Received via email 2/10/2025:
To Whom It May Concern:
I want to write in support of the proposed lighting for the fields at the Mandel recreation center.
I grew up on South Ocean and Clarke Avenue, and currently reside on Seagate Road with my husband and two small children, ages 2.5 and 4.5 years old.
Some of the best times of my life have involved playing sports, namely team sports, which I still do today. I would like my children to have the same exposure and opportunities as I did, and hopefully, be able to compete at a collegiate level.
Currently, I drive my 4 year old son to a sports group at South Olive park to play from 5-6 pm with his friends, and it is the highlight of his week, and it is also a highlight for the parents to come together on the sidelines, some of which work until around that time. I live north of the Palm Beach Country Club, so you can imagine, with the frequency of the South Ocean Blvd road closures lately, it is not the most ideal location to get to at that time of day.
We are desperate for kids programming on the island of Palm Beach. We would like to keep our kids off of screens, and instead enjoying the outdoors and interacting with one another during these formative years. During the winter months, the window from 5 pm until bedtime can be long - not only for our children, but for us as parents - having these additional hours would provide a sense of community and instill a healthy way of living in our children—the island’s next generation.
Thank you for taking the time to consider the lighting at the sports fields — we are forever grateful for everyone that pours their time and energy and resources into making the Mandel Rec Center into what it is, and would be so happy to see it continue to evolve and expand its offerings to benefit the whole community.
Sincerely,
Charlotte Ross
151 Seagate Road
Palm Beach, FL
33480

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Dear Mayor and Members of council
I live at 160 Seaview Avenue and I am opposed to the field lighting proposal. We are to be a residential neighborhood and yet our street has had increased traffic. The lights would affect the tranquility of the neighborhood. We have a problem with the lights left on in the Wells Fargo building. The field lights would make the situation worse. I do not believe they are required.
Respectfully ,
Angela Feldman
160 Seaview Avenue

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Good Morning,
We hope that this letter finds you well.
Myself, Ashly Heyniger, my husband, Sean Heyniger, and our 4 children (ages 10, 8, 6, & 4) are very much in favor of the installation of field lights at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center that the Town Council will be reviewing today. The opportunity the lights will provide for additional children's evening programming in the dark winter months is massively important to each child, their families, and our Palm Beach community as a whole.
Youth sports and events with families are a large part of what childhood and parenting are made of. The visceral feeling of excitement and community that you feel when you see lights on a sports field/court at night is a special experience that all Palm Beach children should have.
I fear that our children and families are being robbed of this precious time with their peers (both children and adults) and turning to electronic devices that so many of us are sadly addicted to. The installation of field lights at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center will play a pivotal role in fostering the development of healthy habits for not only the children participating, but their siblings as well who will tag along for games/practices and enjoy our incredible Recreation Center, gorgeous weather and camaraderie with fellow Palm Beach residents.
As both current (Onondaga Avenue) and previous (Ocean Terrace, Reef Road) Palm Beach residents, and after a decade of being in West Palm and now living back on the North End of Palm Beach with our four small children, we're thrilled to be coming home to our incredible Town of Palm Beach Island and all the people and places that make it so special including of course, the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center.
We are unfortunately unable to attend today's Town Council meeting to share our favorable position regarding the agenda item for installing new field lights at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center and would be grateful if this email could please be forwarded to all council members ahead of today's meeting. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.
--
Sincerely,
Ashly Heyniger

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Hello Mayor and Town Council Members:
Thank you for your dedication to our beautiful Town. We are all incredibly fortunate to call Palm Beach home with sun filled days the majority of the year! As a mother of three active children under the age of 5-years, the outdoor spaces in and around Palm Beach are an incredible asset. We are always outside exploring in our parks and beaches, practicing their bike riding along the trail, climbing and jumping at the Rec Center playground/playing fields/courts. We greatly support lights at the playing fields and hope you will support the lights too. There are so many educational, behavioral and health studies around the benefits of play and organized sports. Lights not only will encourage our kids to be passionate about their sports but also:
1) continue good exercise habits,
2) build sportsmanship and teamwork,
3) adapt socially with their peer groups,
4) deepen the family bond with quality time,
5) encourage cognitive development
6) lessen screen time
7) promote healthy practices for kids and families alike
The Rec Center is an incredible asset for our community and we are lucky to have it so full of wonderful activities! We already have the sports in place and the hours of operation are staying status-quo, so adding lights for the ability to practice organized play a little longer seems like a practical way to support our next generation of Palm Beachers!
Thank you for everyone’s consideration and discussion on this topic! After all, it takes a supportive (village) community to raise our children!
Franny and family
Franny Frisbie
Frisbie Group | Palm Beach, FL

