Gainswave Therapy in West Lake, FL

When a teenaged John Carter was working alongside his tile-setter father in the early 1980s, Seminole Pratt Whitney Road was still a narrow, two-lane road to nowhere. Just south of the M Canal, Callery-Judge Grove spread out on either side over thousands of acres, orange trees as far as the eye could see.

It was then that the North Shore High School student learned from the ground up about construction, about building things, making them sturdy and cohesive, about making them last.

Today, North Shore High is the Bak Middle School of the Arts and the Riviera Beach neighborhood Carter grew up in is the spring training home of the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals. Seminole Pratt Whitney Road is two or four or more paved lanes and growing as it passes through the Seminole Improvement District (SID) and the City of Westlake, which Carter has created with astonishing speed from the ruins of Callery-Judge’s blighted groves.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of Minto Communities USA finalizing the purchase of some 4,000 acres from Callery-Judge for $51 million. Carter, who by then was a University of Florida graduate with some 25 years of construction experience and a Minto vice president, led that effort. He also led the subsequent 2016 push to use SID’s unusual powers to vote a municipality into being with only five residents.

“As far as I know, this is the only city developed like this in Florida,” Carter said. “I doubt it will ever be done again in our lifetimes.”

Of course, not everyone was happy about a large homebuilder finagling a city into existence in the middle of what had been a very rural area, surrounded as it was by the 37 square miles of the Indian Trail Improvement District.

“The attitude by ITID was to heck with you. We don’t need to deal with you,” recalled Carter as he saw it. “We’re just going to kill your project.”

Carter said he engaged in public outreach “at an unheard scale” in an effort to gain acceptance from neighbors in The Acreage and ITID more broadly. It was successful with some, not with others. At present, there’s an ongoing lawsuit between SID, Minto and ITID over whether Westlake can connect to ITID roads.

Although Minto filed the suit in 2020, Carter said the company’s hand was forced.

Blocking access to 140th Avenue North “is an attempt to re-litigate the [earlier] land-use approvals,” he said. “People involved in litigating the approvals back then… are driving the litigation you see today. Unfortunately, the cost is being borne unnecessarily by ITID residents.”

ITID officials would not comment on the suit that currently is awaiting a judge’s ruling. Carter said he expects a decision by late November.

Sara Baxter, a longtime Acreage resident, recalled that she did not want Westlake built, but now as District 6 Palm Beach County commissioner, said she is “focused on what’s happening today… I’m of the mindset that a rising tide raises all boats.”

And Westlake’s tidal surge of home sales continues seven years after its inception. The city has some 4,500 residents and is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Florida, with residential build-out of the area’s 4,600-plus lots expected within the next three years — half the time originally projected.

Carter, who had run major projects in Dallas, Seattle and elsewhere for other developers, said with Minto, he saw the chance in 2010 to return home both physically and philosophically, leaving behind the world of publicly traded corporations for a privately held company with “high integrity, high accountability… [and] a very strong Judeo-Christian work ethic.”

The cornerstone of Westlake’s creation was a change he championed in Minto’s “strategic focus,” Carter explained. “A shift in strategy from nibbling up small parcels to let’s do fewer projects but bigger. That led me to look at the landscape in Palm Beach County. There were only a few reasonable targets, including Callery-Judge.”

Once the permitting was completed in less than half the five years Minto anticipated, the size of the project began to settle onto Carter.

“It weighs on me heavily,” he said. “Every tree, paver, bush has to be paid for… From my company’s perspective, the capital investment here is significant.”

That includes upward of $400 million in infrastructure creation alone, he said, while noting that it is the very size of the project that makes it work in terms of keeping most home sales in the $400,000 to $600,000 range — moderately priced by South Florida standards.

“You’re talking about miles and miles and miles of pipe, asphalt and concrete structures,” Carter said. “The scale we’re doing that at begins to look different [in terms of construction costs] from someone who wants to do a 100-unit development.”

