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LHIA President’s Message

Hello Neighbors,

LHIA held its Annual Meeting at the Saint Sebastian Church Parish Hall on
April 25th. The current officers, Bob Ferencik (P), Kevin Hoffman (VP) Bonnie
Rogers (Treas.) and Barbara Magill (Sec.) were re-elected for one year terms and
three new board members were elected for three year terms. LHIA is pleased to
welcome Dr. Garrett Wegerif, Hunter Barrett, and Natalie Mansour to its board
and we look forward to the fresh ideas and enthusiasm that they are sure to bring.
We have a few initiatives to work on in the coming year.

First, thanks to Kevin Hoffman we now have a website. You can check it out at
lauderdaleharbors.org. It is full of useful information including our current bylaws,
Lauderdale Harbors history including photographs of the community in its early days,
information on how to join or renew your membership and how to contact us. The
website is a work in progress so please pass on your ideas about how it can be
improved. Next, while our bylaws have served the community well for many years
the need to be brought into the 21 century electronic age so expect to see a new in
improved set of bylaws to consider. Changes to the bylaws must be approved by
two-thirds of the members present at a meeting of the association and circulated in
advance of the meeting. Anyone who wants to be involved in this process should
reach out to Kevin Hoffman. Finally, we would like to work on membership. There
are approximately 240 households eligible for membership. While many are
currently members of LHIA, we have a long way to go to get anywhere close to
100%. Now is the time to renew your membership for 2025 if you have not already
done so and you can easily renew on our website using venmo or be sending a
check. As with any organization, you will get from LHIA what you put it to it. The
more people who devote their time and energy, the stronger LHIA will be.
Those of you who attended the Annual Meeting will recall the good news from
Officer Haggerty, our Community Relations Officer. Crime is down in Lauderdale
Harbors compared to our sister neighborhoods although there is always room for
improvement. The largest number of crimes were vehicle break-ins. 80% of those
involved cars that were unlocked with a key fob or valet key left in the car so lock
your vehicles and avoid being a crime victim.
Commissioner Ben Sorenson also attended our annual meeting. He has been
very responsive in helping our neighborhood. The long awaited speed bumps for
Cordova Road are now in the design phase and the 13th Street Bridge Replacement
Project is soon to be in the design phase as well
I wish you all safe travels this summer and a safe and hopefully uneventful
hurricane season.

Bob Ferencik
President, Lauderdale Harbors Improvement Association

30 rio vista civic associartion • www.riovistaonline.com

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