Friends and Neighbors:
I have great
news! I am pleased to announce that the Village of Biscayne Park has
received funding in the amount of $1,000,000.00 from the State of
Florida as part of the 2014-2015 budget just signed by Governor Rick
Scott. The funding is specifically authorized for the repair and
restoration of our historic log cabin, as well as the construction of a new
annex building. I am hopeful that this project will bring the residents
of Biscayne Park together as we enhance our historic log cabin and work to preserve
the unique character of the Village.
Receipt of these
funds is the result of many hours of hard work and months of persistent
lobbying on the Village’s behalf. I am proud of our efforts, and
obviously pleased with the outcome. We will now have the ability to
repair and restore the log cabin to its original use as a community gathering
place and commission chambers, as well as construct a new annex building for
our Village Hall services.
I would be remiss
if I did not recognize a number of people that played a key role in helping us
secure this funding. It was truly a unified effort. First, I want
to thank Commissioner Ross for her assistance. Her institutional
knowledge of the Village was invaluable throughout the entire process.
Our manager, Heidi Shafran, and our clerk, Maria Camara,
also played key roles in seeing this through to fruition. In addition, I
want to thank our formidable lobbyist, David Caserta. His presence is
Tallahassee made a tremendous difference during the legislative session. Our elected State officials Senator Oscar Braynon
and Representative Daphne Campbell also deserve thanks for continuously
advocating for the Village. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I want
to thank Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. Senator Diaz de la Portilla
sponsored this funding and aggressively advocated on the Village’s
behalf. I am extremely grateful for his unwavering support and
assistance. Without his voice, this would not have been possible.
The funding of this
project will no doubt have a positive, lasting impact on the Village. I
look forward to working with the administration, staff, and each of you on this
project, as we continue to move the Village
forward so that it remains a strong, viable “small town” community for many
years to come.
Your Mayor,
David Coviello
David Coviello
This is one of those "great news, not-so-hot news" situations. It's wonderful that the legislature and the Governor saw fit to do this for us. It will allow us to tackle a project that was out of our reach without this State grant. This may go a considerable distance toward remaking us as a Village, in a functional sense.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we too often act like impoverished stepchildren, or orphans, and we don't keep up with maintenance unless someone else gives us the money. The condition of the Public Works yard was appalling until the State gave us a grant to build the building that's there now. The condition of the log cabin is somewhat better, but not what anyone could call good. It's most certainly not at all adequate.
With $1M, carefully spent, we can rehabilitate the log cabin and add enough office space to house our administrative offices. We can then consider moving our meetings back to where they started: the log cabin. We will also have an overall improved area, because the trailer our police call "home" won't be there any more. We'll begin to look more like the real municipality we should be.
Let's keep it up from now on. This time, "god," in the form of the Government of the State of Florida, helped someone who wasn't doing much to help himself. Let's not push our luck.
We ask our neighbors to keep up their properties, for the benefit of all of us, and we don't take "it's too much trouble and too much money" for an answer. We need to take the same approach to ourselves as a municipality.
Fred
We need a "Like" button on this blog.
ReplyDelete! LIKE.
I agree with you Jorge. Add another to the LIKE column. Thanks to all that worked hard on making this a reality.
DeleteFantastic job!!!! You really did pull the rabbit out of the hat.
ReplyDeleteTracy
congratulations - well done
ReplyDeletelets try for garbage trucks next
ReplyDelete