Dear Residents and Friends of Pompano Beach District 1:

Your city commission is now on its summer break.  I will have limited access to phone/email until Sept 3.  I thought I would end this season with the following (fairly lengthy) update.  (If you are not interested in any given bold topic, just skip down to the next one.)

New CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) Director Firm:

Shortly after I took office last year, Pompano Beach and its then current CRA Director had a “parting of the ways.”  Now the city has hired a firm called RMA to serve as the director of both the East and Northwest redevelopment areas of the city.  I am very pleased by what I have seen from this firm so far.  Their principals have long records of success with local CRAs, including Delray Beach, which many of us have pointed to as a model to emulate.  Although there haven’t been many improvements visible on the ground yet in the East CRA, a great deal of progress has been made behind the scenes.  Later in this newsletter, I’ll describe the first major improvements the East CRA will see on the ground; but, rest assured, there’s much more to come.

New City Manager

This certainly has been a “rebuilding year.”  We have not only had to replace a CRA Director, but we must now also replace the former city manager.  The commission has selected an executive search firm, and that firm has worked with commissioners and others to understand our city and the characteristics needed in our new city manager.  The firm has already begun advertising the available city manager position.  The selection and hiring process will take about another three months.  Until then the city is ably served by our own Phyllis Korab as Interim City Manager.

Pompano Beach City Budget, 2009-10

The city commission has approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2009.  Overall property taxes collected by the city will be nearly flat compared to last year although individual city tax bills will vary somewhat.  People who bought property near the 2006 peak in assessed valuations should see a drop in their city property taxes, while those who have been long-time homesteaders may see a small increase in their city property taxes.  (Keep in mind that the city portion of your annual property tax bill is about 20% of the total, with county, school, and hospital taxes making up the rest – so these comments apply only to the city’s 20% of your total property tax.)

In order to hold the line on taxes and avoid cutting services, the city budget calls for spending about $3 million of the city’s $10 million in undesignated reserves.  If the overall economy does not improve sufficiently in the next year or two, the city will no doubt be forced to cut some services.  In addition, I believe our labor agreements and pension plans will need to be revamped (as private industry is already doing) in order to deal with new economic realities.

Broward Sheriff’s Office or Pompano Beach Police Department?

Pompano Beach has been contracting with BSO for local police services since 1999.  The second five year agreement with BSO expires October 1 of this year.  The city paid for a study to determine the best way for us to obtain police services going forward:  renew existing agreement with BSO, renew agreement but negotiate key changes, or transition back to a local Pompano Beach Police Department.  The study concluded that the city could save money by transitioning back to a local Pompano Beach police force, or, if we stay with BSO, that we should at least negotiate key changes to the current agreement.

Read the report here: http://www.mypompanobeach.org/commish/PB%20Feasibility%20Study.pdf

In September, I expect that we will see an analysis of the report by city staff as well as a response by BSO.  Fortunately, at my suggestion, the city has acted swiftly to exercise a key option in the existing BSO agreement before the option’s expiration date.  This option allows the city to extend the existing BSO agreement for two years in order to evaluate our options for delivering police services.  So, nothing will change right away, but the city will need to make this important police services decision over the next several months.

Dealing With Declining Neighborhood Appearances

Due to the economic downturn there are many properties in the city which don’t look good at all.  The city has taken numerous steps to address this situation, including passing ordinances to:

require property owners to meet appearance standards whether the properties are vacant lots or construction sites;

make the city’s code enforcement liens high priority to improve our ability to collect monies owed when the properties are finally sold;

require the registration of vacant foreclosed property with the city to improve our ability to identify responsible parties, monitor conditions and ensure code compliance.

Residents may contact code enforcement http://www.mypompanobeach.org/directory/index.html#code
or city staff
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/manager/index.html
for help in applying these ordinances to offending properties.

Pier Status

There is still no agreement on the long-delayed project to renovate the pier area with restaurants, shops, plazas, etc.  Now that we have RMA in place as our CRA Director, we are finally in a position to effectively evaluate the proposed development deal and take whatever steps are necessary to get pier re-development back on track.  Meanwhile, the city is looking at quick ways to provide refreshments on the beach and make some minimal appearance improvements at the pier while we await the beginning of the major renovations in this area.

East CRA Atlantic Blvd. projects

The East CRA has begun design on two Atlantic Blvd streetscape improvements:  the block between A1A and Pompano Beach Blvd, and the block between Houston’s and Café Max:  These projects will bring amenities like widened sidewalks, sidewalk dining, and improved pavements, streetlights, medians, traffic flow and landscaping.  It’s too early to make firm commitments, but I am hopeful that we will see the first shovel in the ground for the A1A/Pompano Beach Blvd project in the first quarter of next year, and the beginning of the Houston’s/Café Max project in the second quarter.

Dog Park

The long-awaited Pompano Beach Dog Park is back on track after being slowed down by a cost overrun which resulted from a city architectural appearance review among other things.  The cost overrun problem was solved without using any additional monies from the city’s general fund.  The park, which will be located on the northwest corner of Federal Highway and NE 10^th St, is now expected to open in late October.