Received via email 2/11/2025:
I want to express my support for the field lights project for the rec center. My family and I moved to Palm beach almost 5 years ago and have found the rec center to be an amazing community builder. Extending field availability by a few hours each day would be great for children and adults.
Thank you.
Adam Demark
Midnight Holdings LLC

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Good morning,
I am writing to express my strong support for the installation of a new field light at the Mandel Recreation Center.
I believe that this addition would greatly benefit the community by extending the hours of play and allowing for increased use of the field, especially during the evening hours.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Kristen
KRISTEN LAMBERT
College Admissions Counseling Group
240 Royal Palm Way, 2nd Floor, Suite 202
Palm Beach, FL 33480

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Dear Committee,
As a resident of Palm Beach and a mother of 2 kids who are active at the rec center programs, I want to express my strong support for the installation of field lights at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center. This initiative is essential for expanding youth sports programming, which currently face time limitations due to early sunset during winter months.
One of the best ways to keep our kids out of trouble is to ensure they stay active and engaged in positive activities. By providing lights on the field, we can directly benefit our children’s physical activity and well-being, giving them more opportunities to play and thrive.
I think this would extremely benefit of our youth and we would be one step closer as keeping a premier recreation center and helping support the local children.
Best,
Kalynn Smith
Palm Beach Resident

Received via email 2/11/2025:
Dear Council Members,
As a Palm Beach resident and parent to young third generation Palm Beachers, I would like to share my enthusiastic support of the Friends of Palm Beach Recreation’s proposal to light the Mandel Recreation Center field. This proposal stands to significantly benefit the Palm Beach community, virtually no downside, expense, or risk to the town. The fact that the funds for this project have already been raised in the community speaks to its widespread support. Our town already recognizes the value of outdoor sport after sunset with the lighting of the tennis courts, and that privilege should extend to other outdoor recreational pursuits for our residents.
For the detractors who fear the threat of people crossing the bridge to use our resources, I would simply say this; Palm Beach youth athletic programs are far inferior to those of any neighboring town. Every municipally from Jupiter to Boca and Wellington has far more youth sports offerings and better teams. Families from those communities are not looking to come to Palm Beach, instead Palm Beach families spend hours in the car daily driving our children all over the county for athletic programs. To compound the problem, Palm Beach Day Academy cut its interscholastic sports teams by 42% this year, leaving many Palm Beach youth with no access to after school athletics without driving at least 45 minutes each way to a practice. Add in the horrific afterschool traffic leaving the Island, and many Palm Beach families don’t even attempt the commute, leaving Palm Beach youth without access to what is considered a basic town amenity elsewhere.
On a personal note, I have seen tears well in my son's eyes when confronted with a rigorous PBDA homework load, practice for his instrument, and the prospect of nearly 2 hours in the car for a 1 hour athletics practice after school. I cannot overstate how positively lifechanging lit fields would be for current and future generations of Palm Beachers, and I urge you to support this initiative.
Thank you for your service and stewardship of our special community, and for your tireless efforts to protect our town.
Sincerely,
Elisabeth Munder
Dunbar Road
Palm Beach

Received via email 2/19/2025:
Good afternoon
Upon reviewing proposal I am withdrawing my objection.
Thank you
Angela Feldman
160 Seaview Avenue

Received via email 2/24/2025:
Dear Madam Mayor,
I am writing to express our support of The Friends of Recreation Board and Residents of the Town of Palm Beach community's proposal for the installation of permanent lighting on the field at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center. Pam and I have no doubt that the addition of lighting will enhance the wellbeing of children and youth in the community and strengthen the offerings of the Mandel Recreation Center. Today, more than ever, it is so important for young people to have the opportunity to be outside and active, and the additional hours afforded them with this proposal would truly be a gift. We hope the proposal is approved by the Town Council.
Sincerely,
Wayne Garrison

