30 years, and creating a “stormwaterfee” added to tax bills in order to meetthe stormwater treatment standardsmandated by the state.

In order to address fully the backlogin maintenance, Smith added, approxi-mately $1.3 billion in property valueswould need to be created in order toavoid levying additional taxes.

“This is not the time to discuss eco-nomic development,” Scott replied.

The county staff was directed to re-turn more details of each revenue planto the commission for a vote. ■

Citizens suggestbudget scrutinyTwo Martin County residents have joinedMartin County Commissioner Anne Scott'scall for an independent review of thecounty's budget. Scott often says at com-mission meetings: “I want to be sure thatwhat we're doing is right, and that there's

nothing more we couldbe doing” to addressthe county's backlogof infrastructure main-tenance that hastopped $258 million.

Local residentsGayla Tanner andSheila Donovan ofStuart have said thecounty's budget is offkilter, due to the addi-tion of county employ-ees, unfundedemployee benefits,and budgeting policiesthat add unnecessarilyto what they considerto be an inflatedbudget unsupportedby revenue streams

outside of property taxes and fees.“The proposed 2016 budget shows a

$1.3 million increase in salary andwages and an increase of $1.5 millionfor fringe benefits,” Tanner said, whoprovided Florida Association of Coun-ties statistics that show Martin Countyemployees as ranked third of 67 coun-ties for average salaries.

Tanner pointed specifically to thecounty engineering department's re-quest for 13.5 more full-time employees,10 of whom are for maintaining over-grown vegetation.

“Why are we not contracting thiswork,” she asked. “The $217,000 forequipment being requested for mow-ing equipment is not specific about towhat department this is attached. Isthis for the engineering department’snew employees?”

Other issues addressed by Tanner in-clude the cost of fire rescue services, thestaffing of the Children's Services Coun-cil, the sale of county-owned properties,golf course revenues and expenses, andthe additional funding for the county'snew Tourism Office.

“There should be at least some men-tion of the $350 million-plus infrastruc-ture unfunded liability and the $339 inunfunded pensions...which gives a truepicture of the county's finances,” Tannersaid. She also questioned the county'sfund balance of $51.3 million or 14 per-cent of the total budget.

“I don’t have a problem with a re-serve account for unanticipated ex-penses—responsible people do this intheir own homes,” Tanner said.

“My only question is, does it need tobe 10 percent?” She suggested that carry-overs be applied to the backlog, as wellas reducing the reserve fund to five per-cent of the budget, which would exceedrevenues from the proposed tax increase.

“The budget statement states thatthere’s an upward trend in the localeconomy, but not enough to provide sig-

nificant revenue,” she added. “Realisti-cally, would there ever be enough forgovernment?”

Tanner again called for the county toplace a moratorium on hiring and othercontract conversions until an independ-ent review of the county budget can beauthorized and completed. ■

Martin candidatesbegin filing for seatsAll Martin County constitutional officers,one judge and three county commission-ers will be chosen in the 2016 election.

Dennis Root of Stuart, who owns se-curity firms and is active in providingcommunity-based self-defense courses,will run for the position of MartinCounty Sheriff now held by Will Snyder,who has not yet filed.

All other constitutional officers havefiled for re-election, including Supervi-sor of Elections Vicki Davis, Comptrollerand Clerk of the Courts Carolyn Tim-mann, Property Appraiser Laurel Kelley,and Tax Collector Ruth Pietruszewski,all filing as Republicans.

A challenger for tax collector is JoeSesta, Republican, from Palm City, an em-ployee of the Stuart Police Department.

The county commission seats will in-clude District 1, now held by Doug Smith,District 3, now held by Anne Scott, andDistrict 5, now held by John Haddox,none of whom have filed for re-election.Two challengers have filed for the District1 seat: attorney Henry Copeland of

continued from PAGE 5

Sheila Donivan

Gayla Tanner

MOVING

SEPT 28!

Re-open OCT 5 in Unit 2

Jensen Beach and Sewall's Point Commis-sioner Jacqui Thurlow-Lippish.

Two school board seats with termsending are District 5, held by MichaelDiTerlizzi, and District 2, held by MarshaPowers, neither of whom have filed, andCounty Court Judge from Group 1 Dar-ren Steele will also see his term end in2016, but has not yet filed for re-election.

The total number of registered votersin Martin County is nearly 104,000, withslightly more than 51,000 as Republican,26,000 as Democrat, and 26,000 as inde-pendent or other party. ■

Golf cars invadingStuart's downtownA major success undertaken by the Cityof Stuart has been the use of large golfcarts as pedestrian trolleys to transportshoppers throughout downtown. Now, thecity commission has taken the idea onestep further and opened its downtown toindividual golf car transportation.

But don't take off without first get-ting legal, which requires a trip to theStuart Police Department. Police officerswill inspect the golf car to ensure it hasspecified equipment, including rear re-flectors. The driver must have a validdriver's license and proof of insurance.After payment of a $50 fee, a two-yeardecal will be applied to the rear bumper.

Drivers will be handed a map ofpublic streets open to golf cars, and abrochure of regulations. To schedule aninspection or for more information, con-

tact the Stuart Police Department'sCommunity Relations Unit at772.288.5339. ■

Pitchford's Landing takes county to courtAttorney David Acton, the former assis-tant county attorney who successfullydefended the county's approval of thePitchford's Landing project in 2008, wastapped by County Attorney MichaelDurham to defend the county again.

In this instance, however, Acton hasbeen asked to represent the county com-mission's effort to reverse its original de-cision by rejecting the same plan.

The Pitchford's Landing Final Site Planfor a redevelopment project in JensenBeach was rejected by the Martin CountyCommission on July 28, within hours ofwhich a challenge was filed in MartinCounty Circuit Court by project owners,Reily Enterprises LLC of Jensen Beach.

Originally approved almost 10 years

ago, the redevelopment would have re-duced its 158-unit RV park to an 83-unitsubdivision of Key West-style housesand two-story condominiums on 17.7acres between Indian River and Skylinedrives in Jensen Beach, less than onethird of the density cap required by thecounty Comp Plan.

Proponents argued that the alreadyapproved, low-density developmentwould broaden the county's tax baseand represent an injection of about $30million in private investment

Commissioner John Haddox, whofrequently supports redevelopment ef-forts, this time joined the commissionmajority of Ed Fielding, Anne Scott andSarah Heard in their vote against theproject, citing his concern about the po-tential impact of All Aboard Florida onPitchford's residents. An FEC rail line bi-sects the Pitchford's property, wheremany current residents live year round.

The county's ruling was challengedby attorney Ethan Loeb on grounds thatthe county commission had breached itsPlanned Unit Development contractwith Reily Enterprises, which had beenapproved by the commission, the LocalPlanning Agency and upheld by thecourts in 2008.

Construction had been delayed bylawsuits against the county for grant-ing the project's approval, personallawsuits and counter-suits, followed bya bankruptcy and the economic reces-sion. As a result, the Reilys, who live onthe property, were granted develop-ment timeline extensions by both thecounty and the state, which had pre-

served their right to proceed undertheir original PUD contract, accordingto court records.

Although the personal lawsuitsended in 2011 and the economy im-proved, an “orchestrated controversy...that evolved into a vendetta” waslaunched against the project in the ensu-ing years, according to comments byJensen Beach Chamber of Commerce Ex-ecutive Director Ron Rose during theproject's public hearing.

Many of those original litigants,known as the Jensen Beach Group, andtheir attorney Virginia Sherlock, contin-ued to make allegations against the proj-ect during ensuing public commentperiods at commission meetings, in let-ters to the newspaper and in emails tocommissioners, making allegations thatseemed to be supported by the countycommission majority of Ed Fielding,Sarah Heard and Anne Scott. The com-missioners, except Fielding, made per-sonal visits to the site.

Rose added that in his role as cham-ber executive director, he had becomeaware that a majority of Jensen Beachresidents supported Pitchford's Land-ing. “Why?” Rose asked. “Because it is aredevelopment project that improves thequality of life in Jensen Beach and cleansup a blighted area.”

The project also will remove dozensof septic tanks along the Indian RiverLagoon and generate an estimated half amillion dollars in tax revenue annually,he added.

In an apparent response to the alle-


continued on PAGE 8


gations of violations by the project own-ers, Commissioner Anne Scott called forthe county to pursue breach proceedingsagainst Pitchford's in the summer of2014; however, the county attorney's of-fice reported that they had found nogrounds for a breach proceeding. Thecommission directed the county attor-ney to continue to seek grounds, how-ever, instructing staff to prepare reportson any activity or contact with Pitch-ford's representatives, and to seek op-portunities to force the Reilys to startover “from square one.”

In planners' meetings with countystaff over the previous 12 months, asthey prepared the Pitchford's Final SitePlan—which must match the originalMaster Site Plan but in greater detail—the county staff insisted that Pitch-ford's make numerous changes to itsMaster Site Plan in order to match thecounty's recent changes to its Land De-velopment Regulations and its Com-prehensive Growth Management Plan,some of which are still being reviewedby the courts.

The project's designers, in an effortto comply with those rule changes,made 11 staff-directed changes to theFinal Site Plan, only to be informedthat those changes would require anew application and a new Master SitePlan—kicking the application back tothe beginning with a new developmentapplication, new engineering designs,and undergo new review and ap-

provals by the Growth ManagementDepartment staff, the Local PlanningAgency and the county commission.

The Reilys opted to proceed insteadwith the original Master Site Plan andsubmit their Final Site Plan without thestaff-directed changes, except to complywith changes to the ComprehensiveGrowth Management Plan, under whatthey feel is the protective umbrella ofthe state timeline extensions.

The case will be heard in the 19thCircuit Court in Martin County beforeJudge Shields McManus. ■

County continuesfight to stop AAF rail projectDespite losing two court cases againstAll Aboard Florida in an attempt to stopthe sale of private activity bonds, CountyAttorney Michael Durham presented anoptimistic picture to the Board of CountyCommissioners Sept. 1 before they votedto spend another $67,646 of the $1.4million set aside for that purpose.

Most of that will go to the law firmdesignated as the lead counsel in theAAF fight, McDermott Will & Emery,and also for more studies, Durham said.

“These studies are extremely valu-able,” Durham added, and will includea rail safety study, further study on boat

counts and a study of the 646-page,final Environmental Impact Statement,comparing it to the Draft Environmen-tal Impact Statement issued by the Fed-eral Railroad Administration on Sept.19, 2014.

Martin County initially pointed to awide range of issues, ranging from im-pediments to maritime navigation onthe St. Lucie River, to the project's nega-tive impact on property values, to emer-gency response times, which have nowbeen substantiated with additional stud-ies. Preliminary examination by countystaff show that little has changed be-tween the draft and the final EIS,Durham told commissioners.

In addition to addressing the legal is-sues surrounding the FRA's environ-mental impact studies, the legal fightalso will continue to focus on the FloridaDevelopment Finance Corporation,which approved the issuance of $1.75billion in tax-free, private activity bondsto AAF on August 5. The county con-tends that FDFC was not legally consti-tuted, violated its own bylaws, and hadalready included the $1.8 million pro-vided by AAF to FDFC for approvingthe bonds in its 2016 budget before theagency voted.

