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LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — The city of Lake Worth Beach is taking its efforts to fix area drainage issues to Tallahassee.

With $31.8 million worth of water and infrastructure project needs, the city will be asking the state for $1.8 million, which is what the city can afford for a 50% match in this budget year.

The Lake Worth Beach City Council talked about the drainage situation Tuesday.

Currently, the city has to look at its budget and decide what can be allocated.

"How would you describe the water drainage situation in Lake Worth Beach?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez.

"It's very frustrating, it's uncomfortable and it's definitely an issue in the city," resident Phillip Allen Warren said.

Warren and his partner, Ava Guthrie, said that they've seen poor drainage throughout the city.

"Yeah, I was walking down the street and I got completely soaked in water," Guthrie said. "Somebody decided to speed up on purpose and go right through the puddle and it completely went right over me — like, it completely splashed me."

Commissioners have identified $1.8 million in water infrastructure projects that they said are a priority.

On the list is a $300,000 cost for the Ninth Avenue South Pump Station's design and permitting, which they'll be asking for $150,000.

Also, the final phase completion of the Parrot Cove Mitigation project with a request of $250,000 from the state of the total $500,000 cost.

"When you have as many needs as Lake Worth Beach as far as flooding and sea level rise, you're going to have to prioritize, which is what they're doing," Richard Pinksy, the city's lobbyist, said.

He'll be advocating for the money in Tallahassee on Monday.

Pinksy said the nearly $32 million is barely scratching the surface.

"There's nothing easy in Tallahassee. That is certainly within reason for the amount of needs that the city has, so they're not asking for anything extraordinary," Pinsky said. "Because they are a coastal community, extra concern and consideration is given to the coastal communities because of the flooding and sea level rise."

Pinsky said that the session ends in the middle of March, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has until June to sign the budget.

Lake Worth Beach commissioners approved a $1,000,097 project to replace a water pump that is placed at the end of 18th Avenue with a new and updated pump to help with street flooding.

July 1 is when the new fiscal year begins, which is when the city could begin to see the funding if it's approved.

"What's your message to the city on their efforts to address this issue?" Lopez asked.

"Allocate the funds where they need to be allocated and fix what needs to be fixed," Warren responded.

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Any time of year, The Palm Beaches make a fabulous destination for families looking for that perfect mix of outdoor activities, beautiful beaches, and kid-friendly attractions.

Sandwiched between West Palm Beach to the north and Boynton Beach to the south, Lake Worth Beach has much to offer children (and their parents too!). Here are 10 fun things to do with kids in and around Lake Worth Beach.

A trip to this guarded white-sand beach is a must for families. Between ocean swims, little ones can use the colorful playground or walk the William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier for a birds-eye view over the waves. Restrooms are readily available, and lunch couldn’t be easier: Several restaurants line the coast here, including Benny’s on the Beach, which has something for everyone (including a kids menu and incredible water views), and Mamma Mia’s, great for pizza lovers. Phipps Ocean Park, just to the north of Lake Worth Beach Park, is another lovely beach-day option around here that’s a bit quieter.

Kayaking around the beautiful, mangrove-lined Snook Islands in Lake Worth Lagoon is an ideal way for families to intimately experience the natural beauty of The Palm Beaches. Get up close and personal to the wading birds, crabs, oyster reefs, and various fish species of the lagoon while perched on a comfortable single or double kayak. Or, if your kids are small, you can rent a family kayak, which fits two adults and two small children. At Kayak Lake Worth rentals are available for two hours or a half-day. To delve deeper into the saltwater estuary’s rich ecology, consider booking a guided tour—the monthly full moon tours are especially popular.

This large, grassy park in the middle of Lake Worth Beach has a ton to offer families. The lakefront playground area has play structures for kids age 2 to 12 (including a Boundless playground), with a good amount of shade as well as a splash pad for cooling off. There’s also an exercise course that older kids like, and over by the campground there’s the Custard Apple network of short, interconnected nature trails to explore. And there are plenty of designated picnic areas, including some with grills.

Choose from an 18- or 36-hole mini golf course at this well-maintained family-run spot, which keeps things interesting for all ages with some challenging holes and lots of attractive water features (don’t worry, the golf balls float). Most important for those sunny days, there’s plenty of shade, as well as a great snack bar with ice cream, chips, and beverages for kids and adults alike. The little ones always get a treat at the end! It’s a perfect afternoon activity for families.

A popular spot in Lake Worth Beach for birthday parties, this arcade is exactly what’s needed for a few hours of indoor fun on those super hot or rainy days. Older kids love the laser tag facility and go-kart course, while younger kids can try their hand at skee-ball or any of the arcade video games. The on-site café conveniently offers pizza, hot dogs, and ice cream, or you can head to nearby El Rinconcito Colombiano 3 for kid-friendly arepas, empanadas, and Colombian-style hamburgers.

