Mark this on your calendar. The next Cutler Bay Town Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 15th, at East Ridge Retirement Village, 19301 SW 87th Avenue, Auditorium, Cutler Bay, FL 33157.
Meeting alert! We realize this is a last minute notice, but we hear that the next meeting of the Concerned Citizens of Cutler Bay will be on Tuesday, August 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Cutler Ridge United Methodist Church, 20740 Old Cutler Road, in Cutler Bay. The guest speaker will be Alan Ricke, Cutler Bay’s Director of Parks and Recreation. “After the presentation there will be a round-table discussion on topics of interest to Cutler Bay residents. All are welcome,” says Steve Zarzecki. “Concerned Citizens is a non-profit civic organization whose purpose is to ‘Promote Community Awareness and Citizen Involvement.’ The meetings are publicly noticed, and meet all the requirements of Florida’s Sunshine Law. They are conducted in a friendly round-table format. All of the Cutler Bay Council Members are invited to meetings.” For information, call Steve at 305-255-4351.
Reminder! State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle is the guest speaker at this month’s meeting of the Cutler Bay Business Association (CBBA) on Thursday August 9, and the topic is “Protecting Your Business From Fraud and Criminal Behavior.” The meeting runs from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (networking begins at 11:00 a.m.) in the 3rd floor Palm Room at Palmetto Bay Village Center, 18001 Old Cutler Road, (access at 184th Street). Cost for the luncheon meeting: $10 for members and $20 for non-members. “All participants are encouraged to bring school supplies that will be donated to needy children in Cutler Bay. The supplies will be placed inside book bags that will be distributed,” says Jean Tong-Noon, CBBA Board of Directors. For info call Jean at 305-742-3333 or email her at <jtn193@bellsouth.net>.
On the road again… There are still a number of ongoing road resurfacing and construction projects in Cutler Bay in various locations, especially portions of Old Cutler Road. Some have been completed already. If you have questions, please contact the town’s acting Public Works Director Alfredo Quintero, Jr., at 305-234-4262. And Please remember to support those merchants in the affected areas of Old Cutler, who need your continued business to stay afloat. Access to their stores may be a little trickier than usual, but the town is making a concerted effort to keep driveways or alternative access paths open during construction.
FEMA notice. This won’t affect you unless you have friends or relatives outside of south Florida, but we received this from the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) in Tallahassee – “Tropical Storm Debby survivors can continue to get help from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies. Survivors can still apply for federal disaster assistance by calling FEMA’s toll-free helpline at 800-621-3362. Lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and assistance is available in most languages. Survivors who are deaf or hard of hearing can use the TTY line at 800-462-7585.” People may also call the helpline or visit <www.DisasterAssistance.gov> to get updates on the status of their application and to get answers to their recovery questions.
Other numbers to keep handy: The Florida Volunteer and Donation Hotline can connect storm survivors with a local volunteer agency: 800-FL-HELP-1 (800-354-3571). U.S. Small Business Administration by calling 800-659-2955, or online at <www.sba.gov.>
Florida Disaster Legal Services hotline at 866-550-2929 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance info at <www.floridajobs.org/duaor> or call 800-204-2418, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information on Florida’s disaster recovery visit <www.fema.gov> or <www.floridadisaster.org/>.
Thought of the Day: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” – Sir Winston Churchill “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Gary Alan Ruse contributed to this column.
Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669-7355, ext. 249, or send emails to <Michael@communitynewspapers.com>.