All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary ofFlorida East Coast Industries, wouldconnect Miami and Orlando with 16round-trip passenger trains with stopsonly in Fort Lauderdale and West PalmBeach, beginning in 2017. Indian RiverCounty dedicated $2.7 million to try toblock the project, of which less than one-third has been spent.

According to county records, lessthan one half of the $1.4 million setaside by Martin County for the AllAboard Florida battle has been spentthus far.

FEC ownership questionedAmong the studies underway at thecounty level is a review of the FederalEast Coast railway deeds that includewhat the company claims to be a 100-foot right-of-way through MartinCounty. Only 76-percent ownership canbe verified, according to the county at-torney's office.

In a July 23 letter to Robert Ledoux,VP and general counsel for Florida EastCoast Railway, Martin County AttorneyMichael Durham asked for relevant doc-uments to verify FECR ownership.

“With respect to the remaining 24percent (of the FEC corridor) that theCounty was unable to map,” Durhamsaid, “we respectfully request yourprompt assistance in verifying and con-firming ownership by FEC or its sub-sidiaries by providing the County withadditional relevant documentation.”

In addition, Durham also said thatgrants of use, condemnations or owner-ship documents also were missing atseveral grade crossings including: cross-ing over the St. Lucie River, crossing atN.E. Dixie Highway in Rio, a portion ofthe crossing at Monterey Road, thecrossing at Indian Street, the crossing atSalerno Road, a portion of the crossingat Cove Road, and the crossing at theS.E. County Line Road.

As of the first week of September,the county had received no furtherdocumentation. ■

Doug Smith urgespublic to continueAAF protestMartin County Commissioner DougSmith told the members of the HobeSound-Port Salerno Rotary Club recentlythat the $1.4 million set aside by thecounty to fight plans for All AboardFlorida “is money well spent,” in spite oflosing two court battles.

“We've not had big 'wins' in thecourtroom to stop the sale of those pri-vate activity bonds,” he said, as a guestspeaker at the Rotary meeting, “butwe've learned an awful lot that willserve us well in the long run ... andwe're getting studies done that are giv-ing us some really valuable informationabout our county.”

Smith, who says he's loved trainssince a child and lives now within 100feet of the FEC tracks in Jensen Beach,had been a proponent of extending theAmTrak train line from Miami north toStuart and creating a multi-modal trans-portation station within the city limits.

“But this (AAF) with 32 trips a day isan entirely different animal,” he told theRotarians, “and the impacts on residentswill be entirely different.”

When asked what he thought theoutcome would be, he responded thatfour outcomes were possible: The firstbeing that the project will be killed, thesecond is that the route will be changed,the third is that changes to AAF planswill be made to mitigate their impacts,or AAF will proceed with their currentplan unhampered.

“It's unlikely that the first or the lastoption will occur, but changes (to AAFplans) are already being made,” he said,which he learned from attending earlierin the day a Jensen Beach Chamberluncheon with AAF Vice PresidentRusty Roberts as speaker.

In response to the public outcry re-garding the length of time that the St.Lucie bridge would be closed toboaters, Smith said, AAF proposes up-grades that will raise and lower thespan in 12 minutes, instead of the 23minutes required now.

Rotarian Peggy Merritt of HobeSound asked Smith if there was “any

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point” to continuing to fight the railproject, which seems to have the bless-ing of the governor, as well as of the fed-eral government.

“Don't get discouraged,” Smith re-sponded. “We have no guarantees ofwhat will, or what might not happen,but this I can tell you for sure. This isnot the time to give up.” ■

Last landownerloses challenge toChapter 10The day before Administrative Law JudgeChristine Van Wyk heard the challengeto the rewrites of Chapter 10 of the Com-prehensive Growth Management Plan onApril 28-29, Martin County modified theamendments to reach out-of-court settle-ments with nine of the 10 challengers,which included exempting their landstargeted for future development, accord-ing to court records.

After landowners Star Farms, HobeSugar Company, Turnpike Dairy, BullHammock Ranch, Lake Point, BeckerHoldings, Agri-gators, Tesoro Grovesand Consolidated Citrus settled withMartin County, withdrawing from thesuit filed in January, only one challengerremained, Martin Land Company,which owns land at the intersection ofBridge Road and I-95.

On Sept. 1, however, Van Wyk ruledagainst the landowner's challenge, con-cluding that the amended amendmentdoes not conflict with state law.

Amendment 14-6, authored by for-mer County Commissioner Maggy Hur-challa and approved by the county inDecember 2014, will eliminate the ex-pressway-oriented zoning at all inter-changes with I-95 in Martin County,which have been in place since the high-way was constructed in 1982, to permitgas stations, restaurants, hotels and/orresearch facilities at interchanges withmajor arterial roads.

Bridge Road is a minor arterial road,but as the number of cars increase, itcould at some point in the future qualifyas a major arterial road, according to theMartin County Growth ManagementDepartment, which lead to the county'srejection of plans for a gas station, hotel,RV park and a wake board facility onthe lake between I-95 and the FloridaTurnpike at Bridge Road in 2011.

The amendment also banned pack-age plants at those intersections, whichalso would prohibit any constructionsince the county does not have a centralsewer system, extending the ban to allrural lands.

The amendment also bans sewer lineextensions into the secondary urbanservices district or into any rural landsoutside of the primary urban servicesdistrict, and reduces the maximum sizeof septic tanks to 2,000 gallons, whichhad been the state standard until 2005.The county's Comprehensive GrowthManagement Plan, which underwent astate-mandated review in 2009, adoptedthe new state standard size of 10,000gallons, which was approved in 2011.The new amendment also restricts thenumber of septic tanks to one per parcel.

County Attorney Michael Durhamannounced the judge's ruling at the con-clusion of the Sept. 1 county commissionmeeting, but did not know if “any fur-ther action” would be taken by thelandowner (to appeal the decision). ■

Rodeo coming, butno ribbon-cuttingTwo county commissioners, Doug Smithand John Haddox, said it would be appro-priate to share the excitement of the In-diantown community as they celebratethe completion of the long-sought rodeo

arena roof at the Friday, Oct. 16, kick-offof the 68th Annual Indiantown Rodeothat runs through Saturday, Oct. 17. Thevote, however, was defeated 3-2.

The date of the ribbon cutting for the“official” opening of the Rodeo arenahas not been announced.

“As far as the rodeo goes, Commis-sioners, don't sweat it,” said Indiantownresident Brian Powers, who was onhand at the Sept. 1 commission meetingto support FPL's warehouse expansion.“We just want to be able to look you inthe eye and say, 'thank you.'”

The more important information isthat rodeo tickets are now available atall Seacoast Bank branches in Martin, St.

Lucie, Palm Beach and Okeechobeecounties and are $15 for a one-day pass.Tickets will be available at the gate for$18 each day.

The annual rodeo is presented in af-filiation with the prestigious Profes-sional Rodeo Cowboys Association(PRCA) and the Women’s ProfessionalRodeo Association (WPRA), and is pro-duced by the 4L Rodeo Company. Sea-coast Bank is the presenting sponsor forthe 5th consecutive year.

For sponsorship and volunteer op-portunities, or to learn more about the2015 Indiantown Rodeo, visit www.in-diantownrodeo.com, call 772-597-2184,or download the iTown app. ■

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CATION!

Most thought that the case was over,but now it's back in court—this timeover nonpayment of attorneys' feesand costs.

The Department of Economic Op-portunity filed an administrative ap-peal regarding a lawsuit initially filedby Donna Melzer and the MartinCounty Conservation Alliance and1,000 Friends of Florida in 2008 againstthe Board of County Commissionerschallenging a Comprehensive GrowthManagement Plan amendment thatwould allow developments to “clus-ter” their permitted density.

The administrative law judge hadfound that under the plan amendment,

the density would not change, butwould allow more open space and lessfragmentation to occur, a desirablerather than a harmful result.

The groups lost the case and theappeal, but sought a hearing beforethe Florida Supreme Court, which re-fused to hear the case due to a lack ofstanding, since no “harm” could bedemonstrated.

Labeled by the appellate court as“frivolous,” attorneys fees and costswere to be paid by the plaintiffs, in-cluding their attorney, Richard Grossoof the Everglades Law Center, but theDepartment of Economic Opportunitysaid “the parties dispute the amount of

attorneys fees and costs to beawarded,” according to court records.

The Martin County Commissionopted to reject the court's order forsanctions against a group to whichthree of the commissioners were mem-bers, drawing sharp criticism for its be-hind-closed-doors decision in 2012, inwhich Commissioner Doug Smith re-fused to take part. The county settledfor a nominal payment of costs.

A video teleconference hearing inWest Palm Beach and Tallahassee hasbeen set for Nov. 10 before Administra-tive Law Judge Bram D.E. Canter todetermine “reasonable” attorneys feesand costs. ■

An old lawsuit shows up in court again

10 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015Voices

Editorial: Connect the dots to understand agendaThe distorted view of the Commu-

nity Redevelopment Area's suc-cesses and gross exaggerations of

their failures by commission majority EdFielding, Anne Scott and Sarah Heard,strong-armed from the sidelines by for-mer county commissioner Maggy Hur-challa, has confused residents. Theirpolitically correct rhetoric, which cloakstheir hidden agendas, blocks genuinecitizen participation and underminesthe tenets of open government.

A citizen's best defense? Awareness.It's already worked in the case of

some of our CRA projects. The countycommission majority recently reversedtwo decisions—to kill a sewer line ex-tension in Port Salerno and a floatingdock in Old Palm City—purely becausethey could not easily explain those ac-tions in the face of aware citizens.

The same held true with the decisionto proceed with the renovation of theGolden Gate building, a privately fi-nanced project with undeniable, largerbenefits to the wider community.

Yet other CRA projects that hit thecommission's stated targets as preciselyas William Tell's arrow, including infra-structure improvement, stormwatertreatment and the health of our water-ways, have been killed.

Why? Because what the commissionmajority describes as priorities hidestheir true agenda, which is revealedonly after you connect some dots so thepattern can emerge.

Listen to their criticism of the RioTown Center project in Rio's CRA,which more clearly reveals their truemotives of creating a wealthy bedroomcommunity of single-family homes,rather than their professed fiscal con-cerns for addressing budget shortfalls.

The total amount collected fromCRAs will total less than half of one per-cent of the county's 2016 budget, whichwill not touch the $258 million infra-structure backlog.

The true agenda is to stop growth,particularly the denser populations al-lowed by CRA zoning in our historicareas, as well as the mix of commercialand residential areas.

“Too dense,” all three commissionerssaid about the Rio Town Center project,vowing to change Comp Plan rules re-lating to CRAs, as they also pooh-poohed Rio's stormwater design thatcaptures run-off and stores it under-ground, percolating cleansed water intothe river—the same design the Old PalmCity CRA had proposed for Mapp Road.

The commission also has decided,again under the guidance of formercounty commissioner Maggy Hurchalla,to rewrite not only the CRA rules, butalso the rules for Planned Unit Develop-ment zoning, to eliminate condomini-ums or town homes from being includedin single-family housing developments.

In the August workshop on PlannedUnit Development zoning, Commis-sioner Sarah Heard told Growth Man-

agement Director Nicki van Vonno, thatPUDs increase density. “No, Commis-sioner Heard,” van Vonno replied, “theydo not increase density.”

Van Vonno repeated what stafferCatherine Riiska had just explained tothe commission: The Comp Plan capsdensity at 15 units per acre, and no PUDcan exceed that amount.

