2010 OVERVIEW
2011 SBA ANNUAL MEETING
February 10, 2011
My rendition of the 2010 Overview will not duplicate, in detail, information that will be covered by others.
In late August, after an on and off vacancy of 8 months, we finally had our second City Commissioner representing our district. I will not elaborate at this point on the process that did go on and on. We did send you email Newsletters from beginning to end.
The budget crunch was high drama at both the City and County levels. Were the right decisions made? Only time will tell. Little things can make a difference – for example – are you aware that City Hall is closed on the 4th Friday of each month? Are you aware that there are some of the new royal palms along Indian River Drive, Seaway and South Ocean that may be dead or dying because there is no money to fertilize and water – never mind that the cold weather can bring disaster to certain palms and there is no money to replace them.
On a high note – the much talked about roundabout at Harbour Isle was completed. No, you can’t place an order or pick up a beer at Chuck’s on your way around. That concern was much over rated. Traffic does move thru smoothly with few tie ups so job well done. There continues to be a parking problem at the restaurant. Arden will discuss the possible solutions being explored in her report.
This year we decided to “give back” as an organization. We contributed to the Annual City Holiday lights on Melody Lane. Funding was in short supply for this event that brings residents and people from all over the area to our downtown and is truly a unifying time for our City. We also contributed 4 park benches to the Inlet Linear Walk and Jetty Park. Go sit on them! Arden will tell you more about this program later.
We all look forward to the construction, well maybe not so much the construction part, but the completion of the final phase of the A1A project. Sure – it will disrupt our lives for a while but how nice it will be when it is all finished – approximately 18 months from now in August 2012. Tracy Telle, Project Manager is prepared to answer all of your concerns tonight through her presentation and at the end of the meeting.
As you know, the South Beach Association includes business members as well as residents. Last year, we added a section on our website to include the business cards of our business members. If you click on a card and they have a website of their own, you will find yourself on their website where you can see their menus, special events, available properties and read more about them. This year we have made a real effort to involve our business community. Take a look at the list of business members in the packet you received tonight. We urge you to support these good people. If you go to an establishment on the list – thank them for being members. If they are not on the list – ask them why not! Give us a little time to get all the new business cards up on the website.
You have a representative from the South Beach Association at City and County Commission meetings, Planning Board meetings, FPRA meetings and special workshops when there issues of direct concern to those of us on the Beach. We communicate with you through our website – fpsba.org – and email Newsletters. You communicate with us by mail, email and telephone. When you do, you receive a prompt response.
If you did not receive an email reminder for this meeting last weekend be sure to see Mike Monti at the end of the meeting to make sure that we have your correct email address.