Stet NewsGood morning. For you today, a lift station in the news, the county’s new attorney, PEACE preps for Tallahassee, how wealthy charitable donors think, a film festival of the moment and a walk in the park.
⏰ Town pressures condo developer
Nautilus 220, 24-story twin towers under construction since 2022 on the Lake Park waterfront, can’t open until the developers get the sign-off on a sewage lift station.
The pumping station has been beset by leaks and questions remain about the placement of a connecting pipe, but Forest Development’s Peter Baytarian told Stet News Monday the outstanding issues have been resolved and the 330-unit condo towers will open in 30 days.
Why it matters: Lake Park officials are counting on having the property tax revenue from the $300 million project in the next budget cycle but that happens only if the building opens by Dec. 31.
What they’re saying: “I was promised we were going to have a grand opening and people were going to be able to flush their toilets,” Commissioner Judith Thomas told the developers Oct. 22. “I urge you to please get that done. Give us, give yourself, give the community a win.”
Additionally, town officials and a vocal group of residents are questioning Baytarian’s approach to the project’s second phase on 2.5 acres of waterfront land the town leased to Forest last year.
Four 99-year leases call for Forest to pay $75,000 a year for 10 years for each component: a hotel, a restaurant, a boat storage facility and the marina.
- Forest also would pay $1.2 million upfront, bringing the total to $4.2 million, all due in the first 10 years. Residents say it’s far too little.
Zoom in: An Oct. 3 memo from Town Attorney Tom Baird and his partner Peter Henn fault the developer for building the lift station on the public waterfront, reducing options for public access.
- “The lack of planning for this utility infrastructure by Nautilus 220 essentially renders the ‘event lawn’ useless as adequate and accessible open space for the public,” they wrote.
They faulted the developer for ignoring staff comments about plans for a public space atop the boat storage building, saying the hotel operator, not the public, will control access.
Yes, but: All components will be open to the public, Baytarian countered.
- “We want to get back on track with the town and resolve this,” he said.
Zoom out: Condo sales began to close in September and October, with 49 condos bringing in $76 million, property records reveal.
- While that makes the average price $1.5 million, 38 units have sold for more than $1 million, and four topped $3 million.
Read more about how Lake Park is reexamining its deal with Forest Development at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🧳 Not a Denise
Following a three-decade-old path of hiring from within, Palm Beach County commissioners last week elevated a top assistant county attorney to become chief legal counsel.
- But they broke one tradition: They didn’t hire an attorney named Denise.
Catch up quick: David Ottey, who has worked in the county attorney’s office for 20 years, was selected over Wellington Mayor Michael Napoleone, former West Palm Beach Assistant City Attorney K. Denise Haire and Michael W. Jones, who like Ottey served as a chief assistant county attorney.
Why it matters: The county attorney shapes public policy by overseeing a law office of 20 attorneys and paralegals that advise all county departments, litigate lawsuits and draft agreements and contracts.
Zoom out: Ottey will replace Denise Coffman, an internal promotion who served four years and whose resignation is effective Dec. 19. Coffman replaced Denise Nieman, who served 25 years in the top job after also being promoted from within.
What he’s saying: “This is not a position to be taken lightly,” Ottey said. “I have proven to be deeply committed to public service over 20 years. I have a full understanding of the legal issues. … I have worked to find legal and practical solutions.”
Read more about the decision at StetNews.org.
— Jane Musgrave
✌🏽 On PEACE’s agenda: mental health and immigration
A Palm Beach County social justice organization is part of a growing network dedicated to improving access to mental health services.
Why it matters: PEACE members are focused on community issues including the county’s teams of medical professionals and social workers who step in when severely mentally ill people are in crisis.
- The faith-based organization contends that the teams are severely understaffed.
Last week, about 300 members of PEACE heard from state and county leaders who said they share their goal.
What they’re saying: “I think our biggest takeaway is that we have people in Palm Beach County on all levels wanting to address this,” PEACE associate organizer Megan Sease told Stet News after the organization’s Oct. 27 Community Problems Assembly.
State Sens. Mack Bernard and Lori Berman, both Democrats from Palm Beach County, committed to the group that they will pursue legislation to increase the staffing of Palm Beach County’s mental health crisis teams.
For the first time, members will travel to Tallahassee to lobby for the expansion of the mental health crisis teams. Forty members will board a bus bound for the state capital in mid-November.
What’s next: PEACE members decided last week that they will also focus on social justice in immigration.
- Leaders will use stories collected from members to get started, PEACE organizer Paige Shortsleeves said. “But we also will begin meeting with local nonprofits and experts and professors and organizations to see what piece of the puzzle we can address.”
The work all leads to the organization’s signature meeting each year, PEACE Nehemiah Action, where church leaders put public officials on the spot to commit to PEACE’s cause.
- The meeting is scheduled for March 24 at Jupiter First Church.
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– Carolyn DiPaolo
🔎 3 takeaways about rich, charitable donors
In a time of eroding confidence, affluent Americans ranked nonprofits as the organizations they most trust to solve problems, a new study found.
That was a message from philanthropic giving expert Dianne Chipps Bailey of Bank of America last week at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties in West Palm Beach.
Bailey presented the findings of the “2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy: Charitable Giving by Affluent Households” produced with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Survey participants ranked nonprofit organizations (20%) above individuals (17%), rising generations (16%) and religious institutions (11%) as having the most ability to solve problems, researchers said.
“Nonprofits should really own that,” Bailey said. “Own that in terms of celebrating your impact.”
