Second Semi-Annual Neighborhood Yard Sale

On Saturday November 7th the Imperial Point Home Owners Association is planning to have a neighborhood wide YARD SALE from 7AM to 3PM. The neighborhood encompasses the area bordered by East McNab Road to the north, Federal Highway to the east, 56th Street to the south and Cypress Road to the west. The Association will be putting up signs on all the major roadways and advertising the event.



You do not have to register to be a part of this event. All you have to do is set up your front yard, driveway, garage or carport and get prepared to sell all your unwanted items. You will need to mark your property indicating that you are participating in this event. You can post a sign, put up balloons or invent other creative ways to draw attention to your participation.
Encourage your neighbors to join in. The more of us that participate the more successful this event will be.

Here are some tips for having a successful Yard Sale:

• Yard Sales are hard work…don’t get discouraged and don’t give up.
• Start collecting and sorting items by category. The more organized you are the easier it will be to set up and get going the day of the sale.
• Price your items. Use masking tape or labels. Mark each item where the price is visible, on the top or on the front. Remember when pricing items that you don’t want this stuff any more and even if the item is sentimental it may not be worth what you think it is. Most items will bring 1/3 of their original value at best.
• Clothing will sell better if it is hung (if you don’t have a hanging rack you can use a section of pvc pipe with rope through the center attached to two trees or poles), other items will do best
on tables. If you don’t have tables try to borrow some. If all else fails, use boxes...you can turn them over and use the bottoms like tables or put like items inside.
• Put your most attractive items closest to the street where they will draw the drive-bys in to your sale.
• Be willing to bargain but less flexible at the start.
• If you have items you know won’t sell, set up a FREE box…if items are broken mark them broken but good for parts.
• If you are selling anything electrical have an outlet or an extension cord that things can be plugged into so that your customers know they work. If battery operated have batteries
available for testing.
• Don’t leave expensive items unattended. Keep them the closest to the house and to you.
• Post an ALL SALES FINAL sign…that way you won’t be surprised by an unhappy customer or one that has changed their mind.
• Keep your money in a fanny pack not in a cash box. Make sure to have enough change. If you have a lot of small items 80 or 100 should be enough. (Two $10, Four $5, Twenty-five $1, one roll of quarters and $5 in nickels and dimes if you have items under a quarter). If you have a lot of expensive items, you will need more change.
• Keep your pets in the house.
• Keep your blinds closed and your doors locked, don’t encourage strangers to view your possessions.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY HAVE FUN AND SELL ALL YOUR STUFF!!!

Now that your yard sale is complete, you may have some items left over that you still want to sell. Please take advantage of the new low price classified ads ($5.00 per 140 characters in print) that will run in the newsletter and on the website (the online version will have unlimited text and can include photos and will be active for one month) at http://imperialpoint.multiply.com.

Please submit ads to classifieds@imperialpoint.org.

yardsale perimiter

October/November 2009 Newsletter

Download a pdf version of the newsletter.

If you are interested in searching the database of code violations in our neighborhood, visit this site.

To discuss the crime problem and what to do about it, visit this blog post and leave as many comments as you wish (registration required).

Pin Point Lola!

Sign up your neighbor's house for a WOW award.

Attachment: oct-nov-upload.pdf

Cops: We need your eyes and ears

On September 13, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department sent five officers to an Imperial Point Neighborhood association meeting to discuss the ongoing crime problems in the neighborhood. From January to July of this year there have been 29 residential burglaries and 27 vehicular burglaries, which represents a 188% increase in crime over the same period in 2002.




The vast majority of the residential break-ins occur during the day. According to detective Orlando Almanzar all robberies were conducted when the home owner was not there. The criminals operate in small groups of two or more individuals, said Almanzar. Their typical MO is to send one person to the front, who will knock on the door to see if anyone is home. If there is no answer, the other criminals will circle to the rear of the residence to find some way in.

