November 1997 LICIA Newsletter
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NEIGHBORHOODS JOIN TOGETHER TO CREATE "RIVERLAND WOODS"
By Gary Starkweather & Joan Sheridan

Since June 1994, the Riverland area residents including Lauderdale Isles, have been trying to change the old Pantry Pride eye sore into a neighborhood park. That dream is now looking more like a reality. The park concept has now been expanded into what is called a greenway. Greenways connect land areas and waterways together to enhance public recreational value.

Since the last issue of the CIA newsletter, the Riverland Woods committee has focused on financing matters because funding is a key element in getting started. Funding sources have been identified for land purchases and development costs. Funding from City, County, State, and possibly Federal programs look very favorable for "Riverland Woods."

Since most grant applications can only be applied for by government agencies the community civic associations asked the City of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County to commence the grant application process. We also asked for the assistance of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). TPL, an organization that basically rescues land suitable for recreational purposes, has evaluated Riverland Woods as a winner.

At the Broward County Commission meeting on October 28, 1997, the commission complied with two requests from the community. First, that the county reaffirm their commitment to the project and allow the TPL to enter into a purchase option agreement for property. This property, considered key to the park, is currently under threat of being developed. Second, that staff be authorized to work with the City and the TPL to do the necessary assessment (appraisals, environmental reviews, etc.) to determine the feasibility of acquiring the aforementioned property. Similar requests will be made of the City with anticipation of the City's favorable response.

TPL will now begin to acquire appraisals and purchase agreements for the Broward Commission to consider. If the costs are within reasonable parameters, TPL will acquire the properties with the understanding that when grant funds are received, through joint application by the county and city, these funds will be used to buy back the TPL holdings.

This has been a tremendous grass roots effort by everyone involved. Community Vision & Involvement + Governmental Assistance + Funding Sources = "Riverland Woods."

The land acquisition cost is not yet fixed because TPL is still in the process of acquiring appraisals for the parcels. After appraisals are acquired a purchase agreement or option must be established with each property owner.

In the mean time, the owner of the property where the old Pantry Pride was located has obtained his permits to build a public storage facility and has started construction activities. This has been reported to the Broward County Commission and we have requested that the county expedite the process as much as possible. Within the next sixty days we hope to acquire the appraisals, purchase agreements, hold public hearings, and return to the Broward County Commission so that they may consider a resolution or have TPL take action on the properties.

By our February issue of the LICIA newsletter we should have news about how much of this process has been completed. Stay tuned for good news.


BROWARD COUNTY DRAINAGE PROJECT RUNS INTO OPPOSITION

The Broward County Office of Environmental Services (OES) is planning a storm water drainage project for the Riverland Village and Chula Vista area. However, problems surfaced when Lauderdale Isles Civic Association and Lauderdale Isles Water Management District learned of the project which proposes to dump storm water directly into the New River at four different locations along Riverland Road.

OES was invited to the October 16th meeting of the LICIA board of trustees to explain about the one portion of the plan to drain storm water into Dolphin Canal between Gulfstream Lane and Key Largo Lane. At that meeting OES officials explained that urban storm water runoff from their design would not be harmful to the New River but they were not able to support their claims with evidence backed by scientific studies. Nor were they able to settle concerns that high volume storm water flows would not cause structural damage to sea walls and docks impacted by the flows.

As technology provides us with a better understanding of environmental issues, the "old" way of doing things is often replaced by a "new" way of doing things. More often than not, the new way of doing things costs more than the old way of doing things so resistance is a common reaction.

Residents of Lauderdale Isles don't want to sacrifice the water quality of the New River in exchange for a lower budget drainage plan. Residents of the area have been tax payers for many years now and they deserve the best systems technology can provide.

In areas not near a drainage canal engineers have been able to design drainage systems that are self contained. Concerned residents want drainage systems near the New River to be self contained too. If comprehensive environmental analysis shows that storm water drainage would not be at all harmful to the New River then it would be appropriate for OES to proceed as planned.

OES has indicated that they will proceed with the process of water quality analysis of their proposed systems and will return with what they believe to be reasonable alternatives. LICIA is asking the county to put all drainage projects having out falls into the New River on hold until the required analysis is completed.

