November 2010 General Meeting
Council of Civic Association
General Meeting Minutes
November 9, 2010
City Hall, 8th Floor
7:30 PM
1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by President Doug Sterner at 7:30 PM.
2. Board members present: Genia Ellis, Juanita Gray, Marilyn Mammano, Donna Mergenhagen, David Parker, Shirley Smith, Bruce Tanner, and Tom Welch.
Board members absent: Gabriel Ocasio-Davila, Tom Welch
Guests attending:
3. Minutes. Motion made to accept the minutes of the September 14, 2010 meeting made by Marilyn, seconded by Betty Shelly and approved with unanimous consent.
4. Treasurer’s Report. Tom was not able to attend, but sent a written report. A motion to accept the report was made by Genia Ellis, seconded by Betty Shelly and approved with unanimous consent.
5. Police Report. Capt. Don Bolanger from operations support provided the report. He reported that crime is down 3% overall. There has been a 12%
reduction in robbery, and a 15% reduction in burglaries, but reminded everyone that the holidays are here and advises everyone that when purchasing expensive items such as electronics, bring them right home, do not go to other stores to shop to reduce threat of robbery. Do not leave your purse or anything else in your vehicle when it is unattended. When pulling in to a parking lot, look around and check your surroundings. Be aware of others sitting in their vehicles. Many time people sitting in their vehicles are typically not there to shop, but more likely checking out shoppers and vehicles. During the holidays “Operation Grinch” begins where shopping centers are flooded with marked police vehicles and police on horses. Everyone was also reminded to be aware of the surroundings when fueling your vehicles.
6. Noise Ordinance Changes. Mike Maloney, Code Enforcement Manager spoke on the noise ordinances speaking on behalf of Valerie Bohlander from the Code Department who was unable to attend. The process is in the middle stages and is a tough ordinance to enforce to reach a balance between protecting the resident and allowing businesses to operate and prosper.
The city commission created an action plan in 2009 and 2010 and got a lot of data and went to the entertainment district. Based on the data received, recommendations were made for the commission and mayor to consider. There is a concern about the enforceability of the ordinance. The mayor and commission will now provide direction on where the ordinance goes from here. The enforcement is difficult due to overtime budget constraints, resulting reactive rather than proactive behavior. Until more direction is given from the mayor it is premature to provide more specific information at this meeting. There is also a concern regarding generators and after hours construction. Questions were then taken from the floor.
7. Centennial Commission Centennial Presentation by Susan Gillis. Susan has been hired by the city temporarily to identify project and plan the events around them. Susan has six written books on Fort Lauderdale history, and designed a cover for Ft. Lauderdale in decades. A brief audio-visional presentation took place.
There will be four components to the portable displays, one in Fort Lauderdale, one Gateway to Everglades, one Tropical Wonderland in the 1920’s, and one The Venice of America on the history of Ft. Lauderdale. They are also working on traveling trunks aimed at children with replica artifacts that children can handle and learn about ft. Lauderdale history.
Susan has an intern and volunteers to help with assistance on centennial events.
Questions were taken and additional information about events and ways to create and participate in the celebration were also discussed. It was also announced that plaques will be put in parks around the city to provide information about the person the park was named for
8. Board of Directors Meeting. There will be a board of directors meeting on Nov 22, 2010.
9 Broward Pantry is having a food drive. Collection boxes can be requested and the panty will collect the boxes.
10. Holiday Party will take place on Dec 14. Members were requested to bring a dish to share. Ham and turkey provided by council.
11. Ad hoc Code Reform. Richard Mancuso was not in attendance. Winter & Company will meet with P&Z on Nov 30 for further discussions reported by Genia.
12. Membership – District Representatives. A District 1 rep is still needed reported by Marilyn and they are still looking.
13. Nominating Committee. Genia Ellis will chair with the following members being Betty Shelley from District 1, Madelyn Klein from District 2, Kathy Curry from District 3, and David Parker from District 4. Shirley Smith will serve as an alternate.
14. By-laws. Doug asked for those interested in serving on the by-laws committee. If interested n participating in the committee, please contact Doug.
15. Centennial Photo Event for the Council. Ft. Lauderdale in photos – 100 years later. Marilyn spoke and advised that the general public will be asked to provide photos of Ft. Lauderdale today with various categories (4) color or b/w, amateur or professional. Prizes will be given out. A series of presentations will take place in a number of different venues culminating in an awards event in a location to be determined. More information will be available at next meeting. This is the only official council centennial event.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m.
Bruce Tanner, Recording Secretary