Here are three more takeaways:
1. Dollars are up. Donors are down. In 2006, 98% of affluent people contributed to charity. While the total amount has inched up every year, the most recent survey found just 81% give now.
The good news: That’s still more than four in five.
2. Women are more likely to be donors. The future of philanthropy is female, and the future is now, Bailey said. Women make or influence 85% of giving decisions, the study found.
“If you have a male partner, women are, on average, two years younger than their male partner, and they live on average five to seven years longer,” she said. “So there’s a good decade in there, almost, where the woman is going to be making those ultimate decisions, in particular around planned giving, which is a huge opportunity.”
Research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute on life satisfaction and giving found that when women give more, they’re more joyful in their giving.
3. It’s all about the giver.
“Fundraising is not sales. It’s matchmaking. It’s understanding their values, their interests, their experiences, and then matching it with the case for support for your organization,” Bailey said. “If there is not alignment, bless and release.”
Donors are looking for ways to make an outsize impact, she noted. “Donors don’t want to bail boats. They want to sail ships.”
Keep reading to learn what Bailey said about the Great Wealth Transfer and the power of volunteering at StetNews.org.
– Carolyn DiPaolo
🍊 The Juice
🍽️ Palm Beach County leaders are directing people in need of a meal to the United Way’s online Food Finder Map and the 211 helpline. (WLRN)
🐊 Florida is supposed to police the state’s biggest sources of water pollution: agriculture and development. Instead, regulators and lawmakers have protected the major industries at nearly every turn. The approach has resulted in hundreds of waterways across Florida growing dirtier for decades — including the Caloosahatchee, where algae blooms have fueled fish kills, and the Indian River Lagoon, where scores of manatees starved to death as the ecosystem neared collapse. (Tampa Bay Times)
🏨 Related Ross pitched a 400-room Curio convention center hotel to Palm Beach County on the condition that the hotel pay no property taxes. To do this, Related Ross proposed giving the land to the county for $1 before leasing the property back and building a $290 million hotel there. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🐬 In the fifth reported mass stranding of spotted dolphins since 2000 in the southeast region, four spotted dolphins came ashore at Lake Worth Beach Oct. 29; two died and two were transported to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
👮 Jupiter is planning new rules on park activities for the first time in 30 years. The town will regulate e-bike riding and launching and landing drones. Police officers can enforce limits on hang gliding, dumping and littering but little else. The Town Council will take its final vote on Nov. 6. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🎵 The National Battle of the Bands, a showcase of marching bands from historically Black colleges and universities, is coming to Palm Beach County in January. (WLRN)
🔥 The first Lake Worth Beach bonfire and night market of the winter season is Friday. (City of Lake Worth Beach)
🎙️ “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, welcomes Urban League of Palm Beach County President Patrick Franklin to discuss the cost of living, economic inequality, and what leadership — and ordinary citizens — can do to close Florida’s biggest gulf. (Listen now; watch after 4 pm Wednesday)
561NSIDER: 🎬 Subtropic Film Fest’s Everglades focus
Amateur snake hunters and the late Marjory Stoneman Douglas star in timely documentaries about the Florida Everglades headlining the second annual Subtropic Film Festival this weekend in West Palm Beach.
The three-day fest kicks off Friday at the Norton Museum of Art with a red-carpet screening of “The Python Hunt,” a look at an eclectic group of misfits competing in Florida’s annual state-sponsored invasive python removal contest — “the Burning Man of snake hunting,” as one film participant calls it.
“River of Grass,” an impressionistic take on Douglas’ legacy and the ongoing fight to stop manmade threats to the Everglades, gets a matinee screening Saturday at the Norton’s Stiller Auditorium.
Why it matters: While “The Python Hunt” and “River of Grass” are different in tone and style, both shine a spotlight on events past and present affecting the Everglades, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere but only half the size that it was a century ago.
What they’re saying: “The entire world is looking at the Everglades right now,” said Noelia Solange, the festival’s director. “The least we can do is aim the spotlight on the stories being told about this ecosystem and hope locals leave the film screenings with a deeper understanding of their own backyard and what they can do to take better care of it.”
Zoom in: Aside from the two Norton Museum screenings, three other feature films and 64 shorts will be screened Saturday and Sunday at Afflux Studios on the G-Star School of the Arts campus. A day pass is $20.
Get details on the films and buy tickets here.
Read more about the headliners at StetNews.org.
— Joe Capozzi
🥳 NAMIWalks’ record-breaking year
We hope everyone who came out to Saturday’s NAMIWalks fundraiser at John Prince Park had as much fun as we did.
Why it matters:NAMIWalks promotes mental health awareness; raises money for free, top-rated programs provided by NAMI Palm Beach County, the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness; and builds community by letting people know they are not alone.
What happened: It was NAMI Palm Beach County’s largest walk in every respect, Chief Executive Katherine Murphy reports.
More than 1,100 participants registered, by far the highest number since the walk began in 2014.
- With some checks still coming and corporate matches to be calculated, the walk raised more than $196,000. That is the most ever.
- Kudos to the employees of the Palm Beach County Health Care District, the top fundraising team, which contributed more than $43,000.
It’s excellent timing for a record-breaker.NAMI is seeing unprecedented demand for its programs and more families in crisis reaching out for help, Murphy told Stet News before the walk. And you can see the community interest in today’s report about PEACE.
Thank you to everyone who walked with our team, contributed or stopped by our table, sponsored by outgoing NAMI PBC board President Cheryl Checkers.
The bottom line: The caring and competitive Stet News team raised nearly $7,500, fourth most among more than 100 teams and our most ever.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