ANNEXATION FACTS: FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

**Most Lauderdale Isles residents did not attend the 1997 February, May and August general meetings.
**Every 1997 issue of this newsletter contained detailed information about annexation issues.
**Most people in the Isles do not read this newsletter. (Some read it twice.)
**Most Lauderdale Isles residents do not know much about the current annexation issues.
**Most Lauderdale Isles residents did not answer the September 12, 1997 annexation survey.
**100% of Lauderdale Isles residents received written notice of the of the February 1997 annexation meeting in the February 1997 issue of the LICIA newsletter.
**7% or about 85 residents attended that meeting.
**37% or about 215 Annexation surveys were returned to the City of Fort Lauderdale from the September 12, 1997 survey.
**10% or about 61 homes completed the survey AND attended the February 1997 LICIA annexation meeting.
**25% or about 148 homes completed the survey AND DID NOT attended the February 1997 LICIA annexation meeting.

It takes about 12 hours a year to attend all four LICIA general meetings and read all four LICIA newsletters. That is just about 2 minutes a day. I encourage every resident of Lauderdale Isles to take the time to be a part of this community, support this community, and remain informed about this community. In 1998 the civic association will offer additional public discussions and newsletter articles on annexation.

Please

Be involved, be informed, and have your vote counted.


WELCOME ABOARD!

Lauderdale Isles now has a "Welcome Wagon", or shall we say, a "Welcome Aboard", so don't be surprised to see the Greeting Gheeno (Audrey Edwards) traveling down your canal to welcome aboard some of your new neighbors! If you would like to help out or have any suggestions, please call the Gheeno (pronounced Gee-new) Girl at 587-8194!


RIVERLAND ROAD CLEAN-UP
Optically Reproduced Article By George Counts

On 3 occasions this year, isles volunteers turned out to clean. fix up, plant grass seed and fertilize trees along our stretch of Riverland Road. I have yet to See any of the "Adopt A Street" street signs out there. Let me know if you have.

Neal Spokas of Gulfstream Lane took two loads of discarded rugs, branches and trash to our nearby County trash transfer station with his truck. He also fertilized the palm trees at the deadend of Riverland Road and at 441 entrance.

John Gazonas, an air conditioning contractor from Sugarloaf Lane, took time out of his busy schedule to try and right a downed 20 foot Tree of Gold near his lane. Finally County personnel righted it with heavy equipment. For possibly the first time, an errant driver will have to pay to have a tree restored thanks to a quick thinking resident who got the license and traffic report numbers.

The owner of the truck business just NW of the convenience store assisted Isles volunteers sprucing up Riverland Road's Ft. Lauderdale's side of the street from his business to the curve. After volunteers cleaned up papers and containers, he had his employee cut the foot and half weeds. Tom Edwards of Gulfstream Lane brought out his small mower and cut the hard to get areas. The convenience store manager served volunteers free refreshments. Jack Greene of Riverland Road and Terry Simonds of Gulfstream Lane and others did their fair share earlier.

If you see someone crash into a tree or sign, take down their license plate and notify police. Get the number of the traffic report like your quick thinking neighbor. The offender instead of civic assn. members or taxpayers will have to foot the bill. You may remain anonymous.

Lane signs are not bulletin boards. Signs etc. placed on them will be removed. Damagers of the signs will be prosecuted,

Like to help fertilize, seed, trim & clean up the road in Jan.? Call Geo. Counts at 584-4926 after 4 p.m.


LAUDERDALE ISLES WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
By Niel Liebowitz
Commissioner for the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District

The Lauderdale Isles Water Management District (WMD) was set up in 1991 as an independent taxing district to keep our canal water free of weeds and debris. The District is alive and well, and we are still trying to keep our canals navigable. However, today we know a lot more about how things impact our environment. We are really beginning to understand how everything we do seems to have an effect everything else. This is especially true regarding our canals, and the water quality in them.

There are several things all of us can do to help make the waterways cleaner. We all need to have a little bit of environmental activism alive inside of us, living here on the waterfront, because the waterways reflect the way we live. Jacques Cousteau was one of the first voices we heard warning us to treat the world's seas with respect, and not to use them as the dumping grounds for all of our waste and garbage. It has only been thirty years since he took to cruising around the world on the Calypso, measuring the impact we humans can have on the environment. Unfortunately, in too many places around the world, Cousteau tells us that we have lost respect for our natural resources.