Heard replied, stone-faced, “They in-crease density.”

Here we go again: More dishonestdiscourse.

We will continue to hear that PUDsincrease density like a mantra, to be re-peated over and over again, eventhough untrue, until residents them-selves are demanding the end to PUDs.

How can that happen? A very small, but highly organized

group of people led by attorneys Vir-ginia Sherlock and Donna Melzer (an-other former county commissioner),plays on residents' fears of an over-pop-ulated Martin County that looks likeMiami-Dade or Broward counties—theworst of all fates. No one wants thatkind of development.

They also do not want to be drivenout of the county by rising taxes, exorbi-tant housing costs, and few well-payingjobs. Commissioner John Haddox seesthe emerging picture.

“Not everyone can afford to live in ahouse surrounded by big spaces,” hesaid during the PUD workshop, refrain-ing from pointing to Scott's oceanfront

home on Jupiter Island or Heard's river-front home in Rocky Point.

“I'm very happy living in MartinDowns (a PUD),” he added, telling thecommissioners that they are “crossingthe line” as a governing body by tellingresidents how they MUST live—in onlysingle-family homes if they're going tolive in Martin County.

At the same time that our commissionmajority wants to limit housing op-tions—driving up rents and housingprices—they also pass ordinances to limitindustrial and agricultural growth—notto protect the environment as theyclaim—but to drive down land values tomake their lands easier to purchase.

What they do not want you to knowis that our combined governments al-ready own more than 60 percent ofcounty properties, according to state andcounty statistics—not the 26 percent sooften touted by certain commissioners.

Another 10,000 acres is designated aspermanent preserve areas on privatelyowned properties, says van Vonno. Sev-eral thousand more acres of our westernlands are targeted for eventual acquisi-tion by the South Florida Water Man-agement District.

Since the tax burden already hasbeen shifted to residents, just imaginethe tax bills to come. Our commissionmajority will get the wealthy-retiredbedroom community they seek—ormaybe they won't. Only citizen aware-ness can make the difference. ■

Do not underestimatevalue of CRAs

Long before NACs or a CRA existed,Port Salerno residents had a vision fortheir community. We did a lot our-selves, but we achieved much more be-cause of our CommunityRedevelopment Area.

Back in the '90s, we started a CrimeWatch with Forrest Yingling, our Com-munity Oriented Policing officer, andwith the help of county Code Enforce-ment, Waste Management and KeepMartin Beautiful, we had a major villagecleanup. We were just getting started.

With the help of Barbara Hogan, MaryAnn Meyers, Donna Dupuy, ElmiraGainey and our local fishermen, the PortSalerno Revitalization Committee wasborn in 1995. By 1997, we were fighting tokeep A1A only two lanes to save oursmall businesses and our sense of com-munity. In 2000, the county formed ourNeighborhood Planning Area andadopted our CRA Plan, which is our vi-sion put on paper.

Since then, we have used our TIFfunding to get grants to lay sewer linesand install lift stations, and we are cur-rently expanding our sewer line downSalerno Road. (We had hoped to getmore grants to help our neighbors gethooked up, but now all grant-writinghas stopped.) Our road project gave ourbusinesses on-street parking andstopped stormwater from draining di-rectly into the Manatee Pocket. A restau-rant was built, others added moreseating, and more jobs were provided.

We reached into our neighborhoodswith Habitat houses and a paint-up, fix-up program. These projects have not allbeen for beautification, nor solely for thebenefit of businesses, as some have sug-gested, but for the betterment of thewhole community.

Salerno is well known for its fisher-men, for its artists, for its Pocketwalk, forthe Seafood Festival, for New Monrovia’sBahamian Festival and the ChristmasJamboree. People come here, becauseSalerno now is a nice place to be.

I pray that you fully understandthe value of our NACs and our CRAs.

Ellen AsselinPort Salerno

CRAs: vital component ofcommunity

As a relatively new resident andbusiness operator here, recently I wit-nessed what makes Martin County trulyunique and special: people’s pride fortheir communities.

The night following the July 4 holi-day, when folks seemingly would havesomething better to do, more than 250packed the Blake Library to have theirvoices heard on the seven designatedCommunity Redevelopment Agencyneighborhoods.

The CRA model is designed to helpneighborhoods overcome challenges thatnegatively affect property values — asinfrastructure, safety and quality of life.

The county is questioning the relevanceof the CRAs and how it should be able todirect the additional revenues they gener-ate. Of particular concern are the shovel-ready improvements in Hobe Sound andPalm City which, if not for a recession,would have been long-since completed.

These are smart and necessary im-

provements that need to be completed.Some of those on the CRA-governing

commission board want to take moretime to gather more data and prove a re-turn-on-investment.

Others, like commissioners John Had-dox and Doug Smith, enthusiasticallysupport finishing the already approvedprojects, while the county and the Neigh-borhood Advisory Committees work to-gether to design long-term improvementsto the CRA operating model.

Since its inception in 1985, the CRAmodel has been an example of an effec-tive partnership between local govern-ment and caring volunteers. The bestexample of a CRA is the revitalization ofdowntown Stuart. Numerous successstories are sprinkled throughout theseven CRA neighborhoods.

If the county needs to justify the ROIon this project, one need look no furtherthan the Blake Library on a Mondaynight in July.

Indiantown’s Brian Powers said itbest: “Good things happen when a com-munity has a say.”

Charles GerardiExecutive Director, Economic Council

of Martin County

Letters to Editor

11Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 Voices

Exploring hidden source of CRA criticism

The most disturbing criticism ofour Community RedevelopmentArea projects took aim at the

Carter Park project in the IndiantownCRA, a national award recipient forpublic-private partnerships in commu-nity redevelopment.

We should be holding up this projectas the premier example of what can beaccomplished when local residents iden-tify a community's needs, and their gov-erning body is willing to work inpartnership with them and private non-profits to fulfill that need.

Instead, anti-CRA critics omit rele-vant facts in order to add credibility totheir message that almost all CRA proj-ects waste taxpayer money, particularlyCarter Park. Wasting money or invest-ing it? That's the question.

A quick recap of the project tells youthat organizers, under the deft directionof Community Development Depart-

ment Director Kev Freeman, targeted apredominantly black community to har-ness the resources of Habitat for Human-ity, which wanted to build homes in theeconomically depressed area, and theBoys & Girls Clubs of Martin County,which desired to construct a larger facil-ity somewhere in Indiantown.

By shuffling some county-ownedproperties and getting all the partiesworking together—including the In-diantown Neighborhood AdvisoryCommittee, the Indiantown Non-ProfitHousing Authority and the House ofHope—the Community DevelopmentDepartment's staff brought the county$830,000 in state grants to providestormwater treatment for 256 acres ofland that previously drained untreatedwater into the St. Lucie River.

That stormwater lake now lies at theheart of Carter Park, anchored on oneend by a 22,000-sq ft Boys & Girls Clubwith a House of Hope office inside, tobe surrounded by 40 Habitat for Hu-manity homes.

The $2.3 million project was ap-proved unanimously by the MartinCounty Commission. Thirteen of the 40planned Habitat houses have been builtin a community where housing ap-

praisals have jumped from $60,000 to$120,000 per house.

More important, though, the Boys &Girls Club and its plethora of youth pro-grams and indoor gym is now accessibleto dozens of families through safe, unin-terrupted sidewalk connections as partof the Indiantown CRA plan.

The money spent will see long-termreturns on future property tax assess-ments and a less tangible return on aninvestment in our children.

The Railroad Avenue project in GoldenGate is another easy target for anti-CRAcritics, but what looks like a “road tonowhere” alongside a railroad grade, inreality combines stormwater treatment,pollution abatement, flood control andbusiness revitalization in one project thatalso attracted large state grants.

Both of these denigrated projects sharesomething in common besides havingbeen born among the volunteers of eachof the Community Redevelopment Area'sNeighborhood Advisory Committees.They both serve primarily minority popu-lations: a largely black community in In-diantown and an Hispanic community inGolden Gate. Does racial and ethnic prej-udice play a part in the untoward criti-cism of these projects? Indeed, they could.

Anyone growing up in the south inthe '50s and '60s probably still carriessubconscious imprints about race—thosenearly invisible threads to the past thattug on attitudes of the present—but goshthey're hard to see and impossible tobreak if you do not first recognize them.

They likely reside at the same deeplevel where mine had lain for decades—even as I taught my own children toler-ance and acceptance and respect for allbackgrounds and all races—until I sawmy teenaged daughter walk across acollege campus hand-in-hand with ablack student-athlete.

My face flushed first with embarrass-ment—I worked at the same college—then with shame for experiencing thefeelings that had to have stemmed froma racist, segregated upbringing. Mybrain had been imprinted with valuesthat I did not recognize and that con-sciously, intellectually, I rejected.

In that moment, though, I was star-ing straight at them. Racial prejudicelaid bare.

Could unacknowledged, prejudicialthreads from the past be sabotaging theconversation about these much ma-ligned CRA projects? Unfortunately, thatcould well be the case. ■

BarbaraClowdus

Unfiltered

Tom Fucigna, Jr.Guest Columnist

My name is Tom Fucigna, and Ihave lived in Hobe Sound for18 years, so I’m a relatively

new guy. I participated actively in theHobe Sound Community Redevelop-ment planning process as a member ofthe public and as a member, and thenchair, of the Hobe Sound NeighborhoodAdvisory Committee for a total of 10years under three successive countycommissioners.

I gave that time because I believe inthe value of the planning process.

I think it is important to rememberthat Martin County’s seven CommunityRedevelopment Plans have not been pro-duced in a vacuum. Our seven Commu-nity Redevelopment Plans have beendeveloped in compliance with the widelyrespected Martin County ComprehensiveGrowth Management Plan, as part of aprocess to maintain Martin County’scharacter, stability and quality of lifethrough orderly growth and develop-ment, as defined in the county’s “2020 Vi-sion for a Sustainable Martin County.”

Chapter 1 of the Comp Plan preamblereads: “The purpose of the Comprehen-sive Growth Management Plan is to useand strengthen Martin County’s role inestablishing and implementing the com-

prehensive planning process in order toprotect natural and man-made resourcesand to maintain, through orderly growthand development, the character, stabilityand quality of life of present and futurecommunity residents.”

Chapter 2 of the Comp Plan OverallGoals section includes this text:

– Under the paragraph entitled, “Re-development and Renewal,” the CompPlan says: “Martin County shall allevi-ate the negative impacts of inadequatepubic facilities and services, and sub-standard structures for affected areas ofthe County.”

– Under the paragraph entitled, “Tra-ditional Neighborhoods,” the Compplan reads: “Martin County shall pro-vide opportunities for a diversificationand integration of residential, retail, pro-fessional and business office uses and co-ordinated systems of recreation andconservation open spaces to be locatedin close proximity to each other in mixedarrangements to meet the needs of thepopulation, provide residents with a va-riety of choices in lifestyle arrangementsand experiences, and reduce infrastruc-ture impacts, while protecting residentialneighborhoods from adverse impacts ofnon-residential uses.”

– In this same section, under theheader, “Encourage Urban Developmentin Urban Service Areas,” the Comp Plan

says: “Martin County shall regulateurban sprawl and leap-frog develop-ment, which are counter (to) the countypolicy for planned urban development.”

