On Wednesday, March 6th, the Neighborhood Associations of Wilton Manors jointly co-hosted a Public Forum that brought together City residents to learn about issues of common concern to all of our neighborhoods. Over 90 City residents attended the Forum.
The Assistant City Manager, Pamela Landi, made a presentation addressing some of the bigger challenges facing the City — such as aging infrastructure and climate change — that are complicated, have property tax and economic development implications, and involve other local jurisdictions.
We gained insight into how the City is planning to address these issues and how decisions made by Broward County and the City of Fort Lauderdale impact economic, housing and infrastructure plans in the City of Wilton Manors.
Assistant City Manager Landi also provided a wide-ranging summary of current City initiatives related to transportation, parks, public safety, and arts policy. We were joined by Vice Mayor Mike Bracchi and Commissioner Paul Rolli.
During the Q&A session that followed, residents asked numerous questions related to recent rate increases for residential water, sewer and garbage services, and what increased costs residents might expect in the future. We learned that:
the City of Fort Lauderdale, which provides water and wastewater services, typically increases its fees to Wilton Manors around 5% each year;
the cost of the new City Contract for solid waste removal that began in October 2023 is considerably higher than the previous contract, and that the last several years' of fees under the previous, lengthy agreement had been at below market prices;
and we will all have to brace for large increases in our water bills associated with Fort Lauderdale's new water treatment plant -- the Prospect Lake Clean Water Center -- now under construction.
A copy of the City's presentation can be found just below, followed by photos from the event.
Article written by Hunter Stephens, WAWM.
