I read in the paper this morning that the Sunrise Senior Living project may be dead in Wellington. It seems the negotiations have stumbled upon some obstacles in the requirements that the Village Staff is insisting on including in the sales documents.

Apparently the Village Staff is concerned about a property swap occurring between the property in Wellington and another piece of property in Broward County for Sunrise. Village Staff is insisting that if this occurs, the Village has the option to buy back the property at a discounted price. Naturally, the developer is balking at this.

Normally I would say no big deal, after all if the company was savvy enough to get this through the negotiations, then more power to them.

But this is different. A promise was made to the seniors of our community … an ALF to serve their needs. The staff is right in making sure this property swap would not happen. A promise was made and the Staff is right in making sure that promise is carried out for the benefit of Wellington residents.

What really put me over the edge of uncontrollable laughter is what brought this all about and why I can hear the voices in the background say, “See, I told you so. It's Erickson all over again.”

When the Village Council voted on accepting the proposal to negotiate for the sale of a portion of K-Park to Sunrise Senior Living, a second proposal was completely dismissed out of hand.

In hindsight, perhaps the Council should have given fair hearing to the second proposal … a Mizner Park/CityPlace style development that included a white collar employment center, an ALF, a cultural arts center and parks that would fulfill the anticipated needs of the community.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and this is no exception.

Perhaps, just perhaps, when Council has multiple proposals for something that will have an impact on the community, they should give each of the proposals a fair hearing and then make a decision.

The manner in which the decision was made to move forward with Sunrise reeked of a back room filled with tobacco smoke in some seedy building on a back alley in the Village. The decision seemed to be made before it even came up in the hearing.

It smacked of Boss Tweed, not the Village of Wellington.

Before you dismiss my thoughts here, let me say I support Sunrise Senior Living being in Wellington. I want an ALF here as much as any of our seniors. And Sunrise Senior Living seems to have a pretty good product.

I would hope that Sunrise Senior Living is serious about opening a facility here. But as they say, actions speak louder than words.

Let’s urge Sunrise to follow through on their promise. Comply with the Village Staff’s requirements.

As a taxpayer and resident of Wellington, I expect nothing less of Village Staff to stick to their guns and ensure this serves the best needs of the residents of Wellington.

Don’t back down and protect those of us that are looking to you to serve our interests.

> Discuss this entry