CMA’s Vice President of Landscape Architecture/Planning Cris Betancourt, PLA, AICP and Associate Planner Jennifer Cook attended the Florida Recreation and Park Association (FRPA)’s Annual Conference August 28-31 in Orlando. The conference is a yearly gathering of park and recreation professionals and features workshops and sessions curated to build the park and recreation professional’s skill set. Presenters included professionals from aquatics, park administration, athletics, recreation, childcare, programming, park maintenance and more. A trade show and exhibit hall was held to allow supply and service vendors a chance for face-to-face meetings with professionals. Delegates had opportunities to network with professionals from other agencies and exchange information for future contact.  https://www.frpa.org/conference

CMA’s Currie Park project received the 2023 Award of Excellence in the Planning and Analysis Category from the American Society of Landscape Architecture! Our teaming partner Olin submitted the award, which was given out at the ASLA Florida Annual Conference + Expo last month at the JW Mariott Turnberry Resort in Aventura.

Congratulations to Senior Landscape Architect Stefan Bortak, PLA, CID who was recently appointed to the board of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants. ASIC is a society of professional irrigation consultants dedicated to representing the best interest of the client while advocating the responsible use and preservation of water resources. https://asic.org/member/marc_bortak/

CMA attended the ASCE Miami-Dade Branch Annual Awards and Installation Banquet on Friday, August 25th at the Rusty Pelican, Key Biscayne. The event recognized the efforts and accomplishments of award winners, scholarship recipients, life members, institute and committee members as well as the board of directors. CMA’s project, the Brightline Aventura Station, won Project of the Year (category 2). CMA was a gold sponsor. https://www.miamidade-asce.org/

On August 18, CMA’s Dominique Bethel, Vince Locigno, and Stephanie Williams volunteered as part of the Broward Education Foundation (BEF) School Drive Bookbag Distribution at Castle Hill Elementary, passing out free backpacks with school supplies to children attending orientation for the new School Year. CMA raised $500 to go toward supplying bags of supplies to the Adopt-a-School program in Broward County to support BEF’s mission for the 2023 new school year.

More than 200,000 Broward students live in poverty. For these students, school supplies are a luxury. Three out of four students arrive to class without the requisite school supplies necessary for learning according to 90% of teachers surveyed by the national non-profit Kids in Need Foundation. Last year, contributions to BEF’s School Supply Drive helped more than 130,000 students in 195 schools and assisted more than 12,000 teachers.  Broward Education Foundation (browardedfoundation.org)

CMA’s SFWMD Homestead Field Station project will receive the Merit Award at the 2023 DBIA Florida Region Design Build Awards. The awards will be given out on August 31 at the 2023 DBIA Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando, Florida. CMA is the Civil Engineer of Record for this project.  https://www.fldbia.org/

Principal Engineer Rob Best, Jr., P.E.; Landscape Designer Katherine Peñarete Pena and Executive Vice President Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE attended the Florida League of Cities Annual Conference August 10-12 at the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek. The FLC annual conference is an opportunity for municipal officials and senior staff to enhance leadership skills, learn from municipal experts, share ideas with peers, discuss strategies for Florida’s future and hear about the latest in products and services for municipal governments.

On Tuesday, CMA Executive Vice President Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE finished his term as President of the Miami Chapter of FES. CMAers Principal Engineer Shahin Hekmat, P.E., F.FES; Principal Engineer Greg Mendez, P.E.; and Principal Engineer Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E. attended at the Pullman Hotel in Miami.  Jose congratulated the executive board, directors, committee chairs and membership on a successful and memorable year.  He also thanked his caring and supportive team at CMA and his family, all of whom have been there for Jose throughout his journey.

CMA Senior Engineer David Cowan, Jr., P.E., ENV SP and Engineer Brandon Sullivan, E.I. recently participated in a Bed Delivery Day for the Sleep in Heavenly Peace program. The program is a group of volunteers dedicated to building, assembling, and delivering top-notch bunk beds to children and families in need. The event was organized through the FES Palm Beach Branch. https://shpbeds.org/chapter/fl-palm-beach-w/