The Comp Plan identifies goals andobjectives that are intended to be imple-mented through various means. Theprocess of Community RedevelopmentPlanning and implementation—whichhas been ongoing for more than 20 yearsin seven Martin County communities—does just that.

The Community RedevelopmentPlans support and implement the goalsand objectives of the Comp Plan.

Our Community RedevelopmentPlans—which are one of the few forumswe have to address the future of our com-munities—are intended to articulate theComp Plan’s “Vision” of sustainable, inte-grated town and neighborhood settings.

The goals of the Community Rede-velopment Plans include supporting andmaintaining vibrant, successful and sus-tainable downtowns that work for all ofus, identifying actions that can improveneighborhoods and encouraging tradi-tional town and neighborhood features.

Our Community RedevelopmentPlans are part of our local government’sbest effort to recognize our attributesand implement means to protect and en-hance them.

Our Community Redevelopment

Plans are not about asphalt or sewer pipeor power lines (although they may beabout pedestrian crosswalks). They areabout the past and the present and thefuture of places that we are all part of.

Change is the only constant. Proper-ties will be bought and sold. Teardowns, rebuilds and new constructionwill occur. Re-development will happen,and it’s important to ensure that it hap-pens in ways that are good for our com-munities. Planning can preserve andenhance the attributes that make MartinCounty a unique and desirable place tolive. Planning can help us preserve ourpast and shape our future.

We’ve all driven through old down-towns that have become degraded orabandoned over time or—perhapsworse—places that have been sucked upinto the sameness that creeps in from allaround. We don’t want that to happen.

We want our communities to main-tain their character. We want them towork for all of us, and we want them tothrive. Character Counts in MartinCounty, and supporting our CommunityRedevelopment Plans is one of the bestways in which we can prove it. ■

Remarks made by Tom Fucigna at the July 6Community Redevelopment Workshop atthe Blake Library in Stuart.

Our Comp Plan gives priority to CRAs

Question of CRA underpayments unansweredThe $25 million in Tax Increment

Financing funds collected fromthe properties within CRA bound-

aries over the past 16 years, whichamounts to around $220,000 investedannually in each, that critics claim had“disappeared” was a myth finally de-bunked by the Martin County Comp-troller and the county's Budget Office.

All expenditures by the CommunityDevelopment Office had always beenaccounted for, according to County Ad-ministrator Taryn Kryzda, but simplynot labeled per project. The system hasbeen changed, according to county staff,and the updated records are posted on-

line with each expenditure labeled perproject within each CRA area.

Underpaid to CRAs' trust fundCRA funds collected from propertieswithin CRA boundaries, which by statelaw are supposed to be expended onlywithin those boundaries, were under-paid until 2013 due to an error discov-ered in the Property Appraiser's Office.Those funds have never been paid tothe CRA trust fund, neither have theybeen reconciled, according to thecounty Budget Office, which suppliedthese statistics.

A total of $4.6 million was underpaid

to the CRAs since their inception. Thebiggest loser was the Port Salerno CRA,which is owed $1.163 million with$116,826 of that owed from the 2012-2013fiscal year alone, and close to Port Salernois the Hobe Sound CRA, which is owed alittle more than $1 million with $71,000owed from the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

The Rio CRA is owed almost$860,000 with nearly $22,000 from 2012-13; the Old Palm City and IndiantownCRAs are each owed more than $440,000with nearly $37,000 owed Old Palm Cityfrom 2012-13.

The Golden Gate CRA is owed morethan $350,000 with about $21,000 due

from 2012-13, and Jensen Beach is owedmore than $300,000 with more than$52,000 due from 2012-13.

The funds earmarked for the CRAswent into the general fund, instead of intothe Community Redevelopment TrustFund. If the funds collected are not spent(or earmarked) for a particular CRA proj-ect within three years of collection, theyrevert to the county's general fund.

The City of Stuart's CRA had to file asuit against the county in order to obtaina $1 million partial payment of TIFmonies collected by the county and un-derpaid to Stuart's CRA. The case wassettled last year. ■

Attempts at eliminating CRAs not a new trendThe Community Redevelopment

Areas have been under attacksince May 2015 when two major

projects were defunded, but the effort toeliminate CRAs altogether began inearnest after the 2012 election; however,campaign rhetoric foretold the directionthe newly elected commissioners wouldtake regarding CRAs.

In one political forum at the BannerLake Community Center in Hobe Sound,then-commission candidates John Had-dox and Anne Scott spoke against theCommunity Redevelopment Agency.

“I believe that CRAs have probablyoutlived their useful life,” said Haddox,who has since become an outspoken, ar-dent supporter of all seven CommunityRedevelopment Areas and the NAC vol-unteers, particularly in Old Palm City.

Anne Scott, on the other hand, saidthat the CRA was a “pseudo-govern-ment” that put an unnecessary layer be-tween commissioners and constituents,and those who volunteered were “em-pire builders,” more interested in them-selves and their properties than in theircommunity.

At that point, she had attended one

NAC meeting for one hour.The first official act taken by Martin

County Commissioner Sarah Heard afterbeing elected chair of the county commis-sion in November 2012 was to abolishthe independent Community Redevelop-ment Agency, which had been created in2010 in response to neighborhood criti-cism that projects were taking too long tocomplete, which increased their cost.

Heard said that she was followingthrough on her own campaign promiseto abolish the agency that she said washeavily influenced by business owners,instead of the residents who lived ineach of the seven communities: Rio,Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno,Golden Gate, Old Palm City and In-diantown. The county commissionwould again serve as the CommunityRedevelopment Agency, as it did from2001 to 2010.

At the time, Heard assured thosecommunities, each with its own Neigh-borhood Advisory Committee of volun-teers appointed by the countycommission, that she “would not touch”the Neighborhood Advisory Committees– a promise broken four months later.

In February 2013, the county com-mission approved Heard's direction todisband all seven NACs and to changethe qualifications of appointees, be-cause, she said, “Business interests, notresidents, control the NACs.” The newNAC members would need to apply forcommission appointment.

A survey of NAC members showedthat more than a majority of NAC mem-bers were residents with zero businessinterests, and even among those whoowned or managed businesses withinthe CRAs, only two were not also home-owners within the same CRA.

Still, it took the county commission12 months to decide the new qualifica-tions for NAC volunteers, and it's nowthe county's first, if not the only, advi-sory board that requires its members tobe registered voters. The commissionalso decided to allow one member ofeach NAC to live outside of the CRAboundaries.

After the independent agency wasabolished, the Community DevelopmentDepartment, comprising the staff thatimplements the plans under the direc-tion of the county commission and liai-

son to the Neighborhood Advisory Com-mittees, lost its grant writer, NakeisheaLoi Smith, who had successfully broughtmore than $3 million in grant funding toMartin County in two years.

After accepting a job offer elsewherein community redevelopment, Smithsaid that “she felt like she'd been kickedin the stomach,” with the dissolution ofthe CRA agency. “That's two years' ofwork down the drain.”

This summer, the Community Devel-opment Department lost two more staffmembers: Edward Erfurt, an urban plan-ner, who left his design stamp on severalof the CRAs and is now working in thepanhandle of West Virginia near Harper'sFerry, and Nancy Johnson, who spent 18months helping to create the Micro-En-trepreneurial curriculum at IRSC (a proj-ect to strengthen the business skills ofsmall business owners with fewer thanfive employees, which was killed byHeard in May 2013) before she trans-ferred to the county's Parks and Recre-ation Department in August.

The two remaining staff members areDirector Kev Freeman and planner PinalGandhi. ■

Stormwater, sewer projects a part of CRA plans

12 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015News Feature

Awareness for the need to incorpo-rate stormwater treatment andsewer lines has long been a part

of community redevelopment projects inMartin County. It's just the way peoplefeel about their neighborhoods.

Although killed by the MartinCounty Commission majority of EdFielding, Sarah Heard and Anne Scott,the Old Palm City project for MappRoad was primarily a stormwater treat-ment project that would help alleviatethe flooding in residential areas, whichin turn causes failures of septic tankdrain fields.

But the road improvement—addingparking, sidewalks and bike lanes—would also attract new businesses toMapp Road's 10 empty storefronts,adding significantly to the county's tax

base, as did completion of County Road707 in Rio helped to attract a developerfor the new Rio Town Center.

The Carter Park project in In-diantown now has drainage for 256acres that previously had none, and thelake has become a favorite place for kidsto fish right in the heart of a reborn com-munity. The 40 homes planned by Habi-tat for Humanity, which have doubledin value, also will add significantly tothe county's tax base.

The need to revitalize our aging, frag-ile areas became apparent in 1988 inJensen Beach when a group of local resi-dents banded together to form its ownrevitalization committee, followed bycreation of the first Community Redevel-opment Agency. The idea spread to PortSalerno, which had formed their own re-

vitalization committee by the mid-90s,with Hobe Sound soon on its heels.

By 2002, Martin County had estab-lished a Community RedevelopmentAgency with the county commissionserving as its board, with seven distinctplanning areas that hosted charettes,formed Neighborhood Advisory Com-mittees, and established their own plansto create safe, walkable neighborhoods.

Hobe Sound installed sewer and waterlines as one of its first, but nearly invisiblefirst steps, and Golden Gate's Railroad Av-enue project was another major stormwa-ter project to begin the process ofalleviating the sheetflow of water acrossDixie Highway as it also stopped pollutedwater from the railbed from flowing intothe Indian River Lagoon.

Port Salerno's project will install its

second phase in sewer line extensionsand lift stations beginning in 2016, longafter other stormwater projects werecompleted.

But all these projects, as important asthey are, are synergistic components ofCommunity Redevelopment Areas thatbring neighborhoods back to life. Theytransform those places easy to forgetdue to old buildings, poorly plannedstreet layouts, and few or missing side-walk connections.

The value in creating traditionalneighborhoods that have been largelyabandoned in our rush to the suburbsand gated communities pays far greaterreturns than just what can be measuredon a balance sheet. They perhaps havenever been quite so valued as they arenow—as they face extinction. ■

Rio CRA

13Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 News Feature

The Community RedevelopmentAreas each have projects in variousstages of completion. Prior to his de-

parture from the county, Community Devel-opment Planner Edward Erfurt created these"heat" maps of the CRAs to show visually theactivity in each neighborhood.

Each of the layers include variations oftransparency. The greatest transparency orlightest colors represent the phases of aproject in the following order, Planning, De-sign, Permitting, and Implementation. Themore intense colors are the areas whereplanning has led to final implementation.

Golden Gate CRA

Jensen Beach CRA

Hobe Sound CRA

Indiantown CRA

Palm City CRA

Port Salerno CRA

CRA Project Maps YELLOW: Comprehensive Plans,Land Development Regulations, and De-sign Regulations

ORANGE:Public Utilities (Water and Sewer)

RED:Capital ImprovementProjects

PURPLE: Private Development

14 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015Cover Story

The public records trial in theLake Point lawsuit againstMartin County that concludedAugust 30 in Martin County

Circuit Court resulted only in stoppingLake Point from making any more pub-lic records requests regarding emailsabout Lake Point housed on commis-sioners' personal computers. Lake Pointalso can no longer seek copies of Com-missioner Sarah Heard's personal notesshe used during the Feb. 5, 2013, countycommission meeting.

At that meeting, some county com-missioners had called for the 1,005-acrerock mine in Indiantown to be shutdown for alleged code violations of itshousing development order, which thecounty had agreed to revoke if state au-thorities granted Lake Point its rockmining permits. The permits weregranted, however, the county did not re-voke the housing development order,according to court records.

