Griffin Rd Carwash

Dear Southwest Ranches Friends and Neighbors:

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and if I don’t see you later…well then…Good Night!

Come get your car washed every afternoon on Griffin Rd. Not by the high school cheerleaders, not by any of the local church groups, not by the volunteer fire department, but by the new irrigation system put in to water the thousands of new plants that cover the landscape along west Griffin Rd. For $400 dollars per year per family, if you time it right (4-7 PM) you can get your car washed daily with canal water. What a town!

Take a look at the note below submitted by a concerned citizen and let your town council know that they again are squandering your tax dollars. The annual costs for maintaining this new project are enough to cover debt service on the planned but un-financed public safety/ town hall building.

Members of your present council signed off on this project, let them know that this was a bad idea. Ask them what they are going to do to cut its costs.

That’s All Folks!!!

Wanch Waggler

http://wanchwaggler.blogspot.com/

Dear Waggler,

A few years ago our Town had the chance to shape the Griffin Road improvement landscaping. I sent a letter to Forrest Blanton with copies to all Commissioners. I told them what we needed was not xeroscape but zeroscape. My vision was landscaping that did not need watering or none at all. My reasoning is that the town could not afford electric and maintenance for pumps.

The last traffic cones were removed Thursday and the work is 99% complete. For those of you that care or noticed, we got a finished project completely opposite to my vision. There is a multitude of plants and trees that are wholly inappropriate for where they are planted. Some trees directly under powerlines! What were these morons thinking? I would really like to know why this was done. Beautiful Cypress trees planted on top of berms. These trees like lots of water and cannot survive without massive watering. Center medians should be planted with grass to facilitate easy care and no watering. We have a hodgepodge of plants and trees that require massive watering and care.

After enduring two years of construction filth on my cars we finally can wash them and have clean cars, right? The watering system uses a series of high horsepower 3 phase pumps. The system is set to water in zones that constantly change. The water pressure is high and the system really sprays well. So now when you wash your car you can be guaranteed to get it sprayed at least twice while driving Griffin Road. The duration it not properly calibrated and the system overwaters. The excess water can be seen running into drainage systems on the opposite side of the road. 3/4 less water could do the same thing with a drip system and keep the road dry. Who designed this system and why? It seems designed to cause max expense and perpetual high cost to the Residents.

Slopes of the swales are way beyond the normal 4 to 1 ratio. This will result in higher maintenance of the drainage system due to soil washing into drains and filling catch basins. The berms that were installed have disrupted normal drainage of the area and filled in retention areas. This combined with higher ground water has resulted in standing water, destruction of pavement and bugs! Has anyone seen the layout of the sidewalks? Looks like it was done by a first grader. Crosswalks are positioned in unsafe locations.

The traffic light at Bonnaventure and Griffin no longer flashes in the middle of the night as it used to. So now you can wait 2-3 minutes with not a car in sight. So much for technology and high tech smart traffic control devices.

Bergeron did a overall nice job with the curbing and paving. It was done ahead of schedule. Now the question is what to do with this landscaping nightmare? It will cost upwards of $300k per year to maintain. That is about $50 per person living in the ranches. That figure will grow significantly as trees mature and the high tech watering system starts to fail.

So what can we do?

1. Identify and remove all trees that are under powerlines now.

2. Set watering system to water only twice per week and turn it off in the wet season.

3. Identify all Planners and Contractors responsible for this boondogle and make sure the Town never does business with them again.

4. Have a mitigation comittee appointed by the Town that will identify all ways to correct faulty design.

We are not Weston. If you like landscaping in Weston then please move there. There are many homes in forclosure and they would like you to help pay their landscaping bills. This Griffin Road project was 100% for the benifet of Weston and the traffic load the have imposed upon the Ranches. I hope the East side of Town wakes up and puts a wrench in the landscaping gears over there before it is too late. Once that boondoggle is completed we will be paying a million dollars a year for combined projects perpetual care. Divide that by 2500 homes and that is a $400.00 per year tax increase just for Griffin Road landscaping!

How many of you will be able to retire and stay in your current homes with taxes increasing every year?

John Eastman

Country Eststes HOA

President

Thank you all for your condolences

It has been very touching passing along the kind and comforting words our community has provided Tony Vincent during his time of grief.