In nearby Boynton Beach, families love the sweet Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, which provides kids with an interactive, hands-on glimpse of life for early Florida settlers. In the absence of electronics or fancy tech, a sensory learning experience awaits here, as children are invited to explore replicas of early train depots, general stores, farms, and more. They can even milk and feed a life-size cow replica, and play with an oversize, interactive Operation Challenge in the “doctor’s office.”

About 10 minutes north of Lake Worth Beach in West Palm Beach, this science museum is beloved for its 100-plus educational exhibits, full-dome planetarium, 10,000-gallon aquarium, and quarter-mile-long outdoor science trail, which boasts 15 more exhibits. There’s even mini-golf! Families can easily enjoy a full day here. Kids under 6 love the water table, outdoor play area, and wall-size Lite Brite of the Discovery Center and Early Childhood Playground. Older kids shouldn’t miss visiting the Observatory on select Friday evenings to view the sky during Nights at the Museum.

Just south of Lake Worth Beach in Delray Beach, Wakodahatchee Wetlands is a favorite spot among nature lovers in the know. Created in 1996 on 50 acres of previous wastewater utility land, the peaceful wetlands feature a pretty three-quarter-mile boardwalk that winds above the ponds and shrubby islands of the preserve, providing up-close viewing of countless bird species, turtles, alligators, fish, frogs, and even rabbits and raccoons. It’s thrilling for kids to spot so much wildlife in a natural habitat, and it’s also a great lesson in smart public land use: Each day, two million gallons of treated wastewater gets pumped into the wetlands, which act as a percolation pond and return billions of gallons of fresh water back into the water table.

A short half-hour drive west of Lake Worth Beach in Loxahatchee, Lion Country Safari is a must for animal-loving kids. After driving the four-mile safari past zebras, rhinos, impala, ostriches, lions, and more, the wonderful walk-through park awaits, complete with a petting zoo, a water park (bring the bathing suits!), amusement rides, and more wildlife exhibits. The highlight is the giraffe encounter, where families can stand on a platform eye-to-eye with these magnificent animals and feed them romaine lettuce. Don’t miss it!

This picturesque manmade 80-acre tropical island park on the Intracoastal Waterway is a terrific place to introduce little ones to snorkeling, as the turquoise water is shallow, clear, and warm. Rock breakwaters on the eastern side protect swimmers from currents and act as an artificial reef, attracting plenty of interesting undersea life. Sometimes manatees are even spotted around here! You’ll want to bring along a picnic lunch—there are no restaurants on the island—and definitely plan to stay a while. As a bonus, the kids get to take a shuttle boat to get there. Hop on one from nearby Sailfish Marina or Riviera Beach Marina to reach the island.

Header image courtesy of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium

LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — The city of Lake Worth Beach is taking steps to resurrect the Lake Worth Municipal Swimming Pool.

City commissioners Tuesday voted 4-1 in favor of estimating what the project will cost.

"It's probably the best real estate probably in Palm Beach County, so we are fully intent on bringing it back and making it really special," Commissioner Reinaldo Diaz said.

Diaz said the pool wasn't doing well financially and wasn't well managed, causing it to close in 2016.

"It was a big thing for our community. For years that pool existed and was a community hub," Diaz said. "But now being closed and being a hole in the ground is not doing anyone any favors."

City staff has gotten feedback from residents on what they would like for the pool to provide.

Ocean Boulevard "used to be dirt roads, and the pool was here," Melody Jewell, who used to go to the pool as a teenager, said. "There were a lot more people, a lot more children, a lot more activity. There was a lot more going on when the pool was open."

Jewell said she would like to see diving boards, slip-proof flooring and a full staff of lifeguards.

"The pier is still here, Benny’s on the Beach got to stay, Lake Worth Beach has absolutely grown and the pool needs to come back," Jewell said.

The pool now sits drained but full of potential as city staff looks into what it will cost to reopen, maintain and operate it.

"The budget, you know, to construct is certainly one thing," Diaz said. "We expect that to be really significant. You know, we've heard numbers of $15-16 million, but then there's the significant added cost of, well, we want this pool to be open for decades."

The proposed pool design is smaller than the current pool but provides more room for decking and programs.

Among them are water aerobics, water sports and activities such as water basketball, water volleyball, swimming and diving lessons, lap lanes, splash pad activities, food and drink, and event space.

A place for families to cool off from the record-breaking heat is also top of mind.

"Not everyone can afford a pool in their backyard, so that's, you know, quite literally the main purpose of a community pool," Diaz said.

That all sounds perfect to Melissa Alvarez, who was visiting from Connecticut with her family.

"A lot of the kids like the pool and they love to go in the ocean, but after an hour or two they're ready to jump in the pool," Alvarez said.

She said a beachside amenity like a pool would bring in more tourism.

"Looking at the building, it's a great building and I think it would be wonderful to open it," Alvarez said.

Commissioners are looking into reworking certain details such as the placement of the splash pad and food service portions of the project.

There's no timeline one when the pool could reopen.

