Boynton West leader set to jump in
Phil Barlage will plan for new library and park, try to protect Ag Reserve, stress mental health issues.
As the new president of the Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations, Phil Barlage will pick up where his predecessor left off in planning for an incoming library and park and will continue the organization’s work to protect the Agricultural Reserve.
Barlage, 69, also plans to increase the coalition’s awareness of mental health, and he wants to get the communities of younger families who live west of Boynton Beach more involved.
The real estate appraiser was sworn in Wednesday. Barlage replaces Myrna Rosoff, who served as president on and off for four years. Each term is one year.
“I’m very happy,” Barlage said Tuesday.
A resident of Pine Tree Village, Barlage became involved with COBWRA about four years ago. He immediately rose to one of the top positions as first vice president and has been involved in the organization’s committees, including government affairs.
Barlage is a past president of the South Florida Chapter of Appraisal Institute and was on the board of directors of the Appraisal Institute’s national organization. He worked for the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office and is a member of the county’s Sober Homes Task Force.
His involvement in COBWRA came with his urge to make an impact on mental health care and move the community at large away from the stigma that comes with it. Barlage’s son is schizophrenic.
“I felt I needed to be with an organization that had a pulse on the community, and that was COBWRA,” Barlage said.
Barlage hopes to have a member of the Action Alliance for Mental Health join COBWRA’s health and wellness committee. Another committee he hopes to grow is community outreach.
“We have the older, 55 communities, and we have the younger communities. I need to unify that a little better, I think,” he said.
More than 110 communities are members of COBWRA, said spokeswoman Sharon Reuben. The members have a heavy hand on incoming development and what it should look like and work with county and state officials on issues important to the group’s residents. The organization holds monthly delegate meetings that are attended by residents of each community and also elected officials, such as Palm Beach County commissioners, State Attorney Dave Aronberg and representa-
tives and senators.
Palm Beach County Commissioner David Kerner said COBWRA has the strongest influence in the county that he’s seen of constituent organizations.
“They took community advocacy to a whole new level, and it shows in their influence,” Kerner said.
The group has pushed for years to have a park built west of Boynton Beach as well as a library. The County Commission in January approved building the library. The park also has already been approved and is expected to be built by 2022 near the Canyon Amphitheater.
Another important issue for the group has been the Ag Reserve. The group led opposition to GL Homes’ plan to build more housing in the Ag Reserve in exchange for the builder’s promise to preserve land in its Indian Trails Grove tract in the midwestern county. GL Homes withdrew that plan in December.