Almanzar believes there are two or three of these groups concurrently operating in Imperial Point. Different groups steal different items from the residences: one group favors small electronics such as laptops, computers, and blue ray disk players; another targets "pocketable" items like jewelry; some even ransack the home looking for hidden safes.

Captain Ralph Nelson noted that the burglaries are “a serious issue” for the police department and that break-ins have increased in frequency over the past few weeks. The best way to curb this type of crime, said Nelson, is for residents to become more pro-active. “What is going to help most is your heightened alertness.”

To a shocked audience, He revealed that the police circulated 35 unmarked cars throughout the neighborhood on September 11 in an effort to catch some of the groups operating in Imperial Point. “While we didn't catch any criminals that day.” said Nelson, “we also didn't receive a single phone call from your neighborhood about suspicious vehicles roaming the streets.”

He said the few residents that do call in suspicious behavior are almost always apologetic about bothering the officers with their complaints. “We need your eyes out in the streets to determine what is suspicious and what isn't.” said Nelson. He encouraged residents to call in anything even remotely suspicious to the non emergency number at 954-828-5700.

Nelson further advised residents to contact their neighbors and to make lists of vehicles and the times those vehicles should be parked near the neighbor's residence. If a resident ever sees a vehicle that doesn't belong, call the emergency number. “We need leads” added officer Chris Croteau. “We don't have any local intel. It's difficult for us to determine what landscaper is supposed to be in front of what house.”

Nelson further indicated that vehicular burglaries could be significantly reduced if residents would not leave laptops, gps devices and cell phones in plain view in parked cars outside their homes. These are irresistible targets for thieves, and Nelson encourages people to bring those items inside or to hide them before parking the vehicle.

The officers offer other practical advice for protecting your home and property:

• Lock all doors and set your alarm before leaving

• Make sure your neighbors know what vehicles should be in front of your house and when

• Report ANY suspicious noise or active coming from the rear of your neighbor' house during the day

• Hurricane windows are not burglar proof

• A bar placed in the track of sliding glass doors is the best method for securing the door

• Write down the serial numbers for all your electronics

• Get Lojack for Laptops (http://www.absolute.com/products/lojack)

Pin Point Lola - October

Can you guess where Lola is in the Point? Submit answers to editor@imperialpoint.org or PM foonasty

Budget Board Reccomendations

The Fort Lauderdale Budget Advisory Board passed their recommendations last week for cutting the city budget.  Since our commissioners have decided the best route is to declare us overtaxed and to tap the rainy day fund, I thought it would be interesting to review what the non-partisan advisory board had to say on the matter.

Unsurprisingly, one of their recommendations was to make modest cuts in city salaries -- reflecting what is going on in private businesses across south Florida.  The advisory board agreed in principle that the rainy day fun should be tapped just this once, but warned the city that it needed to seriously reform its delinquent fiscal ways. Here's a brief overview of their findings:

For the 2009-2010 budget:

• use 10MM from the rainy day fund on a one time only basis
• do NOT tap the fund in the future
• city needs to make better plans to cut the budget for this year
• That 10mm needs to be paid back with reductions during this budget year

For future budgets:

• Eliminate salary and wage increases, potentially reducing them
• City should sell off surplus property
• The city should pursue intergovernmental relationships to reduce costs for overlapping services (ostensibly this means coordinating better with Broward)
• Adopt zero-based budgeting
• Reform the runaway pension costs
• Study the efficiency of manager/employee relationships to see if there can't be some reductions in the total number of managers

The official recommendation motions are attached.

Attachment: babrecommendations.doc

Federal infusion of cash pays for dozen new Lauderdale officers

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/08/federal_infusion_of_cash_pays.html
This is good news on the crime front; looks like Fort Lauderdale will be able to put 12 seasoned professionals back on active duty. The July part 1 crime statistics for Fort Lauderdale were released today as well. Many neighborhoods across the city have actually seen their crime rates drop from 2002 and even 2008 levels. We are still on pace to double the crime rate from its low in 2002, so this announcment could not have come at a better time.