Neighborhood Meeting - Tuesday, February 25

I almost forgot the BIG PRIZE for tomorrow night.  In order to make the evening a truly Mardi Gras evening, we need King Cake.  So...... there will be a $25 Publix gift certificate to the best (or only) home-made King Cake that you bring to the meeting.  I went on-line to find a recipe and decided it was definitely something my Mom could make, but maybe not me.  Oh geez she's looking down from that cloud saying "just do it".  So - game on - can you make a King cake?  I know for sure there will be lots of chili (chile?).  We will have membership applications for those of you who would like to get your dues in for 2014 ($20 per household).  Come on by - 7:00 in the Community Center.

And - discussion about All Aboard Florida and how it will affect our area & neighborhood crime report from our local Police Officers.

See you there.

HELPFUL CONTACTS

Building Services 954-828-6520 700 NW 19th Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311-7834

City Manager's Office 954-828-5013

Code Enforcement 954-828-5207

A citizen can report a code complaint by calling the Code Enforcement Division at 954-828-5207 or sending an e-mail to code@fortlauderdale.gov .  Please provide information regarding the location and nature of the violation. The inspector assigned to the area will conduct an inspection of the property and if it is determined that a violation exists, will enforce accordingly. Residents are encouraged to report possible code violations (such as overflowing dumpsters, overgrown lawns, tenants living in housing that fails to meet minimum housing standards), other municipal code violations that affect the health, safety, or aesthetics of the community, and criminal code violations.

Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau 954-765-4466

City of Fort Lauderdale Customer Service Center (24-hour) 954-828-8000

For inquiries regarding water, sewer, storm repairs, maintenance, solid waste/trash, and recycling. The City provides 65-gallon garbage carts for all household garbage, 90-gallon carts for yard waste, and recycling bins for newspapers and other recyclables. This is also the number for Public Works.

Dogs/Canine Beach Permits 954-828-7275

Driver's Licenses (State of Florida) 954-497-1570

E M E R G E N C I E S Dial 9-1-1

EMS (For Non-Emergency Medical Services) 954-828-7421

Graffiti Hotline 954-828-6402 Contact the FLPD graffiti hotline to report graffiti.

Information (City of Fort Lauderdale): City Hall 954-828-5000 Public Information Office 954-828-4746

Mayor's Office/City Commission Office 954-828-5003

Parking Services 954-828-3700

Parking Services provides: Resident Beach Parking Cards to residents for free and reduced cost beach parking, information on Sun Trolley which runs every 10 minutes and costs 50 ¢ and citation payment.

Police Department (Non-Emergency) 954-828-5700

Property Appraiser's Office (Broward County) 954-357-6830

Sewer Repairs (24 Hours) 954-828-8000

Call to report sewer problems, backups, sewage in the roadway, or emergency repairs.

Street Lights  954-828-8000

You no longer have to call FPL to report problems with Street Lights, you can call the City of Fort Lauderdale.

Croissant Park General Meeting- January 2014

Happy New Year, Croissant Park neighbors,

We kicked off the new year with a huge turn out for the January Potluck Supper meeting.  The meeting began at 7:05 with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Board VP Michelle.  Other Board members present were our President Pat, Heather, Joe, Beth, Virginia, and our new Board member Manny.  We were glad to see our ex-President John McNamara and his wife Shakira here for the first meeting of 2014. 

Fort Lauderdale police Officers Stevens and Dejo gave us our crime report.  Starting with the November figures, there were 2 home burglaries and two vehicle break-ins.  December had 4 home burglaries, 2 vehicle break-ins.  January (to date) has had 2 home burglaries, 1 vehicle break-in and 1 business burglary.  According to Ofc. Stevens, our crime numbers are down, and when asked how we are doing in comparison to other local civic associations, she tells us we are doing really well, that our crime numbers are low in comparison.  One neighbor asked how FLPD goes about responding to a 911 call.  Ofc. Dejo tells us that they park their cruiser a few houses away, so as not to scare off the perpetrator, and then they surround the premises.  Homeowners are asked to stay back, never enter your house if you believe there might be someone inside.  Let the police do their job without interference.  Neighbors asked what we can do to prevent break-ins:  close and lock any gate that leads to side and backyards, don’t leave any valuables outside.  The same goes for cars: keep valuables out of sight and always lock your car.  Regarding the helicopter activity and police street blockage at 11pm last Wednesday night, neither officer had any infomation to offer.

After the FLPD report we chowed down at the long buffet table full of all sorts of casseroles, stews and chilies, noodle, quinoa and caesar salads, assorted interesting items and lovely desserts.  Once we had our fill, we got down to business and talked about a few things that affect our neighborhood.

First up was the 15th Street near 6th Ave project that is going to be on the Planning and Zoning Board agenda in March.  Pat will let us know exactly when that is so that those of us interested in attending and putting in our 2 cents‘ worth, can do so.  

The Monitor lizards are back!!  A few have been spotted and it is their egg laying season, so be on the lookout.  They can be nasty when protecting their territory.  If you happen to get bitten, treat with antibiotics right away.

