This is my first message as your Association President. Let me say initially that I am most honored to have the privilege of serving in this capacity and let me assure you that I will do everything possible during my term to lead the Association in a manner consistent with the it's reputation as the finest Property Owner's Association within the City. I am assisted in this task by the fine spirit of volunteerism shown by my fellow Board members and the general membership.
This is truly an exciting time for Coral Ridge. We now see the end product of many of the renovations at George English Park and while much remains to be done in terms of completion of the Ball Field and renovations of the Community Center, I think we can all see that the monies expended by the City have been well spent and have truly contributed to the betterment of our property values. We recognize that there are some maintenance problems with the boat docks and boat ramps and this Association will follow closely with the City to make sure those maintenance problems are taken care of. The Association is also aware of the ongoing concerns with regard to the bleachers at the roller hockey rink and will also follow up with the City to make sure that appropriate bleachers are procured and installed as reasonably as possible.
Further contributing to the excitement here in Coral Ridge is the complete rebuilding of Bayview School. This will unquestionably be one of the assets contributing greatly to the quality of life within Coral Ridge.
Many of you have commented to me and other Board members about the situation with Bayview Drive. The City is trying to develop a consensus as to what needs to be done to improve both the traffic situation and the beautification of Bayview Drive. Unfortunately, the efforts so far have not produced a consensus. Your Association Board of Governors has now approved a Traffic and Beautification Committee headed by Alan Vordermeier and ably assisted by John Aurelius to gather all the current facts and proposals dealing with Bayview Drive and to evaluate them for us. The Board will actively review the information gathered by the committee and will evaluate the situation and make appropriate recommendations to the membership and to the City as necessary. Over the long term, I believe that the efforts of the Traffic and Beautification Committee can and will lead to the completion of a master plan for Coral Ridge. Those of you who have had the opportunity to visit the Harbor Inlet neighborhood can see the value of master planning.
Your Board of Governors recognizes the importance of keeping an open line of communications with City Hall. To this end, I do intend to keep an open line of communications with our District One Commissioner, Gloria Katz, and will be inviting Commissioner Katz to speak to us at an upcoming general meeting or anytime she has an urgent message she wishes to convey to us. Furthering our efforts to keep an open line of communication with City Hall is our involvement in the District I Alliance Board Member, Ed Sullivan, who has agreed to be our liaison with the Alliance and will be reporting to the Board and the general membership on matters discussed by the Alliance.
CRA Board Member, Peggy Kiser, in addition to her duties as your corresponding secretary, has agreed to continue to be the liaison to the Coalition of Civic Associations and will keep the Board posted as to developments with the Coalition.
Your Association will therefore act aggressively to keep the neighborhood informed of important developments and will communicate to City Hall those proposals that we feel will serve the best interests of Coral Ridge as a whole.
At this time, I would like to personally thank all of you members and most especially, Vickie Revier, Allison Ralph, and Pam Cushman for all their efforts in producing the excellent Coral Ridge Association Children's Christmas Party held in December at George English Park. The party was well received by both the children and their families and truly reflects the family orientation of Coral Ridge.
We are now in the midst of our membership recruitment drive. I would encourage each member of our Association to bring in a new member this year. Keep in mind that in order to maintain our position as the finest property owner's Association within the City, it is necessary that we continually build our membership. In unity lies our strength.
I would request that each of you who has an idea for the neighborhood to communicate that idea to any Board member whose names are shown in this Newsletter. At our monthly Board meetings, we welcome the discussion of any new ideas, and they are best presented through one of the Board members.
In closing, let me mention my personal thanks to my predecessor, Harriet Kaye, who so ably served this Association as its President for the past several years. Harriet's outstanding leadership and mature judgment have contributed so much to this Association that we will always be indebted to her. Both Harriet and her late husband, Jack, (after whom the Jack Kaye Park is named) have been pillars of the community for many, many years and without their many services rendered to this Association, the neighborhood would not be as well off as it is.
I would also like to offer a word of thanks to our Newsletter Editor, Ron Laffey, who devotes many, many hours to putting together this fine Newsletter. I can tell you that our Newsletter is probably the best one produced within the City and this is in no small part due to the efforts of our founding Editor, Beth Handley, and to the outstanding talents and abilities of Ron. Thanks Ron for all that you do for us.
A reminder to each of you: our Board meetings and our general meetings will both be held at the George English Park Community Center. Your Board felt that by utilizing the Community Center, the general membership would find that it would be more convenient to attend not only because of its convenient location, but also because it is so well known throughout the neighborhood as a prime location for Civic and Recreational activity. I look forward to seeing you at the next general meeting.
Al Massey