Vice Mayor Steve Glassman hosted and moderated a Neighborhood Presidents Virtual Roundtable on October 29, 2020, in which Seven Isles HOA President Kathleen Moreo participated. The purpose of the virtual meeting was to allow leadership to hear updates from guest speakers that included City Manager Chris Lagerbloom and Assistant City Manager Greg Chavarria. A number of important topics were raised by area presidents with emphasis on recent increases in area concerns, including but not limited to increased panhandling by homeless people, as well as flooding and stormwater issues resulting from king tides and excessive rain.
Greg Chavarria was introduced to the group as the city’s new assistant manager. Chavarria joined the city September 2 after serving as city manager for the City of Hallandale. He spoke about parallel issues of the two cities, including concerns with king tides, hurricanes, and the need to improve infrastructure. He believes his experiences with Hallandale will assist him with supporting the city’s many important needs. City Manager Chris Lagerbloom spoke to the tremendous flooding our area experienced the week of October 19 and its deleterious effects. He stated that in a five-day period, the city received about 30% of our expected annual rainfall, including 6-7 inches of rain in a single day. “The rain literally had nowhere to go,” Lagerbloom commented. Among emergency measures taken, the city petitioned Broward County for a permit to run as many as 25 pump trucks at a time to remove the excess stormwater. Based on this experience, Lagerbloom said, the city is currently evaluating lessons learned from the recent flooding and assessing opportunities for improved infrastructure and procedures.
In terms of increased panhandling, City Manager Lagerbloom discussed challenges with curtailing homeless people from panhandling, revealing that there are certain intersections where panhandling is allowed, and other areas where it is not allowed, based on traffic flow. The city is trying to address the homeless problems through grants and long-term planning. Lagerbloom commented that individuals can do their part by discouraging panhandling. “As much as we want to help individually, don’t put a dollar bill out the window. It encourages panhandling to continue,” he stated.
Vice Mayor Glassman moderated several other discussion points among leadership during the virtual roundtable, and encouraged presidents to share information with their neighborhoods, citing the importance of shared communication for a stronger community.