In a small part, if we expect to live on navigable canals, we need to heed some of Cousteau's advice. All too often we have seen lawn services mow the grass right into our canals .... and then follow that up by blowing all the cut grass off the sea walls and docks right in after the rest of the lawn. We have seen tree services strip citrus trees of fruit only to dump them in the canals. Palm fronds naturally fall into the canals, where boaters carefully avoid them until they are pulled out by volunteers in the annual Waterways Cleanup. We have seen our neighbors throw edible garbage into the canal, thinking the fish and crabs will lap up our uneaten meats and vegetables. Thirty years ago, we all thought the canals could handle all this, but now we know better. We have seen things change.

Once a year we have a wonderful organized event, the Waterways Cleanup, which is run under the auspices of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. We are often amazed by what these volunteers pull out of our canals, but that is only a fraction of the debris. Living here, we need to have a mini Waterways Cleanup every time we walk along a sea wall, or take our boats out. Once a year just doesn't do it. We need to remove the palm fronds and floating debris in months other than March.

The WMD has had a few complaints in the past 2 years about silting problems at the ends of our canals. Guess where all the stuff mentioned above ends up? You got it........ right at the north end of the canals, because we don't really have much tidal flow, and the prevailing winds are out of the southeast quadrant. The Water Management District has paid for county workers to come to the ends of the canals, and dig down to see what they could find...... to see what it was that was catching the silt. What they found was slimy, smelly, grass clippings, palm fronds, fruit, plastic, branches, and leaves, etc. Had these things been removed when they were first seen by someone, we wouldn't have the problems we do now.

What can we do? We can become more active, and realize that the environment effects us, as much as we effect it. We should tell our lawn services to take care to not mow or blow grass clippings into the canals, as that debris simply ends up at the north end of each canal. We can ask our pest control services to not fertilize our back yards near the canal, so the chemical runoff will not end up in the water. And we can educate our new neighbors on the etiquette of living on the water, and show everyone how we have to be a little more environmentally friendly in order to live where we do. Many of us here are boaters........ all of this effects us directly, and in the end, it will save us a lot of money. We can help do the preventative maintenance on our canals in order to save a lot of our tax dollars later.

We are currently getting a tremendous bargain for our tax dollars. Each waterfront home currently pays $15 per year to the District. Your District is comprised of two members who are elected exclusively by this neighborhood every four years. You may not know this, because we usually run unopposed, so there is no need to have our names on the ballot. Currently, the Chairman is Neil Leibowitz of Bimini Lane, with Tony Spalding of Gulfstream Lane being the other Commissioner. Not surprisingly, both of us are also very active in the civic association. If we don't start taking better care of our canals, we will have to spend a lot of money in the future to fix the problems that will occur. You can't do that with our current budget of less than $8,000 per year for the entire district. Please bear in mind that your WMD Commissioners are volunteers, unlike every other elected bureaucrat in this county.

Get active. Teach others. Be constructive. Remove floating objects that shouldn't be there. Instruct the people who work for you maintaining your property how YOU want things done. Be proactive. Do what you can to keep debris out of the water. It will only make life better for all of us.


HACIENDA VILLAGE APTS.
Optically Reproduced Article By George Counts

Davie's Planning zoning board & council approved American Land Housing's bid to more than double the density on the 9.9 acres in Hacienda Villages west end to 22 units per acre. However when the eastern half of the parcel is developed, it will have to be at 20 units per acre. No commercial zoning will be allowed, but 320 dwelling units could be jammed into the entire 20.48 (acre) feather thin strip.

At the p & z meeting, Committee chair, Audrey Edwards of Gulfstream, Kitty Stack of Whale Harbor spoke favorably for residential rather than industrial or commercial land uses at the site. However concerns about the trees along the canal, schools, wildlife & items they would like if the Project is built were voiced.

Yours truly also felt the project should go forward, but without removing the massive, irreplaceable tree canopy along the river or more than doubling density. Neither the applicant nor town staff adequately addressed the impacts such a major land use change would have on the surrounding area. Just half of site is being addressed initially, as small scale Project requirements aren't always as comprehensive as those for larger ones. Some board members also voiced concern, but the amendment managed to pass with stipulations.

The next hearing is before the Broward County Planning Council at 9 a.m., 1-22-98 in room 422 of the Governmental Center,115 So.Andrews Av, Ft.Lauderdale, FL. Call George Counts at 584-4926 after 4 p.m. for details.

ISLES DRINKING WATER UPDATE
Optically Reproduced Article By George Counts

EPA's Brad Jackson gave a superfund update at a Sep 10. BCC Central public hearing. It focused on a near potential threat to our drinking water wellfield NW of us near 441 from a former oil reprocessing facility.

