The Royal Palm Beach Village Council welcomed a new parks and recreation director and recognized the winners of the village’s first-ever photo contest on Thursday, Dec. 7.
The theme of the photo contest was “Picture a Place You Call Home!” and brought in nearly 100 submissions.
“Several years ago, we embarked on a program where we decided to formalize an art in public places policy for the village, and this is an extension of that,” Mayor Fred Pinto said. “What we’re looking to do is, over a period of time, create some kind of work where we can show the different pictures of Royal Palm Beach in action. We thought the best way to capture that was to have our citizens participate and take pictures.”
Vice Mayor Jan Rodusky announced the following top three winners: Anna Powers with “Spring in Challenger Park” in first place, “July 4th at Commons Park” by Lucy Vasquez placed second, and Brandt Haws took third place with his photo “Challenger Park Sunrise.”
With the retirement of longtime Parks & Recreation Director Lou Recchio, Mark Pawlowski was officially introduced by Village Manager Ray Liggins as the department’s new director. He recently moved to the area from Illinois. “He was the executive director in Winfield Park District for more than 25 years,” Liggins said. “He is a certified parks and recreation professional, and we are very glad to have him on board.”
Pawlowski said that he was thrilled to be on the job in Royal Palm Beach.
“Within the first week, I’ve met a ton of people, staff, people in the community — it’s great to see so many people in the parks, whether it is the rec center, the cultural center, whether it be scheduled activities or just on their own,” Pawlowski said. “As always, my door is open. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I know I’m following Lou’s footsteps, and I feel very good about the people and the team that I’ve got working with me to make sure that we keep moving forward and keep providing quality recreation and parks for our residents.”
In other business:
- Carmax, located at 10501 Southern Blvd., can now move forward with plans to build an auction house on the property. After receiving feedback from the council previously, the applicant, Centerpoint Integrated Solutions LLC, adjusted the site plans to include the striping and landscaped terminal islands as required. With village staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission in support, the request was approved unanimously.
- Local resident Martha Smith approached the council with a request for clarification on why her home-based daycare was only allowed up to six children, while the state allows more children. She explained the hardship it put on her business of 22 years.
The six-child limit was passed in 1989, and the council took her request for more information seriously. Pinto said he was concerned about the misalignment with the state rules, and Councilman Richard Valuntas asked for more information and research from village staff.
“Everyone in Palm Beach County does not do the same thing. I’d like to know what other municipalities do,” he said, stressing the importance of comparing Royal Palm Beach to similarly sized municipalities in the county before making a decision.
After staff review and recommendations, the council could potentially update the policy.
- Husband and wife residents Jeff and Amna Alian approached the council with two very different concerns.
Jeff Alian requested that the village look into a traffic light at La Mancha, explaining that the light often takes up to four minutes to turn green, and then it immediately turns back to red. Pinto said that was an issue they could look into and possibly resolve.
Amna Alian asked the council to make a proclamation calling for a ceasefire regarding the conflict in Gaza. Pinto took her request seriously but explained that the council was not in a position of power to do anything with a resolution or proclamation.
“Shortly after these awful events started to occur in that region, we did have a moment of silence here at the village. We think it’s awful to see the waste of civilians — innocent lives — men, women but especially the children,” he said, encouraging people to reach out to their representatives in Washington, D.C., to address this as a matter of the state and country. “I applaud you for your voice in this matter.”
- After two years of planning, Royal Palm Beach High School received final approval for an updated informational sign in front of the school. It should be operational before the end of the school year.