Loeb had attended the Feb. 5, 2013,commission meeting, according to courttestimony, and had submitted to theclerk during a commission meetingbreak a hand-written public record's re-quest for Heard's notes, which was sub-mitted into evidence.

Then-acting County Attorney KristaStorey testified that since the personalnotes were not public records, she hadnot provided that request to Heard, wholater testified that her “habit” is to tossany personal notes into a trash canunder the dais immediately followingevery commission meeting.

Lake Point continued to submit pub-lic records request for the notes, how-ever, because no one had informed Loebthat they had been destroyed, he testi-fied, until the day of the trial.

Outside council attorney JohnFumero representing Martin Countyasked the court to sanction Lake Pointfor undue harassment of commissionersand for its excessive public records re-quests, contending in earlier testimonythat more than 100,000 pages of recordshad been provided to Lake Point.

Circuit Court Judge Shields Mc-Manus, however, ordered that neitherLake Point nor Martin County would besanctioned for their actions; therefore,neither would be reimbursed for their at-torney fees and costs associated with thepublic records issue, ongoing since theFeb. 5, 2013, county commission meeting.

Although conceding in his Sept. 3ruling that some records "no longer ex-isted or had been destroyed" regardingcorrespondence among commissioners

and Maggy Hurchalla about LakePoint, McManus determined that all re-maining records had been provided ina "reasonable manner” prior to the fil-ing of Lake Point's public records law-suit Feb. 14, 2014.

He ruled also thatthe discoveryprocess (in the con-tract dispute be-tween Lake Pointand Martin County)had already revealedthat many of the records Lake Pointsought to obtain no longer existed, in-cluding the emails that had disappearedfrom Heard's personal computer. As a re-sult, McManus declared that LakePoint's allegations of public records vio-lations were “moot,” thus denying LakePoint's request for a writ of mandamusto force the county's compliance withstate public records laws.

Although McManus did not go so faras to declare that no public records lawshad been violated regarding the missingemails, he did rule that Heard's personal

notes that Lake Point spent the most en-ergy attempting to obtain do not qualifyas public records. Lake Point arguedthat by reading the notes at the 2013meeting, Heard had “shared” them,thus qualifying under the law as publicrecords. McManus disagreed.

Missing public recordsCourt testimony revealed that Heardhad informed Lake Point attorney EthanLoeb early in 2013 that her personalcomputer had been “hacked,” and allher emails and personal contacts haddisappeared.

“I got up one morning, and theywere all gone,” she testified.

Loeb asked her if public records wereon that computer. She answered, “Yes.”He followed by asking if she had con-tacted Yahoo immediately to attempt toretrieve them. She answered, “No.”

Heard said that she conducted an on-line search of the Yahool website, whichtold her that deleted emails were notkept by Yahool longer than 48 hours, so

she took her com-puter to Tiger Directto have the harddrive examined tosee if any of heremails could be re-trieved. The receiptfor that examination

was entered into evidence.McManus also ruled that no emails

had been “altered or manipulated” byeither Heard or Commissioner Ed Field-ing, another of Lake Point's allegations,and that Fielding's nine-month delay inproviding an email from Maggy Hur-challa housed on his personal computerwas “inadvertent.”

Signed “Deep Rockpit,” Hurchallahad instructed Fielding in the email heidentified in court as being from Hur-challa not to accept $44,000 in environ-mental fees paid by Lake Point to the

county as part of the inter-local agreement between thecounty and the SouthFlorida Water ManagementDistrict. She also providedinstructions as to how toproceed in voiding agree-ments with Lake Point.

Fielding, who admittedto being “not very techni-

cally saavy,” had not used search terms,but had manually searched the folderson his computer, thus overlooking theHurchalla email, according to testimony.He also had not listed his personal emailaddress as one with which he conductscounty business, because he does notengage in “back-and-forth, substantiveconversation” regarding county busi-ness on his personal computer.

Fielding's lack of expertise promptedthe court to order a forensic examinationin 2014 of his home computer's harddrive, which resulted in finding threeother emails, none of which were sub-stantial in nature, according to testimony.

"There were many circumstanceswhich would cause a reasonable person tosuspect there were records not yet dis-closed," McManus wrote in his order. "Thedestruction of Commissioner Heard'snotes was not verified. The destruction ofCommissioner Heard's emails was verycurious and remains unexplained."

The public records Lake Point hadbeen seeking are "material evidence," ac-cording to Loeb's testimony, in LakePoint's suit against Martin County, theSouth Florida Management District andMaggy Hurchalla for tortious interfer-ence and breach of contract in a suitfiled Feb. 5, 2013.

The issue erupted in 2012 after aPalm Beach Post article described apresentation by American Water to thePalm Beach County Commission re-garding the possibility that the LakePoint project could supply cleansedwater from the C-44 canal north of itsproperty to reservoirs near the L-8 canalat the south of Lake Point's property,which Martin County claims is a viola-tion of their agreements.

According to court records, the caselikely will not go to trial until the fallof 2016. ■

--Barbara Clowdus

Judge renders orderpublic records trial

If anyone thought that Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard wouldbe held accountable for the alleged destruction of public records on herpersonal computer more than two years ago, they were wrong.

in Lake Point’s

In the recent public records trial in MartinCounty Circuit Court, Lake Point attorneyEthan Loeb included clips of CommissionerSarah Heard reading from notes that the rockmine and water restoration project soughtthrough multiple public records requests.Judge Shields McManus ruled they were notpublic records.

Sarah Heard Ed Fielding Maggy Hurchalla

“I got up one morning, and they

were all gone.”--Commissioner Sarah Heard

15Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 Cover Story

The court docket in the Lake Pointlawsuit reveals dozens of motionsand notices filed in Lake Point's

2013 case against Martin County, theSouth Florida Water Management Dis-trict and former County CommissionerMaggy Hurchalla. The mining companyalleges violations of contracts and agree-ments, as well as tortious interferencewith Lake Point's contract with SFWMD.

So many motions have been filed re-garding evidence and the discoveryprocess that the court appointed a spe-cial magistrate at $250 an hour just tolisten to their arguments and rule ontheir dozens of filings.

The cost of the special magistrate isbeing split between Martin County andthe South Florida Water ManagementDistrict, after Hurchalla's attorney, Vir-ginia Sherlock, told the court Hurchallacould not afford to share that cost.

The Lake Point Water Restorationproject is a rock mine uniquely posi-tioned on a 2,000-acre tract of land be-tween the C-44 Canal and theMartin-Palm Beach county line at the L-8 canal. Originally an agricultural land-development project, Lake Pointcontends that its agreements with Mar-tin County allowed it to become a rockmine after it received state mining per-mits and environmental permits; how-ever, the county did not issue arevocation order for the Lake PointRanches housing development, which inturn, resulted in code enforcement viola-tions levied against the operation for vi-olating its housing development order.

A 2008 agreement, Lake Point says inits lawsuit, exempts the Lake Pointstormwater management project fromcounty land-development regulations,giving it the right to mine rock, as wellas transport water across its property.

The South Florida Water Manage-ment District, which controls drinkingwater supplies from north of Lake Okee-

chobee through the Florida Keys, has"sole and absolute discretion" over theLake Point project, but Hurchalla hadmade public allegations that Lake Pointwas “selling Martin County water” anddestroying wetlands.

Lake Point's suit alleges that Hur-challa's secret correspondence withcounty commissioners and state offi-cials was the primary motivator behindthe county's attempt to shut down theLake Point mining operation in Janu-ary 2013, which prompted Lake Pointattorney Ethan Loeb to file a publicrecords request prior to filing its law-suit, asking Martin County for all cor-respondence regarding Lake Pointamong Hurchalla, county staff and allcommissioners.

Hurchalla makes plea for cashIn other developments in August, theFourth Circuit Court of Appeals over-ruled the 19th Circuit Court's ordergranting abatement of the Homeown-ers Choice Insurance lawsuit againstHurchalla.

The insurance company had pro-vided an attorney for Hurchalla's de-fense during the first year of the LakePoint case, before rejecting Hurchalla'sclaim for coverage.

The insurance company filed a law-suit against Hurchalla to regain themonies it had expended during the firstyear of her defense, purportedly to bearound $300,000, claiming that herhomeowners insurance policy did notprovide coverage for “intentional” acts,according to court records.

Her personal attorney, Virginia Sher-lock, had asked the Martin County courtto delay proceedings until after the LakePoint case concluded. The case is againbefore the court.

Hurchalla launched a website askingfor donations to cover her litigationcosts. ■

Legal tussles mount in Lake Point case

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16 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015Lifestyle

The Geoffrey C. Smith gallery-studioon Route A1A in Port Salerno bringsto this rapidly growing artist’s hub a

truly inspiring dimension of high art—wildlife magically transformed intobronze sculptures of mind-blowing beautyunder the skillful hands of Geoffrey Smith,in a place where a deep synergy betweenthe artist and his art becomes a totally en-chanting spectacle.

The studio space is where, infact, it’s the viewer who becomes astatue, transfixed and pinned to thefloor, while egrets and sandhillcranes, herons, alligators and otheramazing creatures of Floridawildlife gracefully dance andprance in fluid rhythmic motion, re-vealing what French sculptor Au-guste Rodin called, “the unknownforces of nature.”

Realistic and highly intricate inform, a Geoffrey Smith sculpture isas mysterious as the sphinx of Giza,transcending its own mass, gravity,visual form, and even the con-straints of the medium to which itowes its very existence. Astoundedand literally gasping for air on my firstvisit to the Geoffrey Smith studio, I askedhim what is the first spark that breatheslife into his sculptures.

“Serendipity,” he replied with a conta-gious smile, kindly ushering me aroundhis elegant, sunlit gallery. “I discover mysubject matter in nature as I fish or boat.Recently, for instance, I happened to ob-serve an amazing scene: Sharks were chas-

ing a bonito, which managed to find itsway out. It was really dramatic.”

With an enthusiastic tone, he added:“To convey the truth of wildlife in mysculptures, first I become thoroughly fa-miliar with the subject and the environ-ment it belongs to.”

Imbuing a sense of motion to his com-positions, Geoffrey turns the base of a sculp-ture into a sort of theatrical stage, where the

central figure interacts withsmaller “characters” and the spacearound them, as they engage in abreathtaking dance to the tunes ofnature. A custom order, the “CoralReef Table” with 100 sculptedfish under nearly eight feet ofglass, exemplifies a sculpturemorphing into the genre of drama.

After Geoffrey's mind’s-eye vision isformed from observing both the habits andhabitats of his characters, he builds hissculpture with Styrofoam for large pieces,armature and clay—step by step— direct-ing the metamorphosis into a full-sizedsculpture. What occurs in the foundry isthe ultimate alchemy as a clay original iscast in bronze by using the ancient,multi-step lost-wax casting process.Upon completion, a traditional col-ored patina gets ap-plied to emphasizethe style and intricatedetails of his work.

The clay fromwhich Geoffrey’ssculptures emerge,never gets too cold orhardened. I waslucky to see the life-sized “Everglades Gator” sculpture beforethe “bad boy” left Port Salerno to be castin one of Montana’s foundries. The claywas still warm and palpable; the gator ar-ticulating with his whole being the fasci-nating mystique of the Everglades.

