July, 2015 – Summer in our Great Hometown

Mayor’s Column

July, 2015

Summer is well underway in our Great Hometown.  How are you spending these long summer days?

How about visiting the Village’s new Tennis Center on Lyons Road?  I invite you to visit this beautiful new facility if you haven’t already.

Summer is always a busy time in the Village. In addition to debuting the new tennis center, we are saying goodbye to an old friend – the Community Center.  Construction for a new state-of-the-art facility is already underway.

Wellington’s home on the web also saw a major renovation. Please visit our newly redesigned website www.wellingtonfl.gov  to see all the new features, including:

• News, events, and meeting schedules prominently displayed
• Responsive design for today’s browsers, smartphone, tablet, and other mobile devices
• New features for printing, sharing, and adjusting font size
• Social media friendly links
• A prominently displayed “alert banner” to quickly relay updates and warnings

I’d like to ask everyone to attend one of the  K Park Town Hall meetings. The next meeting takes place July 21st at PoloParkMiddle School, starting at 7 pm.  We really want to know what you think the Village should do with the K-Park property.

It’s that time of the year – budget time. Our Finance Department is preparing the 2016 budget.  This year like every year we will be putting our budget challenge on the Village website.  Take the budget challenge and let us know how what you think should be budget priorities.

With children out of school for the summer, our already hectic schedules become even tighter.  Have you given any thought to organized activities?   Our Parks & Recreation Department offers a wide variety of summer time activities including summer camp, swimming and tennis program and team sports as well as a wide variety of individual activities.   Our summer camps are great place for kids to have fun, socialize, and exercise while staying safe.  The camp program serves children ages 5 to 15 and runs through August 16^th.  From sporting and entertainment activities, to animal exhibits, rock wall climbing, trips to the Aquatics Complex, and so much more, this is an experience your children will never forget.

We all know the perfect way to beat the summer heat is to go swimming.  That’s why we’re offering expanded hours at the Aquatics Complex this summer. From May 26 to September 6^th, the Complex will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 7 pm; Sundays from 12 pm to 7 pm; and on holidays from 12 pm to 5 pm.  Visit our website for more information.

On Saturday July 4th, bring the entire family to VillagePark and join us for the biggest and best party in town celebrating our nation’s independence.  Families are invited to participate in a fun-filled day of games, food, and musical entertainment. At 9:15 pm, we’ll light up the sky with an awe-inspiring fireworks display.  The event starts at 6 pm and runs until 9:30 pm.  I look forward to seeing you all there.

Finally, I want to offer some safety reminders.  With school being out, kids will be outdoors riding bikes and playing.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to obey the speed limit and pay close attention to the road while you’re driving.  Before your children go bike riding, make sure they’re wearing helmets.

As you can see, we have a lot in store for our community this summer.  Let’s make sure to stay safe, so we can do it all again next year.

Bob Margolis, recently elected as Mayor of the Village of Wellington, was first appointed to the Village Council in April of 2003, and was then elected to a four-year term in March, 2004. Prior to that initial appointment, he had proven his community spirit many times over by a long list of community endeavors and volunteer efforts.