I love the new look!

Matheson Hammock Marina

At a special Village council meeting this evening, a resolution was passed stating opposition to the proposed boat storage facility at Matheson Hammock Park. Council members felt that the county’s Parks Department did not provide the public and surrounding municipalities with opportunity to provide input to their Request For Proposals for dry boat storage at the park.

Although the developer said that opposition was premature since impact studies had not been conducted, it was specifically because of the lack of information available about the impacts of the proposed structure, which is completely out of scale for the park in its sheer size (500 feet long and 50 feet high!), that the Village passed the resolution. 

Matheson Hammock Park is a park used by many residents and visitors in Miami-Dade county and the addition of any structures should proceed slowly and with public input.  It is, after all, supported by our tax dollars and admission fees.

Luckily the Federal Trade Commission can help you end all that unsolicited mail and annoying calls either on-line or by calling a number.

According to the article, you have 8 seconds to make a first impression, whether good or bad. Three quick and relatively inexpensive fixes for the front of your house include:

1. Mulch existing landscaping
2. Put colorful potted plants on front porch
3. Place attractive porch furniture on the porch

The second instance is actually with a company I recommended to a client.  I had referred this company before with rave reviews.  This time however, my buyer is completely unhappy because a project that should have taken 3 weeks has taken two months, she tries to get people out to the house to finish the work, they set a date and time, don’t call or show up, and no one in the company has called to follow up, apologize or explain the delays.  My client is patient and understanding, but the lack of communication has led to her frustration.  To stress how important customer service is:  in this case, I was at a gym class today and someone asked the group where my client was.  Several women started saying that she was having nothing but problems with the house (I sold it to her) because of the company installing the windows (I recommended the company).  One woman asked,  “What is the name of the company so I can avoid them”?  Imagine if my client had been happy with her windows.  Instead of having 8 women who will avoid this company like the plague, they would have been referring them instead!  In addition, I will no longer feel comfortable referring this company, as it has affected my reputation as well.  So instead of taking Yosemite Sam’s view of complaints, use them to perfect your customer service.

Other good remodeling projects that don’t cost a lot include:

• Organizing kitchen cabinets, including rollout trays.
• Add or replace tiles.
• Add a breakfast bar.
• If you don’t have granite in the kitchen, install granite tile.  It is a lot cheaper than a granite slab.
• Update the bathroom by adding a new medicine cabinet, light fixtures, faucets and vanity.  If it has tile, scrape and regrout.
• Recondition kitchen cabinets and put on new hardware.
• Replace light fixtures in foyer, bathrooms, and kitchens.

I thought this banner was a creative way for the EPA’s Energy Star program to tie in Halloween with ways to decrease the amount of energy we waste every year through products that remain on standby.