This will be my final message to you as the outgoing President of your
Association. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate all of the
newly elected Boardmembers and to wish each of them and particularly Alan
Vordermeier and the other officers for the 2002-2003 fiscal year the
best. We are a fine Association, the best in the City, and I know that
the upcoming year will be a great one for Coral Ridge.
We have had an unusual year in which there were no burning issues in
Coral Ridge. Nevertheless, it is clear that there is much work to be done
in this and upcoming years if we are to maintain the overall high quality
of life we enjoy in Coral Ridge.
The crime rate in the neighborhood is low and for this we are thankful.
However, any crime, no matter how infrequent, is too much. We must
maintain our excellent communications with the Fort Lauderdale Police
Department and increase our alertness to crime. Officer Gene McCoy and
the other fine professionals of the Department have been a great help.
We must continue to take advantage of the great team of law enforcement
officers and support staff who are there for us.
Traffic continues to be a source of irritation in the neighborhood.
There presently are no solutions widely accepted and defined. However,
the Association, through the Traffic and Beautification Committee,
continues to look for solutions that will calm traffic. This will be a
longterm endeavor under the best of circumstances.
Neighborhood beautification is a subject that needs to be looked at
seriously. Our entryways are not looking as good as they could
particularly when viewed in comparison to the newer entryways of some
neighborhoods. Ours need to be upgraded, both in maintenance and
landscaping. We may also in the long term want to look at completely
redesigning them to adopt the more elegant level of styling seen in
several of our sister neighborhoods. Our tree canopy, while adequate,
could also be enhanced. We need more large shade trees on Bayview Drive
and Middle River Drive and the cross-streets between. The effect in
coming years will be spectacular. Some of our swales are not in the best
of shape. How can we make them more uniformly clean, neat and pleasant?
Ultimately, we need to develop a masterplan for Coral Ridge.
The renovations to Bayview School and to George English Park have
certainly been a benefit to the neighborhood. The upcoming renovation to
the George English Park Community Center, known to many of you as the
site of your voting precinct and the location of our Association Board
meetings and several of our general meetings, will begin this winter and
will certainly be a much needed improvement to that well-used facility.
Each of these improvements enhances the beauty of Coral Ridge but more
needs to be done.
Membership in the Association needs to be increased. The Board should
consider hosting a membership drive cookout at George English Park.
There may be other ways to increase membership but an aggressive program
needs to be undertaken.
So, as I say, much work remains.
Let me close with a sincere "thank you" to each of you who have contacted
me with your ideas and comments and to those of you who have devoted your
time and energy to working with the Association and to bettering the
neighborhood. I encourage you to stay involved. To those of you who
have not yet been involved, I encourage you to volunteer to work with
the Association. You will find it to be very satisfying personally and it
will be a great benefit to Coral Ridge.
As I take my leave of the Presidency I look forward to continuing to work
with the Association and the Board of Governors. Our Editor, Ron Laffey,
has graciously asked me to continue to contribute to the newsletter by
reactivating the "City Beat" column and I have told him that I will do
so. We owe Ron a debt of thanks for all the time and effort he puts in
not only to the newsletter but also the general operation of the Coral
Ridge Association. Many thanks, Ron!
My best wishes to all!
Albert P. Massey, III