VOLUME 47 • NO.

39
SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
Pompano passes final budget 5
DELIVERED TO: New bids in for Deerfield pier restaurant 7

Observer
HOMES
& BUSINESSES IN
• DEERFIELD BEACH
• LIGHTHOUSE POINT
• HILLSBORO BEACH
• POMPANO BEACH
• BOCA RATON
www.observernewspaperonline.com Deerfield Publishing, Inc. © 2009

OF INTEREST

No more cup o’ jo
page 3 Progress report:
West Wellfield
By Diane Emeott ing to an Operations Sched-

Tampa company chosen What’s new at the City of

Deerfield’s West Wellfield
Project, on the south side of
ule presented to homeowners
at a June 3 meeting in city
commission chambers. Prob-

to build Dixie Flyover SW 10 Street between SW 24

By Andrea Freygang
Paddleboard race The development of a
See web Dixie Flyover moved one
small step forward re-
cently with the selection
of Core & Graham, of
Tampa, to be the design/
build team for the project.
The Florida Dept. of
Transportation (FDOT)
has not officially awarded
the $40 million contract
yet, but officials with
Whirled Peace
page 10 English Café: Broward County
FDOT say it is imminent. The
project, being funded by fed-
eral stimulus dollars given to
both Broward and Palm Beach
counties, has been in the works
for over 20 years. It essen-
tially widens Dixie High-
way to four lanes between
Hillsboro Boulevard and Boca
Raton, just north of the
Hillsboro Canal, with a bridge
over the railroad tracks, a pe-
destrian bridge to the park and
a southbound ramp. All
bridges will be higher than
the current bridge and will
not impede the waterways.
“We don’t expect con-
struction to begin until
2010,” said Chuck Joyce
with FDOT, adding it is
expected to generate
1,200 jobs.
Once the project is offi-
cially awarded, Core &
Graham can begin.
and SW 28 Avenues?
“We’re moving forward.
We’ve received 99.6 percent
of the 1.3 million grant from
the South Florida Water Man-
agement District,” said Di-
rector of Public Works Charlie
DaBrusco on Sept. 22. This
equals $942,000.
As of Sept. 17, an em-
ployee of AC Shultes, which
has the water well contract,
said: “We’re getting ready to
set 40-inch pipe 435 feet down
where the rig is sitting. Then
[we’ll be] installing 24-inch
fiberglass – setting it down
about 1,000 to 1,100 feet.”
He estimated October into
lems with the location of the
FA-2 well and the generator
being too close to home-own-
ers caused delays. [Agreement
was since reached to relocate
these two items near a park
west of the C-2 canal.]
“Wellfield, yes it’s slow,
some things have fallen behind.
The gas lines were not where
they were supposed to be,” said
DaBrusco on Aug. 18.
Downrite Engineering
[contractor] is responsible for
implanting all the pipeline and
building a pump over the com-
pleted well. They have been
See Wellfield, pg 6

Business relief
page 11
“Like a gold ring in
a pig’s snout is a
beautiful woman who
shows no discretion.”
Proverb 11:22
ALSO INSIDE
Opinion ............................. 6
Sports ............................... 8
Schools ........................... 10
Business ......................... 11
Happenings ..................... 14
Dining & Entertainment .. 14
Religion ........................... 16
Classified ........................ 18
Libraries help shape the language map
By Corinne Tillman
Five women sit in the meet-
ing room at Percy White Li-
brary in Deerfield. It is evi-
dent as they speak that they
are all at different levels —
but they all have the same
desire to learn English.
Broward County Library
(BCL) system is helping them
achieve this. Since 2000, it
has hosted the English Café.
The English Café is a lit-
eracy program aimed at
people who can already speak
English and speak it at an
intermediate level. The pro-
gram is a spinoff of Cross-
roads Café, which focuses on
pronunciation and vocabu-
lary. Vonda Bryant a Learn-
ing Services Coordinator with
BCL said “The students in the
English classes wanted more
time to practice their English
and soon conversations be-
gan.” The program is offered
at 22 locations in Broward
County on varying days.
This program has been
around for nine years, yet it is
more useful than ever with
the ever-changing language
map that is Broward County.
According to the 2000 Cen-
sus, over 70,000 residents (age
18 and over) in Broward
County reported that they only
speak English “not well” or
“not at all.” In theory, pro-
grams like English Café can
help alter the results by mov-
ing people into the “speaks
English well” or “very well”
group.
The program stresses pro-
nunciation. Joan Martin, who
helps head the program at
Percy White, tells participants
to “use your H’s” and show
stress.” People who were there
that night were focused and
frequently writing down notes
to use outside the classroom.
According to the program
outline from BCL: partici-
pants are encouraged to prac-
tice what they learn at home
and at work. Bryant said the
people who would benefit
most from the program are
“Intermediate English Lan-
guage Learners, who are lit-
erate in their own language
and can speak and understand
some English.”
“I like to study and I want to
know English. I want to speak
English and I want to under-
stand English. I like English.”
said a participant named
Jalina. Her sentiment is one
shared by most of the class.
For more information on the
program, call your local li-
brary.
November before the water
well portion is done.
The project — to construct
two Biscayne aquifer water
wells and one Floridan aqui-
fer water well – is meant to
help the city better manage its
existing wellfields. It will help
reduce the likelihood of salt-
water intrusion impacting the
East Wellfield by shifting
water withdrawal away from
the coast toward the west.
However, the West Well-
field Project has had its share
of ups and downs. “We lost
$5,200 due to delays,” said
DaBrusco.
Pipeline and Well Drilling
were originally slated to be-
gin in July [by July 6] accord- Well drilling
By Palm Trail Plaza, preparing to install pipeline.