Quite serendipitously, I also happenedto watch Geoffrey sculpting a miniaturemermaid that eventually may grow into …and here I am going to reveal a secret …Port Salerno’s centerpiece sculpture for itstraffic circle that will include a fountain toenfold the mermaid with the mysteriousspirit of water. And if this beautiful fan-tasy envisioned by the artist becomes real,then Port Salerno will certainly becomethe “Mermaid Capital of the World.”

Originally from San Francisco, Geof-frey moved in 1996 to Florida from Mon-tana, where he received a major ineconomics, but the artist always livedwithin him. He showed me a carving fromhis past when he used to carve woodenduck decoys of exceptional quality. “That’swhat I was doing at the age of 15,” he said.

His quest for creative growth uncov-ered for Smith the immense potential of

another art medium, the bronze,which he combined with his edu-cation and business drive to attainglobal recognition as a sculptor.Now the owner of two galleries indowntown Stuart and PortSalerno, Smith is a living legendwhose iconic sculptures, includ-ing the Stuart Fountain Sailfish,the Jensen Beach High Falcon, theSea Life Monument, among oth-

ers, will inhabit Martin County’s urbanlandscape forever, elevating and ampli-

fying our culture of environmentalconsciousness.

“Our community is highlyeco-conscious,” he said, refer-ring to his six waterbird sculp-tures recently commissioned forColorado Avenue as part ofthe City of Stuart’s centennialcelebration, and supportedby the Art in Public Placesprogram, Women in Sup-port of the Arts, and vari-ous individuals.

“We've got to protectour rivers, ocean and thespecies that inhabit them,”

he added, “otherwise, in thissailfish capital of the world,

there will only be aone-a-kind sailfishleft—by the LyricTheater,” referringto the city's sailfishfountain.

Recognized byFlorida Fish andWildlife Commis-sion for “Excellence

in Capturing the Beauty of FloridaWildlife,” Geoffrey C. Smith in many waysrekindles the trend of American romanti-cism, whose great painters initiated theConservation Movement in the U.S. withtheir awe-inspiring paintings of the RockyMountains. It’s a historical fact thatThomas Moran’s sublime images of theGrand Canyon convinced President Grant,and eventually Congress, to establish theYellowstone region as the first nationalpark in 1872.

If, back in the 19th century, the Conser-vation Movement was mainly associatedwith the West, in the 21st century, it’s ourFlorida, and thanks to Geoffrey C. Smith'swildlife bronze sculptures, the entireplanet can hear the magic song of the Ever-glades as it's never been heard before. ■

Russian-American Maya Ellenson, who holdsM.A. and PhD degrees in Russian languageand literature from Moscow State University,has lived in Martin County for eight years. Afree-lance writer, she has a particular interestin world culture and art.

Geoffrey Smith sculpture sings song of wildlifeMaya

Ellenson

Art Kaleidoscope

Sculptor Geoffrey Smith at work on a mermaid in hisstudio at the Geoffrey C. Smith Gallery in Port Salernowith a view of his recently completed alligator mold,soon to be shipped to a Montana foundry. The mermaidmay become the centerpiece ofthe Port Salerno turnabout onSalerno Road.

A glass table top is suspended by acommissioned undersea sculptureby Geoffrey Smith.

A Geoffrey Smith bronze pelican statute--thisone created through contributions by CityCommissioner Jeff Krauskopf--will land onColorado Avenue to commemorate the city'scentennial, along with a sandhill crane, aroseate spoonbill, an eagle and an osprey. A flight of herons is planned for the ColoradoAvenue roundabout.

Visitors to the Geoffrey C. Smith Gallery on A1A inPort Salerno often remark that they feel they've justvisited a museum rather than a sculptor's studio.Many of the works are awaiting installation throughout Martin County.

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From losing a sibling to fleeing anabusive parent to working in thefields at age six, several recipients

of the Visiting Nurse Association schol-arship awards this year overcame hard-scrabble circumstances to achievestellar accomplishments—academicand otherwise.

The VNA of Florida awarded $8,000in scholarships to graduates from Mar-tin and Okeechobee high schools seek-ing careers in the medical field based onneed, academic performance and thestrength of personal essays describingtheir life experiences.

“These young people are amazing inwhat they’ve overcome and whatthey’re poised to achieve,” said JenniferCrow, marketing and communicationsdirector for VNA of Florida. “We’rethankful for the chance to provide asmall investment in their future ca-reers—which are headed for greatness.”

JULIET SHARPE, Palm City South Fork High School, 3.94 GPA,ranked No. 24 of 417 seniors. Attend-ing University of Central Florida,major in Nursing.

Juliet’s mother fled to a shelter whenJuliet was six years old. Confused, Juliet

still harbored hopesof seeing her dadagain, but he diedof alcoholism anddiabetes when shewas 13. Resolving“to live each day tothe fullest and tonever give up onwhat I want to ac-complish in life,”

Juliet worked at both Panera Bread andLittle Prodigy School of Music while inschool to supplement her family's in-come. A founding member of Artists fora Cause Club, she performed at seniorcommunities, created Braille menus forthe blind, helped raise supplies for localfood banks and funds to fight humantrafficking. She also created Braillemenus for Lighthouse for the Blind.With an interest in medical bioengineer-ing, she hopes to help people with pros-thetic limbs.

JENNA LEONARD, Port St. LucieMartin County High School, ranked No.42 of 449 seniors. Attending Universityof Central Florida,major in Nursing.

With her momworking in thekitchen at PalmCity Elementaryand her dad dis-abled, Jennaworked 24 hours aweek to supple-ment her family'sincome. Accepted in Martin CountyHigh’s medical academy (which enabled

her to stay at the school even after herfamily moved to Port St. Lucie), Jennaearned a Certified Medical Assistant li-cense. Combining her love of dance andcommunity outreach, she helped thestaff at Healthsouth choreograph afundraising video for the Pink GloveProject’s campaign against breast cancer.Her work ethic impressed Healthsouth,which hired her as a rehab nursing tech-nician after she earned her CMA. “Mydream is to become a pediatric nurse,”she said, “so I can help give children asecond chance.”

TAYLOR ELYSE LOPRETO, Palm CityClark Advanced Learning Center,ranked No. 2 of 92 seniors. AttendingEmory University, major inBiology/pre-med.

Christmas toy drives. MentoringBoys and Girls Club members. Conduct-

ing a study to helpprotect the ecosys-tem at DupuisManagement Area.Knowing herdream of becominga doctor demandeddrive and a fearlessconfrontation ofchallenge, Taylortook it all on—

while maintaining excellent grades. Shelearned a whole new lesson when herfather became unemployed for twoyears. The family was forced to draintheir savings, then her college fund, andshe took two part-time jobs—intern,then office staff at Treasure Coast Podia-try and hosting at Flanigan’s SeafoodBar & Grill. “It just taught me thatthere’s more to life than materialisticthings,” she said, “and as long as youhave your family, you’re OK.”

LUCIA PINEDA, StuartSouth Fork HighSchool. AttendingUniversity of Cen-tral Florida, majorin Nursing.

After emigratingfrom Mexico,Lucia’s family set-tled in Indiantown,with a mom pro-tecting her children

with a mix of strict rules and high ex-pectations.

“She always reminded us that wecame here for a better life—and that’snot going to make your life better,” Luciasaid. “I knew that there wasn’t anythingout there for me, and if I got into thesebad habits, my life would go nowhere.”

Her parents divorced after the pro-longed hospitalization and death of aninfant sibling. To help her mother finan-cially, Lucia worked 20 hours a week atMcDonald’s. She also volunteered withHabitat for Humanity, House of Hope

and the Red Cross Top Model Pageant,while excelling in school. In honor ofher little brother, she hopes as a nurse tohelp children—particularly newborns.

EMILY JONES, Palm City Martin County High School graduate,No. 50 of 449 seniors. Attending Univer-sity of Central Florida, major in Nursing.

From a large family of limitedmeans, Emily learned early not to expectthe indulgencesother kids enjoyed;however, she wasdumbstruck whenat 14 her parentsadmitted theycouldn’t afford hercollege. She’d haveto find a way to fig-ure how to go.Learning aboutdual enrollment from her guidancecounselor, she graduated with an associ-ate’s degree. She also danced with Mar-tin County Tigerettes, performing inMacy’s Day Parade and at the 2014 Or-ange Bowl. She volunteers in the kids’ministry at church, as well as with RedCross, Salvation Army and at area soupkitchens.

“Nothing in life comes easy,” shesaid, “but throughout my high school

years I learned with hard work and ded-ication I can achieve anything.”

LAWRENCE PARZYGNAT III, Jensen BeachJensen Beach High School. AttendingUniversity of Florida, major in Biology.

In ninth grade, Lawrence’s father leftthe family. His mom took three jobs topay the bills. Lawrence cared for his littlesister, encouraging her by “compliment-ing her on every little thing she did andbeing a large part of her life.” Sharpen-ing his leadership skills in JROTC, hetook part in trash pickups, car washes,coupon drives for overseas families ofmilitary personnel and restoring a oysterbeds in the St. Lucie River. Although his“father was on my mind most of thetime,” Lawrence determined to “pushon, because it would make me strongerfor the predicaments that would beharder to handle later in life.” He plansto become an anesthesiologist.

The Okeechobee High School gradu-ates earning scholarships are MariahRuiz, who earned 28 credits toward col-lege while in high school, and SandraHernandez, who was fourth in her class,earning her associate's degree in nursingprior to graduating. Both are students atIndian River State College. ■

--Ike Crumpler

'Hard-knocks' kids earn college scholarships

17Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 Lifestyle

18 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015One Florida Foundation

The ongoing efforts toimprove water qualityand eliminate Lake

Okeechobee discharges domi-nated a recent roundtable dis-cussion at which Nyla Pipes ofOne Florida Foundation wasinvited to participate.

Sen. Marco Rubio's chief ofstaff, Todd Reid, hosted the“Lake Okeechobee Round-table” at the Chastain campusof IRSC on June 18 in Stuart tohear updates from US ArmyCorp of Engineers Lt Col. Jen-nifer Reynolds and Jeff Kivett,engineering operations man-ager for the South FloridaWater Management District.

“The Army Corps of Engi-neers and the South FloridaWater Management Districtgave us updates about wherewe are now (regarding CERPand CEPP projects) and wherewe must work next,” Pipessaid, “with consensus that wemust continue to fight for funding forEverglades restoration. It was also evi-dent that there will be further effortneeded to seek funding for more waterstorage throughout the system.”

Others from the SFWMD and theArmy Corps participated, as well asMartin County Commisioner Ed Field-ing and staff Kate Parmalee and DonDonaldson; Sebastian Mayor Richard

Gilmore; ChuckJacoby, supervis-ing environmentalscientist for StJohn’s RiverWater Manage-ment District;Meagan Davis, ex-ecutive director atHarbor BranchOceanographicInstitute; MarkPerry, executivedirector, FloridaOceanographicSociety; activistRae Ann Wessel ofSanibel -Captiva;Jason Bessey, St.Lucie CountyUtilities Dept.,and Sewall's PointCommissionerJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.

At the “BigSugar Summit,” hosted by the SierraClub in West Palm Beach, we heardChairman Collie Billie of the MiccosukeeTribe, who spoke eloquently about theneed to ensure the quality of the waterprior to sending it through the Ever-glades. In fact, the Miccosukee Tribe'slawsuit against Florida is what set thestandard of 10ppb of phosphorus forwater entering the Everglades.

