Port de Mer

August 2019

Dear Hlllsboro Beach Neighbors,

It’s been a typical sweltering South Florida summer so far. Nonetheless, the County’s sewer project has been moving ahead. Given the conditions they are working under, the Lanzo construction team deserves a lot of credit. Mid-to-late September is the estimated “substantial” completion date for the project, including testing of the new system and re-paving. There may be “remediation” (tweaking) required following the testing, but the heavy-lifting will be complete in September – assuming the target date is achieved. This will make it a one-year project, as planned. The number of weeks residents have had to deal with a full road-closure, however, has been far greater than planned. Per the County, the final full-closure at 1121 Hillsboro Mile, which began on July 8, is scheduled to last 6 – 9 weeks. For the most part, residents have been cooperative and in agreement that a temporary road-closure is better than raw sewage in our front yards. Thank you for your continuing patience. The traffic flow through Town should be back to normal for the 2019/2020 Season, with no road obstructions in Hillsboro Beach and the Camino Real Bridge in Boca Raton re-opened.

Besides the road-closure, another ongoing source of frustration has been the amount of sargassum seaweed continuing to invade the beach twice daily. This is a problem all along the South Florida coast-line, and according to scientists, will not be going away any time soon. After much discussion, the Commission has agreed that continued use of the beach-raker is the best and only course of action. Research has shown that plowing the seaweed into the sand (as the beach-raker does) actually helps fight erosion, stabilizing the beach. Conversely, trying to remove the seaweed is not only extremely costly, it also removes precious sand from the beach.

Also relating to the beach, the Commission recently approved an ordinance requiring property owners to maintain their beach side property to the same standards as the rest of their property. This means trash on the beach and in the dunes needs to be addressed. The beach-raker does not clear trash from the dune line. A residents’ group with special interest in the beach has come together under the leadership of resident Stephanie Steinberg. The group has been dubbed the Hillsboro Beach Green Team. Any resident interested in joining the group can contact Stephanie at stephstein@msn.com.

Regarding the beach litigation with Deerfield, there is not much to report. Efforts are still being made to reach a settlement. The trial date, previously set for later this month, may be pushed back in hopes of reaching a successful settlement.

Some good news for our beach: As of July, all 31 buoys were finally in place for the first time in a long while. Let’s hope we are spared any major storms in the coming months so we can hang on to them!

In closing, I would like to thank you again for your patience with the County’s sewer project. It may not seem like it, but we are very fortunate the County agreed to replace our aging system. All along the coast in South Florida where people first settled, the infrastructure is aged and in horrible condition. We are now ahead of the curve with a new water main and a new sewer main. These are improvements we can’t see, but for which we should be grateful, nonetheless.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and as always, the Commission stands ready to assist you with Town issues in any way we can!

Sincerely,
Deb Tarrant
Mayor

INTRACOASTAL POOL (B SIDE POOL)

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE INTRACOASTAL POOL WILL BE CLOSED 8/5/2019 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FOR REFACING/RENOVATION.

THANK YOU
MANAGEMENT

Hillsboro Beach Residents:
Please find the NOTICE of Total Road Closure effective Monday, July 8, 2019.

We currently have 118 consent forms in favor of the new taupe/ivory exterior and new interior colors and style. We are on a roll! But we still need more! If you like the new colors and styles but haven’t sent your consent form in, please do so, or at least for now send an email letting us know that you approve and intend to send it.

If you don’t have a preference, please sign and return the consent form to support the majority of homeowners who do prefer the new colors.

Thank you!

The Port de Mer Board of Directors

Deb Tarrant,
Mayor

First of all, we would like to thank the 77 homeowners whose consent forms we have already received as well as those whose signed forms are in the mail on their way to Port de Mer. Thank you! We are halfway there!

If you haven’t sent in your signed consent form, please do. It can be sent via US mail, fax or emailed to PortDeMerAdmin@akam.com . If you have sent us your consent form, please remind your PDM friends and neighbors to send theirs too.

Assessment payments for painting, repairs and elevators will begin in July. Whether or not we update the exterior colors and the interior common area colors and style of the buildings depends upon getting 75% of owners to give consent. If we don’t get enough signed consent forms before we start painting, we will have no choice but to repaint and redecorate both inside and out using the existing colors and styles. Please give us your consent now. Thank you!

Port de Mer Board of Directors

New Community Group – The Hillsboro Beach Green Team! 6/18/2019

Please check out our new Facebook page:  @townofhillsborobeachgreenteam

The Hillsboro Beach Green Team is a local community group working to help keep our beaches clean and to implement eco-friendly lifestyles and practices for the benefit of our residents, visitors, future generations and the planet!

