OCTOBER 5 - 11, 2010
Village Dog Park reopens nearly a month after incident BY GARY ALAN RUSE
County Foreclosure Registry applications available online
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eople and pooches returned recently to enjoy Palmetto Bay’s Dog Park, also known as Perrine Wayside Park, which reopened after being closed for most of the month of September. The popular three-acre park facility had been shut down since Sept. 1 when a tragic incident took place and Victor Garcia’s 6-month-old Labrador retriever Ruger was electrocuted and drowned while swimming in the small lake. Officials from the Parks Department immediately had the lake’s fountain, pump and wiring completely removed for inspection, and word is that it will not be replaced. The park, which was opened in November 2007, features a perimeter walking path, perimeter fence, pet drinking fountains, park benches and tables, a gazebo/pavilion and parking areas, and has been sorely missed according to those who have come to rely on it as a place to bring their dogs to play. “I am thrilled that the park is open again,” said resident Bill Maynard. “There aren’t that many places like it around here. I bring my three dogs here at least once a week.” Joan Swallen, who was there on Tuesday, Sept. 28, with her beagle, Barney, was also glad to be able to visit the park. “I’m happy it’s re-opened,” she said. “It’s really nice. I come here every day, sometimes twice a day.”
ALL TYPES OF COVERAGE FROM OVER 100 TRUSTED, COMPETITIVE, INSURERS
BY LEE STEPHENS
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Visiting Palmetto Bay’s Dog Park are Renee Bertucci (left) with her Dobermans, Reno and Steeler, and Joan Swallen with her beagle, Barney. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Swallen said that a lot of friendships, both human and canine, have formed as a result of regular park-goers meeting and getting acquainted. One such friend, Renee Bertucci, is there all the time with her two Dobermans, Reno and Steeler, and the ladies and pooches like to hang out at the park. “There are more people here in the morning and late afternoon than at mid-day,” Bertucci said. “At first, people just know
305.238.1000
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FORECLOSURE, page 4
Council approves budget for 2010-11 fiscal year BY GARY ALAN RUSE
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Savings & Service Since 1950
each other by their dogs, but after awhile they get to know people’s names, too.” Perrine Wayside Park is located at 16425 S. Dixie Hwy. and is open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week, but is closed on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month until noon for routine scheduled maintenance. For more information, call the Department of Parks and Recreation at Village Hall, 305-259-1234.
iami-Dade County recently improved its Building and Neighborhood Compliance Department website, which includes an online Foreclosure Registry application available at <http://bldgappl.miamidade.gov/foreclosureregistry/MainPage.a spx>. To date, 15,000 registry applications have been received. Payment of the registry fee also may be made electronically. This added feature will facilitate a more efficient and expedient process for lending institutions as well as the department. The Foreclosure Registry tracks single family dwellings that are subject to foreclosure actions. Through this registry res-
he Palmetto Bay Village Council unanimously approved the budget for the coming year during its Sept. 27 budget hearing. In adopting the proposed budget, which went into effect on Oct. 1 and is expected to become a final document soon, village
officials decided to keep the tax rate unchanged, set at 2.544 mills. A mill is equivalent to $1 for every $1,000 in assessed property value, which means that the village will receive $6,078,054 in advalorem taxes. That’s $130,544 less than in the prior year. Last year, out of a homeowner’s total property taxes, about 13 percent went to cover village operating costs while the
rest went to Miami-Dade County government, the Miami-Dade School Board, South Florida Water Management District and the Children’s Trust, among others. In his presentation before the council vote, village manager Ron E. Williams stated that the proposed budget would allow ––––––––––––––––––––––– See
BUDGET, page 4