Happy New Year, Neighbors
We kicked off our first Croissant Park Civic Association meeting of the year at the Community Center on Tuesday night with a Pot Luck Supper that featured tons of tasty dishes, from appetizers to desserts, and everything in between.
Before digging in to all the mouth-watering morsels, we welcomed our first speakers, Capt. London from the FLPD and the five officers who make up the new Neighborhood Action Team. They will be actively collaborating with our neighborhood in a community partnership effort by attending our civic association meetings to report their findings, to listen to our concerns, and to step up their presence on our streets. Some suggestions they offer to help fight crime are 1) when you buy a TV, computer, or any big ticket item, don't put the cardboard box it came in out on the street for all to see. Instead, flatten it and discard it in your recycle bin, or the green dumpster in the northwest corner of the parking lot at Croissant Park Elem. School. 2) Keep your blinds closed when you are not at home so that would-be burglars cannot see into your home. 3) Don't be shy about reporting suspicious behavior to the FLPD non-emergency number (954) 828-5700. They would rather show up for a false alarm then not be called when a crime actually occurs. And of course, call 911 in an emergency.
After everyone had a plateful or two of food, we introduced Romney Rogers, our District IV Commissioner. He informed us that $18 million has been trimmed from the budget and yet there will still be public improvements made at Hall of Fame Swimming Pool, new streetscapes in some areas, among other improvements. He mentioned that Fort Lauderdale has the second lowest taxes in the state of Florida! Who knew?And an interesting statistic he shared: 6% of the population commit 60% of the crime here. Romney is running for re-election in the upcoming election. We also heard from Jacquelyn Scott who is running for the same commissioner seat. If you would like to learn more about these two candidates, there will be a Candidates' Forum on March 7th at 7pm at the Embassy Suites.
Our final speaker was Diana Alarcon, Transportation and Mobility Director for the City. Diana described the proposed plan for a Greenway on the east side of 4th Avenue. The Greenway will be a 12 foot wide paved path for pedestrians and cyclists. Between the path and the roadway there will be a 4 foot landscaped buffer, reducing the width of the automobile lane next to it to 11 feet. There is also a move afoot to reduce the speed limit on 4th Avenue. The project will be done is phases, probably over a period of 3 years at a cost of $2.8 million, hopefully funded by grants.
Diana informed us that FDOT will have an open house on February 2nd from 5:30 to 7:30pm at the Renaissance Hotel. The pre-construction project for 17th Street will be discussed and you are welcome to attend and voice your concerns.
The 50/50 raffle was a big success with lots of T-shirt winners. The cash prize went to Joe Shover. Congrats, Joe!
We had a great turnout tonight...Thanks to all who attended and to those who contributed to the Pot Luck. See you at the next meeting on February 28th.
Virginia Russell--Secretary
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