The focus from day one has been on affordability, Carter said, pointing to Minto’s Welcome Heroes program that discounts homes to working teachers, police officers, firefighters, members of the military, healthcare and government workers. “These are well-appointed homes,” he said. “At a price point unheard of anywhere else in Palm Beach County.”

Layered on top of that is a “light touch” with homeowners’ association fees, no community development district fees, and outstanding community amenities and programming. Those amenities include the master HOA’s Adventure Park community center and pool.

“It’s like walking onto the pool deck at a Ritz-Carlton,” Carter said proudly.

Minto also provided millions to get the city government up and running. Westlake will be operating without a Minto safety net for the first time in fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. 1. The developer was prepared to kick in more than $700,000 during the current fiscal year but it was unneeded, said Kenneth Cassel, who manages Westlake and SID. He is not a Minto employee.

“We have a good working relationship,” Cassel said of Carter. “I’m not afraid to call him out on stuff and vice versa. We have a shared vision of how to build a city.”

A major part of that vision is a permitting process that is consistent and moves in a timely manner so that Minto and Westlake’s other developers know where they stand and what to expect, Carter and Cassel agreed.

Despite Minto being by far the city’s major landowner and developer, Carter insists “no hall passes are being given out in terms of permitting” by either Cassel’s management team or the city council.

“I’m probably mindful to a fault of making sure there is that arm’s length between me, this company and the city government,” Carter said.

Westlake Vice Mayor Greg Langowski said Carter comes to most council meetings and provides a good view of what’s coming in the future but does not attempt to impose his wishes on the council.

Langowski described Carter as “very personable and approachable” when seen around town, including at Christ Fellowship, a non-denominational church with multiple locations, including one in Westlake that opened in March.

“My faith was my strength to navigate the headwinds we faced [during the early stages of the project] … and to continue to have love for those who were literally spitting on me,” Carter said. “It has been central to my personal and professional development.”

Today, Carter’s title is senior vice president. He’s not required to live in the city he is creating, but he does with Krys, his wife of 31 years, and their children Kayla, a college sophomore, and Kyle, an eighth grader.

And what does that say about Westlake? “That I feel that good about this community that I would raise my kids here,” Carter said. “I believe in it that much personally and professionally.”

A milestone was met Saturday, Sept. 16 at Wellington’s Code Ninjas location — a ceremony was held for newly minted Black Belt Jayden Hendricks. The ceremony involved a wrist band, moving his name tag up the totem pole, presenting his video game, hitting a gong and snacks.

Franchise owner Rick Engelbart, who also owns the Code Ninjas franchises in Boca Raton and Coral Springs, has been working with Hendricks for years.

“This was the first center I opened, and one of our first ninjas, and I saw a lot of the struggles, and I saw him overcome,” Engelbart said. “This is what it’s about. I hadn’t been able to experience this yet before, and I’m really happy.”

Hendricks’ grandfather, Chris Thatcher, shared that at one point, Hendricks questioned whether he wanted to continue learning to do computer coding.

“He came back to it with a renewed sense of purpose,” Thatcher said.

And now, Hendricks has reached the Code Ninjas level of Black Belt.

Black Belt level includes a capstone project where students build their own three-dimensional video game that meets a set of requirements. They learn the skills needed to build their games through the nine-belt, self-paced curriculum after school and on weekends.

Within the different levels, they learn the fundamentals of computer programming through programming robots and building video games.

Hendricks made his game, Christmas Clicker, a clicker game, where Santa is out of commission because he ate too many cookies.

The game was fun to program, Hendricks said, because he was able to do whatever he thought was funniest at the time. Anyone can play Christmas Clicker by visiting https://jaydenrocks101.itch.io/christmas-clicker.

“He has been working on this since we opened in January 2019,” Engelbart said, “and he persevered.”

Hendricks, 15, attended classes at Code Ninjas when it opened in 2019, as well as online during the pandemic, and has continued his coding education, which started when he was seven years old.

Hendricks has thrived in coding, said his grandparents, Chris and Danielle Thatcher.

