The last year of the 20th century saw our Doral area continue to grow and to prosper. The fast pace of development of homes and commercial properties kept our WDFHA Development Committee, chaired by Jesse Jones, very busy.

The developers have realized through the excellent work of this committee that they should bring their plans to the WDFHA for comments before going before the Doral Community Council. The WDFHA standards must be adhered to in all new developments in order to gain the support of the WDFHA.

The hard work and long hours put in by Jesse Jones and his committee members, Rolando Oses and Morgan Levy have resulted in better developments coming before the Doral Community Council for approval.

The WDFHA standards for new home developments are:

1. Adequate parking and guest parking, well-planned to prevent accidents.

2. Sidewalks and street lights.

3. Play area for children.

4. Safely planned roads to restrict fast driving.

5. More than the minimum required landscaping with mature trees.

6. Adherence to density restrictions.

7. Protection from water hazards for children.

8. Landscape buffers between perimeter walls and sidewalks.

Standards for Commercial Developments include:

1. Large turn in and turn out radius with stacking lanes.

2. Only monument type signs no higher than 6 feet tall unless located on top of a 4-foot high berm.

3. Landscape berms fronting the roadway no higher than 4'.

4. More than minimum requirements for landscaping with mature trees.

5. Adherence to the county's "Cool Communities" requirements of white roofs on all flat surfaces and placing of trees to shade the building.

6. Adequate parking with 9' wide parking spaces that are located to prevent accidents.

7. Safe and efficient traffic flow within the development for the public as well as truck deliveries.

8. Dumpster locations that provide easy access for waste disposal trucks.

9. Roof uses that would be offensive or a nuisance to the community.

Developers have found that by applying these standards to home and commercial developments, they receive approval from the Doral Community Council and end up with a better development.
The incorporation of Doral has continued to be a major issue for WDFHA.
The firm of Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Pastorize and Gudes was hired by WDFHA to sue Miami-Dade County for ignoring our citizens rights and preventing us to vote within our boundaries for incorporation.

Judge Postman ruled in favor of Doral's right to vote but the county appealed and the ruling was reversed in the circuit court.

The Doral Incorporation Committee, chaired by Odel Torres with Morgan Levy and Rolando Oses has been working with a countywide organization called, "Let's Incorporate Now Coalition" (LINC). A LINC negotiating term has been meeting with Mayor Alex Penelas who wants to resolve this issue.
A three-year battle to prevent the Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS, from locating on NW 41 St and NW 94 Ave was finally defeated by the WDFHA INS committee chaired by Jesse Jones.

Jesse was able to gain support from the Airport West Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Association of Dade County and formed the West Dade Development Coalition. By hiring a Washington lobbyist, working with Congressman Lincoln Diaz Balart, Commissioner Miriam Alonso, Mayor Penelas, and Mayor Joe Corrollo, the INS finally agreed in September to seek another location.

The entire Doral community is indebted to Jesse Jones for winning of this prolonged and difficult battle.

The best way to review WDFHA's 1999 history is to check on the progress of our standing committees:

Development Committee: Chair, Jesse Jones. Account given at beginning of this report to emphasize its importance and its success.

Incorporation Committee: Chair, Odel Torres. Update stated earlier in this report to give prominence to this issue and to encourage new residents in Doral to join in the effort to make Doral a city.
INS Committee: Chair, Jesse Jones. Again, this has been reported but deserves special recognition.
Park Committee: Chair, David Lococo. Parks are a source of frustration for the WDFHA and David that provides an excellent example of why Doral should be incorporated.
The money has been appropriated in a bond issue to build two ten-acre parks and one 80 acre park but the county is dragging its feet because it has no money to maintain and staff those parks.
David needs an army of mothers like Giuseppina Mariano to put constant pressure on the county to build Doral's parks now.

Aircraft Overlights: Chair, Chris Mazzola. Here is a good example of where diligence and knowledge have resulted in some positive results.

Chris initiated a call-in campaign with the phone number 305 876 7526 on magnets for Doral residents to call and complain every time a plane flies overhead in our community.

His representing the Doral community at airport meetings has resulted in improved flight paths. This does not mean that we should not continue to call and complain when overflights occur.

School Committee: Chair, Jesse Jones. Jesse took over this committee and has been successful in supporting the Ryder Charter School in the Workplace, which was approved in March. A new middle school is under construction at NW 50 St and NW 112 Ave.

A new elementary school is scheduled to be built within the year and an

early learning center is under construction at John T. Smith Elementary School.
The WDFHA is a Dade Partner with John T. Smith Elementary School. Morgan Levy participates in the Dade Partners programs with the students there.

