Cooper City news, asbestos, BSO, food trucks and more…

Lately there have been rumors regarding possible asbestos in our water. Let me assure you that this is not true. Our Utilities Director cleared the air and stated the facts at our last meeting, and reassured us that Cooper City still has the best quality water available and it is regularly tested for contaminants.

Cooper City has recently received a state grant for over ½ million dollars to replace our water pipes in Timberlake and have started the replacement process, with more areas to be replaced in the future. The contractors have been doing a very good job in keeping the water turned on, and have been able to accomplish the task with minimal damage to private property.

Thanks to Ron Book (our lobbyist) who was able to help in obtaining the grant money. I supported retaining Mr. Book because he was the right man for the job, even though there was opposition to my support. This grant (your tax) money has allowed us to replace the older water pipes without increasing taxes or fees in order to do so. If there are any issues that you may have with the water or the construction of the new pipes, please let me know and I will do what I can to resolve the problem as your ‘go to’ commissioner.

Our 2014-15 budget season is now upon us and we will have budget meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, July 16 and 17^th. Our budget now tops $50 million annually. There are diverse issues of our proposed budget which may interest you, and if you are interested in receiving a copy you can either email me or go to the city web site and browse the budget department to download it for yourself. If there are concerns please come to the budget meetings and voice your concerns to your commission.

Other good news in Cooper City is that our crime rate is down by nearly 15% from last year. The crime rate went from 2.83 down to 1.8. I commend Broward sheriff’s office for doing a fantastic job in keeping our communities safe. Safety of our community and our families are government’s number one priority and as such, I will continue to support BSO in order to keep you and our local business owners safe.

Our home’s taxable value increased this year. It was 8% last year and is valued at 7.35% this year. Even though this is a substantial increase, those with homestead exemption will see no more than a 1.5% increase based on the current year’s CPI.

Also there has been some discussion regarding the food truck explosion in Pennsylvania. Rest assured that I have addressed this issue with our city manager. I have been assured that the Fire Marshall will be inspecting the food trucks and will require them to have business tax receipts in addition to the inspections in order to do business in Cooper City. I hope that the city will step up and support our local businesses as much as they do the food trucks.