Thank you very much!

Stephanie Steinberg

4 buildings in sun and shade. Top two are B side. Smaller paint swatches are A side.

Lane Opening Pushed Back to Approximately June 21

Dear Neighbors,

As you may already know if you receive NIXLE notices from our Police Department, the target date for opening one lane at the site of the full closure by Town Hall has once again been pushed back. The construction crews recently experienced cave-ins in the trenches. These cave-ins have impacted the crews’ production and threatened the safety of the crew. The latest projection for a lane opening is now approximately June 21. In the meantime, residents who live north of 1212 must continue to travel north, and residents who live south of 1205 must continue to travel south.  

Those of us at Town Hall are doing our best to keep everyone up-to-date with the information being provided by the County, however, projections continue to change. Thank you for your patience as we approach the final months of this massive project.

Sincerely,

Deb Tarrant,
Mayor

Alert: Broward County stated the roads are not safe for single lane traffic ROAD CLOSED until aprox 6/21 (subject to change) Q&A call 8772238235

Instructions:
Broward County stated the roads are not safe for single lane traffic ROAD CLOSED until aprox 6/21 (subject to change) Q&A call 8772238235

Alert: Direction of Travel – Residents living 1212 and north must travel north. Residents living 1205 and south must travel south.

Instructions:
Direction of Travel – Residents living 1212 and north must travel north. Residents living 1205 and south must travel south.

Clarification of Road Closures

Dear Neighbors,

Just to clarify the email message I sent on Sunday, June 9, the road in front of Town Hall is scheduled to have a single lane open starting sometime this week, the week of June 10-14. The County would not give us a specific date. They have missed several previous target dates, so this time they provided only a week’s span. However, this situation with egress both to the north and south will be in effect only for a couple of weeks. At the end of the month (again the County would not provide a specific date), a full road closure will be set up at 1121 Hillsboro Mile. That full-closure will last a minimum of four weeks, during which time if you live north of 1121, you will need to go north, and if you live south of 1121, you will need to go south.

My apologies for any confusion.

Sincerely,

Deb Tarrant,
Mayor

Dear Neighbors,

As you are likely aware, some of the information the County previously provided in terms of progress on the sewer project was not accurate. The full road-closure in front of Town Hall was supposed to open to a single lane of traffic on June 4, however, this did not happen. We have now been assured a single lane will become available at that site during the week of June 10-14. This will give egress through Town from both north and south, however, this will only be the case for a short while (approximately two weeks). 

By the end of June, work on the last lift station located at 1121 Hillsboro Mile will begin. This will once again require a full road-closure for a minimum of four weeks. If you are south of 1121, you will need to go south to leave the island, and if you are north of 1121, you will need to go north. Once the deep work at 1121 is complete, the County has assured us they will open a lane, and we will have north and south egress until the project is finished in September.

 County Agrees to Temporary Paving Improvements 

At the June 4 Commission meeting, I made it abundantly clear the current driving conditions in the southbound lane are UNACCEPTABLE. We had been told at the May 7 Commission meeting these conditions would be addressed, but they were not. As of June 6, to improve driving conditions until the final paving is completed in September, the County has agreed to temporary improvements in the following three areas (click here for detailed memo):

939-945 Hillsboro Mile
981-1021 Hillsboro Mile
1043-1045 Hillsboro Mile

Please note, in order to do milling and asphalt in the above areas (which are the worst of the worst), we will experience some temporary delays while this work is being done. I think most residents agree, a few temporary delays are preferable to four more months of teeth-jarring, vehicle-destroying southbound travel.

Barring any extreme weather conditions, this one-year project is on schedule to be completed in September as originally planned, at which time, we will all heave a sigh of relief. To sweeten the scenario, the Camino Real Bridge, which has been closed for over a year is scheduled to reopen this month on June 24. By the time we get our road back and before next Season, travel conditions to and from Hillsboro Beach should be substantially improved from this past Season.

Most residents have been patient and understanding about the unavoidable inconveniences that come with necessary infrastructure updates. For that I thank you! As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely,

Deb Tarrant,
Mayor

Last night a turtle laid eggs by two of our lounge chairs that were on the beach up against our seawall. The ‘turtle people’ and the police have asked us not to move those lounge chairs that are inside the taped area where the nest was laid. I have attached a photo so you can clearly see which two lounge chairs we are not allowed to move.  Thank you.