MINUTES OF GMCA ADVISORY BOARD MEETING

March 16, 2017

The meeting was called to order at 11:15 a.m. by President Pio Ieraci at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.

Board Members present: : Ieraci, Berkowitz, Hamaker, Nesbitt, Surdovel, McBride, Abruzzino, Bazerghi, Bendis, Bibace, Cintron, Claire, Goldstein, Katz, Kessler, Madgett, Mancke, Moyyad, Mullan, Pohan, Sacca, Solewin, Soucy and Wenberg.

Guests present: Marty Kiar and Scott Barrocas, Broward County Property Appraiser�s Office; Alice Taylor, CEO, and Joey Guasteferro, Broward Health Imperial Point; Bob Wolfe, Broward County Appraiser�s Office;

Approval of Minutes - Minutes of the February 16, 2017 Advisory Board Meeting were approved.

Old and New Business

• Pio introduced Marty Kiar, Broward County Property Appraiser, who gave a presentation which included details of the responsibility of the Property Appraiser and his office. He distributed a brochure entitled �Guide to Homestead & Other Tax-Saving Exemptions.� Pio asked about a question raised at a previous meeting regarding how values of units in our buildings were determined for property tax figures. Mr. Kiar will look into this.

• Pio introduced CEO Alice Taylor of Broward Health Imperial Point, who enumerated the many services available at the Medical Center, including a full service emergency department, comprehensive outpatient and walk-in services. She will send an events calendar to Pio for distribution

• The growing emergence of college-age visitors to Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break revived a discussion about its impact on the City. In contrast with their unruly predecessors, roughly 500 Spring Breakers attending a recent party at Ocean Sky were well-behaved and respectful. Absent evidence of the vandalism and city-wide disturbances historically attributed to these events, we should wait until after Spring Break is over before deciding how to best prepare for next year.

• ELSS: Opt-out bills are being escorted through the House and Senate by Ellyn Bogdanoff, who is fending off mercenary attacks by Sprinkler Association lobbyists

• Fred Nesbitt reported on Security Patrol: Officers on foot patrols are talking to residents; enhancing visibility. It was suggested that they ticket cars illegally exiting Winn-Dixie to Galt Ocean Drive. Contact Fred with suggestions.

Galt Mile Reading Center - Terry Claire

• Spoke about the Environmental Inspection of the Reading Center.

Galt Mile Landscaping

• A walk-through is scheduled for April 10th.

Galt Mile Web Site � Newsletter � Eric Berkowitz

• February 2017 Website statistics: 541,328 hits; 22,710 Unique Site Visits (first timers)

Articles posted during the past month include:

• February 12, 2016 - January / February 2017 LaMarca Letter - In his January / February 2017 LaMarca Letter, District 4 County Commissioner Chip LaMarca thanks officials in the County�s Natural Resources Division for their relentless pursuit of the recently completed Segment II beach renourishment, welcomes $8 million awarded by HUD to fund 19 projects for which ending homelessness is a shared objective, credits a collaboration among stakeholders in the Broward Water Partnership with new conservation measures, applauds �Fast Lane�, an expedited information check-out feature of the Broward Library�s new service model and observes that the 2016 Sea Turtle nesting season was earmarked by an unprecedented number of Loggerhead, Green Turtle and Leatherback nests. Unfortunately, many of this year�s avalanche of Turtle nests failed to produce hatchlings, prompting environmental officials to revisit a plan to move the eggs to a protected beach, and re-illuminate dangerously darkened adjacent roadways and neighborhoods. Curious?

• February 21, 2016 - ELSS Ambush: Switching Scams - Last May, Fire Sprinkler Associations successfully engineered a regulatory loophole to circumvent a 2010 State Law that enables high rise association homeowners to opt out of a costly sprinkler retrofit. Although many associations have since been contacted by local Fire Marshals about installing a $multi-million Emergency Life Safety System (ELSS), some have been directed to immediately install a full sprinkler system. Leveraging their required system approval, some local Fire Marshals have also specified an engineer and contractor for these installations. On February 6, 2017, former Representative and State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff, who sponsored the 2010 sprinkler opt-out legislation, defined this dilemma while Representative George Moraitis announced having filed an ELSS opt-out bill - hopefully precluding one of the costliest rip-offs in Florida History.

• March 7, 2017 - Roberts: Galleria; Bad Bill; Galt A1A -Newsletter, District 1 City Commissioner Bruce Roberts anticipates another attempt by Galleria developers to placate leery City planners, introduces seawall compliance requirements, disparages a vacation rental bill by State lawmakers that would usurp the right of City residents to govern themselves, discusses a plan to decrease the number of pedestrians annually flattened by motoring tourists, reviews the progress of A1A renovations along the Galt Mile, provides a half dozen marginally useful City telephone numbers, applauds a mobile showers program for the homeless, invites perusal of newly available online police data, describes Symphony at the Waterways � a recently completed high-end senior living facility, enumerates a spectrum of parks programs, thanks constituents for marshalling through the Segment II beach renourishment, extolls employee happy talk on You Tube and notes a growing libretto of City accolades. His message is followed by some pedantic commentary.

Other Business

• Buses: BCT buses still block the handicap ramp across from Playa del Mar. Commissioner Roberts was asked to check on this.

• John Jors may help with block maintenance oversight formerly performed by Chepo.

• Fred Nesbitt discussed renovation issues at his building with permits, etc.

• Jim Madgett shared information about a recent visit by the fire marshal to his building.

Treasurer�s Report - Fred Nesbitt

• The Treasurer reported a balance of $15,965.71.

Adjournment - The next regular Advisory Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2017 at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

Fern McBride
Fern McBride, Secretary

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