-WW

To the wonderful citizens of Southwest Ranches:

Wanch Waggler has been kind enough to forward me all of your condolences that you sent to him/her regarding Nikki's passing. Thank you so much for your thoughts. As I continue to "carry the torch" for Nikki's works, I ask that you sign her petition at the link below and forward it to as many people as you can.

Let us ensure that no other dogs will have to live a life at the end of a chain.

Sincerely,

Tony Vincent

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/6/remembering-nikki-and-break-the-chain

I enjoyed the company of Greatness

Dear Southwest Ranches Friends and Neighbors:

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and if I don’t see you later…well then…Good Night!

I received the attached yesterday at about 8:45 PM only after reading the same subject in the Sentinel at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/southwest-ranches/sfl-nikki-obit-101909,0,3793287.story

That’s All Folks!!!

Wanch Waggler

I ask that Wanch Waggler publish this advisory to all of his/her email list.

I have been accused of being Wanch Waggler for many years, but in all honesty I am not him/her; however I am a person who has had the good fortune of being in the presence of greatness. I think Wanch Waggler is great. Wanch Waggler has been such a positive spokesperson for the “Break the Chain” campaign which led our town to pass a law called “Nikki’s Law” which was passed to help end the cruelty of a common form of animal abuse called tethering / chaining, that I feel compelled to make this advisory.

Today, October 18th, 2009 at 4:50PM EST, Nikki the sleek black and tan Doberman who became internationally famous due to her participation as the first ever Poster Dog for the Humane Society of Broward County’s educational campaign known as “Break the Chain” died.

In the embrace of her owner’s, Nikki bade farewell to this confusion we humans call life. Her Illness was brief, her death was peaceful, and her legacy will be long lasting.

I must say that like Ivory Soap, her message of hope for K-9’s condemned to life at the end of a chain was 99.9% positively effective. For one or two politicians (and their dark side followers) who used her notoriety as a weapon against her owner; may Karma decide their fate. Nikki, “a dog” achieved greatness that is now and will forever be fleeting to these few “wanna be” politicians.

My name is Tony Vincent. I have served my employer with Pride in Service with Integrity for over a decade. My dog “Nikki” served as well. We were both “discarded” like a snotty ball of Kleenex because a desperate (disgraced) former politician thought that he was something special. This dog had more pride in service with integrity than those who chose to end her educational function as a wonderful educational K-9.

Nikki was laid to rest this evening at sundown. May her message of hope for dogs condemned to live their lives at the end of a chain live on.

Eavesdropping can be fun

Dear Southwest Ranches Friends and Neighbors:

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and if I don’t see you later…well then…Good Night!

And for this edition I add:

Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border, coast to coast and all the ships at sea.

It is fun being me! Nobody knows who I am and that works to such an advantage sometimes it even surprises me.

The following is a true story. I swear on my 825 year old gnome mothers grave that what you are about to read is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I am a Gnome who enjoys a good cup of Java every day. Some days I venture out to my favourite coffeehouse called Starbucks. On Friday morning I was sipping my java at the Starbucks located at 6981 West Broward Boulevard when what to my wandering eyes did appear but the Sheriff of Broward County hobnobbing with the common folk.

Now I’ve said I always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so of course you would never guess that I was capable of eavesdropping right? Ummm no, you’d be wrong.

Our Sheriff, who of course has the contract with our town, was in his uniform chatting here and there throughout the Starbucks and then he stopped and talked to a resident of Southwest Ranches that I happened to recognize as I sat there infusing myself with caffeine. How impolite it would be of me to eavesdrop on their conversation … but I did just that.

This attractive middle aged lady who I recognized as a resident of Southwest Ranches was chatting with Sheriff Lamberti and said: “I think it’s just awful what your agency is doing to my friend [name withheld]" And to my surprise, but now with some delight, the Sheriff acknowleded that he knew of whom the lady spoke of and said to the lady “well there are two sides to every story and Don Maines said ……”

YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME RIGHT? Nope it’s true, Sheriff Lamberti is taking advice on how to treat an employee of BSO from Don Maines.

Now hold on here, let me take my nitro pill here and regroup. Don Maines has been arrested no less than 6 times for charges that vary from beating someone with a brick, to open-handedly hitting a woman, to being in possession of toxic drugs and drug paraphernalia, to defrauding an innkeeper, to uttering a forged instrument (all public records) and OUR Sheriff is taking advise from HIM?

HELLO…HELLO…HELLO…IS THIS THING ON?

Let your voices be heard: http://wanchwaggler.blogspot.com

That’s all Folks!!!!