During the State of the Town address, Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid showed a short video of department heads describing their accomplishments made during the past year.
“Tonight, I don’t speak with my voice alone,” Cid said at Town Hall on Oct. 26. “[But] with the voices of our staff, our volunteers and of our council. This video … is the culmination of the 2023 State of the Town.”
Among the town’s successes:
• The grants department brought in awards totaling $4.5 million for road improvements, bridge and transportation projects; $1.58 million for stormwater construction and over $200,000 to add two Tesla luxury electric cars to the town’s Freebee free ride service.
• The building department issued over 3,000 building permits, 1,500 code violations and streamlined application procedures.
• Litigation for the town is at an all-time low.
• The town completed six of nine drainage projects currently in the construction phase and improved the sidewalks around Bob Graham Education Center as part of the Safe Routes to School program.
• The senior citizen property tax rebate program was expanded to include residents with disabilities and issued over 440 checks.
• Parks and Recreation saw 3,000 registrants for new and ongoing recreation and athletic programs.
• Miami Lakes was named a Top 10 Safest Cities; added two more mobile license plate readers to police vehicles and added fixed license plate readers to the east side of town.
Cid said the town’s property tax rate and crime rate both reached historic low levels.
He awarded the Key to the Town to Fla. Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, and cited Fabricio’s continuing efforts to alleviate blasting damage in the area.
Other awards went to Volunteer of the Year Rudy Lloredo, chair of the Neighborhood Improvement Committee for the past decade.
Business of the Year was Popular Bank, which built a new headquarters at 7900 Miami Lakes Drive.
Employee of the Year for 2023 was Lourdes Sosa, code compliance manager for the town.
Contract Employee of the Year was Adela Romero of the cleaning staff.
Students from the Miami Lakes Educational Center’s Culinary Program catered the event.
Student musicians from Mater Lakes Academy performed the national anthem.