In 1997 a Pollutant stripper or aeration tower was added to our Peele-Dixie waterplant. EPA & Ft Lauderdale drinking water specialists indicate it is removing contamination effectively. However they still plan to monitor the site for possible long term risks to human health & the environment. It will be paid for out of the Super fund program(SARA).

Meanwhile Ft. Lauderdale's lab personnel check our drinking water for bacteria etc. quarterly & Volatile organic Compounds(VOC-solvents etc.) contaminating part of the wellfield yearly. Recent tests continue to show our drinking water meets all federal, state and local standards.

Still concerned? Get a good charcoal filter & change it often. However, don't drink area well water.

If a state certified lab tested your tap water & the results contradict those reported here, call me at 584-4926 & we'll find out why.

Still concerned about our wellfield? Call Brad Jackson, EPA Remedial Project Manager, at 1-800-435-9234. Write him at USEPA, South Site Management Branch, 61 Forsythe St. SW, Atlanta. GA 30303. E Mail Jackson.Brad @ EPA Mail.EPA.Gov.


REPORT TO THE RESIDENTS OF LAUDERDALE ISLES AND NEW RIVER GROVES

To: The Residents of Lauderdale Isles and New River Groves (Duck Key Lane)

From: The Lauderdale Isles Civic Improvement Association, Inc., Annexation Committee

As I wrote the annexation committee article for the August 1997 newsletter, my committee and I were anticipating the start of the next phase of the annexation process: The meetings with the city to discuss the concerns and issues that we have presented to them.

In fact, nothing happened until September 2, 1997. On that day, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission voted to allow the city manager, Mr. George Hanbury, to begin the annexation process with four areas that had previously shown an interest to annex into Fort Lauderdale. The vote was taken after the commissioners had reviewed a study made by their staff, on what the costs would be to the city to annex these areas.

On Wednesday, September 3, I was contacted by the city manager and asked if we could meet with him and his staff ASAP (as soon as possible). The problem was a time constraint imposed on the filing of local bills by the Broward Legislative Delegation. If we wanted to have the annexation issue presented to the residents for a referendum vote in 1998, Fort Lauderdale would have had to file a bill for annexation during the 1997-98 legislative session. To file the bill, the city, in keeping with their "voluntary annexation policy", wanted a positive indication from the majority of the residents in the form of a NON-BINDING STRAW VOTE.

Since the deadline to file bills was October 17, 1997, the city wanted to have the results of the straw vote by
September 22, 1997. This would have given them time to analyze the vote and the answers to the other questions.

On Friday, September 5, 1997, members of the annexation committee met with the city and reviewed the straw vote survey and the letter which accompanied it. After some modifications, I presented the new letter and survey form to the annexation committee on Tuesday, September 9, 1997. The committee agreed that the survey should be mailed to the residents, acknowledging that it was being done in a shorter time frame than we had anticipated. It was also acknowledged that we had presented information to the residents in the previous four general meetings and that those who attended the meetings were properly familiarized with the annexation issues and should be ready to make an educated choice. (The answers on the survey showed that our assumptions were true.) I was also requested to be present at the city offices when the surveys were opened.

When we opened the surveys, we recorded the answers to each question and it was found that on the whole, the people who attended the meetings voted to annex and those who didn't attend the meetings voted "No" or "Insufficient Information".

Residents returned 215 surveys. Of the 215 surveys:

78 people (36.3%) voted "Yes",

24 people (11%) voted "Not at this time",

55 people (25.5%) voted "Remain Unincorporated", and,

47 people (21.8%) voted "Insufficient Info.".

The straw vote showed that Lauderdale Isles wasn't ready to be annexed at this time and the city decided "Not File A Bill For Annexation".

By the way, the option "Remain Unincorporated" isn't really an option, according to the Broward County Legislative Delegation and the Broward County Commission, so the people who voted that way will have to make another choice in the future.

It is felt, by both the city and your annexation committee, that if we hold more meetings to educate the residents about the annexation issues, the vote would probably go "for annexation".

Please come to the meeting on November 20, 1997, to protect your interests and help us with the decision process.

Respectfully,

Peter J. Sheridan, Jr., Chairman
Lauderdale Isles Civic Improvement
Association, Annexation Committee.