Pipes said that what struck her themost about Billie was his comment that“only by working together that we willtruly be able to restore the Everglades,”which is the founding theme of OneFlorida Foundation.

“It is time to come together in our ef-

forts to save theEverglades,” Pipesadded, “and stopthe damagingLake Okeechobeedischarges.”

The same mes-sage was alsogiven by OneFlorida Founda-tion Co-founderCapt. Don Voss,who spoke beforeTampa Bay Watchand members ofthe United Nationson World Ocean’sDay. He alsospoke at the IndianRiver State CollegeLeadership Campand at Florida At-lantic UniversityH2O to Go Sum-mer Camp aboutbeing an advocate,

enumerating the challenges Floridafaces to clean its waters.

“This was directly after we spent aday on the Kissimmee River studyingbeside these bright young people,”Pipes added, “some of whom werescholarship recipients to attend the H2Oto Go camp.”

The One Florida Foundation wasalso part of the grand re-opening cele-bration of the Fort Pierce City Marina,spending the day teaching residentsabout Florida's aquifer.

“The Fort Pierce City Marina is nowone of the greenest marinas in the coun-try,” Pipes said, “and is being looked atas an example for others to follow.” ■

One Florida members work to spread the message

One Florida Foundation members joins the Shark Whisperers on the Sea Siren out of PompanoBeach to spend the day helping conduct shark research.

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Don Pipes, of One Florida Foundation, takes the measurements of a nurse shark aboard the Sea Siren off Dania Beach.

A featured speaker at Shark-Con, expert Dr. Jose Castro signed his most recent book,The Sharks of North America, for Nyla Pipes, of One Florida.

The ongoing efforts to im-prove water quality andeliminate Lake Okeechobee

discharges dominated a recentroundtable discussion at whichNyla Pipes of One Florida Foun-dation was invited to participate.

Sen. Marco Rubio's chief ofstaff, Todd Reid, hosted the “LakeOkeechobee Roundtable” at theChastain campus of IRSC on June18 in Stuart to hear updates fromUS Army Corp of Engineers LtCol. Jennifer Reynolds and JeffKivett, engineering operationsmanager for the South FloridaWater Management District.

“The Army Corps of Engi-neers and the South Florida WaterManagement District gave us up-dates about where we are now(regarding CERP and CEPP proj-ects) and where we must worknext,” Pipes said, “with consen-sus that we must continue to fightfor funding for Evergladesrestoration. It was also evidentthat there will be further effortneeded to seek funding for more waterstorage throughout the system.”

Others from the SFWMD and theArmy Corps participated, as well asMartin County Commisioner Ed Field-ing and staff Kate Parmalee and DonDonaldson; Sebastian Mayor RichardGilmore; Chuck Jacoby, supervising en-vironmental scientist for St John’sRiver Water Management District;Meagan Davis, executive director atHarbor Branch Oceanographic Insti-tute; Mark Perry, executive director,Florida Oceanographic Society; activistRae Ann Wessel of Sanibel -Captiva;Jason Bessey, St. Lucie County UtilitiesDept., and Sewall's Point Commis-sioner Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.

At the “Big Sugar Summit,” hostedby the Sierra Club in West Palm Beach,we heard Chairman Collie Billie of theMiccosukee Tribe, who spoke eloquentlyabout the need to ensure the quality ofthe water prior to sending it through theEverglades. In fact, the MiccosukeeTribe's lawsuit against Florida is whatset the standard of 10ppb of phosphorusfor water entering the Everglades.

Pipes said that what struck her themost about Billie was his comment that“only by working together that we willtruly be able to restore the Everglades,”which is the founding theme of OneFlorida Foundation.

“It is time to come together in our ef-forts to save the Everglades,” Pipesadded, “and stop the damaging LakeOkeechobee discharges.”

The same message was also given byOne Florida Foundation Co-founderCapt. Don Voss, who spoke beforeTampa Bay Watch and members of the

United Nations on World Ocean’s Day.He also spoke at the Indian River StateCollege Leadership Camp and at FloridaAtlantic University H2O to Go Summer

Camp about being an advocate, enumer-ating the challenges Florida faces toclean its waters.

“This was directly after we spent aday on the Kissimmee River studyingbeside these bright young people,”Pipes added, “some of whom werescholarship recipients to attend the H2Oto Go camp.”

The One Florida Foundation wasalso part of the grand re-opening cele-bration of the Fort Pierce City Marina,spending the day teaching residentsabout Florida's aquifer.

“The Fort Pierce City Marina is nowone of the greenest marinas in the coun-try,” Pipes said, “and is being looked atas an example for others to follow.” ■

19Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 One Florida Foundation

Youngsters hear message of clean water for all

H2O to Go campers aboard the Kissimmee Explorer,of the Riverwoods Field Laboratory from Lorida, Fla.,examine the marine animals they found living in theKissimmee River.

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One Florida Foundation co-founder, Capt. Don Voss, with Indiantown YMCA students Gustavo Lucas, 11, Eli Martinez, 10, and Petrona Francisco, 10, at the YMCALunch Bunch. One Florida Foundation donated $250 toprovide swim lessons for five Indiantown youngsters.

H2O to Go camper Melanie Chedafinds her first apple snail.

The special session of the FloridaLegislature ended June 21 with nomoney budgeted for purchase of

U.S. Sugar land. Neither was $780 mil-lion placed into the Forever Florida fundauthorized by Amendment One. Thismade headlines and was trumpeted bymany caring residents as a major shun-ning of our estuary and a detriment tothe future of our lagoon. But is it really?

No discharges were released fromLake Okeechobee during the rainy sea-son of 2014, yet we still saw harmfulalgae blooms, loss of sea grasses, deadoyster reefs, beaches closed by bacterialconditions, and reported fish kills.Without the Lake discharges to blame,we can look only to the local run-offinto canals and ditches that dischargeinto our estuaries. When data is recov-ered from recently installed Kilroy andLOBO monitoring systems, the loca-tions and determination of pollutantswill be established, and the rest of thestory will be told.

This is all important, since the U.S.Supreme Court recently clarified theClean Water Act's jurisdiction of U.S.waters, thus upholding a lower court'sruling on EPA standards set for theCheasapeake Bay for total daily loads ofphosphorus and nitrogen. Cleanups forthis 64,000-square-mile watershedacross six states and the District of Co-lumbia, according to the agency, calls for

25 percent reductions of nitrogen andphosphorous levels and at least a 16-percent reduction in sediment by 2025through a combination of federal andstate actions.

This ruling flies right in the face ofFlorida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi,who fought the ruling, and was on thelosing side; however, that case also canfinally give some teeth to the RiversCoalition Defense Fund to use its pur-ported $800,000 raised from River Kidzevents, Rivers Coalition rallies, fishingtournaments, marches and otherfundraising events over the past severalyears to demand that our state waters becleaned up, too. The time is ripe to stepup and provide the legal solution thatthis group advocates, but we also havehope that perhaps the Florida Legisla-ture will step up to ensure that our localTMDL standards are met.

We also have other great news. TheSouth Florida Water Management Dis-trict has taken over control of the Ten

Mile Creek reservoir from the ArmyCorps of Engineers and has gotten itpartially operational, and the St. LucieCounty Department of EnvironmentalResources Management, in conjunctionwith DEP, has completed the TaylorCreek and leg one of the Savannas waterretention project.

In Martin County, the C-44, C-23/C-24 and the C-25 canal projects are get-ting funded by state and federalagencies; and Martin County donated $2million towards the SFWMD $22 millionpurchase of Harmony Ranch propertyalong Pratt-Whitney Road for additionalstormwater treatment.

Martin County and the South FloridaWater Management District alsoswapped properties on the WilliamsonRanch in Indiantown for property inPalm City on the All American Ditch, oneof the county's septic tank effluent “hotspots,” which will soon begin a watertreatment project adjacent to Mapp Road.

All of these projects will help move,clean and store water, taking pressureoff our lagoon.

Imagine if our counties took controlof septic systems and folded them into anew modernized sewer system (wher-ever possible).

The news is actually verging on theside of great. Reports from all along theestuary indicate that the sea grass oncetouted as dead…murdered by the dis-charges…has begun to spring to life,even with local discharges in 2014 andLake and local discharges in early 2015.Grasses are not only starting to comeback, they are thriving. Numerousplanting projects outside of the sea grassfields are proceeding, and this is greatnews for the estuary.

Also the oyster reef restoration proj-ects are in full swing in St Lucie andMartin counties. Jim Oppenborn, fromthe St. Lucie County Artificial Reef pro-gram, has a healthy crew of volunteersthat meet weekly and bag the oysters in

preparation of deployment. Thirty cubicyards of shells are brought to the staginglot at Harbor Pointe Park weekly, andhundreds of locals come out and put inan hour or two whenever they can tokeep this project ongoing. It requiresmuch much money and, yet the im-provements to water quality is undeni-able as each one of these critters filtersand cleans 50 gallons of water a day.

There also are federal projects thatare moving forward, albeit at a snail’space. It must be accepted that nearly 100years ago, land speculators in Miamibegan the idea of draining the swamps,claiming the “new” land, and selling itto make their fortunes. Those who set-tled there pestered Washington DC andthe Army Corps if Engineers to protectthem from flooding.

That is when the sheet flow of waterwent. That is when the River of Grassceased. As with anything lost…it is gone.It would be wise of us to accept this fact,and find the new best way to addressgetting sufficient water south. Not justthe dirty water of Lake Okeechobee. Notjust the 1.6 million acre-feet of water dis-charged to the estuaries in 2013. Butrather, the 2,500 acre-feet per day theEverglades can handle and needs.

One Florida Foundation leads thepack calling for storageanywhere/everywhere, not just south ofthe lake. The reason is to prepare fordrinking water shortages coming soonto our area. We are absolutely in favor ofwater going south, just not flushing itsouth to placate a few. ■

Capt. Don Voss, nationally recognized forhis environmental initiatives to improve thewater quality of the Indian River Lagoon,will be a regular contributor to MartinCounty Currents. All advertising on thesepages will benefit One Florida Foundation,dedicated to addressing water issuesthroughout the state.

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015One Florida Foundation20

Capt.Don Voss

One Florida Foundation

Hope springs eternal for healing our estuaries

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A weekly gathering of volunteers assist Jim Oppenborn, of the St. Lucie County artificial reefprogram, to bag oyster shells at Harbor Pointe Park to help restore estuary oyster beds.

Nothing new. It's the summer ofsharks. The Discovery Channelrecently entertained us with

"Shark Week" to watch these predatorsperform, but they're not performing—they're biting! Personally, I'm worried. Isit reasonable to believe shark popula-tions are growing? To find real answers,I decided to interview the key peoplewho assess our fishery and are realshark specialists.

Ben Hartig is the chairman of theSouth Florida Fishery ManagementCouncil, which assesses fish stocks forthe coastal regions from Florida to theCarolinas using data derived from com-mercial fisheries and the Florida Fishand Wildlife Commission on recre-ational catches.

"Over the years I have followed abasic management philosophy,” he said,“that if you take care of the fish—man-age a long term sustainability—the fish-ermen will reap the benefits of largerand more abundant fish.”

