See 2002 News Archive

Acreage board reluctantly sides with Masilotti: Keep SR 7 off 110th Avenue

By Bob Markey II

Sept. 5, 2003 - Acreage leaders and County Commissioner Tony Masilotti found themselves on the same page, for a change, last week, when Masilotti asked them for a resolution opposing any use of 110th Avenue as a State Road 7 reliever route.

But despite agreement in principal with Masilotti, the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors struggled to concede to the commissioner's request.

"I will not, under any circumstances, allow any special interest groups … or developers … to force a road down 110th Avenue," Masilotti wrote to the board.

The SR 7 Reliever would be a $12 million, 3.5-mile road curving sharply west, just north of Okeechobee Boulevard, then sharply north, near La Mancha and eventually parallel to 110th Avenue. It would likely be two lanes, ending at Persimmon Boulevard and/or other more northern streets.

Masilotti's request was a result of an August commission meeting, during his vacation, when commissioners discussed placing the long-proposed SR 7 Reliever on 110th. That north-south road starts at the Royal Palm Beach line and ends at Orange Boulevard, making up The Acreage's eastern boundary.

Commissioners reasoned that using 110th for SR 7 would eliminate the expensive need to disturb and mitigate for sensitive land in the western section of the Pond Cypress preserve, just east of La Mancha and the lower Acreage. Homes on and near 110th Avenue could be taken by imminent domain proceedings.

Masilotti was not at the commission meeting and assured Acreage residents he would fight such a move. "This is one suggestion I will never ever entertain," he said.

ITID Supervisor Bob Dawson said Masilotti's request was a no-brainer - a chance for the district and county to forge a rare alliance.

"There's not a whole lot we have been able to agree with the commission on, but this should be one of them," he said.

"There's no way in hell it's gonna go down 110th," Dawson said.

Supervisor Myra Orlando said the resolution should have been a "courtesy" toward Masilotti

But ITID President Chris Karch, who has publicly feuded on the issue with Masilotti and Royal Palm Beach officials, opposed the resolution.

"I'm not going to support SR 7 dumping into this community ever, in any way shape or form," Karch said, calling for the resolution to address Persimmon, Coconut and other roads.

"How many letters have we written to the commissioner that he has not answered?" he said, referring to squabbles over the ownership and plans to expand Community Park and other issues.

Karch suggested the ITID wait one month until the County Commission considered a environmentalist-proposed ordinance that would place a conservation easement on any sensitive land purchased for preservation. The ordinance would prohibit development of land such as Pond Cypress.

If the commission approved of the ordinance on Sept. 29, Karch said, a resolution opposing the use of 110th Avenue would be moot because the county would no longer have a path for the reliever. He said commissioners might try to gut the ordinance to allow some uses on sensitive land, including roads.

"This multiplicity (of resolutions) will confuse" residents and other governmental entities, he said.

Karch said he and ITID engineers are preparing a public unveiling of their Grassy Waters Parkway plan, which would include a straight-north route from Okeechobee to Northlake boulevards.

He said meetings to preview the plan - and to seek state and federal funding - will soon be scheduled with legislators. ITID engineers are finalizing plans for the road.

"Within 45 days we should have a completed report," Karch said. After that, he proposed, a summit with other local governments and community leaders to promote the only route that would not adversely affect homeowners.

Royal Palm Beach Mayor David Lodwick said he has heard no support for the original SR 7 alignment, due to costs of building the road through the Grassy Waters preserve and lack of state funding. County officials have placed the cost of an original alignment at $100 million.

Lodwick said he met recently with state Rep. Dave Aaronberg, who agreed, "The permit issues on the original right of way are above and beyond what we could ever expect in our lifetime."

"I haven't heard that," countered Karch, who met with Aaronberg separately on the same day. "It is a very viable option."

Nevertheless, Lodwick expressed interest in a summit.

"I continue to support the commissioner's (Masilotti) plan," he said. "Hopefully, we can get their (ITID) commission to support it once reality sets in that there is no other option."

Vice Mayor "Matty" Mattioli said he would like to see the county commit to building the extension north of Northlake Boulevard. "That seems to be the stumbling block," he said.

