An infusion of cash is paving the way for three Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods to begin sprucing up their streets.
City commissioners recently allocated $54,500 from the neighborhood capital improvement grant program to homeowners associations in Oak River, Seven Isles and Coral Ridge Country Club Estates for landscaping and other enhancements.
As part of the agreement, each association will provide matching funds. Two of the neighborhoods expect work to be completed by winter. A $35,000 grant to Seven Isles is earmarked for green screens of hedges and flowering plants around utility boxes, an environmentally friendly irrigation system and trees along Seven Isles Drive, between Las Olas Boulevard and Castilla Isle. More flowering plants will be placed along the sea wall, said Howard Steinholz, president of the Seven Isles Homeowners Association.
A stamped wave design will be placed on the crosswalk at the community's entrance. Similar designs will decorate two of the neighborhood's six asphalt bridges. Residents intend to put waves on the remaining bridges when more funding becomes available, Steinholz said.
He's pleased so many homeowners dug into their pockets.
"We had a tremendous turnout," Steinholz said.
Property owners in Oak River will be digging in, too. They'll be using shovels and other tools to replenish an 80-foot-long stretch of roadway that runs through the center of their neighborhood.
Volunteers are aiming to kick off their $14,400 project in November. The long-awaited makeover, with half the funds coming from a $7,200 grant, will replace foliage knocked down along Southwest 19th Street when Hurricane Wilma hit in October 2005, said David Founds, president of the Oak River Homeowners Association.
The oak canopy survived, but the palm trees and shrubs took a beating from the storm. Plans are to uniformly redo the landscape on both sides of the street, install a water-saving irrigation system and set out new welcome signs, Founds said.
Since Wilma, the city has put in new sewers and repaved the streets. Beautifying the area's main thoroughfare will be the finishing touch, he said.
"It's going to be a real community project," Founds said. "It will totally enhance the experience of driving into Oak River."
A third grant for $12,300 was issued to Coral Ridge County Club Estates. Improvements at Bayview Park and upgrades to the main entrance are expected to be completed this spring, said John Washburn, who sits on the homeowners association board.
A portion of the money will be used to upgrade landscaping at the main entryway on Bayview Drive, just north of Oakland Park Boulevard.
Other plans include putting a green buffer of trees and shrubs along a chain-link fence that runs between the park and Cardinal Gibbons High School, Washburn said.
Spectators also will be able to watch games in the shade because large oak trees will be planted at the park's two baseball diamonds, he said.
The grant is a great boost toward ongoing efforts to further enhance the community, Washburn said.
"We're always trying to upgrade the quality of the park," he said.
source: Sun Sentinal
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