Hartig knows the industry first hand.He has worked on the Juno Beach Pier,managed a tackle shop, obtained hiscaptains license, partnered in a whole-sale/retail seafood market, and caughtand sold fish since he was 10 years old.

I asked him to explain the dynamicsof the summer shark phenomen. Amongthe numerous reasons he gave me, hereare a few:

• Sharks bear their puppies in veryshallow water during the summer, whichexplains the numerous trout-sized sharksthat were caught recently by my fellowanglers in Hatteras, N.C. The large sandsharks that were caught were droppingpups as they re-entered the sea.

• The combination of high salinityfrom drought conditions, record high seatemps and turbid water create the condi-tions that excite migratory fish to feed atthe beach, Hartig added. The North Car-olina beaches have been invaded byschools of oily bluefish and mackerel.

• The loggerhead turtles, the greens,the leatherbacks have all beach-farmedtheir eggs in record numbers this sea-son, Hartig reminded me. As we admirethe hatchlings leaving for the enormousocean, we all know their stories don'tend there, as mutton snapper andgrouper leave the reefs and quickly getto the shallows to feast on the hatch-lings. As reef fish leave, the sharks exitthe shelf and cruise to the shallows.

It's well known that the Juno Pierand surf anglers fishing for snook will

start catching snapper as they reap theturtle spawn rewards. Unfortunately,tiger sharks will dine on mature turtles,and the bulls, lemons, black tips andsandbar sharks feast on the snapper andsnook. This is when the beach will be-come a hazard to swim in. You spot thistype of fishing activity on the piers andbeaches, don't go in the water!

On the positive side regarding ourlittle hatchlings, however, we have onesavior. Remember last month's columnon the sargassum weed clogging oursurf? Fortunately for our turtle popula-tion, the weed, which can be foundeverywhere, creates that first specialhome for our turtle newbies!

To answer my question regardingwhether or not the shark population isgrowing and, if so, would it affect outfishery, Hartig referred me to RustyHudson, a shark specialist and presidentof the Directed Sustainable Fisheries,Inc. He was a commercial shark har-vester for many years and is now a con-sultant to many federal panels. His July8, 2015, federal report is entitled, "TheUnintended Consequence from Under-fishing and Overregulation."

He tells me that in the early '80s, theU.S. government instructed the commer-cial fisheries to harvest land sharks andsell them domestically and internation-ally. By the late 1980s, China's demandfor shark fin soup skyrocketed, in partbecause of the increase in supply.

The National Marine Fisheries Serv-ice noted a major decline in coastalshark populations as a result of China'sincreased demand, and stopped AtlanticCoast shark fishing in 1993. They lob-bied scientists in Florida to declare thatmercury levels in shark meat madethem unsafe to consume, Hudson ex-plained. To save the sharks, the govern-ment created coastal shark sanctuariesover the past 20 years, which are loadedwith sharks. The restricted shark fishinghas led to specific coastal areas beingvictimized by sharks, he added.

New Smyrna Beach became the sharkcapital of the world, recording more than250 shark bite victim over the past 20years, and the sanctuary off the Caroli-nas has prospered so successfully thatthe results are fairly regularly featuredon the evening news broadcasts.

Localy, off-shore charter captainsEden White and Eric Gates have experi-enced the negative impacts of just tryingto reel in a fish! The bull's simply followlarge vessels and wait to eat a free meal.Capt. Gates, out of Juno Beach, says aprized mutton snapper has a very diffi-cult time reaching the cooler. Besidesthe inadvertent charter feeds, the sharksare always happy to see dive boats ap-proaching the continental shelf. Sharkdive charters feed the sharks to take dra-matic photos for tourists and residentsto take home.

Most commercial fisherman just callthe slow years a bad cycle, yet overall,the mackerel and pompano fishery havedeclined 30 to 50 percent over the past10 years, according to Hudson. The kingmackerel decline has been troubling.

"The decades of underfishing sharkshas lead to the unintended consequenceof creating shark sanctuaries,” he says.“The American public are hearing aboutmore shark sightings and attacks alongnumerous beaches, and expandingshark populations are negatively im-pacting US saltwater fisheries, causinglarge financial losses. The federal sharkfishery has done a very poor job of as-sessing shark populations."

Jupiter off-shore commercial fisher-man David Williams knows how to cur-tail bull sharks from eating your prized

catch. Simply entice a bull into biting abig bait. Fight him and reel him to theboat, then carefully release the beast.Within minutes the bull sharks will va-moose! They know when one of theirkind has been injured and will behaveaccordingly.

If you own a dive charter businessand feed sharks, that's your business,but if we continue to make life easy forsharks, one day we won't have muchleft to catch! ■

Rich Vidulich, a commercial pompano surffisherman who traverses the beaches of Mar-tin County and points north for his "goldennuggets," lives in Jupiter. Send comments orquestions to Pompano@ MartinCountyCurrents.com.

Sharks on TVs, on minds, but not on our plates

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015 Outdoors 21

Rich Vidulich

Pompano Reporter

Thursday, Sept. 24A Town Hall MeetingA town hall meeting hosted by City Commis-sioner Eula Clarke will give an update on is-sues that impact City of Stuart residentsThursday, Sept. 24, at the 10th Street Commu-nity Center, 724 SE 10th Street, Stuart.

Friday, Sept. 25Book-signing at Apollo School

A book-signing and presenta-tion featuring eight Floridamystery authors will be Fri-day, Sept. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m.at the Apollo School, 9141 S.E.Apollo Street, Hobe Sound.

Award-winning and best-selling authors will include Miriam Auerbach, AliBrandon, Gregg Brickman, Sharon Menear, Randy Rawls, Deborah Sharp,Joanna Campbell Slan, and Elaine Viets. The bookseller will be Murder onthe Beach from Delray Beach.

Friday, Sept. 257th Annual Health & Wellness ShowThe Stuart/Martin County Chamber invites the public to discuss, discover,and get up to date on the latest in health and self-maintenance at the 7th An-nual Health & Wellness Show on Friday, Sept. 25 at the Grace Place Connec-tion Center on Salerno Road in Stuart. Hands-on demonstrations andone-on-one instruction from wellness experts! Healthy foods and cookingexperts! An array of health professionals on hand to answer questions! Theshow is free to the public from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Beginning Friday, Sept 25Barn Theatre features Odd Couple

“The Female Odd Couple” opens the Barn Theatreseason, running from Sept. 25 through Oct. 11. Ungerand Madison are at it again – Florence Unger andOlive Madison, that is! A feminine twist to NeilSimon’s hilarious comic classic. Tickets are only $20for the best in community theatre! Tickets:www.barn-theatre.com or call 772-287-4884.

Thursday, Sept. 17Seine & Snorkel Dayat River CenterThe River Center's environmental edu-cators will host an Estuary FamilySnorkel and Seine Expedition at CoralCove Park on Jupiter Island, 1 p.m. to 3p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17, as they guidea seine and dip net trip through themangroves and seagrass. All staffmembers are certified lifeguards, andwhile there is no charge for the event,space is limited and reservations arerequired. Participants may bringsnorkel equipment or goggles, but it isnot required. Water shoes are stronglyrecommended. Contact the River Cen-ter at 561-743-7123.

Thursday, Sept. 17Constitution DaySpeaker20 ptThe Center for Constitutional Val-ues, an organization working to en-hance the knowledge of theConstitution especially among youngpeople, will host its next speaker Sept.17 at the Blake Libary in Stuart with apresentation by FAU Professor andConstitutional scholar MarshallDeRosa. This event is being sponsoredjointly with the Library Foundation ofMartin County. Doors open at 6pm inthe Armstrong Room. Dr. DeRosa willspeak at 6:30 pm. For more informa-tion, contact Kate Boland at 772-266-3386 or [email protected].

Saturday, Sept. 19Talk Like a Pirate Day!20 ptThe centers of the pirate universewill be at the Hobe Sound Public Li-brary and the Peter and Julie Cum-mings Library in Palm City on Saturday,Sept. 19, when buccaneers from theTreasure Coast gather for their annualInternational Talk Like a Pirate Day!Movies, crafts, treasure hunting, fun -and of course - a boatload of bucca-neers. A special event will be the Geo-cache Treasure Hunt, 12 pm-5 pm, forall ages at the Cummings Library. Formore information, call (772) 219-4908,pick up a Library Connection at any li-brary location, or visit the library web-site at library.martin.fl.us.

Thursday, Oct. 1LEADERship Martin atStuart Jet CenterSpend an exclusive evening at the Stuart JetCenter on Oct. 1 for the LEADERship MartinCounty Alumni and Stuart/Martin CountyChamber of Commerce after-hours social toraise funds for the Next Step Advanced LEAD-ERship Symposium. Admission is just $20,and guests will enjoy a full bar, appetizers andan exclusive behind-the-scenes look at theStuart Jet Elite Hangar.

Explore helicopters, jets, regatta racingboats, and win dozens of prizes in the raffleauction. Tickets are $20 and are available atthe Stuart/Martin Chamber of Commerce oronline at www.leadershipmcalumni.com. Allfunds raised will be used for the Next Step Ad-vanced LEADERship Symposium, a day oflearning and leadership skill development inMartin County.

Saturday, Oct. 3Dine Around Hobe SoundProgressive Dinner

One of the mostpopular events inthe county, theDine Around HobeSound Progres-sive Dinner, willbe Saturday, Oct3 from 5:30pm-11pm. Every year

the event is sold out, because tickets are lim-ited to 88 persons. The evening begins withhors d’oeuvres and a cocktail at a lovelyJupiter Island home, then you will progress toone of 11 homes of the “celebrity chef” youhave chosen for a gourmet meal that neverdisappoints. The evening ends this year atFlash Beach Grille for a nightcap, dessert bar,and entertainment. Tickets are $50 per per-son, and early reservations are suggested. Youmay register online at www.hobesound.org orcall 772-546-4724.

Saturday, Oct. 31Sheriff's Halloween Trunk or TreatThe Martin County Sheriff's Office is gearingup for it 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat event onSaturday, Oct. 31. Business owners interestedin participating to provide the community witha fun-filled evening for children and adults in asafe and controlled environment, please con-tact the Sheriff's Office. The registration dona-tion is $60 per business, and will will supportthe Venture Program. The evening will includedisplays from the Sheriff’s Office, bouncehouses, hot dogs, hamburgers, food trucks,hay rides, live DJ and much more! For more in-formation, contact Trisha M. Kukuvka, Sher-iff's Office Public Affairs Coordinator, [email protected] or call772.320.4737.

22 Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015What ’n Where

23Martin County CurrentsSeptember 2015

Martin County CurrentsSeptember 201524 Martin County Moments

What's missing from Sept. 11? Patriotic colors and U.S. flags infused life in Martin County from the first week of June through mid-July as residents celebrated Flag Day and IndependenceDay. Ocean Palms hosted a Flag Day extravaganza with a full day of music, fashion shows, salute to veterans, and even a troupe of show girls. The Fourth ofJuly celebration in Stuart included two bands and family-friendly activities at Flagler Park and fireworks over the St. Lucie River that went off without a hitch.Speakers and audience members who jammed the Community Redevelopment Area workshop in Blake Library wore red, white or blue to demonstrate theirFirst Amendment right that County Commissioner Anne Scott called "a rally." But where were the flags to honor our Sept. 11 heroes.

Documents

Martin County Currents September 2015