One thing that stood out about the Black Belt project, his grandfather added, was that it teaches the students the process of building software in real life, from the design document and testing, to the alpha release, revisions, beta release, more revisions, and eventually, the final project. “They do things the same way a developer would in the real world,” he said.

Other Black Belt student games can be found at https://forms.codeninjas.com/blackbeltninjas.

For more information about the Code Ninjas program, visit www.codeninjas.com/fl-wellington.

It’s official, Gary Werner of Key Biscayne Lane is now the Westlake City Council member for Seat 1.

He was appointed to the seat on 4-0 vote by the remaining council members at their Tuesday, Dec. 5 meeting to fill the vacancy left when former Councilwoman Pilar Valle Ron, who was appointed in late 2021, chose not to seek a full term on the council. She resigned Nov. 8.

Werner’s interim term will last until April, when he will be sworn in for a full four-year term, since he was the only Seat 1 qualifier for the planned March municipal election. Seat 3 Councilwoman Charlotte Price Leonard, who was appointed in May 2022, received no opposition and also will begin a full term in April.

Because neither seat was contested, there will be no Westlake municipal election. However, the Florida Presidential Primary will be on the March 19 ballot.

“Welcome, Mr. Werner, to the council, and I commend you for your willingness to serve,” Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said. “Your fingerprints will be on this city forever because we’re in the growth phase.”

“I want to thank each of you for your support in this interim appointment,” said Werner, a longtime California resident who moved with his wife, Marla, to Westlake in June 2022. “I’m looking forward to working with all of you and staff.”

Werner was planning director and/or city planner for several California cities and served for 10 years on the Diamond Bar City Council, including one term as mayor.

Five other Westlake residents submitted applications for the council appointment, but because Werner already had secured a full term, those applications were not taken up for discussion by the council. Most of the interim applications were filed before Werner secured his upcoming term.

Those who applied are: LaTosha Lowe-Goode of Hummingbird Lane, Guerly Adonis of Coquina Place, Cynthia Reeves of Anna Maria Lane, Dr. Ankush Kumar Bansal of Orchard Drive and Tammy Thomas of Goldfinch Circle.

“I think it is extremely valiant of those people to put their names forward to be appointed,” O’Connor said. “[But] I’m going to make a very strong argument that it doesn’t make any sense to appoint anyone to that seat over the person who is going to be filling that seat for four years.”

In other business:

But don’t worry that you’ll forever have to leave Westlake for an hour of Reiki or stones. According to the ordinance, “the term ‘massage establishment’ shall not include any massage establishment wherein at least one State of Florida licensed massage therapist is employed and on duty full time during the hours open for business.”

City Manager Ken Cassel said these new ordinances are preemptive.

“Until now, there has not been a lot of space available for these types of business,” he said. “But as we get more commercial storefront spaces, we want to make sure nothing gets out of control. As we continue to grow, these are just other pieces of the puzzle.”

The city has previously passed ordinances prohibiting marijuana dispensaries and limiting the location and hours of operation of adult entertainment venues.

“It will be a very livable community,” said Don Hearing, representing developer Minto Communities USA. “The landscaping is really special… flowering trees, little squares and courtyards… a beautiful streetscape.”

There will also be opportunities for walking, he added.

“In fact, you can walk all the way around the development on a sidewalk,” Hearing said. “It will be a fun space.”

Perhaps best of all, it will be a second affordable housing option in Westlake, to go along with the Crossings, O’Connor said.

Hearing noted that townhomes in the Crossings are nearly sold out and that sales of homes in the Terraces will begin in the first quarter of 2024.

The ordinance spells out two-year term lengths and the requirement that the board meet at least four times a year in January, April, July and October. It additionally states, “The council retains the right to remove board members for any reason.”

“In discussions with Vice Mayor [Greg] Langowski, it was determined that the constitution of the committee is not working well,” Cassel said. “This is an attempt to revitalize it and have it more functional for the residents, the students and interactions with the schools.”

“And to save the committee from demise,” O’Connor added.

Langowski, who has been the council’s liaison to the board, said that he had researched other similar boards before requesting changes. Changes to the ordinance make it “more robust,” he said.