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LAKE WORTH BEACH — Developers are proposing an affordable housing project for people 55 and older in Lake Worth Beach. Though it still has a long way to go, the project cleared its first hurdle at a recent City Commission meeting.

Madison Terrace would include two six-story buildings and a total of 176 units — all of them income-restricted. The housing project would replace an old car lot at 821 S. Dixie Highway, between a Walgreens pharmacy to the north and a Bravo Supermarket to the south.

The $32 million project would offer residents in-unit laundry machines, full-time property management, key cards and security cameras, and community rooms for exercising, socializing and playing games.

The co-developers, American Residential Communities and New South Residential, have about a dozen senior communities throughout Florida, and their latest project, Madison Square in Cape Coral, offers insight about their residential demographics.

At that community, the average age of residents is about 69 years old at the time of move-in, and the vast majority — 93% of residents — are from the county where the housing was built. The remaining residents came from other Florida counties and, in only a handful of cases, from outside the state.

The developers presented their concept for Lake Worth Beach at a meeting Aug. 15, when commissioners held a first reading of the proposal before voting unanimously to move the project forward. Project leaders also met with about a dozen nearby residents during a community meeting in June, and the proposal cleared a review by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board in early August.

If commissioners once again vote in favor of the project at an upcoming meeting, during a second reading of the proposal, the next obstacle will be funding.

A majority of the funding — about $28 million — would come directly from the federal government via tax credits, which are administered by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, civil engineer Mike Oliver told the commission.

But the process of obtaining tax credits can be uncertain, he said, because applications are assigned a lottery number. Because the project is divided into two phases, obtaining funding for each building could take several years of submitting applications and hoping for the best lottery numbers.

"We only compete with applications that are in Palm Beach County," Oliver said. "We'll see how many there are, and hopefully we have the best lottery number. If we don't win it this year, we have the property under contract for three years and we'll keep trying."

The first phase would include 83 one-bedroom units with 576 square feet of living space, along with eight studio units with 430 square feet of space. The second phase would include a separate building with another 85 one-bedroom units.

The housing would have to remain affordable for at least 50 years, and 10% of the units would be dedicated to extremely low-income households. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would set the rental rates each year based on the area's median income.

If the Madison Terrace apartments existed now, it would cost between $562 and $1,023 for a studio unit, depending on income restrictions, and between $603 to $1,096 for a one-bedroom unit, according to the project's website, madisonterraceseniors.com.

Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

Though an incredible musician and songwriter, Jimmy Buffett's name is practically synonymous with the sea. Whether sailing, paddle boarding, surfing or fishing, he had strong ties to all of it.

On Sunday, Sept. 24, friends will get the chance to say goodbye in a manor befitting Buffett's love of the ocean during a paddle-out ceremony at Lake Worth Beach.

The event is being hosted by the nonprofit organization Piper's Angels Foundation.

Founded by Travis Suit, the group is named after his daughter Piper, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 4. Its goal is to provide innovative solutions to the cystic fibrosis community, empowering each individual and family to live their greatest life possible.

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A lifelong fan of his music, Suit was one of those lucky people who also actually got to meet and know Buffett.

Suit said it was 2012 and he was working as bartender at Nick & Johnny's in Palm Beach. It was a slow Sunday afternoon when an older guy rode up on his bicycle, he said. When that guy sat down at the bar and looked up, Suit said he was like, "Holy cow, that's Jimmy Buffett!"

Buffett lived just down the street on Root Trail, and Suit said he would stop by the restaurant several times year and more frequently during the winter season.

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Being a bartender, Suit said that you can sometimes get into pretty deep conversations with patrons, especially regulars.

He said that over the years, when Buffett would stop in they would talk about life, surfing and family.

Suit said that when he told Buffett about "The Crossing," a long-distance paddle challenge from the Bahamas to Florida that supports families affected by cystic fibrosis, Buffett said "anything you and Piper ever need, I'll help."

Having Jimmy Buffett say that had a profound impact on him, "just to know that he was in our corner," Suit said.

True to his word, Buffett stepped up and sponsored the foundation and became an advisor to its board of directors.

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Suit said he'd been a fan of his music his whole life and loved him for his authenticity.

One Sunday evening, Suit recalled Buffett stopped by the bar and told him that it looked like there were going to be good waves the next day. Suit said that he'd been praying for surf because not only was it his day off, but also his birthday.

Jimmy gave him his number and said, "Text me early tomorrow and we'll hit it."

Suit got a birthday surf session with Jimmy Buffett just north of The Breakers off Wells Road in Palm Beach.

The paddle out starts at 8 a.m. and will take place just south of the Lake Worth Pier. Everyone will then circle up on the beach at 8:30 before paddling out.

There will a time for sharing and some music, and flowers will be handed out. There will be a moment of silence, and then blowing of a conch shell.

Jimmy Buffett Paddle-Out Ceremony, Lake Worth Beach

Where: Lake Worth Beach, 10 Ocean Blvd., Lake Worth Beach

When: 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24

Information: instagram.com

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.