A director and a member of the Palm Beach Civic Association are the newest members of the town’s Shore Protection Board.
Austin Fragomen, a Civic Association director since 2019, and Tim Cohan, a Civic Association member since 2021, were appointed to the board by the Town Council at its meeting on Tuesday, December 9.
Fragomen and Cohan were among three residents named to the shore panel, along with Joel Zylstra, a current member who was appointed a second term.
Fragomen and Cohan are taking the seats vacated by Melissa Ceriale and Erick Reickert, who were “termed out” and not eligible for reappointment. Ceriale was chairman of the board and has been a Civic Association director since 2023.
The shore board’s seven members serve three-year terms but are limited to two consecutive terms. They must be town residents.
The board advises the council on matters related to shore protection and coastal management.
In addition to Zylstra’s application for reappointment, there were seven applicants seeking new appointments to the board at Tuesday’s meeting.
Fragomen, a Midtown resident for 10 years, and Cohan, a North End resident for six years, are both members of the Civic Association’s Intracoastal/Lagoon Committee. Fragomen also serves on the Civic Association’s Speakers/Programs Committee.
Fragomen is an attorney and chairman emeritus of the Fragomen law firm, which is a global firm with expertise in immigration services.
He is a former chairman of the advisory board to the Institute of Marine and Coastal Studies at Rutgers University, having served during the period when Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey in October 2012.
He was also a legal advisor to a homeowners’ association on the Jersey Shore, where he dealt with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on beach replenishment and easement issues.
“It looks to me like you have a number of very active issues that have a lot of tentacles and are a bit complicated, to say the least,” Fragomen told the council during Tuesday’s meeting.
Fragomen spoke highly of the Shore Protection Board during an interview on Friday.
“I think they work very hard at this,” he said. “They have a lot to do. I think they are a conscientious group, and everybody seems focused on getting the job done.”
Tuesday marked Cohan’s third appearance before the council as a shore board applicant. Cohan said he is retired from a 40-year career in marketing and financial services and holds a degree in geology. He pledged to bring his strategic thinking, effective communication, and collaborative problem-solving skills to the board.
“I have a deep appreciation for coastal preservation,” he said. “Having lived on the Connecticut coastline most of my life and spent summers off Cape Cod for over 45 years, I understand the importance of protecting shorelines as both natural treasures and critical defenses for upland properties, infrastructure and habitats for sea turtles and other species.”
Council President Bobbie Lindsay, who is a former member of the shore board, encouraged candidates who weren’t appointed on Tuesday to reapply as seats become available.
“We have a plethora of qualified individuals,” Lindsay said. “We are all so impressed with the quality of the applicants that we get.”
In addition to Zylstra, Fragomen, and Cohan, the shore board members are Peter McKelvy, Peter Matwiczyk, Ronald Matzner, and Lawrence Kaplan, who has been a Civic Association member since 2022.
The board has five meetings scheduled for next year. Its next meeting will be on Thursday, January 8, at 9 a.m. in Town Hall, when the board is expected to select a new chairman.
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