Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) meeting regarding proposed contruction

I attended the meeting last evening hosted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) regarding proposed contruction/expansion on I-595 from I-75 to I-95.

The two remaining variations on the plan involve either an elevated roadway south of I-595 (Alternative 1B) or an elevated roadway in the center of I-595 (Alternative 2A). Both alternate plans call for reversible lanes and other changes to the road configuration.

Whether the construction would improve traffic remains to be seen. It seems to me that simply putting more pavement on the ground is just running from a solution, unless there is a pretty firm connection to some form of mass transit, such as the proposed (by not funded) light rail system down the I-595 corridor. Some major FDOT projects in the past have enabled more overbuilding in our County because they opened up areas of the county to explosive development. Often, new roads encourage new development and the new development clogs the new roads. Traffic is no better (or worse) than when we started, and we have more overcrowding of our county as a by-product. Meanwhile, wealth is transfered from the taxpayers (for the cost of road construction) to developers (they can build more and command higher prices). It's a vicious circle.

Construction on the I-595 plan is projected to begin in 2010. Written comments by citizens and groups may still be submitted to FDOT for 20 days after last night's meeting.

[*click* I-595 graphic to Link to web site for the proposed I-595 construction project. ]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Town of Davie's annual Winter Holidays Snow Play & Lighting of the Greens

The Town of Davie's annual Winter Holidays Snow Play & Lighting of the Greens takes place at Town Hall on December 4, 2005, from 6:30 - 9:30 PM

Visit over 50 beautifully adorned trees, menorahs, and kinaras with over 230,000 lights.

Entertainment will include a petting farm, climbing wall, holiday magic show, exotic animals, bounce house and music, as well as 20 tons of snow.

There will be FREE refreshments, such as hot and cold drinks, as well as homemade cookies, while supplies last. There will also be food items available for sale.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Five Star Rodeo, Bullriding Contest this weekend.

I attended the Bullriding contest at the Five Star Rodeo, held in Davie this weekend. Five Star Rodeo did an excellent job of getting the rodeo grounds ready for the Bullriding contest, after significant damage to the roof and other parts of the rodeo grounds during Hurricane Wilma.

Thank you to Five Star Rodeo, and the Weekly family! I appreciate your efforts.

Photo: Davie Bullriding, last Saturday. [*click* photo to play a short video clip in WMV format (may require a program such as the FREE Winamp program, if the video file does not automatically start when you click on the photo]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Thanksgiving Day

Generally, we go camping on Thanksgiving weekend. This year, Hurricane Wilma got us off schedule. No problem. We enjoyed a nice family dinner on the back porch.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Day, as well.

Photo: Thanksgiving feast at the Mayor's house.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Big Lizards: a serious pest in Davie

Janet and I saw this BIG lizard sunning itself in someone's back yard, in Davie, on the afternoon before Thanksgiving.

What some people see as a "critter," others would call a "varmint." Needless to say, I consider this lizard a varmint! A pest. A nuisance. In fact, this lizard, and others like him, are already a big problem in South Florida. If the state and federal governments don't come up with a strategy to eliminate them, that problem is going to get much worse.

Photo: I hesitate to say just where Janet and I spotted this BIG nasty looking lizard. I'd estimate it's length to be 4 or 5 feet long--maybe more if you add the entire length of the tail![*click* photo to enlarge]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Debris removal on Schedule

Hurricane debris removal remains on schedule. Almost all of the storm related debris has been removed on the "first pass." Some oversized items (example: large tree trunks) and debris not placed at the curb may not have been picked up.

Debris which is subject to removal and which was placed on the curb after our contracter moved through a neighborhood the first time will be picked up on a subsequent pass(es).

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Gamma threat watched--no longer a danger to Davie

Well, it seems hard to believe, but our Davie Emergency Management Team met for a phone conference with Broward County for Tropical Storm Gamma this weekend. EVERY storm threat to Davie is followed and assessed, until we determine it has no chance of causing damage here.

