Neighborhood Meeting-September 2016
Happy Fall Everyone!
The September meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:10pm.
Our FLPD Neighborhood Action Team, Officers Fernandez, Cuevas and Rodrigues presented us with the August-September crime statistics for Croissant Park. There were 4 residential burglaries and 9 auto burglaries. August and September are notoriously peak crime months but the Team told us that we had exceptionally low crime in our neighborhood compared to all areas of the City for this time of year. Most residential burglars gain access through louvered bathroom windows, probably because those windows are often left open to allow air circulation after showers. A word of caution about when a stranger knocks at your door: you do not have to open the door if you don’t recognize the person. Try to find out who it is through a window or ask who it is before opening the door. Our best defenses for our homes are burglar alarms, cameras, and large safes for valuables. If you have a camera that takes pictures of someone you suspect doing something illegal, always call the police first before posting it on Nextdoor. They don’t like seeing the photo evidence on Nextdoor before they have been notified because it compromises their ability to catch the bad guys. As we are often reminded, don’t leave valuables in sight in your car, and always lock the doors. The cemetery is a favorite area for thieves.
FLPD has invited us to a meeting at their sub station that will feature speakers about crime prevention, detectives and a marine unit. That will be at 7pm on Monday, October 10th at 1845 Cordova Road, Suite 207. The sub station is located above Tropical Smoothies and Coco Restaurant in the Harbor Shops, in the shopping area where Publix and Total Wine are located.
Our next speaker was Community Affairs Officer Bob LaMendola from the Florida Department of Health in Broward County. There are 113 confirmed cases of the Zika virus from the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Broward County. Those at the most risk are babies and pregnant women. These mosquitos have been in this area for one and a half years. They live close to the ground in dark places near our houses. They breed in standing water like bird baths, any containers that hold rain or sprinkler water, pet dishes. If you have these in your yard you can prevent the mosquito from laying eggs if you change the water every couple of days, or just empty a container that catches rainwater. Moving water, as in a fountain is not attractive to the mosquito to lay eggs. We have been aerially and ground sprayed recently with VectoBac WDG, a larvicide that is reportedly used in a low enough concentration not to harm human or animals. We are urged to Drain and Cover: that means to drain any sitting water and to cover our exposed skin with clothing and/or DEET repellent (Cutter, Off!), Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or Skin-so-Soft, for example. Learn more at www.2.epa.gov/insect-repellents. Another site you might want to visit is www.cdc.gov/geatures/StopMosquitoes.
We will announce our annual Holiday Lighting contest again this year on nextdoor.com and you can submit your vote for the best holiday lighting as we get closer to the holidays. The winner will receive a $50 cash prize.
We need volunteers to put out signs to announce the CPCA meetings we have 6 times a year. Rhonda will give you a sign or two to put on a swale in Croissant Park, then she will email you a few days before a meeting to put them out to remind your neighbors of the upcoming meeting. It couldn’t get easier and its a huge help to get the word out. Contact Rhonda at (954)294-3360 or at FritzandRhonda@yahoo.com.
Halloween is just around the corner and we will be participating at the Community Center Halloween Party as usual. If you want to volunteer to help sell hot dogs and drinks, or to organize the adorable kiddies in costume for games, let us know. It’s a hoot and a great way to spend an autumn afternoon outside.
We are putting together our 2017 newsletter and we will add an “In Memoriam” column, so if you know of a CP neighbor who has passed away that you would like to commemorate, please submit that information. If you would like to submit any articles, recipes, buy an ad, tell us something about the history of Croissant Park, let us know and if we have room we will try to publish it. Send articles to FritzandRhonda@yahoo.com.
Our CPCA Board elections will be held at the October 25th Neighborhood meeting. Our present Board members will stay on: Pat Rathburn- President, Michelle DiMaria-V.President, Virginia Dill Russell-Secretary, Joe Russell-Treasurer, Directors-Rhonda Kramer, Heather Cunniff, Beth Falkenhagen, Jodi Perraud, Nicohle Kallio. We are seeking additional nominations, so step up at the next meeting.
Thursday, October 6th there will be a meeting to discuss the new property being developed on 4th Ave and 12th Court. The issue is about where to provide parking. We have made it clear to the City how we feel about parking and they don’t seem to hear us. If you are concerned please feel free to attend this meeting.The location to be announced.
Jack Timmins, our local Realtor was kind enough to bring some gigantic Swiss Lindt chocolate bars as our raffle prizes. Charlie, Pat and Heather are the lucky winners and they are all in sugar comas today. 
Virginia-Sec’y
pics by Rhonda
pics by Rhonda
