Delray Beach honors long-serving staff; official touts $300 million water-plant investment

Delray Beach — The City of Delray Beach honored dozens of employees at its quarterly service awards on Jan. 15, recognizing milestones spanning five to 30 years and spotlighting internal promotions and long-serving staff across departments.

"So we're here for a quarterly awards program," the event host said as the ceremony opened, emphasizing the city’s effort to celebrate employee service. Departments represented included police, utilities, information technology, parks and recreation, public works and neighborhood services.

The program singled out several long-tenured staff: David Goldstein (30 years) and Tard McCoy (30 years) were among the longest-recognized employees; others honored included Kathleen Otting (25 years), Octave Batai (25 years), and multiple employees marking 20, 15, 10 and five-year milestones. The police department recognition included mentions of internal promotions, with Daniela(la) Quinn identified in the remarks as now serving as Major Quinn and Stephanie Baker as a newly promoted lieutenant.

Utilities staff were prominently featured. Cynthia Ramirez was recognized for 16 years after starting with the city in December 2005 and returning in October 2010; presenters noted that the utility billing division transitioned from Finance to the Utilities Department in April 2024. The ceremony also recognized Demetrius Smith for five years and highlighted his role developing the city’s cross-connection control program.

Assistant utilities director Juan Guevara was honored for five years of service. During that segment a city official described the city’s ongoing plan to replace a roughly 60-year-old water treatment plant and said the new facility would be "the largest investment that the city has made in its history," estimating a project cost of about $300 million and a hoped-for delivery around late 2028. The official praised Guevara’s role in planning and design for the project.

Information Technology staff recognized Paul Bryant for five years; presenters recounted an anecdote about a 2020 lightning strike that totaled his car and described Bryant’s work maintaining storage, virtual environments and the city’s resilience during major IT upgrades.

Parks and Recreation honored Octave Batai (25 years) and Urkis (Ercus) Hill III (20 years) with colleagues praising their teamwork, community involvement and reliability. Additional service awards recognized staff across multiple divisions — including recreation supervisors, lifeguards, inspectors and maintenance personnel — with speakers highlighting mentorship, institutional knowledge and commitment to public service.

Human Resources concluded the ceremony with a raffle for a $100 Visa gift card and an invitation for staff to participate in future quarterly events. The host closed by thanking attendees and wishing colleagues a successful 2026.

The ceremony was largely celebratory and ceremonial; no formal votes or policy decisions took place during the event. The most substantive operational detail emerged in the utilities segment, where city officials described planning for the replacement of the city’s main water treatment plant and provided an approximate budget and timeline for that project.