March 1, 2006 Membership Meeting of the Victoria Park Civic Association
President Thornie Jarrett called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m.
Motion was made by Pat Mayers to accept the minutes for the February 1, 2006 meeting. It was seconded by Ted Fling and passed unanimously. The Treasurer's report was presented by Mark Ketcham. It was noted that Mark now has everything, including bill paying, set up electronically.
Officer Waters reported that the crime statistics for February were not available yet. However, he reported that crime is on the decline. A suspected drug dealer was arrested in the neighborhood and there have been numerous arrests at Holiday Park over the last 2 months relating to prostitution. There is now a joint effort between the police officers and park rangers to stop such activity at the park. Some burglaries in the area were also discussed.
Thornie made some announcements, which were also later covered under the committee reports, and then Commission Candidates for District II, Charlotte Rodstrom and Jon Albee, were given an opportunity to speak. Everyone was encouraged to vote on March 14.
Council of Ft. Lauderdale Civic Associations and Vision
Jay Holloway did not have anything to report on the Council but he noted that the Vision Committee will now have monthly meetings on the third Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at ArtServe.
Jeanne Lalli reported on the Art & Jazz event, whcih will be held March 12th at Victoria Park, and modeled the event T-Shirt, which is being sold for $15. There will be food, artists, music and a silent auction. A rare guitar autographed by Anna Nicole Smith will be among one of the items for auction. A suggestion was made that maybe it should be auctioned on eBay instead, subject to agreement of the donor. All proceeds of the event will continue to fund the "regreening" of the neighborhood.
Andrea Bamberg noted that the annual Easter Egg Hunt will be held again at Holiday Park on Saturday, April 15 at 9:30 a.m. Volunteers will be needed.
Pat Mayers asked everyone to be on the lookout for illegal dumping, which is a criminal offense, and to get license numbers, take pictures and report it immediately.
Janet Schlembach noted that planning will start in July.
Thornie noted that all members should encourage their neighbors to join the Association. The more members there are, the more impact the Association has when it submits issues to the City for resolution.
Thornie noted that the newsletter was delayed due to the short month but it is in the mail.
JD Camp reported that the committee was successful in getting a grant of $15,000 for the Master Plan. Due to the Association's rule about advertising in the newsletter when any vote for an expenditure of more than $1,000 will be made at a meeting, he made a motion, which was seconded by Jeanne Lalli, to advertise such a vote for the April meeting so funding of the project could start. During discussion there was opposition to what was considered by many to be a premature action and the motion was withdrawn.
Thornie reported that a new CERT class has started. He is getting a complete schedule of all classes from the City and will publish it in the newsletter.
Peg Nusser noted that a suggestion had previously been made that she look into a way to make a donation to St. Anthony's church in memory of Father Hannon, who recently passed away after many years of service to the church. She made a motion, which was seconded by Pat Mayers, to have the Association make a $500 donation to the St. Anthony Scholarship Fund. The motion passed unanimously. She also reported that the committee will be assisting with the Art & Jazz event and anyone interested in helping out should call her. In addition, the Committee is planning on having the Night Out Against Crime event in early May and she would like to arrange for an appearance of the same band that played last year; there were no objections.
Ted Fling reported that the Association is joining forces with the Colee Hammock and Beverly Heights associations to encourage the City to complete a study regarding traffic on Broward Blvd. The Association is making a list of all missing or non-functioning traffic signs, street signs and street lights (except those on Sunrise Blvd.) and is relying on these items being reported by the residents. The police presence in the area has been beefed up for traffic enforcement. Ted noted that parking enforcement is also now under the police department jurisdiction. He also noted that illegal dumping of anything over 500 lbs. is a felony and arrests have been made.
Christine Campbell reiterated that a list of utility problems is being prepared for FPL so they can hopefully be fixed before the hurricane season. All problems should be reported to her.
Jan Idelman noted that the Florida Neighborhood Conference is being held at the Broward County Convention Center. This will be a good opportunity to showcase our neighborhood and booths are available for $50.
Motion was made by Pat Mayers to adjourn the meeting at 8:26 p.m. It was seconded by Dan Lewis and passed unanimously.
Submitted by: Glenda Rowley, Secretary