The plan should also have a "definitive timeline," Lodwick said.

"We need the relief. We need the assistance, particularly in the days when we have an emergency," the mayor added. "It just shuts us down."

Deputies save family, horses from Wellington blaze

Bob Markey II 

July 11, 2003 - A miniature horse died, but a family and several pets escaped unharmed late Thursday from a three-alarm fire which destroyed a barn and garage in Paddock Park.

Three of the Jerkins family’s horses were saved, thanks to alert sheriff’s deputies, who sped to the home 14274 Laurel Trail – near Greenbriar Boulevard and Appaloosa Trail – alerted fire-rescue and coordinated an evacuation of the house and grounds.

“There was flame all over,” said Deputy Keith Conley, who was first on the scene around 10:22 p.m. “The horses were kicking the stalls and screaming.”

Conley and Deputy Gary Pollack were separately on patrol when they saw flames in the western distance. Conley said he radioed the Sheriff’s Office to determine whether a controlled burn was under way, and called for fire-rescue assistance while he and Pollack drove toward the orange glow.

Pollack arrived at an intersection near the neighborhood of five-acre home sites and left his car with its lights flashing as a signal for firefighters. He ran toward the blaze.

“It was just a wall of flames,” he said. The owners and several neighbors were “carrying dogs and cats out, and trying to save everything.”

Conley met Lisa and Foy Jerkins, as well as their 4- and 9-year-old daughters, rushing out of their 3,700-square-foot house. He went inside and made sure everyone had evacuated. “I shoved a big great Dane out,” he said.

As Pollack supervised the owners backing their trucks out of and away from the burning three-car garage, Conley ran around to the six-stall barn and storage rooms attached to and behind the garage.

“There were flames 100 feet in the air,” he said. “You couldn’t get within 15 feet of that thing.”

The barn and its one living occupant – a miniature stallion called “Baby” – could not be saved. So Conley and Foy Jerkins moved to the adjacent six-stall barn, threw harnesses on the panicking horses and led them to safety.

The pony died of smoke inhalation and burns, Fire-Rescue spokesman Capt. Sean Pamplona said. The other three horses suffered from smoke but were expected to fully recover. Two or three other horses had been turned out and were not near the fire, officials said.

Pamplona said the attached one-story house received only minor smoke damage, thanks to a major effort on behalf of Fire-Rescue, which responded with 13 engines and support trucks. Because hydrants are not found in Wellington’s southern equestrian preserve, more than 30 firefighters at first fought the blaze with 750-gallon pumpers, then with water from a nearby pond. The blaze was essentially out by 11:45 p.m., although it rekindled around 1:50 p.m. Friday, briefly drawing several fire engines back to the property.

Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, a “good friend” of the Jerkins, said Fire-Rescue did an “awesome job,” but lamented the lack of hydrants.

“It causes such worry that there are no fire hydrants in the area,” she said, “but luckily they had water from the pond available.”

Lisa Jerkins, a member of the Wellington Equestrian Committee, declined to comment. The Jerkins were expected to stay with family in the area for a couple of days as their home was repaired, Pamplona said.

Late Friday, an arson investigator had determined neither the fire’s cause nor damage estimate. Pamplona said the blaze, which melted portions of a Mercedes sedan in front of the garage, started in the barn.

It was the most on-the-job excitement Conley, a nine-year police officer who has been stationed in Wellington since 1999. He had mixed feelings about his role.

“I’m glad it was a minimal loss,” he said. “But it’s unfortunate that the little guy died.”

“The deputy saved the day on this one,” Pamplona said. “If it hadn’t been for him, things could have been a lot worse.”

Indian Trail forgives couple almost $6,000 in legal fees; ethics complaint results

By Bob Markey II

July 4, 2003 - The Indian Trail Improvement District has put to rest a lawsuit which cost Acreage taxpayers almost $20,000 and has drawn at least one state ethics violation complaint.

The district, which successfully defended a landowner's inverse condemnation lawsuit in 2002, has forgiven the man almost $6,000 in legal fees. District attorney Charles Schoech forced a decision on the issue - which involved a supporter of board President Chris Karch - public.

