Harbour Inlet Association Annual Membership Meeting

The Harbour Inlet Association (HIA) Annual Membership Meeting was held on November 6, 2019.  In addition to the eleven board members in attendance approximately 45 non-board members attended the meeting.  There was excellent interest and participation throughout the evening.

There were several presentations which are summarized below.

Review of 2018 – 2019

 Joanne Robinson, President of the Harbour Inlet Association, called the meeting to order and reviewed the key activities of the board over the last eighteen months.  These included the new landscaping and other improvements at the gatehouse entrance, a new website for Harbour Inlet, updating and distributing the new Harbour Inlet Directory, several social events that were well attended, negotiations with Pier 66 to mitigate the neighborhood impact of the development of Pier South at our front gate, working with the city on the design and plans for the replacement of the South Ocean Drive bridge, installation of the Mae Simmons memorial plaque at our entrance, and working with the city to explore the possibility of a neighborhood park for HI.  Joanne outlined a few key goals for 2020 including posting more content to the HIA website on a regular basis, update of the HIA bylaws which has not been done since 2002, continue to work with the city on the bridge replacement project and potential park, and continue to hold social events to bring Harbour Inlet residents together. 

Police Report

Officer Tim Ryan introduced himself and explained that he attends each of our Harbour Inlet monthly meetings to present a neighborhood police report. He stated that we are a great neighborhood with low incidence of crime. He described several new police safety initiatives, including Fort Lauderdale Cares, Autism Awareness Program, Bar Watch Program and Safer Watch.

City of Fort Lauderdale Guest Presenters

The first guest presenter was Commissioner Ben Sorenson, District 4, who has served 18 months in office. He expressed his goal to listen to what the people want and align their goals with those of the city. He reviewed his accomplishments and plans for the remainder of his tenure. Some of the key activities which Commissioner Sorensen addressed are: support for our efforts and working with the Pier 66 south project team; working with the 17^th Street Traffic Committee to create a bypass road as part of the new Convention Center initiative; continuously working on the homeless issues that plague our city; working to increase special event fees to curtail some activity and offer residents more access to the beach; continuing to fight against development that will add more vehicle trips to AIA and 17^th St.; working with the neighborhood on the South Ocean Drive Bridge replacement project and support for other developments such as the LGBT legislation that was passed in the city.   The floor was then opened to questions and several people had specific topics which the commissioner addressed.

Hal Barnes from the City Managers Neighborhood Support Division was the next speaker who spoke about his work to enhance Ft Lauderdale neighborhoods. Under his umbrella are many departments that are involved in improving the community’s quality of life.  Within Harbour Inlet his department has helped with repairs to our gatehouse roof,  painted and repaired the street signs and light poles, refurbished some of our landscaping and continues to maintain it monthly.  Hal then answered attendees’ questions about a variety of topics including underground utilities, sidewalk repairs and others.

Secretary’s Report

Tina Lubar, Secretary, read the Annual Meeting Minutes from April 11, 2018. A motion was made to accept and was approved without revision.

Treasurer’s Report

Bart Cohodas presented the annual treasurer’s report. He reviewed the years’ expenditures and income.  A motion was made to accept the report, and it was approved.

Elections of 2020 Board of Directors and Officers

The final business of the evening was the election of the 2020 Board of Directors.  A slate was presented which included the following nominated directors:

• Bart Cohodas
• Bill Cole
• Bill Dolan
• Melissa Donoho
• Freeman Good
• Martha Hall
• Elli Hurst
• Bob Linder
• Tina Lubar
• Prabhuling Patel
• Joanne Robinson
• Jennifer Sharpe
• Lee Ann Traut
• Kevin Young

The membership voted to accept these nominees.  The annual meeting was then adjourned and the new board of directors convened to elect officers for 2020.  The incumbents were re-elected unanimously:

Regular board meetings are scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month, unless otherwise posted at 6:30 pm at Saint Sebastian’s Parish Hall.  No meetings are held in August and December unless one is needed.

The 2020 Annual Membership Meeting will be held on November 4^th, 2020.