New Children’s Services Council building goes green; with video
Broward just got a little greener with the opening of the new Children’s Services Council building in Lauderhill on Nov. 19. In 2000, voters approved a new property tax to provide services to children and families in Broward County. Several years ago, the council recognized they would need a permanent home as the council’s services grew.
“Three years ago we embarked on this journey—it is now in the center of Broward County…to be accessible…and we are committed to improving quality services available to children and families,” said Cindy Arenberg, CEO of the Children’s Services Council, adding that the facility had meeting and training rooms for different groups to utilize. “Children were involved in the process, learning how to build clean and [will learn about a butterfly garden built by Roy Rogers and his grandson].”
At the heart of the project was that it is expected to be silver LEED certified—LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is the federally recognized standard for environmentally friendly buildings.
“It has drought tolerant landscaping, high efficient air conditioning, improved air quality, water efficient plumbing, natural light, recycled materials and certified wood,” said Ana Valladares, chair of the council board. “[The] additional savings will be reinvested into programs for children and families—it is a winning combination…and reinforces our commitment to the community by teaching children about the importance of respecting the planet and being good responsible citizens.”
Joining CSC staff were numerous local officials, including Sen. Ari Porth, Sen. Nan Rich (considering the mother of CSC of Broward, Lauderhill officials, James Notter, Broward Superintendent and Broward Commissioner Sue Gunzburger who was recently appointed vice mayor.
Learn more about the Children’s Services Council at http://www2.cscbroward.org/Home.aspx.
[bubblecast id=286056]
Related posts:
- U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Program Opens for Public Comment
- Another H1N1 vaccination clinic opens in Broward
- Unlike Kermit, Living Green Fair Nov 14-15 makes it easy to be green
- Emerging Green: A new weekly column on BrowardNETOnline.com
- Faster permits for green builders in Broward
Short URL: https://browardnetonline.com/?p=4432
Posted by Andrea Freygang on Nov 20 2009. Filed under Broward County, Environmental, Families, Health, Lauderhill, Local news, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
I am not sure the taxpayers will like this:
No funds of the council shall be expended except by check as
aforesaid, except the expenditure of petty cash or the issuance of checks made
payable for sums no greater than $5,000, shall be expended without prior
approval of the council, in addition to the budgeting thereof.
The Council’s procurement policies and procedures stipulate that expenditures are approved by the
Council prior to being expended. As such, the financial system requires a Council Approval (CA) date at
multiple points throughout the system including all processed payments. Internal controls for tracking
expenditures in accordance with the statute are validated by auditors every year and there have been no
significant deviations since the inception of the Council.
Since 2004 at the Council’s direction, staff was instructed to only provide back-up material for purchases
when the item is over $10,000. As always, back-up for purchases below $10,000 are available upon
request.
Current Status: In accordance with policy, please find attached the Invoices, Travel,
Purchase Orders, Sponsorships, etc. for the month of November, 2009.
To facilitate reviewing the various purchases, staff has segregated the items into various categories.
This month includes the blanket PO’s necessary for the building maintenance activities such as cleaning,
lawn and pest control services all of which is coordinated through Commercial Property Management
Group (CPMG). CSC merely pays for these services in order to realize any possible sales tax savings.
Please note that items over $10,000 have a specific Issue Paper or copy of the related back-up attached
to further explain the expenditure. Additional information for any expenditure is available upon request.
From website http://www2.cscbroward.org/Home.aspx.