The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 on June 23 not to try to collect part of the cost of defending the suit by William and Adrian Griffin. Supervisor Penny Riccio voted for the process to "tax costs" and Supervisor Bob Dawson was absent.

The Griffins have been vilified enough, Karch said. "They paid their attorneys fees and we have paid ours."

A Palm Beach County Court judge ruled in November 2002 that the district did not take and damage a portion of Griffin's property in the course of paving Key Lime Boulevard. Griffin had charged the district - in the process of raising the road height, eliminating a swale and adding a sidewalk - caused "large quantities of surface water" to drain onto and remain on his land. He sought more than $20,000.

Griffin's suit alleged that 2 to 3 feet of water remained on his land at times after the October 1999 project. He also claimed a "large amount of dirt" began piling up on his property, which interfered with the enjoyment and lessened the value of his home.

The district argued that water on his property did not originate on the road, which was built within the existing right of way, and that the road sloped away from the property. The district said Griffin could have filled his land to reduce the flooding.

Nevertheless, the district offered to settle the suit by paying Griffin $6,000. When Griffin refused to accept the settlement and later lost the case, the district was entitled to ask the court to force Griffin to pay all legal fees incurred after the offer was made.

The suit cost the ITID $19,792.41 in legal fees, but only the amount incurred after the settlement offer, $5,786.10, could be collected, Schoech said. In additional to attorney fees, the amount included court reporter and legal expert charges.

Schoech estimated a further expense of $600 to $800 to gain a court order for the reimbursement. At that point, Griffin would have had to either pay the money or the district could have obtained a judgment again him and attempted to identify and seize property. That process could have cost the district another $1,000.

Schoech said he brought the issue before the board because it had lingered unresolved. In recent months, the issue was the subject of rumors and charges by former board members and opponents of the current ITID power structure.

Former supervisor Michelle Damone filed a complaint regarding the matter with the Florida ethics commission on May 27. She charged that Karch illegally used his position in an attempt to financially benefit a political supporter.

Schoech said he was instructed by Karch in February not to proceed with the fee collection process.

"I told him I cannot make a decision based on one commissioner's decision," Schoech said.

Schoech said he responded by calling the four other supervisors, the majority of whom did not favor proceeding. Dawson joined Riccio in the minority opinion to go for the money, he said.

District records show that on Feb. 12, Schoech wrote to Karch, indicating he has instructed the trial attorney to drop the matter.

The issue was not discussed during a board meeting until June 23, when Schoech asked for an official decision.

"I felt that it needed to be resolved publicly," he said.

"I firmly believe that Mr. Karch abused his position and waived these expenses for Mr. Griffin as a friend and someone who supported Mr. Karch during his (fall 2002) campaign," wrote Damone in her complaint to the Commission on Ethics.

Damone was defeated by Riccio in a September 2002 re-election bid. Karch was the only incumbent against The Acreage's incorporation and the only incumbent re-elected.

One ethics law prohibits "public officers and employees, and local government attorneys" from "corruptly using or attempting to use their official positions to obtain special privilege for themselves or others."

The commission does not comment on pending investigations.

Damone's was at least the second ethics violation complaint brought against the board.

In May, Acreage Landowners Association officer Norman Vogeney convinced the State Attorney's Office to investigate two alleged instances of doing public business in private, in violation of the Government in the Sunshine Law.

Karch, who was called to testify in the Griffin trial, said he was "embarrassed" to have been involved.

He said former district administrator John Bonde and Doug MacGibbon, trial attorney on behalf of the ITID "misrepresented the truth" in the case.

The board "didn't have any knowledge that this (case) was going forward," Karch said.

Griffin was justified in his suit when he played an audio tape of a conversation for then Supervisor Carol Francis, in which Francis suggested Griffin sue the district for damages, said Karch.

Riccio blamed former district engineer Dan Shalloway for the "mistake," but said she had to "put the community first" in voting to collect the money.

Supervisor Keith Haas said that "based on the math, I don't think it's worth it."

Supervisor Myra Orlando said the district caused Griffin's problem, which was not solved.

Indian Trail fires administrator; offers job to Oppel

By Bob Markey II

June 27, 2003 - Thanks for all your help. You're fired.

