Council of Civic Association
General Meeting Minutes
July 13, 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, Gabriel Ocasio, David Parker, Betty Shelley, Shirley Smith, Doug Sterner and Bruce Tanner.
Board members absent: Drew Pickens
3. Approval of Minutes. A motion was made by Genia Ellis to approve the minutes of the June 8, 2010 meeting, seconded by Shirley Smith and approved with unanimous consent.
4. Treasurers Report. Tom Welch did not have a treasurers report for the meeting. There was a motion to defer the treasurers report by David Marshall seconded by Gabriel Ocasio, and passed with unanimous consent.
5. Police Report. Russ Hanstein provided the police report. In June there was a spike in part one crime which increased by 4% in the entire city which was the only increase in over a year. Action plans have been implemented, which resulted in crime decreasing by 8% from last month. Pain clinic problems were also addressed. There is not a lot the police can on their own with pain clinics because HIPA must be involved. HIPA has worked with the police and done four joint venture projects like review of the clinic near Holy Cross, when the department of health, code enforcement and police went in they were able to shut down the clinic. All of the medications were confiscated and the doctor on the site turned in her license. The next day, both clinics owned by this individual also closed down.
Most recently a review was performed at the Park Place Medical Group on SE 4th Avenue, which is not associated with Broward General. Their medical records and pedigree were reviewed which provides the information for how many pills are allowed. Upon leaving, almost 90,000 pills and approximately $14,000 in cash was confiscated. The location has dramatically increased the charge for clients to go in which has been drastically decreased the number of clients.
6. Announcements and Guest Introductions.
Judge Eileen Connor was introduced.
Hal Barnes was acknowledged and announced that NCIP grants applications are now open and announced where workshops will take place. September 24 is the deadline for applying.
7. Scheduling announcements by Doug Sterner. The next meeting for general membership will be September 14. There will be no meeting in August. There will be no board meeting in July, but the board will meet on August 24 in advance of the next general membership meeting.
Doug also announced that Drew Pickens submitted his resignation. There will be an election forthcoming for District 1 to fill the position.
8. Old Business.
9. Committee Reports.
Centennial Committee. Donna Megenhagen reported that the commission approved the hiring of Susan Gillis as historian consultant, who was selected as best of the RFPââ¬â¢s for the position. Ms. Gillis is widely published, and has been a curator for many years. Donna hopes to have Ms. Gillis come to a meeting to provide a general presentation before the centennial.
Donna also showed the Official Centennial Registry Application which can result in the sanctioning of projects.
Donna also reported that all other centennial events and projects will have to be paid for by fundraising, as all of the available funding has been used. Everyone was encouraged to put a project together to celebrate the centennial celebration.
Ad Hoc Code Reform Richard Mancusco reported that a few months ago an update was provided to the commission. Next week at Planning and Zoning another presentation will take place. Comments on the draft document, which has been available on the web site, have been being accumulated by Genia Ellis. Everyone was encouraged to review the documents and provide comments.
Membership District Representatives. Juanita Gray reported that the June meeting of the District 3 Commissioner took place at River Land Park. Senator Chris Smith and Representative Perry Thurston attended. Additional town hall meetings are scheduled for candidates.
Education Advisory Board Betty Shelley reported that some magnet schools are being cut. The advisory board is concerned about many things going on in the city because of enrollment going down in Ft. Lauderdale and funds increasing in other areas. There will be no meeting in July. Meetings will resume in August.
10. Planning & Zoning Presentation. Greg Brewton, from Planning and Zoning Department spoke about PUD. In 2002 staff presented to P&Z the PUD ordinance which allows development that may not meeting underlying zoning requirements of a property, but if it met some of the criteria, that it could provide a better product and could be considered for approval. Three PUDS (Planned Unit Developments) have been approved since 2002. Satori and Sailboat Bend have been approved and built so far. There are others in the review process. Questions and answers were provided for the members of the council.
11. New Business. None.
12. Neighborhoods Conference Report. Genia Ellis and Jo Ann Kitchen Simmons attended the conference. Genia reported that this was a smaller conference than it has been in the past, because it is transitioning which will help make hosting the event easier. The State Planning Committee is lobbying to bring the conference to Ft. Lauderdale for next July. Meeting with local hotels for reasonable goods/services can make Ft. Lauderdale a great location to host the event. Genia was interested in homeless tasks forces in Tampa and St. Pete and Orlando and had the opportunity to learn a bout ordinances used in other cities, since they have different things to offer, for example, sleeping on the street is allowed, but not sleeping in the parks. Feeding of the homeless in different cities was also reviewed. CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environment Design) for public safety was also of interest to Genia. She brought a large number of conference documents to share via disk for any interested neighborhood.
Jo Ann Kitchen Simmons also attended for the first time and reported that the most the most valuable information she found was relating to homeless and ways to decease the number of people on the street. Round tables instead of benches for example deter people from sleeping on the benches. Jo Ann spoke about the formation of the groups for children like those that partner with the Police Athletic Association. There needs to be more offered to the youth to keep them safe. Jo Ann also attended a workshop on foreclosed properties and the need to improve communication between property owners and code enforcement.
More information with specifics on ideas learned at the conference that can be implemented in Ft. Lauderdale was requested for the next meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Tanner, Recording Secretary