The meeting was called to order at 11:20 a.m. by President Pio Ieraci at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.
Tom Gestal, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, reported the neighborhood�s crime statistics. He warned that we should exercise reasonable caution to protect against theft. When shopping, keep our cars locked. Members expressed appreciation for the expeditious police response to area calls.
Garrett Pingol, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue, spoke to the following:
School assessment has been completed
Knox boxes � will expedite Fire-Rescue response to incidents in Condos by pre-consolidating relevant condo information
Building inspections � Annual Fire inspections coordinated with Fire Alarm vendors
Upgrading Emergency 911 will save lives (asked why 2 units answer a call: response � you get 5 people rather than 2)
AED (Automated External Defibrillators) training � budgetary constraints eliminated free classes for residents
Pio reported on the status of the Galt Mile Wine & Food Festival, a 4-hour event scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 26, 2013. The Continental Group, Katzman Garfinkel & Berger (Donna Berger�s law firm) and an unnamed CPA firm have each contributed $5,000 to hire a professional organizer to structure and operate the festival.
Pio announced that Katzman Garfinkel & Berger will hold a town hall meeting on October 12 to review the 12 amendments that will appear on the November ballot. It is important that we are aware of and informed about these amendments.
Galt Mile Street Landscape - Chepo Vega
Problems discussed:
Vendor Dumpsters and porta-potties damage to landscaping
Broken glass in bicycle lanes
Businesses in Galt Ocean Marketplace that back onto Galt Ocean Drive across from Playa del Mar are unsightly � garbage, etc. Pio will contact management company that operates the shopping mall and if the problems aren�t corrected, contact code enforcement.
Beach Renourishment
Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca�s Commission Aide D. Ryan Saunders stated that his office is tracking the renourishment project. Starting in 2013, work on the beach would only be possible from November to May to avoid interfering with sea turtle nesting season.
Galt Mile Security Patrol
As there were new Advisory Board representatives present, Pio explained to the group how the patrol functioned.
Galt Mile Web Site � Newsletter � Eric Berkowitz
- August Web Site Stats: 647,398 hits; 13,735 unique site visits (first timers)
Articles posted during the past month include:
August 12, 2012 - GMCA, City & One-Call to Zap Graffiti - For more than a decade, the Galt Mile Community Association (GMCA) fumbled enforcement of a City promise to maintain in a �Disney-like manner� the self-funded landscape and hardscape assets included in the 1993 Galt Mile Improvement Project. In late 2008, the GMCA Advisory Board unanimously appointed Jos� �Chepo� Vega to perform an ongoing review of these features along Galt Ocean Drive and the surrounding area. Despite Chepo�s mythic success in stabilizing erratic neighborhood maintenance via his dogged pursuit of City and County officials, Chepo was flummoxed by �Utility Graffiti�, the markings used to locate underground utility elements in anticipation of nearby excavation. When the GMCA met with Sunshine State One-Call (the State-sponsored agency responsible for protecting the interred utilities) last year to develop a methodology to remove markings for completed projects, the process crashed and burned. On August 6, 2012, a second bite at the apple succeeded. If it works, it will become standard practice in neighborhoods throughout Florida.
August 29, 2012 - Saving a Species: Lighting or Lawyers? - At the May 17, 2012 GMCA Advisory Board meeting, among the issues that City Commissioner Bruce Roberts pledged to address over the summer was an inconsistent and imbalanced enforcement policy for beachfront turtle-safe lighting. At a subsequent Presidents Council meeting a few weeks later, City officials vowed to revive a previously successful compliance process that fell prey to late 2010 personnel changes in City government. When association officials were given the floor, it became evident that the enforcement issue veiled a Pandora�s Box of frustration and animosity that had grown exponentially over the sea turtle nesting season. A series of ill-conceived policies enacted by Fish and Wildlife in Tallahassee had systematically alienated beachfront homeowners whose cooperation is critical to the program�s success. After mandating a tenfold expansion of the area surrounding each nest site and blocking the removal of rotting seaweed that admittedly generates toxic concentrations of bacteria and fungi, complaints that rolled in from coastal communities across the state finally snagged their attention.
September 6, 2012 - Roberts: Next Door, Vision & Dispatch - In his first message to constituents following the summer Commission hiatus, District 1 Commissioner Bruce Roberts serves up an eclectic buffet of events and initiatives. Along with a curiously sadistic methodology for encouraging the removal of illegal signs by torturing scofflaws with �robocalls� and a new venue for participating in the visioning process, he outlines an innovative Police Department tactic that utilizes Nuisance Abatement procedures to deter criminal activity. The Commissioner also describes a new technology installed along Broward thoroughfares that will expedite traffic information and a new high speed rail connection between Orlando and Miami. However... the Commissioner opens his newsletter with cryptic assurances that negotiations to implement an integrated Public Safety Dispatch System will not jeopardize our neighborhood, despite an impending litigation. If his presumption about your familiarity with �the ongoing dispute� is misplaced, here�s how a county-wide effort to comply with a decade-old voter mandate degenerated into the political equivalent of �Monday Night Slammo!�
Treasurer�s Report - Leah Glickfield
The Treasurer reported that we have a balance of $14,420.00.
Buildings should receive their statements by the end of May. Leah thanked Franci Bindler for sending out the statements.
Next Advisory Board Meeting - The next regular Advisory Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Fern McBride
Fern McBride, Secretary