City Shows New Improvements During Neighborhood Meeting

Proposed wall for the Woodlands

By: Sharon Aron Baron

The City of Tamarac held a community meeting for residents in District Two on Wednesday evening in the Lime Bay Condominiums.

Compared to the last year’s meeting when former City Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad was met by angry residents, this one was a breeze for city staff, who were met with cordial audience members in the packed clubhouse.

The event, which was mostly attended by residents in Lime Bay and condos communities in the vicinity, was a chance for city staff to give residents an overview of various departments as well as changes that residents would see in their city.  Several Woodlands residents including Vice Mayor Gomez were in attendance at the meeting as well as Patti Fox, Alan Wise, Wayne Wise, Shawn Robins, Michael Delemma, Larry Torn, Karen and Doug Long, and Joel Davidson.  My apologies if I have missed anyone else.

Below are a few of the items discussed by city staff that would be of interest to residents in the Woodlands

Water Treatment Plant Generator

Strain also discussed the replacement of the water plant generator at a cost of $1.5 million which would be completed March of 2015.

Facelift for Strip Center

The Tiden Plaza, located on the Northeast corner of University Drive and Commercial Boulevard will be getting a much-needed facelift according to Maxine Calloway, Director of Community Development. Currently, the building permit is under review for an improvement of the facade as well as landscaping.

Tiden Plaza on University Drive and Commercial Blvd

Corridor Study – Buffer Walls

Calloway discussed several communities that will be getting buffer walls as part of the overall corridor study. The first one (below) is in front of the Woodlands Country Club Section Two. This wall will be 3200 lineal feet long run along Commercial Boulevard from NW 64th Avenue east to the edge of residential development. It will have a mix of wall types: 6foot columns with fence and custom 6-foot masonry.

The second one will be at the Mainlands 8 and 9 and run 440 lineal feet. The wall will run along NW 57 Street from NW 64th Avenue to the Tidan Plaza. This wall will be six feet high and made of a prefabricated post and panel wall system.

The third wall will be installed at Mainlands 11 and 12 behind the Library and Community Center. This will be 2850 lineal feet and run along NW 57 Street from NW 81 Ave to NW 87 Ave. The wall will be a custom 6 ft masonry column with a 6 feet fence.

Bus Shelters

New bus shelters in Tamarac

In District Two seven more bus stops will be installed:

1.   Commercial Blvd. just west of NW 64 Avenue (North Side)

2.  Commercial Blvd. just west of University Drive (North Side)

3.  University Drive just north of Commercial Blvd. (East Side)

4.  University Drive just north of Commercial Blvd. (West Side)

5.  University Drive just south of McNab Road (East Side)

6.  University Drive just south of McNab Road (West Side)

7.  McNab Road just west of NW 80 Avenue (South Side)

Tamarac Village

After the City acquired the First East Side Savings Bank for $2 million in a foreclosure last year and created a community Development District to fund the infrastructure improvements, their next step, according to Calloway will be to design and install the improvements.

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BSO

Captain Neal Glassman said that crime is down in Tamarac as well as all of Broward County.

He also told the story about one of our homeowners here in The Woodlands that I had sent out an email blast about over a month ago.  This Section One resident saw a burglary in progress at his home and slammed a car door on one of the suspects. However, before the suspect took off, the homeowner got their license plate number. Although Glassman stressed he doesn’t recommend this, he was thankful for the homeowner getting the license plate number as this helped them immensely. BSO discovered that the car used at the time was a rental, and they were able to catch the suspects in the process of committing another burglary in Plantation where they were arrested. Glassman warns that criminals are renting cars and getting windows tinted to commit these crimes. He also stresses that crime can happen on the weekends and criminals are looking for every opportunity.

Toilet Rebates

Jack Strain told the residents that The City of Tamarac Public Services Department is offering rebates on ultra-low “Water Sense” labeled toilets. You must be a home or condo owner and customer in the city and you will receive up to $100 towards the price of each toilet – up to two toilets. How it works is if you have an older toilet that uses 3.5, 5, or even up to 7 gallons of water with every flush and replace it with high-efficiency toilet, show the city the receipt and they will give you the rebate. Strain said it doesn’t matter which brand that you buy.