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Art in Parks, Window Clings, Pollo Campero, 50 Year Celebration and more.
You're likely seeing more color in our parks.
The Plantation Parks & Recreation Department has embarked on a yet another public art initiative using benches made out of recycled wind turbines. The city now has 10 of these benches that will be placed at nine of our parks.
If you visit the mural at the Central Park Multi-Purpose Building, you will find two benches already painted by Ivan J. Roque. Other parks include Plantation Woods at the Plantation Community Center, Liberty Tree Park, Volunteer Park, Sunset Park, Plantation Botanical Gardens, Pine Island Park, Jim Ward Park and Seminole Park.
Meanwhile, Parks and Recreation’s Luz Reyes and GIS specialist Maeve Clarke demonstrated the first draft of a dashboard containing city artwork at our May 22 City Council meeting. Each art piece entry includes the artist’s name and background description. The plan is to eventually include artwork throughout the entire city.
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Sticker-like clings are available to tout Plantation’s status as a Tree City. Show your tree city pride by picking up yours at City Hall, Helen B. Hoffman Library, Plantation Historical Museum, or any of our major community centers: Central Park, Volunteer Park, Plantation Community Center or Jim Ward Center.
They are clear, easily movable or removable and can be displayed on any window.
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The bell is about to ring on the 2023-24 school year. June 10 is the last day of school.
City officials will be attending Plantation High School’s graduation at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Broward Center for the Preforming Arts and South Plantation’s at 8 a.m. on Friday at Nova Southeastern University.
Congratulations to all graduates and best of luck on all your future endeavors.
May 20-June 2 was the Click It or Ticket campaign.
Plantation police participated by engaging the public in a seatbelt selfie challenge to highlight the importance of buckling up every time you’re in a car.
Three participating residents will receive challenge coins from the Police Department. Special shout out goes to Councilmember Denise Horland for sharing her seatbelt selfie.
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Pollo Campero, a quick-service chicken eatery, has opened. Located at 8220 W. Broward Blvd., it is part of a restaurant chain that began in Guatemala in 1971 and now operates in 19 states.
Visitors can access the restaurant via the adjacent Aldi grocer, and my visit on Sunday involved maneuvering through a crowded parking lot. So be patient. The restaurant is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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I was happy to present a proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Plantation Historical Society. I am grateful for all their work to support the Plantation Historical Museum.
We also swore in the officers for the year. They are: President Michael Taussig, First VP Tom Patterson, Second VP John Pfau, Treasurer Paulette Kandel, Corresponding Secretary Sue Sharman, Committee Board Member Laura Kinsman and Recording Secretary Peggy Tingle.
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The Plantation Historical society awarded its 2024 Betty Cobb Student Scholarship to Christopher Gayle of Coral Springs Charter School. Christopher logged 107 volunteer hours at the museum.
Florida Citrus Model Train Society President Ken Sargeant thanked the museum for providing the space for the train exhibit that occupies the main area of the museum.
We are currently in the midst of the 14-day Florida Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday. From June 1-14, no sales tax is due on the retail purchase of eligible disaster preparedness items. Click here to view a list of eligible sales tax-free items.
For a list of all tax holidays visit: FloridaRevenue.com.
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We are celebrating Juneteenth from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at the Plantation Historical Museum.
City offices will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, to mark the holiday.
Realtors of Broward and Palm Beach held their annual Mayor’s Breakfast on Thursday at the Broward Center for the Performing Art, where I was among 11 elected officials answering questions about my city. It was an opportunity to highlight the City of Plantation and what makes us stand out from other cities in central Broward County.
 What is our hidden gem? Plantation Preserve is one of them. People love golfing there (the city runs it) and it’s a great place for a weekday breakfast or lunch as well as a Sunday breakfast buffet.
What are your city’s strengths? We have our own police and 911. We passed limitations on the usage of flex density units to protect the character or our single-family neighborhoods. And we have done the maximum within state guidelines to promote affordable housing and regulate vacation rentals.
What is your city’s business climate? Class A office is thriving. Over the past couple years, we attracted the national headquarters of Chewy and Jazwares, the brand behind Squishmallows, to Plantation. In fact, Chewy recently launched their new veterinary care concept in Plantation.
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What else? Well, the standards dictate 3 acres of parks space for each 1,000 residents. We have 6 acres per 1,000 residents, spread across our 42 parks. Almost every home has a park within a 15-minute walk.
What’s your top accomplishment so far? Many accomplishments take council, public input and multiple departments to complete. So I’m proud that we have a sense of team and people know they’ll be listened to if they speak up. And I’ll add that everyone contributed to the first strategic plan in our city’s history.
Areas for improvement? Our codes need updating, so we are in a massive rewrite. I think permitting has improved, but we can do a better job educating the public on how it works. City roads require maintenance; neighborhoods are rightly complaining. I'd love to help our schools but the city is just one of multiple stakeholders with no control over the school district. ADA improvements are high on our list. And I’d like to see Central Park get a new recreation building.
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Events
June 5: Hump Day Food Trucks every Wednesday at Volunteer Park! Skip the cooking and pick up delicious food between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
June 8: The Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library is having an Attic Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Find treasures at the event benefitting our Plantation civic organizations. Located in the multi-purpose room next to the book sale. Cash sales only. For more information please call (954) 797-2145.
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Meetings
June 6: Affordable Housing Advisory Committee at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.
June 10: Sustainability & Resiliency Advisory Board at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
June 12: City Council at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
View all 2024 meetings and events by visiting Plantation.org/Calendar.
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