The meeting was called to order at 11:05 a.m. by President Pio Ieraci.
Board Members present: Ieraci, Berkowitz, Glickfield, Hamaker, Nesbitt, Oppert, McBride, Abruzzino, Adams, Bazerghi, Bendis, Bindler, Edwards, Freismuth, Griffis, Katkin, Konstance, Korn, Larson, Lyons, Quintero, Solewin and Vega.
Guests present: Fort Lauderdale Commission Assistant Robbi Uptegrove, representing City of Fort Lauderdale District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts; Officers Soika and Vilches, Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Approval of Minutes - Minutes of the March 15, 2012 Advisory Board meeting were approved.
Old and New Business
Pio thanked Ralph Hamaker for contacting Advisory Board members for the meeting.
Pio introduced Robbi Uptegrove, Commission Assistant to Bruce Roberts, City of Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner. Robbi shared information regarding utility markings, working with Chepo Vega on various issues and the upcoming Lauderdale Air Show.
Fort Lauderdale Police Department officers spoke regarding the following:
Inform the police department if you are going out of town; if neighbor notices suspicious or unusual activity, they should call police. These safety guidelines are more applicable to single-family residences than community associations.
Air Show security will be handled by off-duty police officers from Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Broward Country and other local jurisdictions; there is no provision for parking; morning and evening area traffic is expected to be extremely heavy
A discussion followed about association security for the Air Show. L�Hermitage has unique problems because it is located next to the public beach access at Oakland Park Boulevard. A suggestion that each building provide ID bands for visitors/building members would help identify trespassers.
Beach Safety/Recent Drowning: Members considered pro-active measures to decrease the threat posed by rip currents without burdening associations with liability for any incidents. Local residents who witnessed or heard about a recent Galt Mile rip current drowning have been requesting preventive actions by their associations. When this was addressed years ago, association carriers warned that direct action, including maintenance of a beachfront flag warning system for ocean conditions, could create liability for the association, substantially increasing insurance costs. However, no liability attached for simply making available educational materials issued by state or federal agencies. If the materials could be located, each association would decide how to best distribute the information. Concerned residents need to know that we are doing whatever possible to prevent future incidents.
Eric will investigate availability of the National Weather Service (NWS) rip current brochures/posters that were used a few years ago. Pio will then distribute the materials to member associations.
Beach Renourishment
Pio reviewed the new Segment II beach renourishment plan that Broward Beach Administrator Eric Myers that was presented at the last Presidents� Meeting. Eric said that an article would soon be posted on the Galt Mile website and be published in the May Galt Mile News.
Galt Street Landscape - Chepo Vega
Chepo gave an update about utility markings on the streets, landscaping, aesthetic issues undertaken with the Galt Mile library�s landlord , a request that individual buildings trim association trees that interfere with city trees, uniform replacement of burned out up�lights, splinters on deteriorating benches, and replacing trees that were removed for various reasons (which will begin next week).
Galt Mile Web Site � Newsletter � Eric Berkowitz -
- March Web Site Stats: 830,976 hits; 16,681 unique site visits (first timers)
Articles posted during the past month include:
March 23, 2012 - Roberts: Turtle Lights, Air Show, SusDev - On March 13, 2012, District 1 City Commissioner Bruce G. Roberts was up for re-election. When GMCA Secretary Fern McBride returned from voting at the Galt Ocean Mile Library polling site shortly after Noon, she announced that only 34 people had cast votes all morning. The site's electoral output doubled at 2 PM, when some 40 attendees of a Book Review hosted by Library maven Herman Gardner opted to fulfill their civic duty while Gloria Kline interpreted Alice LaPlante�s �Turn of Mind�. Perceiving Roberts' victory as a forgone conclusion and the election as a formality, most Galt Mile residents realized that they forgot to vote while watching results on the evening news. After locking up another three well-deserved and hard-earned years of public service, Roberts rolled up his sleeves and cranked out his March, 2012 post-election update. Roberts kicks off his second term with comments about the planned turtle-safe lighting along A1A, the City's new Department of Sustainable Development, the Full Sails in Fort Lauderdale outdoor public art exhibit, the upcoming Air Show and some neat tricks on the City's redesigned Geographic Information System (GIS) website.
April 4, 2012 - Florida Fair Foreclosure Act D.O.A. - Although Florida�s foreclosure filing spree has cooled, the knee-deep case load it created is choking Florida courts. The huge backlog of Florida foreclosures mired in judicial limbo clouds surrounding communities with eroding structures while banks are left holding portfolios filled with bad paper. Since major lenders like Citibank and Bank of America often lack legitimate documentation, they have little incentive to pursue a speedy judgment after they clear the mortgage from their books as a loss. As a result, foreclosures in Florida take almost two years (676 days) to perfect, more than twice the national average. By deterring Florida lenders from playing hide and seek with the presiding Judge, Naples Representative Kathleen C. Passidomo�s House Bill 213 might have prodded lenders into reviving stalled cases and lifted 368,000 Florida foreclosures out of hopelessly clogged dockets and back into the market. One of the association bills left at the alter as the session closed, you will probably see this bill reincarnated in about seven or eight months.
April 12, 2012 - LaMarca: The Price of a Promise - After decades of mutely watching legislators design election districts blemished by incumbent and party advantages, Florida voters in 2010 finally took back a process that lawmakers had long ago turned on its head. When the electorate approved Constitutional Amendments 5 and 6, lawmakers newly deprived of the right to rig elections began swapping constituencies, changing chambers or jumping the aisle to exploit any remaining legal election advantages. Galt Mile residents recently witnessed this new phenomenon in their own back yard. When retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West abandoned a constituency that launched his Congressional career, his departure triggered a round of political musical chairs that ultimately forced Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca to decide between political ascendancy and keeping his promises. To his credit, he decided to stick around and fulfill pre- and post campaign commitments. LaMarca's message to constituents headlines an early April Newsletter that reviews the projects on his plate and snapshots clear evidence of the County�s economic headway. For details, read on...
Other Business
A presentation will be scheduled at the June Presidents Council meeting about combining buildings for employee health insurance.
Fred Nesbitt spoke about unclosed building permits and a violation notice for non-compliant turtle lighting in Playa del Mar.
A clarification was made that a meeting called a �Presidents Round Table� scheduled for April 24th at Regency South is NOT sponsored by the Galt Mile Community Association, but by Continental Management, which provides Regency South with management services.
Treasurer�s Report - Leah Glickfield
The treasurer reported that we have a balance of $12,109.46.
New invoices will go out at the end of May.
Leah made a motion that we maintain our yearly dues at $250.00. The motion was seconded by Jim Abruzzino and unanimously approved.
Next Advisory Board Meeting - The next regular Advisory Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Fern McBride
Fern McBride, Secretary
APRIL 19, 2012
