Sally Swartz
A viaduct for the rich, Martin Health System firing volunteers, and a Martin County land buy to solve a neighborhood problem: Truth or fiction? By definition a rumor mixes both. Consider these three tales, which all fall into the category of “interesting if true, but interesting anyway.”
The first: Jupiter Island plans to build a viaduct, or raised bridge, over the railroad tracks so ambulances (and residents who live in one of America’s richest ZIP codes) won’t be affected by All Aboard Florida’s proposed 32 new trains a day and an expected increase in freight rail traffic.
The rumor has it that Jupiter Island’s town government has planned the route, bought the land and is ready to build.
Nope, that gets a 1 out of 10 on a truth scale that counts 10 as true, said Town Manager Gene Rauth. The town is looking at a lot of different options if All Aboard Florida becomes a reality. A viaduct would solve some problems. It isn’t off the table, he said, but the cost-benefit ratio isn’t ideal.
Jupiter Island is considering having its own ambulance, to cut one of three cross-track trips emergency vehicles must make to reach a hospital. Or, 911 calls could be synched with trains, bridges and traffic lights.
So, no viaduct. But Jupiter Island is doing a “modest sound study” measuring noise levels of trains now at five different locations on the island and mainland, “so we’ll have a baseline,” Rauth said.
Tale No. 2: Martin Health System, which operates hospitals, clinics and gyms throughout Martin County and has an outpost in Port St. Lucie, is firing volunteers.
“We have 800-some volunteers,” a hospital spokesperson said. “Why would we do that? Volunteers are pretty cost effective. We’re not getting rid of them.”
But some checking reveals volunteers in the health system’s Hobe Sound physician offices, the only one that uses volunteers, have been let go or reassigned to a rehabilitation facility, and others are “going to assorted places around the health system.” So, mostly true.
Last, a true story: The Thing — the double-wide trailer state officials classified as a modular home — is not returning to Hobe Sound’s Zeus Park neighborhood.
Just before Christmas, Martin County Commissioners approved a deal to buy the lot on Apollo Street for $200,000 from landowners Stuart and Jane Greenberg. The Greenbergs moved the trailer-like modular home to the lot in October, 2013, and set off a firestorm of protest in the neighborhood.
The land probably will be donated to the Hobe Sound Community Redevelopment Area. It could be used for a park, a community garden, or even a parking lot.
“There is overwhelming support for this purchase,” Mike Dooley, president of the Olympia Defense Fund, told commissioners. Residents contributed money to hire lawyer Virginia Sherlock to fight the county’s original decisions in October of 2013 to allow the trailer on a tipsy, temporary concrete block installation instead of a permanent foundation. A magistrate ruled in favor of residents, but an appeals court reversed the ruling, setting the stage for years of expensive legal battles.
Buying the lot ends the problem locally, though it doesn’t set a precedent for neighbors of questionable modular homes elsewhere in Martin or statewide.
County attorney Michael Durham negotiated the deal to solve the local problem by buying the lot. Meantime, Community Redevelopment chief Kevin Freeman is working with residents on a new zoning code to protect the area from future trailer trauma.
So, a tiny bit true, mostly true and true. That’s the rumor mill in Martin.
Sally Swartz is a former member of The Post Editorial Board. Find her blog posts and others at The Palm Beach Post Opinion Zone.