NEW RIVER WATER QUALITY--IT'S UP TO YOU!
By Gary Starkweather

Lauderdale Isles has its own Water Management Taxing District that was set up in 1971. Lauderdale Isles needed to set up this water district because aquatic vegetation clogged our canals so severely that most of our canals were not even navigable.

Today our canals stay free from choking vegetation because we hire Broward County to spray and remove aquatic vegetation.

For some problems we have the tools to take corrective actions. For other problems help is more wishful thinking than reality. I have spoken to several concerned residents of the Isles wanting to know who to call to "police" our canals from those who carelessly pollute. The answer is, we the residents are the police. That answer stinks but that is the answer. There is no County, State, or Federal agency that has any person in our community looking out for polluters. Not One Person!

However, all is not lost. You can take steps to help improve our water quality.

Step 1. Start at home. Do not use topical fertilizers, pesticides, or toxic substances on your property. Additional information on yard care and associated subjects is available at all LICIA general meetings. Attend the next meeting and pick up some helpful brochures.

Because of the way this community was constructed virtually everything ends up in the canals. Our streets and homes are above the water level so our back yards, front yards and streets drain directly into the canals. If you want to find out if something is harmful to the river, set up an aquarium. Then simply add a good and plenty amount of the sample substance you're concerned about and if the fish are floating upside down in the morning, it's a sure sign that it would be bad for the river.

Step 2. Do not fill up the canals with trash. I feel goofy saying "don't fill up our canals with trash" but it really does need to be said. There are too many folks who still believe that "trash" (especially organic debris) simply vanishes, without a trace when tossed into the water. Yep, there are still believers. I've met them. They don't believe that it takes years for the grass trimmings, leaves, fruit, and other yard waste to finally dissolve.

Canals are sort of like underwater trash piles. Every year the trash builds up a little more. Some areas are approaching critical levels to the point where it interferes with the navigation of boats. Sooner or later, our community may face the expensive dredging dilemma. So what's to do?? The first really good idea (good because it's cheap) is to not throw anything into the canals.

If you encounter one of these "vanishing garbage believers" you can help to educate them. My suggestion is to ask them to help you find a wrench lost overboard, dockside at the north end of any one of the canals in Lauderdale Isles. They will be surprised at the volume of debris that is piled up there. That should do it.

Step 3. Scoop up and remove what you can. This does not include ducks. Sorry. If you find a royal palm leaf or something that can be removed, remove it. Most garbage and debris starts out buoyant and floats. But after a few hours or days it saturates and sinks. Once it's on the bottom it disappears from view, but it doesn't vanish!

Every time you hear a lawn service start up a leaf blower and head off to the back yard it does not take a brain surgeon to figure out what's going to happen next. It is illegal, and it contributes to the clogging of our canals. If you use a yard service, please speak to them and make it clear that they are to rake, bag and remove all trimmings from your back yard. No excuses. No lip service. If they can't do the job properly, hire a new lawn service and try again.

Some people don't care about our environment. Others simply don't want to be inconvenienced. The New River is your river. Speak to the property owners and yard services. If the situation is still not resolved, call the Department of Natural Resource Protection 519-1499

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The Environmental Corner published in this newsletter is committed to raising people's awareness of how our behavior can impact our environment. Ft. Lauderdale is a community that is dependent upon its marine environment, economically and recreationally. If you would like more information, contact the Department of Natural Resource Protection at 519-1257, or write your Civic Association at:

LICIA
1300 Riverland Road
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312.
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DAVIE APPLIES FOR LAND USE CHANGE AT HACIENDA VILLAGE
By Audrey Edwards

Yes, it's true. The prospective new owners of Peter Jensen's property are applying for an increase in density of residential! Whew! What a relief! Its current land use is 10/DU (that means 10 residential units per acre). They are going for an increase that will eventually end up to be 16/DU. The western most portion will have the highest density, and it will decrease as it spreads eastward. The dwellings will be one to three bedroom rental apartments, and a far cry from low rent apartments! The rents will range from $800.00 to $1,200.00 per month, they'll be well planned, and they will even have a clubhouse!

This was certainly welcome news to my ears, after the proposed land use change to INDUSTRIAL which the Town of Davie dumped on us last year! This property will be DEVELOPED. I think we should all thank our lucky stars that American Land Housing, Inc. is the company that is in charge. A look at any one of their other apartment complexes, and you will ask yourself "Where were they last year at this time?". If you would like to participate in a discussion with a group of the new owners/builders, please be sure and attend the next general meeting of the civic association!