City Manager's Annual Report 2017 | A Year In Review | Page 16

16 | 5. NICE PROGRAM AND NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T The City of Port St. Lucie’s Neighborhood Improvement and Community Engagement (NICE) program aims to achieve the City’s strategic goal of promoting vibrant neighborhoods and a high quality of life. This new program gives residents a chance to name their own neighborhoods and join together to improve their communities with the support of City staff. The program also empowers communities by giving them a united, collective voice when working with the City on issues, concerns and needs. This program builds upon the City’s neighborhood planning efforts in which the Planning and Zoning Department and its consultant have been working with communities for several years determining the goals and visions for their neighborhoods. In 2017, the Planning and Zoning staff completed plans for areas 6 and 7, which are in eastern Port St. Lucie, east of the St. Lucie River. The Neighborhood Services Department launched the NICE program in 2017 to help implement these plans and has officially named four of the approximately 27 communities since its inception. Those communities are Canal Pointe, Woodland Trails, Cashmere Cove and Oak Hammock. The remaining communities will all be named in the beginning of 2018 during the “New Year, New Name” campaign that focuses on speeding up the naming ART process and implementing neighborhood identities sooner. PUBLIC ADVISORY BOARD In 2017, the City Council re-instated the Public Art Advisory Board. Board members have the responsibility to generate a public art master plan for review and approval by the Planning and Zoning Board and City Council and make recommendations on specific public art projects, including the selection of works of art, architectural enhancements and special landscape treatments. After the naming process is complete, Community Improvement Plans will be conceptualized collaboratively with City staff and the established neighborhood’s association. The plans cloud include improvements such as parks, entry signs, fitness stations, street trees and more. Another major concept of the NICE Program is Utility Box Cover Art. More than 50 of these visual enhancements have been completed at intersections city-wide, and there are at least 50 more to come in 2018. As part of a commitment to uphold environmental stewardship, the City’s robust recycling program generates the revenue for these NICE neighborhood improvements, using minimal tax dollars. One of the City’s most exciting success stories was the groundbreaking of Woodland Trails Park last December, which was completely funded with recycling revenue. The more residents recycle, the more the City can do to put this revenue back into PSL’s flourishing neighborhoods. UTILITY BOX COVER ART IS PAID FOR WITH THE CITY’S RECYCLING REVENUE. CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE A N N U A L R E P O R T 2017