New Town Manager: The New Guy Comes in Peace
To: Longboat Key Commission, Town Staff
As I begin my first day as Town Manager, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share how excited I am to join the Town of Longboat Key team.
First, I want to recognize and thank Howard “Tip” Tipton for his outstanding service and leadership during his tenure as Town Manager. Tip has served this community with professionalism, dedication, and a genuine commitment to Longboat Key. I know his leadership has had a lasting impact on the Town, the organization, and the people who work here. I wish Tip and his family all the very best as he begins his well-earned retirement and next chapter.
As we move through this transition, one of my priorities is to make it as smooth and seamless as possible. I have tremendous respect for the work already being done throughout the organization, and I am not coming in with preconceived ideas about what needs to change. My first job is to listen, learn, and understand.
Over the coming days and weeks, I plan to get out of the office and spend time with each department and work area. I want to meet all of you, learn more about what you do, hear what is working well, and understand where we can make things even better. Please don’t feel like you need to wait for a formal meeting to introduce yourself. If you see me out and about, stop me and say hello.
I believe strongly that the success of any organization begins with its people. Every position on this team contributes to the quality of service we provide to our residents, businesses, and visitors. My commitment to you is to be accessible, to communicate openly, to support our team, and to work alongside you as we continue moving Longboat Key forward.
I am genuinely excited and humbled to serve alongside you all. I look forward to getting to know each of you and working together to continue the tradition of exceptional service that makes Longboat Key such a special community.
Thank you for the warm welcome,
George Landry
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Training: Brace for Impact (And Loud Noises)
To: Longboat Key Commission
Hope you all are having a great day.
We have just been notified by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office that their SWAT Team will be conducting door-breaching training at Harbor Square this Friday, September 18. As a result, there may be some loud bangs heard coming from that area throughout the training.
SSO will also be placing signage in the area to help notify the community of the training.
Please call me with any questions.
George Landry
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: Pimp My Ride, Longboat Edition
To: Longboat Key Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman
Thanks for your continued efforts Isaac! A complete streets scenario would be amazing and transformative for LBK, which I fondly call “the boat.” Hoping that it happens.
Jeffrey H. Driver
Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: Flattening the Curve (Literally)
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Maureen Merrigan
Yes, agree, that is definitely the outcome we all want; and more good news is that when they conduct the project, because we had to take out the superelevation and the Town used it as an opportunity to add complete street elements into the design, the final product will also include elements like approach medians, wider bike lanes, and a wider trail on the east side for about 1,000-ft. north and about 1,000-south of the roundabout. And with funding sources they have access to, they can do a project of that magnitude in the more near term as all that would have been a difficult lift for the town; the new project essentially involves road reconstruction to remove the superelevation and balance the road by adding a good amount of elevation to the northbound lane, flattening the southbound lane, leveling the intersection, and adding those other new enhancements I mentioned.
Isaac Brownman
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: The Joys of State Bureaucracy
To: Longboat Key Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman
Thanks Isaac for the additional background and Paul for requesting FDOT revisit the design decisions, given the delay in construction.
FDOT has been an interesting partner. They take down street signs and add cross walks without asking our opinion, completely disregard our input on the Longboat Pass bridge – and don’t flex on roundabout design. I guess we do the best we can, given the personnel and government agencies involved. I look forward to the day when it is safer to cross the street at the Broadway intersection.
Maureen Merrigan
Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: Resistance to FDOT is Futile
To: Paul Hylbert
Thank you for reaching out! Yes, the short answer is FDOT has full authority as to what gets built on a state roadway. When FDOT made the determination that they would not permit the roundabout project without major changes to the roadway superelevation, the Town went round and round them for many months, including at staff and commission level, myself speaking to the FDOT District 1 Design Engineer on multiple occasions, Town Manager’s office and myself speaking to the District 1 Secretary, and Town staff and the design team visiting District 1 headquarters in Bartow to argue the point. We believe these avenues have been expended, and their position remains unchanged; they have determined from their perspective that removing the superelevation going into a roundabout is a safety requirement.
Once the District decided they would stand firm on not signing off the project without the superelevation change, that became the point when the Town pivoted to the new design. And now with the construction, administration, and funding largely in the hands of FDOT, there is no chance they will build a project that does not comply with their directive. Please let me know if you have any questions about this context.
Isaac Brownman
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: The Ghosts of Designs Past
To: Paul Hylbert
Paul, I hope you are doing well. Just a few historical points on this topic. The State FDOT rejected the original design, due to super elevation (roadway angle) and other factors.
FDOT took over the project and is funding all aspects that are not landscape, Town Utility, or other Town Requests.
FDOT and their Project Management Team has responded, directly to individual concerns, like the items you bring up. I included some email correspondence from March of 2025 that discussed some of these items. I also included Jenn and Isaac, to add anything I may have missed.
Charles Mopps
Public Works Director
Town of Longboat Key
Broadway Roundabout: Backseat Driving the FDOT Budget
To: Longboat Key Commission
Now that we’ve heard about the delay for “budgetary reasons”, why not go back to the original design of The Roundabout and get that built?
* The original design was professionally done and saved $2.5-3.0 million versus the new design
* The original design was much less risky than the new design in that it attempts to drastically change the drainage in Conrad Beach and all along GMD south of Broadway. For those of you who’ve not been around LBK for a while, our road and street contractors have not distinguished themselves in the drainage arena.
* The original design did not anticipate eliminating the mature and thick landscaping along the Conrad Beach side of GMD which provides privacy and noise abatement to residents there.
* The original design anticipated a much quicker construction cycle as it focused on 100′ or so of roadway rework versus the .6 of a mile that the new design would require
* The new design can be accomplished much quicker without major disruption and provide a safe solution to the Broadway crossing much sooner than the new design.
We are told that FDOT doesn’t allow roundabouts where a sloping/canted road enters in. We’re not sure why that is but we have the sloping road now and the fact of the roundabout will certainly only improve the safety of this intersection significantly.
Can we get someone from Public Works and/or The Town Commission to meet with the right FDOT bureaucrats to take on this issue head on.
Let’s get the benefit of the Broadway Roundabout quickly at a $2.5 – $3 million savings and not risk the drainage and community disruption that FDOT has proposed.
Paul Hylbert
Longboat Key
