🚦 Racing forward
🌼 Welcome back. For you today, demucking the plan for a 20-Mile Bend racetrack, an ethics dispute over building in Wellington, downtowners combine to ease congestion, a patriotic quiz, an open door.
Today’s newsletter is a 6-minute read.
♟️ Racetrack chess board: Pieces in play
It’s happening, County Commissioner Sara Baxter told 250 racing fans Wednesday night.
GL Homes is building a 200-acre off-highway vehicle park on its land west of The Acreage. And giving it to county residents free of charge, she said at a town hall meeting in Royal Palm Beach.
It “is already in the process of getting built,” Baxter said. “GL is constructing it at zero cost to taxpayers. So it will not cost us anything.”
Yes, but. The land giveaway is a sweetener GL promised Baxter in May, when it won initial County Commission approval of a controversial land swap. But it won’t get final approval of the land swap — which lets GL build more homes in west Boca Raton’s Ag Reserve — until Oct. 12.
Right now, GL is clinging to a 5-2 commission majority.
If the 200-acre park is happening, it frees 128 acres of county-owned land at 20-Mile Bend and Southern Boulevard that had been set aside for an off-highway vehicle park. Baxter suggests the county work with a private developer to build a racetrack there to replace Palm Beach International Raceway, which closed in April 2022.
A little background: When the county sought proposals two years ago for a partner to build the off-highway park, it had an interested bidder. But Brian Penick, who developed Air Dania Motocross Park in 1994, died at age 60 before bidding took place.
No one placed a bid, the county said.
Uh-oh. Muck. One of the hurdles, particularly for dragsters, is the soil. It’s muck that could cost millions to remove.
Baxter told the racing crowd the county might pony up some of the demucking money.
Of note: So many people showed up at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center that the meeting was delayed 20 minutes so partitions to an adjoining room could be opened. The second room overflowed as well. Watch the meeting here (starts at 26-minute mark).
Baxter wanted to know what the racers wanted. Aside from a drag strip, a multi-purpose race course got strong support.
How we got here: Opposition from racing fans delayed by more than a year plans to convert the shuttered-PBIR into warehouses. But that plan is moving forward after the landowners challenged the county’s initial rejection and won.
All you ever wanted to know about the GL Homes land swap
🏚️ In Wellington polo country, a question of ethics
Accused of threatening a developer to secure work on Palm Beach Polo Club homes in Wellington, builder Ed Lynch is facing an ethics commission hearing.
A January complaint by developer Timothy Herbst bounced from the county Inspector General’s Office to the FBI, which investigated and sent it to the county’s Commission on Ethics.
The commission this month found probable cause that Lynch tried to use his county Building Code Advisory Board membership to get work on the Herbst project.
It’s not final. A full hearing is pending.
Lynch’s 115-page rebuttal argued his county advisory board position gave him no clout over Wellington permitting.
Further, the deal outlined by the developers involved illegally using his general contractor’s license, he said.
Herbst alleged Lynch threatened to use his position and connections to derail the project if he didn’t get the work. Among incidents cited:
At a funeral, Lynch approached a friend of Herbst and said he would “sabotage” the project and a cancer charity tied to one of the developers.
In a social media post, he referenced Connecticut and unidentified people needing “a beating.” Herbst is from Connecticut.
Lynch denies he threatened anything other than lawsuits, and the man he approached at the funeral agreed.
Herbst, the developer, previously triggered libel suits after high-profile ethics complaints. As a Connecticut town councilman, he twice accused a builder and, once, his brother-in-law of unethical and criminal practices.
The town council paid a total $45,000 to settle resulting litigation.
Bigger picture: Lynch’s statements about his advisory board positions are at issue. But specific business expertise is one reason people are appointed. At what point is discussing their board position when looking for business unethical?
Unexpected: Electioneering. Known for an aggressive approach that led to a political opponent’s police complaint over a text, Herbst unsuccessfully ran for Connecticut governor in 2018.
Lynch lost runs for Congress in 2008 and in 2010. He paid a $10,000 fine and repaid $1,374 in campaign contributions in 2016 after the Federal Elections Commission said he spent contribution money on personal items.
Read the Ethics Commission investigation here and Lynch’s response, here.
🏙️ Get out of your car
An effort to ease the daily traffic crunch in downtown West Palm Beach by giving drivers more alternatives launched Thursday.