Received
Feb. 24,2025 New Business Item #6: Seaview Park Athletic Field Lighting proposal
Dear Mayor and Town Council,
As residents of the Sea Streets and concerned Townspeople, we ask that you thoroughly review the proposal for lighting on the Rec center field abutting Royal Palm Way. Our concerns are:
1. This field is on the main thoroughfare into the town. Lighting such a large area not only risks light and noise pollution when in use, but also diminishes the small residential town character so important to our town creating a much more urban appearance than we are or wish to be.
2. Our neighborhood is overextended and overcrowded with non-residential uses- the Day and Public Schools, the Rec Center tennis and other programs and the Four Arts. It will be further impacted when the Four Arts undertakes an expansion which is destined to attract more and more off-islanders with the new, larger children’ library which is already seeing 30,000 children a year. Where the Town is trying to reduce demand on our over capacity streets especially in mid-town, this proposal is at odds with that goal. We have heard that 70% of the Day School kids live off island. These programs seem to require more than a very small amount of on island kids to fill these. Wouldn’t it be better to have the few who want the intense sports programs continue to go to the County locations that already offer them?
3. The underlying soil structure in this area is muck soil. Drainage mitigation as previously performed on 60% of the field can only do so much. The field cannot, as clearly stated by the Rec center director, sustain intense adult use and this must be strictly forbidden.
4. Who will be the users? Only children eight grade and younger-14 years old maximum-in sports programs? How can this be enforced and mission creep denied? How many children from Palm Beach will use this extended sports time? This is a Town facility and must be for the town’s elementary age children. A minimum of 75% town residents’ children must be achieved to truly serve the Town’s children and avoid becoming a draw for significant numbers of non-town children. This increased use at night is not to be a regional draw to expand managed sports programs that require too many non-residents to fill out teams .
5. What are the other options for play managed by Rush Soccer programs in W. Palm Beach? Are Lacrosse and Flag football available for later play in other locations? How many actual Palm Beach resident children now want to enroll in these kind of advanced programs?
6. Please question the data provided. How many non-townspeople are needed to make up more teams? How many more cars on Seaview? Who is going to provide security? How many times a week will the field be used and lighted?
7. Please question the Hours. How long is a soccer game, lacrosse or flag football? Shouldn’t children be home by 7 for dinner, homework and bed? Is extended lighting really necessary beyond Dec.Jan. Feb. ? Extensions beyond those months only encourage overuse of the field.
One commissioner suggested increased use of the Town’s property for more private use events such as parties. This is a disastrous concept on many levels. One only has to look at the condition of the north lawn after one such event over the High Holidays. It was destroyed and had been out of use since that event in December- a clear example of the delicate nature of the soil structure in the Sea Streets. Loud noise and bright light glow from that party reverberated throughout our neighborhood disturbing our quiet enjoyment of our evening at home. Please do not continue to rent out our Town’s facilities at night. These facilities were created for residents’ use during the day time. This facility is in a residential neighborhood and private rentals after hours is not only unseemly but was never an intended use of the Town’s property. Thank you for your consideration and conscientious deliberation. We would really like to know how many parents of young under 14 year olds really want their children out as late as 8:00 at night.
Sincerely,
Anne and Charlie Pepper
333 Seaspray Ave

Received via email 4/2/2025:
Hello Town Council, I would like to register my support of the field lights proposal for the Seaview rec field.
My husband and I support this project both ideologically, for the benefit of local children for generations to come, and also financially, via our pledge donation as I am on this lights committee on Friends of Rec.
Thank you,
Carolyn and Kevin Ryan
171 El Pueblo Way

Received via email 4/2/2025:
Dear Town Council members,
I am writing to express our family's support of implementing field lighting at the Mandel Recreation Center where our children play, particularly during the winter months. As the days become shorter, the limited natural light can pose safety concerns and limit the time our children are able to play and engage in healthy outdoor activities.
Prior to having our children (ages 3 and 14 months), I did not realize how impactful these additional lights at the Mandel Recreation Center would be in our day-to-day activities. Our children love to be outside after school playing, exercising, and meeting new friends at the recreation center field. Unfortunately, in the winter months they are limited to the outside activities they can engage in or sometimes not at all due to the lack of sufficient lighting and limited natural light.
As our family continues to grow, investing in additional field lighting will not only provide a safer area for our kids to play and engage with their community, but also contribute to the collaborative initiative of keeping our youth off the screens and outdoors.
We appreciate your time and respectfully ask that you consider this request of additional lighting at the recreation center.
Sincerely,
Carla and Terry Taylor
780 South Ocean Blvd
Palm Beach, FL 33480

1. This field is on a main thoroughfare into the town. Lighting a large area risks light and noise pollution and also diminishes the small residential town character.Neighborhood overextended and overcrowded with schools, Rec tennis, Four arts.Aren't we trying to reduce traffic not encourage it? These programs serving kids 70% of whom live off island still require more off islanders to fill the teams.The soil structure is muck and cannot sustain intense use. No programs for adults, priority to town residents' kids. If deemed necessary, lights off by 7:00. No lights used if no games. Who and how will lighting be managed?How high and how many lights for field this size? This is not town-serving. These sports programs are available in areas with much larger park settings and in large schools.