| School/Parks Report - July 2006 |
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Schools/Parks Report - July 2006 By Elizabeth Hays My last report was in May in which I mentioned a meeting of a planning group for county-wide educational advisory groups. A major county-wide presentation is planned for the fall and I have volunteered for the steering committee. Hopefully, there will be a table at the Neighborhoods Conference in October from this group. Fort Lauderdale is a leader in regards to Educational Advisory Groups and serves as a model for other cities. Let you know more about that in my next report. Parks and Rec Advisory Board At the April meeting, Phil Thornburg recognized the Middle River Terrace Association President Mark Hartman and association member, Marge Anderson, for their certification for Middle River Terrace Park as a National Wildlife Federation “Backyard Wildlife Habitat”. This is the first City of Fort Lauderdale park site to be recognized for this honor. The Council congratulates their hard work on behalf of the residents of Fort Lauderdale. Other civic associations that are interested in finding out if a place in their neighborhood could qualify as one of the 36,000 habitats recognized country-wide. The Board approved the naming of a portion of Riverwalk after Laura Ward as requested by the Stranahan House Board. Stephanie Brady of Special Events led discussion of suggestion for special events for City. In addition to entirely City-produced events, the City co produces numerous events along with other groups. The tremendous economic impact of these events was noted. An update of County Safe Parks and Land Preservation Board, now entering sixth year was presented. Board members were asked if they had any other sites for a park. I recommended again the Riverland/441 site. In April, the Commission approved an emergency plan for hurricane debris disposal that again called on the use of Mills Pond Park, Lockhart Stadium, Holiday Park and Snyder Park. Mills Pond with be first site on north and Snyder Park on the south. Other items addressed was Air/Sea Show VIP tickets for Air and Sea Show, the impact fees for the American Volleyball Players and Ocean Fest and concern that City was not getting fair compensation for the use of the beach for this and similar events. Due to State no longer removing or marking turtle nests, all beaches cleaning above the rack line (high water mark) must be done manually. At the May meeting, the Recreation Program of the Month was a presentation on After School Programs at Croissant Park, Bass Park, Lauderdale Manors Park, Warfield Park and Carter Park. Of special interest was the programs at Carter Park and concern was expressed about an apparent disconnect between this program and Sunland Park elementary. Recreation staff will meet with new principal at Sunland to discuss coordination of programs. Follow up on the Air and Sea Show indicated that this year’s show went quite smoothly and was a success. Discussion of parking fees for special events at the beach led to concern that the City was not getting adequate compensation for their facilities. Photos indicate significant disrepair and that increased fees could help pay for maintenance. A report on Park Rangers and their recent activities was given by Ranger Supervisor Jones. He was asked to compile statistics for the past five years since the data he presented indicated a substantial increase in number of ejections or major incidents over previous year (almost 50%). Some vandalism at George English with Port-o-Lets, the American Golf Course loss as open space in city, gambling problem at Carter Park were also items brought up. At the June meeting, the featured recreation program was the Starlight Musicals and the popularity of the program with the general public. Second was a request to name land in Georgian Oaks The Esterre Davis Wright Park after the late mother of one of the donors of the park land which was unanimously approved by the board. Vince Gizzi spoke about solicitation of proposals to conduct a study of future Parks and Rec needs and to develop a Long Range Strategic Plan. Time scale is to complete selection of company by end of August with presentation to Commission in September. The Board recommended that a member of Parks and Rec Advisory Board such as Chair or Vice Chair be added to committee which originally contained no citizen representatives. With Phil Thornburg on vacation, Terry Rynart, Asst. Director led discussion on park impact fees, maintenance of beach and parks in general. I thanked the Department for their contributions to the success of the Council’s Neighborhood Services night in June. The May meeting began at Old Dillard Museum with a BCPS Legislative Update by Maggie Zalamea of the Office of Government Relations. The School District won some and lost some. It was announced that there would be new principals at Arthur Ashe and Sunland Park. Concern was raised that there has been no progress made at Fort Lauderdale High. Ramon Dawkins, the new Sunland Park principal, spoke about his plans to improve conditions at Sunland and requested help from EAB members. Concern again was raised about lack of construction progress at Fort Lauderdale High and Co Chair Pam Brown read parts of letter from Commissioner Hutchinson at the failure of School Board to “endear to a two-year commitment. I shared the thank you notes from Sunland Park children for the King Tut trip with members of the Board. The June meeting was cancelled. On June 29th, Sunland Park Principal Ramon Dawkins called a Community Forum in the School’s Media Center to present his blueprint for Sunland’s Park success. In addition to Dr. Till, Dr. Farrow and other members of the School District administration, many members of the community were in attendance including a number of African-American fraternities, church and civic organizations as well as the NAACP. Three EAB members were present in addition to me. After Dr.Till spoke about what the district is going to do to turn this school around, many community members and organizations vowed their commitment to the school. Next meeting of EAB is scheduled for Thursday, July 20th on 8th floor of City Hall.
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