The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors fired Ken Schenck, its interim administrator of two months, on Monday, and immediately agreed to hire former school district executive Ed Oppel.

The decision - proposed by board President Chris Karch - came after the meeting's agenda had been completed, during supervisors' comments. The vote to fire the former Pahokee city manager and hire Oppel - who has accounting and legal degrees - was 4-0, with Supervisor Bob Dawson absent.

Supervisors, district attorney Charles Schoech and Schenck admitted the change was a surprise and said it should not reflect upon Schenck's performance since he was hired to replace John Bonde in April.

"I did a good job," Schenck said. "I helped them get through some instances."

"I'm disappointed in the way it happened," said Schenck, who had hoped to remain in the top job for six months as the board searched for a permanent administrator. "I didn't anticipate it. Obviously they've got something else in mind. I think they want this guy (Oppel)" as the permanent administrator.

Oppel, should he choose to accept the position, would be paid the same salary as Schenck - $3,307.69 every two weeks, a $400 per month car allowance and benefits - and operate under a nearly identical contract, the board agreed.

Schenck, whose final day will be June 30, will receive six weeks' severance pay.

Karch said he had hoped the search for a permanent administrator would cost the district $10,000 or less. However, he said, professional search firms would have charged more than that fee. The Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District's administrator search included a dinner for job hopefuls, which alone cost more than $10,000, Karch said.

While Karch was investigating the search process, he said, Oppel was consistently contacting him to express interest in the job.

Karch said Oppel's "tenacity" in lobbying him for the position was effective. He said Oppel's experience as a chief operating officer (and later, chief of facilities management) with the school district, director of the Port of Palm Beach, coordinator of a $50 million capital improvements program and interlocal agreements made him the prime candidate to run the day-to-day operations of the ITID.

"It's a difficult thing," said Karch, who later privately apologized to Schenck for the "surprise."

"It's something we struggled with, but it's something we need to move this district forward," Karch said.

Supervisor Penny Riccio was the only other supervisor to comment on the decision.

"I sort of like trying on new shoes," she said. "So I'm going to say, 'Why not?'"

The board also voted - with Supervisor Myra Orlando dissenting - to have the new administrator name a deputy, within the confines of the budget.

Riccio suggested the new position, which would allow the administrator to delegate some management duties.

Orlando called the decision "premature," saying she has not yet been able to determine each district employee's job description.

Schenck, who ran the Glades city for 12 years before being forced out of his job last summer, came on the Acreage job on April 28, in the midst of an ITID feud with the Village of Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach County over the proposed State Road 7 "Reliever." Bonde, who ran the district for 15 years, and Finance Director Tanya Quickel had resigned just before budget preparations, and a large number of residents were challenging board spending and political decisions.

Bonde had been seeking another job since the failed Acreage incorporation effort and election of an anti-incorporation board in November 2002.

"You stepped in when the district needed someone," Riccio told Schenck on Monday. "Your kindness and your graciousness has been much appreciated."

Schenck, who said he had been interested in the permanent job, has some career "irons in the fire." If a job does not surface immediately, he said, "I'll be playing some more golf."

Oppel, 63, who resigned as port director in 1999, unsuccessfully ran for a port commission seat in 2002. Most recently, he was a "frontrunner" for the Northern position, Karch said.

In November 2001, Oppel was fired for allegedly lying about back-dating a letter he asked employees to sign regarding his bid to become a port commissioner, and for releasing a confidential school district audit report. Oppel filed a whistleblower complaint with the state, and in June 2002, an administrative law judge ruled the school district must pay him from the date of his firing to the end of his $134,738 annual contract.

Oppel, who was unavailable for comment, will "have his hands full," Schenck said. "He will have to build some unity between the board and the county and some of the other governments in the area."

Former Pahokee manager gets interim Indian Trail post

By Bob Markey II

May 2, 2003 - The former city manager of Pahokee has assumed the reins of the Indian Trail Improvement District, replacing 15-year Acreage leader John Bonde.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously named Ken Schenck, who ran the Glades city for 12 years before being forced out of his job last summer, interim ITID administrator on Monday night.

"I already know some of the (district) problems and look forward to getting up to speed," Schenck said. "I look forward to working with them."

