Pet of the Month

Meet Marcus! He was born with one missing leg, in a feral colony. Marcus and his brother were trapped at 8 weeks old and came home to join my other 7 rescues. At first his brother was protective - then this little guy made his way through the entire family and now he is nurtured by all. He is so cuddly and loves to bathe everybody including me. He runs as fast and jumps as high as the other cats and love ping pong balls.

ENTER TODAY AND MAKE YOUR PET FAMOUS!

Your Pet Could Be Our Pet of the Month!

Every month OUR CITY MEDIA randomly picks a pet of the month winner.

Send Pet’s: Best Picture, Name and about fifty words describing why they’re so special! Include: Your Name, Email, Phone, and City of Residence.

Luck!

By Nick Sortal

Toy company coming Jazwares, a top five global toy manufacturer, is preparing to move its headquarters to Plantation early next year. While you may not be familiar with the name Jazwares, you likely know some of their wholly owned and licensed brands, including Squishmallows, Pokémon, Star Wars, CoComelon, Fortnite and AEW.

CAO Jason Nunemaker and I paid a visit to their current headquarters, located in the Sunrise corporate park, south of I-595 and just east of I-75.

Company founder and CEO Judd Zebersky stated that hundreds of Jazwares employees will move to the vacated IRS building, 7850 SW 6th Court, near the 24-Hour Fitness on South Pine Island Road.

Wawa groundbreaking Developers broke ground on a Wawa that will be opening in about a year at the southeast corner of Pine Island Road and Broward Boulevard. The site had been home to a dilapidated computer training building until it was leveled a couple of years ago.

Proclamations Plantation High and South Plantation High students and supporters packed Council Chambers on behalf of two beloved teachers:

Ms. Josette Burns graduated from Plantation High and returned to the school as a teacher in 1996 to make a difference in young people’s lives. She is retiring after a career that inspired several other Plantation High alumni to join the profession and contribute to their alma matter. She was a National Board-Certified Teacher, a Broward County Social Studies Teacher of the Year, a Plantation High student government advisor, and a tennis coach.

Jason Zembuch Young, who produced more than 40 musicals and plays at South Plantation High, is leaving after 18 years to teach at a new performing arts school near his home in Wellington. South Plantation plays and musicals have won seven South Florida CAPPIE awards during his tenure, and he has especially included deaf and hard-of-hearing students. He and his husband, Michael Young, have been foster parents to 34 children.

Stormwater work Last year we allocated $1.277 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding for the development of a citywide stormwater master plan.

We’re checking all our stormwater facilities and pipes (Are they stuffed with sediment?). We’re checking who owns the drainage facilities and pipes (Is it ours or your HOAs?). We’re keeping track of the most problematic flooding areas. Once all of our assets are surveyed and inventoried the information will be modeled to guide us on improvements we can make to the system.

A quick note: The Plantation Acres Improvement District (PAID) governs the construction, maintenance and regulation of drainage facilities in Plantation Acres. This area is especially problematic because geographically it’s like the bottom of a bowl, and water will settle there. The state created PAID by Special Act. The District elects its officers and leaders just like the City does. We are happy to work with them, our discussions are ongoing.

Public Works Director Matt Thompson, who had been the city’s Superintendent of Parks, was named the city’s new Public Works director at Wednesday’s meeting. He had been doing the job on an interim basis since January.

Thompson had a large crowd of family, friends and supportive city workers as the Council approved my recommendation that he be awarded the job full-time. He started working for the city in 2009.