Bruce will follow up on this issue.

Beach Renourishment

Pio shared latest information on the beach renourishment:

• Sand will be trucked in from Ocala area

• The project will require 38,000 truckloads of sand

• Time frame: Project will be recessed during turtle season

• They will taper the beach on approach to Anglin�s pier at Lauderdale by the Sea

• Time line: The final application is being prepared to be submitted to the County in April; then filed with the State, Federal, and Army Corp. of Engineers. This will take a year. Truckloads will begin being brought in November 2013 and will take at least two seasons to complete.

• Details regarding work hours, etc. need to be resolved; need input from those involved.

Guest Presentations

• Thomas Gestal, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, reviewed criminal activity in District 1

• Linda LaDuc of Monk�s Wine & Liquor Cave at 3912 N. Ocean Blvd. told about their establishment and passed out flyers. Pio announced they would participate in a Galt Mile Wine & Food Festival being organized.

• Kristin Jacobs, District 2 Broward County Commissioner and District 22 Congressional candidate stated that her platform includes environmental issues such as clean air & water, beach renourishment, transportation and sustainable energy.

Galt Mile Web Site � Newsletter � Eric Berkowitz -

• December Web Site Stats: 649,520 hits; 14,523 unique site visits (first timers)

Articles posted during the past month include:

• February 9, 2012 - LaMarca: Feb 2012 Galt Mile Update - On February 6, 2012, Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca addressed the Galt Mile Community Association Presidents Council at the Fountainhead. LaMarca has kept his campaign promises. He saved the Galt Library. As the County Commission gadfly, he questioned irresponsible spending and exposed the pet projects of fellow commissioners on one of the most corrupt County boards in the State. After confirming that his priorities are still public safety and jobs, he brought focus to beach renourishment. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. Having experienced unprecedented levels of frustration, angry association leaders grilled the Broward Commissioner about why they were still waiting for the decade-old beach plan to be realized. Ironically, LaMarca is one of two Broward officials that revived the project after it was nearly buried by State and local bureaucrats. When the emotional tsunami abated, LaMarca ran down his recent efforts to forward the County agenda in Republican Tallahassee, a job for which he is drafted by his Democrat peers each January.

• February 16, 2012 - West: Final Galt Mile Message? - Amid a whirlwind tour of town hall meetings, Congressman Allen West made a pit stop at the Beach Community Center from 5 to 7 pm on January 11^th before heading to the Jupiter Community Center on January 13. Addressing a healthy local audience of roughly 150 Galt Mile constituents; West blended patriotic dramaturgy with a dark picture of our future. After marching a perimeter around the Beach Community Center auditorium, a six-person police honor guard preceded a strained rendition of America the Beautiful performed by a would be club singer in a cheap tux. A Powerpoint presentation used to rally the weekday dinnertime audience was punctuated by the theme from �Patton�. Since these events are hosted by the neighborhood association, GMCA President Pio Ieraci moderated an hour-long question and answer period. Rather than rehashing the evening�s animated repartee, West provided a policy brief for release to his Galt Mile constituents. It may be his last as our voice in congress. Three weeks later he bailed out of the District 22 race in favor of the newly configured District 18. Adios Colonel!

• March 3, 2012 - Safe Harbor Scam - After decades of mounting futile challenges to the lending industry�s air-tight control over Florida�s banking laws, association attorneys in the early nineties exploited a chaotic economic environment and created what�s known today as the lenders� Safe Harbor provision. It refers to the miserable pittance due to associations when foreclosing lenders take title to a defaulted unit. Over the past decade, association attorneys have been pushing the legal envelope to thwart lender delays responsible for destroying hundreds of client associations. An eerie controversy unfolded recently when Representative George Moraitis decided to place a provision in his Omnibus Association Bill that will protect lenders from the devastating financial consequences of their delays. Certain association law firms supporting the bill have been trying to convince their client base that this will somehow speed things along. Evidently, one firm is currently representing banks in actions against associations and the other has decided that verging on bankruptcy is preferable to irritating lenders.

• March 13, 2012 - Lawmakers OK Construction Defects - When the Lakeview Reserve Homeowners Association sued Pittsburgh-based Maronda Homes in 2007 for severely pitted streets and a defective drainage system, the trial court ruled against the homeowners. On October 29, 2010, Florida�s Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court, ruling that home buyers and homeowners� associations are entitled to recover damages for Breach of Common Law Implied Warranties from the builder or developer who saddles them with substandard construction. Despite its pendency before the Supreme Court of Florida, the construction industry lobby called on Bradenton Senator Michael Bennett, an electrical contractor, and Miami Statehouse Representative Frank Artiles, a State of Florida licensed general contractor, real estate agent and public adjuster, to file legislation prohibiting common law implied warranties of fitness, merchantability and habitability from applying to residential construction, thereby engineering an end run around the Court. If House Bill 1013 is approved by Governor Scott, when buyers in new condos, co-ops and HOAs face defective construction, they are... well... screwed. Period.

Treasurer�s Report - Leah Glickfield

The treasurer reported that we have a balance of $12,109.46.

Next Advisory Board Meeting - The next regular Advisory Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at Nick�s Italian Restaurant.

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

Fern McBride
Fern McBride, Secretary