Reclaimed Water

The city has been busy laying pipes which deliver re-claimed water to homeowners for irrigation use in the Harbor Village area.  The city’s program, called Oasis, has been very successful in cost-effectively delivering reclaimed water to large projects, such as the golf course and condo developments.  However, Oasis has met resistance from single family homeowners due to the program’s initial connection costs and annual inspection fees.

The city has come up with a unique and creative way to make Oasis more appealing to the single family homeowner.  The homeowner may opt to have the city pay the initial connection costs, which the homeowner then repays over the next few years at a low interest rate.  Under this option the homeowner may connect to and use the reclaimed water system with no upfront cost and no increase in monthly water bill.  The idea is that the monthly connection fee repayment amount will be offset by the lower cost of using reclaimed water instead of potable water for irrigation.

Upon connection to Oasis, the homeowner immediately gets the right to water as much and whenever desired.  There is the satisfaction of helping to conserve our potable water.  And, once the connection fee is paid off, the homeowner will see the monthly savings which come with using the lower cost reclaimed water for irrigation.
Contact the Pompano Beach Utilities Department for more information:
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/directory/utilities/index.html

Old Paradise Beach Hotel / Taverna Milos, 1380 S Ocean Blvd

This abandoned hotel and restaurant has been a problem for many months now.  Per my request, the city has put a strong focus on cleaning up this property.  The issue finally got to the Unsafe Structures Board on July 28, and a demolition order was issued.  The order includes the following requirements:   armed security guard on 24 hour duty beginning this week; drill hole in pool and place sand in pool within 30 days; rodent elimination prior to demolition to prevent rodent dispersal in the neighborhood; demolition of building to be complete in 90 days from July 28 or city will do demolition and place lien on property.

Amen!  City officials, concerned residents, and their commissioner now must and will see to it that this order is carried out!

Hillsboro Inlet Park

This park has had a continual problem with homeless people taking over the park.  Actions taken so far have been to close the park and lock the restrooms at 11 pm and to direct frequent BSO patrols to the area during the day as well as the night.  If this doesn’t work, we may be forced to gate the parking lot, and perhaps fence the entire park in order to enforce the overnight closure of the park.

Pompano Waterway Development (Old Tails restaurant)

This project’s plan is to construct a small hotel/spa plus a marina, a restaurant and a few shops on the sites of the former Tails restaurant, the old marina, and the former gas station near the Hillsboro Inlet.  The gas station has already been demolished; and the remainder of the project is waiting for a final release by the state, certifying remediation of the contamination caused by the gas station.  This release is expected in the next two or three months.  The release will be followed by the demolition of all old buildings on the site and the renovation of the marina area.  The marina and restaurant are expected to be developed first, over the course of the next two years.  Development of the hotel/spa is economy-dependent but tentatively planned to begin in early 2011.

Note to concerned residents of the Hillsboro Shores area:  I expect that there will be neighborhood meetings followed by a city hearing in the fourth quarter of this year on the developer’s proposal to re-route the northern portion of Riverside Drive.

Stay informed:

Here are some sources of useful information:

Pompano Beach email alert service – Sign up here to receive information such as boil water notices, major street closings, safety information, flooding, garbage pick-up changes, major events, emergency notifications, etc.
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/send_out.html

BSO alerts – Sign up here for BSO’s CyberVisor to receive e-mail or text messages from the Broward Sheriff’s Office with information on criminal activity, traffic, events or other security concerns arising in your neighborhoods of interest.  Be sure to check the appropriate boxes for alerts you wish to receive.
http://sheriff.org/apps/cybervisor

Comcast Channel 78 Broadcast Schedule – At my request, the city has expanded its TV coverage of key city meetings and begun posting on its website the schedule for broadcast and re-broadcast of the meetings.  Now residents can see what will be broadcast when, and those who wish can set their recorders to capture the meetings for later viewing.
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/pio/lineup.html

Get involved:

I encourage interested residents to give back to the community by volunteering on one or more city advisory boards.  Currently, there are vacancies on a number of these boards, including the Education Advisory Committee, Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, and Recycling and Solid Waste Committee.
Follow this link to learn more about all the city’s advisory boards:
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/PUBLIC%20NOTICE%20OF%20ADVISORY%20BOARDS.pdf
And follow this link to obtain an application for appointment to one or more boards:
http://www.mypompanobeach.org/directory/advisory/advboard_application.pdf

The fine print:

Please forward this email to friends and family in Pompano Beach, especially residents of District 1 (i.e., all of Pompano Beach east of Federal Highway plus portions west of Federal Highway in the Cypress Lakes Estates and High Ridge areas).

If you have received this email from someone other than myself, and would like to have your email address added to my direct distribution list, please email me at doc@barrydockswell.com.

If you would like to be removed from the list, please use the link at the bottom of this message.

I am honored to serve as the city commissioner representing Pompano Beach District 1!

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Summer!
Sincerely,
Barry Dockswell