Meanwhile, the council also agreed that all board and committee appointments will be up for review and renewal each April.

At the meeting, Johana Jimenez of Woodland Way and Carole Waldman of Cresswind Place were appointed to the Art in Public Places Advisory Board.

The city and the district, which is responsible for the area’s roads and drainage, are building the park as a joint venture.

Cassel said contractors should be “moving dirt” at the site in January, and by mid-summer there should be a large, open, mostly flat field that drains well. In the future, multiple soccer fields, tennis, racquetball and pickleball courts are planned, along with bathrooms, a walking trail, hookups for food trucks and perhaps a combination community/governmental center.

O’Connor has said he hopes the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration and fireworks show could be moved to the park in 2024. However, Cassel said that is unlikely because there will not be time to construct adequate facilities to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Noting that a lot more money will be needed to complete the park as envisioned, O’Connor said the main focus of the council members who attend Palm Beach County Days Jan. 9-10 in Tallahassee should be on securing as much state funding as possible. He also suggested that it may soon be time for Westlake to hire a lobbyist.

Members of the Westlake City Council and the Seminole Improvement District (SID) Board of Supervisors have settled on a framework for a regional park they intend to construct along the west side of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.

“It looks phenomenal,” Westlake Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said as he studied the design. “I’m very excited.”

The consensus reached at a Tuesday, Sept. 12 joint meeting allows SID to write the contracts for $700,000 in stormwater drainage work that will begin to shape the park directly south of Seminole Ridge High School.

It also allows the landscape design firm of Cotleur & Hearing to draw up more detailed plans that city and SID officials can use to seek funding from the Florida Legislature during its 2024 session, as well as a variety of grants.

The park will likely be done in four to five phases over eight to 10 years, said Kenneth Cassel, who manages both the municipal government and the special district.

Phase 1 will cost $5 to $6 million, SID President Scott Massey said.

“SID can more easily float a bond, but the bond payments end up coming out of our residents,” O’Connor said. “The more grants and other funding sources we can find, the better off we are.”

Cassel agreed. “We want to look around and see how we can get the biggest bang for our buck,” he said.

Already in place are three linear, north-south lakes that provide a barrier between the 50-acre site and the busy roadway. The entrance and exit from the park will be tucked between those lakes, which will feature four aerators/fountains.

Once underway, that stormwater work should take approximately 60 days, Cassel said.

The park will include a berm that runs along the west side, shielding it from properties on the other side of the M-2 Canal. It also will be part of the landscaping to obscure two massive retention tanks for irrigation water used by the district.

The berm will provide a niche for a concert stage that would look out on a wide, flat, uncluttered space where concertgoers can congregate to enjoy music and the city’s annual FourthFest Independence Day celebration with fireworks launched from the park’s northwest corner.

O’Connor has said he hopes that the park will be far enough along to be used on July 4, 2024.

Massey suggested the area also could be used for large touring concerts.

“The area could accommodate 5,000 to 10,000 people,” he said. “There’s no other venue like that in the western communities.”

Six soccer/sports fields — four in Phase 1 — will be added to the large central space, along with the infrastructure to later install field lighting.

A six-foot-wide asphalt path will frame the entire area.

On the east side of the park, part of Phase 1 will be installing paved parking for at least 45 cars, 90 golf carts and more than a dozen food trucks with utility hook-ups. Eventually, parking is planned for 275 cars and 190 golf carts. Restrooms also will be constructed during Phase 1.

In time, plans call for a shaded tot-lot; basketball, pickle ball, tennis, racquetball and beach volleyball courts; a smaller concert area for more intimate shows; and — in a last-minute addition thanks to Vice Mayor Greg Langowski — a dog park.

A community/multi-purpose/possible government center of at least 7,000 square feet also is anticipated in a later phase.

“This is a much, much needed park,” O’Connor said. “Let’s hit the ground running and get this done.”

The Westlake City Council gave final passage to its budget for fiscal year 2024 on Wednesday, Sept. 20 after needing a re-vote to ensure that residents got their promised millage rate reduction.