Among its backers: Downtown’s biggest high-rise builder, the Related Cos., the city and the Downtown Development Authority, which provided $100,000 in seed money.
It’s called West Palm Beach Mobility Coalition — WPBgo for short. It’s a private not-for-profit.
Its director, Jonathan Hopkins, is a former Brightline executive who ran a similar Transportation Management Agency in Seattle.
“Charging for transit and giving people free parking is kind of like giving kids free cigarettes but charging them for vegetables,” Hopkins said after kickoff speeches on the city’s Great Lawn downtown.
Hopkins pledged to educate employers and present incentives, such as low-priced train and bus passes or free bike rentals.
“When you are on a freeway or a road that feels really congested, it's moving really slow, the difference between that and when it's free-flowing is about 5% of volume,” Hopkins said. “So if we can get just a couple of percent to do something different, then we will be successful.”
Mayor Keith James thanked backers, who also include the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, PalmTran, Nora, One Parking and the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency is considering a $50,000 contribution.
“We anticipate tangible results as early as this year, while traditional infrastructure projects such as road expansions or train line constructions can take years to complete,” James said.
One alternative already offered for free downtown is Circuit, electric vehicles that will pick up passengers on demand for rides in a broad downtown area that crosses the water to Palm Beach. See the boundaries here.
About one-fourth of Circuit’s trips started or ended in Palm Beach, with The Breakers a big draw.
The West Palm Beach Marriott accounted for the most pickups.
The Brightline station had the most dropoffs.
Circuit is subsidized by the DDA, Brightline and for a six-week trial, the town of Palm Beach.
🍍The juice
Fresh-squeezed news from all over
🚒 Saving Baby Logan: How a Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue crew kept an opioid-addicted newborn alive. (Palm Beach Post)
🤦♀️ Fact check: FAU study did not find “flesh-eating bacteria” in Sargassum seaweed. (TCPalm)
🎙️ In recognition of its 40th anniversary, Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Foundation is launching a conversation series geared toward addressing professional women’s challenges. (EWPBF)
🎵 The story behind the wonderful but misunderstood viral photograph of Noel Gallagher strumming his acoustic guitar in PBIA's baggage claim. (Palm Beach Stories)
FIGI Water Company founder David H. Gilmour died June 11. The Palm Beacher and his wife Jillian donated more than $12 million to West Palm Beach-based Opportunity Early Childhood Education & Family Center. He was 92. (Palm Beach Daily News)
🇺🇸 Quiz: George did what?
Coming up on celebrating the Fourth of July, elections are in the news, as you may have noticed (or been unable to avoid).
But what do we really know about how our founding fathers got into office?
*Get Out the Vote
Extra credit if you send us your answers wrapped in sparklers and a brand new Weber Kettle Charcoal grill. Addressed to Pat.
🌐 561 insider: One free card to rule the world
💟 Last week, we were charmed by our library’s offerings beyond books. This week, we are blown away by the digital doors you can open with a Palm Beach County Public Library card.
Why it matters: Our democracy depends on informed people who can make good decisions. Public libraries offer information to anyone who seeks it.
🔎 What we found: The people who greet the public in our libraries are committed to helping all of us navigate the overwhelming number of resources available.
Pro tip: Ask for help. Use the chat on the library website or, even better, make an appointment with a reference librarian who would love to show you around.
Where to start: Grab your library card, and point your browser to the library homepage.
➡️ Highlights include:
CloudLibrary: An easy-to-use portal for free e-books and e-audiobooks. (Download the app on your device to read or listen there.)
Hoopla: Movies, television shows, e-books, e-audiobooks and music. (App available.)
Transparent Language Online: Learn dozens of languages with these free online courses.
Udemy: Free access to this learning tool with courses available in leadership, software, and personal development. (App available.)
🙏 Thank you to Michelle Quigley, a Palm Beach County research librarian, for giving Stet a tour of our public gem at Hagen Ranch Road.
Find your local library here.
Keep reading: How to stream music, read the news here.
⚾️ OK, this is getting ridiculous. First Florida Atlantic University and the University of Miami make the Final Four in men’s college basketball — and lose. Then the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers make the NBA and NHL finals, respectively — and lose. Monday night, the University of Florida played in the College Baseball World Series. Guess what? They lost, too.
🦈 We’ll always have the Nova Southeastern Sharks men's basketball team and their undefeated run to the Division II men’s basketball championship.
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