Parkland Mayor Rich Walker.
A Message from Mayor Rich Walker
At the end of October, a Parkland story that began more than 40 years ago will enter its final chapter. It is a story about not ignoring a longstanding infrastructural problem in our community and digging in to take action, when doing so was not popular.
Home to about 700 households nestled around Holmberg Road just west of U.S. 441, Pine Tree Estates is one of Parkland’s oldest non-HOA communities. If you travel the roads there, you quickly learn what the “infrastructural problem” is – the roads are old and in a state of disrepair.
As a City, we navigated a complex history with Pine Tree Estates for that very reason, as a debate over who was responsible for repairing the roads had been brewing for decades and, over the past 10 years, evolved into a divisive, longstanding issue.
An amicable decision was reached, and the City Commission unanimously voted to approve a construction project that would fix more than four decades of disrepair. The City will contribute $2 million to the project, which comes to about $6.4 million. The work to fix the roads that cover just under 1,000 acres in our community is scheduled for late October.
It is a bright ending to a complicated story, but the way we got here is one of the many reasons why I am proud to be the Mayor of Parkland. When we first decided to do this work we learned that resurfacing and reconstructing the roads in Pine Tree Estates – if done in a conventional manner – was projected to take two to three years.
Instead of going the conventional route, though, our City staff researched what is known as Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) – a road rehabilitation process that was the right solution for the Pine Tree Estates project. With FDR, the roads in Pine Tree will be completed in less than one year and construction costs will be about 50% less.
While this work that begins in late October offers a glowing example of how City staff, elected officials, and residents can conquer obstacles that have been avoided for generations, I see this as a community triumph that models how we can move forward in many other situations – as institutions, communities, and individuals.
If there is something in your world that you have avoided and needs to be addressed, give it another look – take the mystery out of it – get others you trust involved, break it down, and give it another look. Do not be afraid to dig in and hear out new ideas. The best solution may lie just beneath the surface.
If you would like to share your thoughts or if you have questions or comments you would like to share, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached via e-mail at rwalker@cityofparkland.org or via cell phone at (973) 390-1453. I am frequently available monthly at Parkland businesses and love to talk with residents there. I encourage you to visit the City’s website cityofparkland.org and click on the social media icon that you prefer, to ensure that you stay informed on events and helpful information
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