Photo of the Day - finding a large ceremonial check - working for grants to create "The Village of Parks"

A little Palmetto Bay history. 

Looking through the achieves and I found this BIG check for Palmetto Bay Park (Aug 2006). 

This was a check for $2,715,000.00 from the County GOB earmarked for Palmetto Bay Park.

Did we forget to cash it? 

Don’t worry, we did deposit it and we put it to good use creating a gem of a Park. 

It was our hard work at locating and obtaining grants that allowed us to create “The Village of Parks”.

Our parks and their purchase, development or enhancements were funded largely  through grant monies provided through provided through the Florida Communities Trust; Miami-Dade GOB, SFWMD, Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program (FRDAP) and other assistance.

This was no small effort.  The total amount Palmetto Bay spent on the initial investment to make Palmetto Bay the most family friendly community in South Florida was $16.8 million dollars, not including dollars spent on such items as landscaping, signage, plumbing, electrical, and the like. 

That's right - almost $17 million dollars has been spent or budgeted on parks improvements between 2002 and the 2008-09 fiscal year. And no taxes were raised to make this happen!

That's the equivalent of more than $350 dollars per-year, per-household, over the initial six years - a small amount, considering the large reward.

Why do we do it?  For our seniors, our children, for the betterment of our community.

Your Mayor,

Eugene Flinn