As it turns out, the Gamma storm meeting was one case in which I was happy to have wasted my time. As of now, the storm fell apart and posed no threat to Davie.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Town Council Action

The Davie Town Council met last night for our regular meeting. A number of important decisions were made. Among them:

• The temporary Red Cross Shelter for displaced hurricane victims was approved for the Police Athletic League (PAL) Building at Potter Park. The approval was conditioned on several items, including...
  (i) The normal after school programs will be accommodated elsewhere, so those programs continue with minimal interruption.
  (ii) PAL must agree to the arrangement (they indicate they will, subject to some details being worked out.)
  (iii) The Town will be fully reimbursed for our out-of-pocket costs.
  (iv) An "exit plan" must be proposed within 45 days. The use of the Town building will last no more than 60 days.
  
• The Amendment to the Master Site Plan (link is a PDF document) for Nova Southeastern University was approved.
  
• A contract was approved to use Bergeron Land Development as a "backup" hauler for hurricane debris in the highly unlikely event the primary hauler, AshBritt, is unable to complete all of the work, as requested by the Town. AshBritt had the winning bid in an open competitive bid process. Frankly, the issue is about as close to being a moot point as it can be. AshBritt will complete their initial sweep of the Town by this Sunday. They are fully prepared to perform the followup pickup as requested, when requested. According to Town staff, AshBritt has performed all debris removal as requested, when requested. Note that any Town resident who has a complaint about damage by the debris hauler (broken mailboxes, unnecessary damage to lawns, etc.) should contact the Town. The contract hauler is responsible to correct any damage they do to private property. If they fail to make timely repairs, the Town will do so, at the hauler's expense.
  
• The Town will pay the salary of Town Administrator, Chris Kovanes, into an escrow account pending further action, and advice of the Town's special counsel. We also authorized additional legal action, to protect/recover Town property. We will discuss additional action at our next regular Town Council meeting. I stated at the meeting that I will personally favor a fair and open search process to select a new Town Administrator, as I had (unsuccessfully) urged before Mr. Kovanes was hired.
  
• Ken Cohen was designated as "Acting Town Administrator" and given an increase in salary to reflect his additional duties and responsibilities. Mr. Cohen has done an excellent job of leading Town administration, under extremely difficult circumstances, since Mr. Kovanes' departure. I fully supported his promotion at this time.
  
• I indicated my desire to commence a process to totally review our bid/procurement process. Notwithstanding Chris Kovanes' guilt or innocense--the legal process will work that out--I have to ask if the theft which he is alleged to have committed COULD have occurred. In my opinion, the answer is yes. Which creates a giant red flag in my mind. No process for the handling of public funds should be designed so as permit corruption by any single individual. In my view our existing process lacks sufficient safeguards to prevent even the relatively crude scheme for the theft which is alleged to have occurred. The rest of the Town Council expressed support to proceed toward obtaining a comprehensive independent review of our entire bid/procurement process.
  

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

FDLE Press Release on Chris Kovanes

The following is a press release from FDLE which was distributed to the media today:

SUSPENDED DAVIE TOWN ADMINISTRATOR SOUGHT FOR ARREST ON MONEY LAUNDERING, ORGANIZED FRAUD, GRAND THEFT CHARGES

Nov. 15, 2005 – The Town of Davie’s suspended town administrator is being sought for arrest on warrants filed by special agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after investigators alleged the town official had stolen more than $360,000 in Town of Davie funds.

Warrants were filed Tuesday for Christopher John Kovanes, 34, for one count of money laundering, one count of grand theft and one count of organized fraud.

Kovanes, who was suspended with pay as Davie’s town administrator on Oct. 18, is considered a fugitive. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has had an active criminal investigation into allegations of misappropriation of funds by Kovanes since mid-October.

Agents said Kovanes is accused of stealing $362,329 from the Town of Davie by depositing town checks made payable to GEO, Inc. into an account that Kovanes opened at a Bank Atlantic branch on Jan. 20, 2004, in the name of Geographic Environmental Origin, Inc. That account was opened with an initial deposit of $15,000 based on a check made payable to GEO, Inc. which was drawn by the Town of Davie.