WDFHA nominated Mayra Falcon, Vice Principal of John T. Smith Elementary School as Vice Principal of the year. She will be honored at the Dade Partners countywide awards banquet January 20, 2000.

Membership Committee: Chair, Maria Guba. Here is an excellent example of a Doral citizen answering a call for help.

When a notice was published in the WDFHA monthly newsletter that a membership chairperson was needed, Maria Guba volunteered to do the job. Maria has arranged meetings where she and Morgan Levy made presentations to new associations of Hawks Nest, Doral Isles, Eagles Cove, Doral Palms and Costa Verde.

At every one of these presentations, the board members were appreciative of the work that WDFHA performs for the community. Maria will follow up to make sure they all become WDFHA members.

Roads and Traffic Committee: Chair, Jesse Jones. Again, Jesse took over when a pressing need for road improvements was not getting results.

The north side of NW 58 St has been a disaster, not having been brought up to grade and widened to two lanes. Jesse was able to get all of the landowners and developers to understand that no further WDFHA developments would be supported until the roads and traffic problems were properly addressed.

The Doral Community Council has also made adequate roads and traffic an important issue with the developers in our community. You now see NW 58 St being improved.

Environmental Committee: Chair, Sandy Sussman. Despite a health problem, Sandy has tried to monitor the odors and residue that we are experiencing from time to time in Doral.

The garbage odors still seem to occur on weekends when the wind is out of the north. This past Sunday night, January 16, 2000, the garbage odor was extremely bad.

Montenay Corporation has informed WDFHA that they have hired a company to install odor elimination. So far it has either not been working or is not completely installed.

TV Cable Committee: Chair, Barbara Talbot. The increase in rates, changes of programs and long term contracts required by Media One and Strategic created a great deal of concern for many of the member associations.

Barbara Talbot agreed to chair a committee to investigate the options available. Several meetings were held and representatives of both companies made presentations. This committee has not completed its work.

One association, Doral Lakes, voted against any cable TV company.

Now Doral Lakes owners either have rabbit ears antennas for local stations or are installing satellite dishes.

Library Committee: Chair, Jesse Jones. When two women who volunteered chair this committee failed to come to meetings or to accomplish anything, Jesse came forward and began to work on this committee.

His present plan is to get a tempo

rary store-type location that will then be upgraded to a full-service library at a good location.

Government Committee: Chair, Morgan Levy. On July 2, 1999 Morgan Levy wrote a letter to WLRN TV station, requesting free time to produce a series of 30-minute TV programs.

Approval was received for 12 thirty-minute programs under the title of "Good Government is Close to the People." These shows will be aired in February, March and April. A schedule will be published in the local papers.

Guest on these 12 shows will include many of our local activists, Commissioners Alonso and Morales, and retired Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kohan.

On March 24, 1999 WDFHA President Morgan Levy, was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Airport West Chamber of Commerce. He accepted it on behalf of all of the WDFHA activists who have worked with him over the past ten years.

On October 24, 1999 the WDFHA learned that 700 hardened criminals were moving into the state jail only 2 miles west of our community on NW 41 St as a result of flooding in Marion County.

WDFHA called an emergency meeting with the community and Commissioner Alonso and Sam Williams, assistant director of Metro Police Department. WDFHA contacted everyone from Governor Jeb Bush to Mayor Alex Penelas. Instead of three months anticipated stay near Doral, those prisoners were returned to Marion County in four weeks.

WDFHA monitors all county commission agendas and is there to represent our community on any issues that might concern us. Our District 12 commissioner, Dr. Miriam Alonso, has been very supportive of every WDFHA issue.

WDFHA must continue to be the watchdog for Doral. I recommend that the following issues be high on the WDFHA priority list for the year 2000:

1. Maintain a strong, active and protective development committee. Publish the WDFHA standards, with copies going to all developers, attorneys representing developers, and our Doral Community Council without violating the Jennings Law.

2. Aggressively pursue incorporation for Doral.

3. Continued to pursue the completion of NW 58 St from NW 97 Ave to NW 107 Ave.

4. Aggressively pursue the widening of NW 97 Ave from NW 33 St to NW 25 St. This stretch of road is extremely dangerous with no street lights, only two poorly built lanes, and carries more and more traffic now that NW 12 St is open eastward to NW 87 Ave.

5. Continue to put pressure on the county to extend NW 74 St to the Florida Turnpike extension with an interchange there. This will relieve the gridlock traffic on NW 41 St as long lines of cars stream into NW 41 St from the north in the morning and return northward in the evening. With section 7 about to open up north of Doral Isles, NW 74 St must be extended now.