Monthly Archives: September 2010

Council of Civic Association
General Meeting Minutes
September 14, 2010
City Hall, 8th Floor
7:30 PM

1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by President Doug Sterner at 7:32 PM.

2. Board members present: Juanita Gray, Donna Mergenhagen, David Parker, Betty Shelly, Shirley Smith, Richard Mancuso, Doug Sterner, Bruce Tanner and Tom Welch

Board members absent: Genia Ellis, Marilyn Mammano and Gabriel Ocasio

3. Approval of Minutes. A motion was made by Dave Parker to approve the minutes of the July 13, 2010 meeting, seconded by Betty Shelly and approved with unanimous consent.

4. Treasurers Report. Tom Welch provided a report for the period of June 1, 2010 through August 31, 2010. The beginning balance on June 1 was $8,796.61 and the end balance on August 31, 2010 was $8,006.31. The bank account was transferred to BB&T. Due to the slow summer season there was a modest $18.32 in income and $817.95 in expenses. There is a CD that will mature on September 28, 2010. A motion was made by Shirley Smith to accept the report, seconded by Betty Shelly, and approved with unanimous consent.

5. Police Report. Capt. Mike Gregory from District 1 provided the police report and reported that citywide violent crime is down 9%, there is a 2% reduction for property crimes, and overall crime is down 3% so far this year. Arrests are up 7% from the same period last year.

Red light cameras were also discussed and a handout provided by Capt. Gregory was reviewed. No points go on your license for running red lights and your insurance cannot be increased. The violation is against the owner of the vehicle, not the driver. The police department verifies and authorizes violations, not the outsourced company that maintains the camera system. State law requires that tickets must be issued no more than 30 days from the date of the violation.

If a homeowner association wants a presentation about the red light camera program it can be requested.

6. Announcement/Guest Introductions. Doug Sterner pointed out that next month the meeting time and location will change. On October 12 the meeting will take place at 6 PM and will be held in the cafeteria since the city is holding a workshop on selecting a new city manager.

The council received a letter from Jorg Hruschka thanking everyone for supporting Christmas in July.

At a prior board meeting, it was asked that there be a discussion of the noise ordinance the city is considering. According to Valerie Bohlander she is not able to put on a presentation as they are still sorting things out. They will have a presentation for the council at some time in the future.

At the October meeting, Amendment 4 will have people coming to speak about both sides of the issue which has to do with approval for development projects.

Betty is also working on a presentation for Amendment 8 at the October meeting.

7. Hal Barnes – Neighborhood Services & NCIP Grant. Hal announced that the Florida Neighborhood Conference and the structure has changed considerably. The conference is now set up as non profit and does not rely on the city for sponsorship. The 2011 will be held in Fort Lauderdale. Pier 66 will be the host facility, Thursday July 7-9, 2011. The conference will take place within the hotel and not using city facilities. A general review of the program for the conference was took place. The conference has been scaled back in cost primarily due to economic considerations. It is projected that there most likely be 200-300 attendees which is less by comparison to the event in prior years.

Hal also announced NCIP and BCIP grant applications will be accepted through next Friday at 4:30 when the grant cycle closes. From there they will go through the process including presentations and recommendations. These are matching grants with the City of Fort Lauderdale. The amount of money available through grants will be determined and confirmed when the city budget is approved. $450,000 is anticipated for neighborhoods, and $90,000 for businesses.

Hal also is the liaison to the city utility advisory committee for a meeting on Sept 28 which AT&T who will put on their AT&T U-verse presentation.

8. Special Election District 1 Representative. Drew Pickens resigned and that position needs to be filled. Doug Sterner asked for nominations but there were none. A motion to defer filling the vacancy was made by Richard Mancuso, seconded by Donna Mergenhagen and approved with unanimous consent..

9. Committee Reports

Centennial Committee Donna Mergenhagen reviewed the progress of the event and indicated that things are moving forward quickly. One of the goals of the committee is to see that groups that exist work to create celebrations. Donna reviewed and provided ideas on how to create events including park openings, park plaques dedications, and acknowledgement of state historic markers.

The report also provided ideas for how to create events including a variety of tours. There are several tours already that will be posted to the web site.

Ad Hoc Code Reform Richard Mancuso. Richard Mancuso reported that the committee met with staff to discuss lack of progress and lack of product produced. At the open house for planning department and to express concern. There will be a more thorough report at the next meeting.

Membership District Representatives Dave Parker reported that the 911 event on Las Olas had a great turnout. It was the third year for the event with representatives from neighboring cities attending. The annual event continues to grow.

Juanita Gray reported that she is trying to attend as many homeowner association meetings as possible.

Committees Gabe Ocasio. Gabe was not able to attend the meeting so the report was postponed until the next meeting.

Education Advisory Board Betty Shelly A report will be made next month.

New Business

For the Good of the Community – Dave Parker spoke about an event on September 20 for the Sailboat Bend Civic Association.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Bruce Tanner, Recording Secretary