A neighbor brought up the issue of trains and how we will be dealing with many more trains once the commuter starts from Miami to Orlando.  There is concern that we need to have the types of gates that eliminate the train horns from blowing though out the night.  The Board will look into this and see what can be done.

A discussion ensued about speed humps on certain streets that create more traffic for the adjacent streets. More discussion to follow.

The age-old issue of dog owners who don’t pick up after their dogs has raised its ugly head yet again.  We will be posting signs that include the enforcement code that addresses this problem.  A question was asked about what other neighborhoods do and we believe it is a universal problem in the area, judging by the numerous different types of signs spotted in all the neighborhoods. 

It has been suggested that if you have abundant fruit from your fruit trees, put a notice on Nextdoor to share with your neighbors.  This could discourage people from taking fruit that doesn’t belong to them.  One neighbor on 17th Street had a man climb her coconut tree to help himself to the coconuts, without her permission.  Or you could do what Jack Timmins, owner of T&T Realty did, he dropped off a huge basket of avocados from his trees to share with everyone. Thanks, Jack.

Let’s all make an effort to try a little kindness towards our neighbors on the Nextdoor website.  There has been a rash of snarky comments flying around, causing at least one longtime resident to remove herself from the site.  The purpose of this website is to share information. 

For the 50/50 raffle we had some extra bonus items to give away, thanks to the generosity of Ralph Clark.  Mary Lou won a wall clock, Bob Simac won a “Baby Cakes Mini-Cupcake Maker” (we might see some mini-cupcakes from Bob in the future),  Joy Stafford had the winning tickets for a camera and a set of garden tools, Norm Kublin and Jo Bowker each won a Ft Lauderdale License tag thing-a-ma-bob, and our Grand Prize winner was Alan McClung who won the 50/50 cash of $46 and promptly donated it back to the Association. Thank you, Alan.   And thanks to Ralph for all the fun raffle prizes.

Suzy from Expresso on Andrews Avenue supplied the coffee, as she always does at our meetings.  Thanks again, Suzy.

And a big thank you to all of you who contributed and participated in our Pot Luck Supper.  The food was great and it was a terrific way to see old friends and meet new neighbors!

All the best for 2014.

Virginia Dill Russell-Secretary CPCA

Minutes of the Croissant Park Neighborhood Meeting 11/19/2013

Croissant Park Civic Association

General Membership Meeting Minutes

Novembere 19, 2013 

Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m.

Board Members Present:  Patricia Rathburn, Heather Cuniff, Rhonda Kramer, Michelle Di Maria

Motion was made and carried to appove September meeting minutes as posted on the blog.  

Treasurer’s Report was made to the membership at hand.

Police Report: None

Motion was made and carried to approve the slate for Board of Directors for the 2014 year.  (Manny Carrera, Loren Colburn, Heather Cuniff, Michelle Di Maria, Beth Falkenhagen, Rhonda Kramer, Patricia Rathburn, Joe Russell, Virgina Russell)

Old Business: None

New Business: 

Suggestions were requested by the Board for future speakers.  Manny Carrera suggested we have a “refresher” course on how to keep your home safe. 

Lauren Colburn stated she is starting a committee to look in to what we, as a neighborhood want in terms of zoning and creating a plan for the neighborhood.

Discussion of the Neighborhood Yard Sale included great feedback, and the suggestion that we hold another one in the Spring.  The Gore-Betz Park was suggested as a possible location.  

A concern was brought up by a neighbor regarding the traffic in front of the elementary school.  It was recommended that she contact the principal.

Carlos, a local firefighter, stated that he is seeing a lot of crime in the neighborhood.  He inquired if there was an officer assigned to the area that we could call directly.  He suggested that we all be diligent and call the police when we see suspicious person in the neighborhood.  There is generally a fast response time to these types of calls.

Pat Rathburn stated that there are only 4 officers assigned to our district, although we do not get dedicated coverage, we do get coverage.

A suggestion was made that we request an off duty car be parked in the neighborhood as many other neighborhoods have done.  

Next General Membership Meeting Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

MIchelle Di Maria

Monitor lizard

Neighborhood Meeting - Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The next meeting for the Croissant Park neighborhood is Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm in the Community Center.

Agenda:

1.  Crime Report from the Fort Lauderdale Police Dept neighborhood officers.
2.  Speaker - 211program.
3.  Approval of the slate of officers for the 2014 Board of Directors.
4.  Dessert - bring your favorite Thanksgiving dessert with a copy of the recipe for neighbors to taste and possibly try at their own Thanksgiving dinner.
5.  50/50 contest.

There will probably be other topics of conversation - perhaps something you would like to discuss.  See you there.

Neighborhood Yard Sale

National Recycle Day is November 15, 2013.  To recognize this event the Croissant Park Civic Association is organizing a Neighborhood Yard Sale on Saturday, November 16th, 2013. Hopefully this will be the First Annual Neighborhood Yard Sale and we will do it again each year. 

Neighborhood wide Yard Sale

 

Where:  at your house

Donation of $10 to the Croissant Park Civic Association -  

P.O. Box 13117, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

You will get your address on the map / list - and signs put out for your street

You will also get an ad in the paper

                      contact me - at  loren.colburn@gmail.com