Council members voted 3-0 at their second budget hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 12 to approve the rate reduction from 5.1 mills to 5.0 mills, which will save the average Westlake homeowner approximately $40 to $60.

They also approved the city’s $8,981,500 budget for the next year.

However, council members were later advised that the full council needed to be physically present for the vote to be valid. Councilman Julian Martinez and Councilwoman Pilar Valle Ron attended the Sept. 12 meeting remotely and thus could not vote.

When all members convened Wednesday night for a brief meeting, they made it official with a 5-0 vote.

The average Westlake homeowner with an assessed value of $450,000 and a $50,000 homestead exemption will pay approximately $2,000 in city property tax.

The reduction marks the second year in a row that Westlake has cut its tax rate. For the 2023 budget, council members voted to lower the rate from 5.125 mills, where it had been since the city’s inception in 2016, to 5.1 mills.

“I did challenge staff to find the funds to lower the millage rate, and they were able to do so. And in a significant way at that,” Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said. “I’m very, very pleased. “I’m going to challenge staff now to get the millage rate under five for next year. Let’s continue the trend.”

The city’s final 2024 budget represents a 13.1 percent or $1,032,500 increase over its 2023 budget funded by a 49.8 percent or $1,666,333 increase in property tax revenues — for a total of $5,011,896 — as Westlake continues to be one of Florida’s fastest-growing municipalities.

Since 2016, when Westlake incorporated, Minto Communities USA, the area’s largest landowner and developer, has supplied millions of dollars to prop up city government services, including a $776,000 “lifeline” in the 2023 budget. However, the city did not have to tap into the Minto funds, City Manager Kenneth Cassel said.

For 2024, there is no lifeline since Minto’s support agreement with the city has run out.

In other business:

The proclamation reads in part: “Hispanic Americans have played an integral role in Florida’s history, before the early pioneer days of our current legacy of leaders in international trade; technology; education; and aerospace… Hispanic Americans share a rich, cultural and linguistic heritage and are a vital part of our economy… (and) have enriched our social, intellectual and artistic life in the United States.”

Westlake Vice Mayor Greg Langowski sponsored both proclamations.

The Westlake City Council gathered for the first time Tuesday, Oct. 3 in their new meeting space at the Westlake Adventure Park Lodge.

“Welcome to the council’s new home,” Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said during the 25-minute session. “This certainly is an upgrade.”

“We still need to do some tweaking, but I think it went very well for the first time,” City Manager Ken Cassel said Wednesday.

The council has been meeting for years in a small building off Seminole Pratt Whitney Road on land provided by Minto Communities USA, the area’s largest landowner and developer.

Why the move? Simple, Cassel said. Minto wants to sell that valuable piece of commercial property next to the city’s main thoroughfare.

The Lodge — located at 16610 Town Center Parkway North — is controlled by the area’s master homeowners’ association. The city is renting the meeting space for $500 to $1,000 a session, depending on how much of the expandable room is used.

“It’s nice because it’s located more in the center of the community,” Cassel said. “It can hold 150 to 200 people… [and] it has an integrated sound and large-screen projection system that can be used to show graphics and slides.”

Cassel said he hopes the council will someday be meeting in their own space at a multi-purpose building in the new regional park that is under construction on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road south of Seminole Ridge High School. However, that’s five to 10 years away, “unless some miracle happens,” he said.

In other business:

Cassel said that the feeling was that there were facilities close enough that allowing them in Westlake was not necessary. There are medical marijuana centers located in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and Greenacres, among numerous other locations in Palm Beach County.

The new dates for qualifying for Westlake’s 2024 municipal election are Nov. 7, 2023, at noon, through Nov. 14, 2023, at noon.

The new date for the municipal election is Tuesday, March 19, 2024, to coincide with Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary.

Two seats on the Westlake council will be up for election: Seat 1, currently held by Councilwoman Pilar Valle Ron, and Seat 3, currently held by Councilwoman Charlotte Leonard.