From January 2004 through October 2005, Kovanes is accused of depositing 20 Town of Davie checks ranging from $4,600 to $55,890 into the bank account. All of the checks were made payable to GEO, Inc. Agents alleged that Kovanes was able to initiate purchase orders and requests for payment from the town to the shell company, GEO, Inc.

Authorities said Geographic Environmental, Inc., also is a shell corporation that listed Kovanes as the sole officer and registered agent. Authorities can find no records on GEO, Inc. and said it was not incorporated in Florida. Agents also determined that the address listed for GEO, Inc. of 5448 North State Road 7, Suite 209 in Fort Lauderdale does not exist.

Authorities said the Town of Davie had contracted with six geographic information services (GIS) companies to provide mapping services to the town. Checks for services by those geographic companies were issued by the town, and Kovanes at times picked up the checks for GEO, Inc., telling other town employees that he was going to deliver the checks to GEO, Inc. officials.

Kovanes also has been under investigation by FDLE since October on allegations involving illegal pornography. That case is a separate matter and remains part of an active criminal probe. No charges have been filed at this time relating to that issue.
FDLE’s investigations are continuing.

Contact:

Paige Patterson-Hughes
FDLE Public Information Officer
(786) 336-1052

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Red Cross and Town of Davie discuss possible short term housing for hurricane victims in Davie

The Red Cross and Broward County have contacted the Town of Davie regarding the prospect of using the PAL (Police Athletic League) Building at Potter Park as a temporary housing site for Broward County Residents displaced by Hurricane Wilma. The PAL building is under consideration because it has a large gym, other smaller rooms, and showers/bathrooms. These amenities are not all available at other potential Town locations. The current site in South Broward will no longer be available when school begins again at McNicol Middle School.

The county temporary housing is intended to be short term (probably 60 days or less); and would be run by the Red Cross and Broward County on Town property. The Town is not in a position to provide housing for Broward Residents--other than possibly permitting use of our facility.

One major concern is insuring availabilty of facilities to serve the after school and other programs currently operating in the PAL Building. Obviously, the PAL Board of directors is being consulted as well. This item will likely be an "add on" item at tomorrow night's regular Town Council Meeting.

[*click* logo to link to American Red Cross web site ]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Town Council Agenda, 11-16-2005

The Davie Town Council Meets at Davie Town Hall for our regular meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2005. The Agenda is online.

Note the following items, in which there may be general public interest*:

1. Backup contract to use Bergeron Land Development, Inc. for hurricane debris removal if the primary contract winner cannot perform as required by the Town of Davie. Comment: this looks to me to be a moot point, since the primary bid winner, AshBritt, has the capacity to perform as required. I anticipate a full report on debris pickup at the meeting. (Agenda Item 4.7)
   
2. Discussion of potential Broadview Park annexation. I anticipate a staff report, including recent activity by the legislature, and possible Council direction to Town staff. (8.1)
   

*Items on the agenda may be tabled. Links to agenda items are PDF files and require a PDF Reader

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Hurricane Debris Removal Update--Massive amount of debris being removed would fill multiple football fields DAILY!

I continue to get daily briefings on the status of our hurricane debris removal. Davie has brought in additional outside monitors (contracted for months before Hurricane Wilma struck Davie) and continues to increase the volume of debris hauled away daily. As of yesterday, Town Administration and staff confirm that our contractor, AshBritt, is supplying 100% of the removal capacity we have requested--that is 100% of what our roads, the dump sites and our processing of FEMA paperwork can accommodate.

You may have noticed that many of the main streets have been cleared--and we are starting to get to neighborhood streets in some areas. Keep in mind, that our coordinated effort is directed in a methodical fashion at ALL sections of Town simultaneously--east, west, and the middle. Town officials are aware of the public safety threat which debris poses to residents--we are putting the highest possible priority on removing this threat.