District Finance Director Tanya Quickel, who had been offered the administrator's position on behalf of the board majority by attorney Charles Schoech, reaffirmed her intent to resign, effective this summer.

Quickel, who was Bonde's top aide for three years, previously said she had accepted a position elsewhere in the county, but would not identify the employer or comment on her reason for resigning the $73,000 job.

"I'll help here with the budget (process)," she said. "We will have a smooth transition."

The board agreed to conduct a search for a permanent administrator. The process of filling the $98,000-plus position could last months.

Bonde resigned last month to accept a $92,000 job as assistant administrator of Wellington's Environmental and Engineering Services division. The former county engineering department employee ended his nine-year tenure as ITID administrator on April 18. Bonde was an elected supervisor from 1988 to 1994, when he resigned to accept the administrator's job.

Bonde - who supported the failed Acreage incorporation effort - was expected to resign. He was a finalist in January for the top spot at the Northern Palm Beach County Water Control District.

The board had hoped Quickel - who filled in for Bonde on several occasions and was praised for her financial management talents - would fill his shoes. President Chris Karch and Supervisors Penny Riccio and Myra Orlando individually instructed Schoech to offer her the job last month. They couldn't have promoted her until Monday night, during the first business meeting since Bonde resigned on April 3.

Board President Chris Karch presented Quickel with resolution of "appreciation for her dedicated service to the district" during the meeting.

"I was only one person in a great team at the district," Quickel told the board. "You have a wonderful staff here and that goes all the way from the top to the bottom. The people here made it easy for me to do my job."

Bonde, who was not present, was similarly honored.

Supervisor Penny Riccio, who encouraged Quickel to stay with the district, said she is not worried about a sudden lack of experience and knowledge of Acreage history in the district administration.

"Sometimes when senior executives leave, there's an opportunity for new beginnings," Riccio said. "Indian Trail, The Acreage is a strong community, a strong governing body, and we will move forward."

RPB Council returns the favor:
Names Mattioli vice mayor

By Bob Markey II

March 28, 2003 - Featuring a fresh face, the Royal Palm Beach Village Council reorganized on Thursday, naming "Matty" Mattioli vice mayor as a favor for giving up his turn at the ceremonial position in 2002.

"Last year was really Matty's turn to be vice mayor," said outgoing Vice Mayor Carmela Starace. "He gave it up for me because I was going to be the president of the Florida League of Cities and thought it would be nice for me to have that title."

Starace, an educator who was re-elected without opposition to her sixth two-year term on March 11, proposed that Mattioli get the honor this year. Fred Pinto, who was elected to the council in his first try at political office, agreed. Mayor David Lodwick did not participate in the decision, and Councilman David Swift was absent.

Mattioli, who was also named liaison to the Palms West Chamber of Commerce and kept his position overseeing the Planning and Zoning Commission, was unanimously named vice mayor.

To start the reorganization meeting, Starace and Pinto were sworn in by Village Clerk Mary Ann Gould.

"I think you will be a great addition to our board and I look forward to your input," Lodwick told Pinto. "I look forward to your ideas and your enthusiasm."

Pinto, a former securities firm employee who was elected with 35 percent of the vote, said he was "absolutely delighted to be here and excited." The Willows resident said he looked forward to working with the council. He immediately got his wish.

Pinto was named liaison to the Community Revitalization Board, which Lodwick said could use some revitalization of its own.

In more ceremonial decisions, Gould appointed village clerk and village Finance Director Dr. Stanley Hockman was named village treasurer.

Starace agreed to continue in her liaison position with the Architectural and Aesthetic Review Committee, and as co-liaison with Swift to the Education Committee.

Lodwick will remain as liaison to the Recreation Committee; and Swift, to the Code Enforcement Board.

Starace, a member of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce board, relinquished her council liaison seat to the organization to Mattioli.

Mattioli was also named village liaison to Palm Beach County League of Cities. The vice mayor has been nominated for a locally important league board seat.

Three stolen horses recovered from Chicago woman

By Bob Markey II

March 7, 2003 - If it were filled with cars, detectives might have used the term "chop shop" to describe a Wellington barn. But instead of hiding and disguising stolen automobiles, a Palm Beach Point stable was raided last weekend because it contained stolen and altered show horses.

San Diego, a bay gelding said to be worth at least $100,000, was reunited with its trainer and owners Saturday after the arrest of a woman who allegedly stole it and altered its appearance. And on Monday, two other stolen horses were recovered - one of which had been sold to unsuspecting Wellingtonians.

Catherine Crighton, 44, of 13515 Fountainview in Wellington, was held in the Palm Beach County jail Monday awaiting a court-imposed psychiatric evaluation. She faces at least three charges each of grand theft and burglary, and a charge of possession of altered property in connection with horse and tack thefts.

Sheriff's officials said Crighton might also be charged with animal cruelty.

San Diego was reported stolen early on the morning of on Jan. 22 from 14155 Equestrian Way in Saddle Trail Park, where it had been turned out for the evening. Organizers of the horse recovery service, Stolen Horse International (SHI) and its associated Web site, NetPosse, claimed to have resulted in its recovery thanks to publicity about the theft.

The theft garnered a large amount of publicity in local and equine media, thanks in part to the Winter Equestrian Festival under way locally through Sunday.

"He was in a barn only two miles from the barn he was stolen," said a surprised yet ecstatic Debi Metcalfe of (SHI). "I have had a good day. I was able to tell two owners that I had located their horses."

"I never thought the horse was still here in Wellington," said the horse's trainer, Ron Esposito.

The Sheriff's Office reported that San Diego, a well-known 14-year-old, 16.2-hand Oldenburg, was disguised in an effort to keep it from being recognized. A large portion of a vertical white line on the forehead, and star-shaped shoulder scar had been painted Rust-O-Leum brown. The horse's legs were also painted.

It was the paint that gave Crighton away, said Palm Beach County Deputy Gavin Pfeifle. The owner of a Palm Beach Point barn in which San Diego and another horse were boarded noticed Crighton painting a horse, and later that it appeared to have been abandoned for four days.

The barn owner, who asked to remain anonymous, remembered reading about San Diego's theft and alerted Esposito. The trainer came to the barn late Saturday, and after a double take, confirmed San Diego's identity.

"He's good," said Esposito of the jumper. San Diego suffers from some maintenance-related issues such as blistering of the nose and swelling.

Detectives believe Crighton, an alleged veterinarian from Illinois, took the horse with the intent to sell it. On Sunday, Sheriff's Office Sgt. John Howley of the Mounted Unit and Sgt. Michael Wingate of the Agricultural Unit said Crighton stole two other horses from the Chicago area.

Scooby Doo was reported missing on Sept. 21, 2002 near Interstate 55 in Will County, Ill. Trainer Summers Thomas, who accompanied Esposito to the barn, identified Scooby Doo from a photo she had seen on the NetPosse.com. Officials said the horse's legs and feet had been painted.

A Swedish warmblood named Keller was stolen Oct. 7, 2002 in the Orland Park section of Cook County, Ill., Pfeifle said. The $50,000 horse was allegedly sold recently to an unsuspecting buyer for $15,000, the Sheriff's Office reported. It was found Sunday in a barn on Laurel Way.

Crighton was arrested late Saturday. Investigators searched her home Sunday, finding at least two stolen riding saddles, a halter and additional stolen tack, according to reports. On the morning San Diego was stolen, Wellington barns reported tack thefts.

Pfeifle also discovered that a serial number on a horse trailer had been altered.

Crighton made her first court appearance Monday and was held by a judge for evaluation. She is scheduled for another appearance on March 5.

SHI assists many of the 40,000 to 55,000 annual victims of stolen horses, said Metcalf, who started the organization in 1997 after the theft of her horse, Idaho, and a resulting search. "It has grown to the wonderful organization it is today and thrives with the help of thousands in the NetPosse" Web site, she said.

The recovery was a relief to San Diego's owners, Kathy and Paul Manafort. It was immediately uncertain if and/or to whom a reward of $10,000 - promised by WEF organizer Stadium Jumping Inc. and the Wellington Equestrian Alliance - would be paid.

"I'm glad to see my horse is safe and back home," said Esposito, "and no one else has to worry because the woman was caught."