[Photo: FILL THIS WITH TREE LIMBS AND BRANCHES??? Although it takes a lot of time to clear the damage done by a hurricane of Wilma's scale, we are currently removing about 30,000 cubic yards per day. For the sake of a visual aid, you can do the math and see that debris being removed would fill the playing area of six collegiate football fields almost three feet high--EVERY SINGLE DAY! That's a lot of trash.]




.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Mayor Truex and other Davie Officials visit Hurricane Wilma shelter

Last evening I visited with some of Davie's residents at the temporary shelter in McNicol Middle School, in Hollywood. I was with Councilmember, Susan Starkey, and a staff member of State Representative, Susan Goldstein. Councilmember Starkey has worked tirelessly in sorting through the relief available, on behalf of Davie's residents. She helped coordinate efforts to expedite registration of Davie residents with FEMA--including registration tables at the McNicol shelter last night.

Lots of thing are in short supply at the shelter. Privacy and enough sets of clothing for children were mentioned. Information about what their future holds is also pretty thin. The Town of Davie continues to work with FEMA, and the county, state and federal government to find solutions. Frankly, the whole process seems frustrating and painfully slow to me. It is much more frustrating to people without livable homes to go back to.

Hurricane Wilma did not create Broward County's problem with a lack of affordable housing. However, the problem threatens to loom even larger for people whose marginally affordable housing has been destroyed.

Photo: Mayor Truex, speaking to Davie Residents temporarily housed at the shelter at McNicol Middle School in Hollywood. [*click* photo to enlarge]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Hurricane Debris removal

Don't belive everything you read. Contrary to the report in one daily newspaper, I never indicated that the cost of monitoring two firms had anything to do with my vote to stick with the debris hauling firm which won the bid months ago.

In short, a local company (which did NOT win our open competitive bid) tried to convice the Town Council to let them take part of the contract from the company which had won the open competitive bid. There is a lot of money to be earned in this type of contract. Unfortunately big contracts with lots of money at stake always seem to bring out the worst in some people. So I am disappointed--but never surprised--when these fat contract fights turn ugly.*

In summary, my reasons for not wanting to bring in the new company as an additional hauler are:

• We had a open competitive bid months before the storm hit us. AshBritt was rated first by the bid committee and won the contract. (see the Agenda Report and minutes of that meeting)
  
• AshBritt started pickup when we asked then to. I acknowledge the Town Council (not Ashbritt) may have erred in our start date. With the benefit of hindsight, I think we guessed that it would take longer than it did for people to saw up debris and put it near the roadways for pickup.
  
• AshBritt picked up the amount of debris we requested, where we requested.
  
• AshBrtitt has performed as requested in the past.
  
• AshBritt stated they can increase the volume of debris pickup to meet the amount the Town may request in the future. Bringing in an additional company will not speed up the process, because the whole debris removal process is limited by the monitors in place and the capacity of the roadways and the dumps. So far AshBritt is handling 100% of what we are requesting. FEMA requires precise records in order for us to get reimbursed the millions of dollars we will seek from them. Our problem is not in getting more trucks in Town. We have dramatically increased the volume of debris being removed, and continue to add more trucks every day, as we add to our capacity to handle them. Davie contracted with another company (again, months before the storm hit) to bring in additional trained personnel to keep up with paperwork, as needed.

I voted in favor of the resolution which the Davie Town Council approved. That resolution allows us to bring in a second hauler if AshBritt does not perform as requested.


[Photo: Hauling debris. Trucking firms from all over the southeastern U.S. converged on Davie to do the massive task of hurricane debris removal]
More...

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

The blOg is back! (Hurricane Wilma kept us busy, but didn't knock out the Town of Davie)

I'm Back! (Actually, I never went anywhere) .

Although it would be an huge overstatement to say things are back to normal in the Town of Davie, I am in a position to start making regular entries in this blog again.

I'm going to take some time in the next week or so to recap some of the storm related things that have been consuming my time, and the time of your professional Town Staff the last couple of weeks. As well as to provide information as to where the Town stands now in our hurricane recovery efforts.

Davie Hurricane Wilma recovery information [*click* blOg graphic to go to the Town of Davie Hurricane information]

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks