Longboat Key News and Sarasota City News encourages Letters to the Editor on timely issues. Please email to: letters@lbknews.com or mail to PO Box 8001, Longboat Key, FL 34228. We also print letters sent to Town Hall that address Longboat Key issues. We reserve the right to edit.
High Tide
To: Chris Udermann
We left town this morning and I missed getting to your area to observe. Tip, can you send Chris the info he is asking for. I have been in front of Chris’s house during high tide and also rain events and it floods during both. The storm drain in this area usually hurts versus helps. Can we investigate if there are any short term fixes before we improve the whole area. Mike Haycock
Vice Mayor
Town of Longboat Key
High Tide
To: Longboat Key Vice Mayor Mike Haycock
Thanks for sharing Vice-Mayor. I’ve copied Public Works leadership to review and evaluate and they’ll be in touch with Mr. Udermann.
Howard N. Tipton
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
High Tide
To: Chris Udermann
Mr. Udermann, sorry for the slight delay in response.
There is a Duckbill valve that is located in the drainage box at the corner of Russell St and Bay Side Dr. This is the big concrete box with the manhole cover that collects all the water, from all the inlets in your area. That old valve is not functioning very well, as you have observed. In addition we have the reset the pipes that go out into the bay. I am meeting with a contractor, on Monday that is interested in accomplishing this for us. Prior to my response to you, I wanted to line something up, so I could respond with a course of action. If, this contractor does not work out, we will be reaching out to others.
Any pictures you can provide will help in the next steps of the long-term resiliency/drainage improvements goals that the Town has for the Village and other areas within the Town. We can use them in the Grant process, both current and future. They help show the nuisance flooding that we experience. As you are probable aware our Design Consultant (Kimley Horn) recently had Hyatt Surveying out there to gather data, to support updating the Stormwater Analysis. This survey data will also be used in the future design/permitting efforts for the phases of the project that would provide for longer term relief. We have multiple grant applications in review by the agencies for the Village. If received, they will provide the needed funding the bring the initial phases through design and construction. I hope this email helps explain some of the efforts we are taking, both short and long term.
Charles Mopps
Program Manager/Assistant Public Works Director Public Works
Town of Longboat Key
Visit Sarasota County
To: Longboat Key Commission, Sarasota City Commission
Happy September! Hope this month is off to a great start for you and your business.
Below are the July tourism numbers for Sarasota County for July, comparing 2024 to 2023.
Visitors were 149,800 compared to 153,370 in 2023
Visitor direct expenditures were $141,012,900 compared to h$145,328,800 in 2023
Lodging occupancy was 63.6% compared to 68.4% in 2023
Lodging average room rate was $249.80 compared to $242.96 in 2023
There were 267,300 room nights sold compared to 285,500 in 2023
A few notes about this month:
Visitation decreased year over year for July 2024 (-2.3%) and remains lower for the fiscal year (-8.5%).
Direct spending decreased year over year for the month (-3.0%) and is slightly down for the fiscal year (-1.5%).
An increase in ADR year over year (+2.8%) and a decrease in occupancy (-7.0%) led to a mitigated decrease in RevPAR (-4.4%) compared to July 2023.
A shorter length of stay and a larger travel party size resulted in the decrease in visitors being less than the decrease in room nights.
Fiscal YTD visitation from Canada remains elevated when compared to 2023 (+4.0%).
The Fiscal YTD percentage of visitors from the Midwest and Northeast have increased compared to FY 2023, while the percentages of visitors from Florida and the rest of the Southeast have decreased.
While we have you via email, we’d like to ask you to save the date of November 19th for our Annual Indicators and Insights Summit being held at The Ora from 8am – noon. Breakfast will be served.
You can learn more, and register to attend here: https://visitsarasotacounty.ticketspice.com/visit-sarasota-county-indicators-insights-summit.
As always, if there is anything you need from us here at Visit Sarasota County, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Erin Duggan
President/CEO
Visit Sarasota County
St. Regis sea turtle lighting
To: Longboat Key Town Clerk Trish Shinkle
It appears the St Regis still has lighting issues. White lights in photo from what might be the Monkey Bar. Photo 7820 is from a nest by Seaplace looking south to white lights. I plan to attend your commission meeting this coming week.
Cyndi Seamon
Longboat Key Turtle Watch
St. Regis Lighting
To: Longboat Key Town Commission
I know everyone is excited about the opening of the St Regis. It’s received a lot of positive press in the last weeks. Most of it well deserved. I personally have enjoyed watching the development over the past few years.
My concern today is the lack of compliance to turtle season lighting regulations on the part of the St Regis and Marriott Corporation. Obviously, fining is not an impetus for them to change their ways. I am disappointed in the St Regis’s lack of respect for the wildlife and the beach on which they’ve chosen to erect their property.
What is being done on the part of the town of Longboat Key to pressure the St Regis to make the necessary lighting changes? Turtle season goes until October 31.
Has any thought been given to the regulation of lighting when the condo owners move in?
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Dianne Frank
Longboat Key
St. Regis Lighting
To: Dianne Frank
Thank you so much for your letter. I have been frustrated, as well, with the lack of compliance at the St. Regis with the lighting and protection of our turtles. We have been successful in elevating the issue to the Magistrate who will hear the case next week and can take additional measures to ensure that this issue is resolved.
Meanwhile, I met yesterday with the management of the hotel and they are working diligently to correct the problems. Our staff has also made themselves available to help them discern what products are safe for lighting. They are also educating the new owners of the condos to ensure that no lighting issues will come from these individual residences.
This issue will be resolved. Our turtle protection program is very important to all of us and we are working hard to educate, not only these new owners, but all of the new property owners along the beach on Longboat Key.
BJ Bishop
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
Red tide mitigation
To: Longboat Key Commission, Sarasota City Commission
Earlier today, I received a letter from FDEP’s South District Office, that included a permit (FLOA00062) that was issued under Chapter 403, Florida Statutes. Representatives of Alarivean, Inc. in Scottsdale, Arizona, applied for this permit, with technical (but not financial) support from the SBEP.
The permit is for a project that we have referred to as the Magic Jet Ski – Director’s Note: Red tide mitigation – potential involvement in field trial (sarasotabay.org). While the name is something we embrace as being self-deprecating, the science and engineering behind the proposed activity is solid and promising. The permit allows for the testing of a “…mobile system that injects nano oxygen and ozone bubble generation vessels into the water to…destroy harmful algal blooms…”
The permit will allow for the SBEP to work with the folks at Alarivean, Inc. to test a system that is intended to combine the science behind the mitigation of red tides with an engineering approach that could – hopefully – provide a benefit that is relevant at management scales. The background behind this approach goes back almost 50 years, when researchers from the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory in Milford Connecticut used ozone to treat seawater during a red tide in Tampa Bay (Blogoslowski et al. 1975). At that time, the red tide organism we now call Karenia brevis was called Gymnodinium breve. Extracts of the red tide toxin were derived from water samples from Tampa Bay during an ongoing red tide event with cell counts of around 275,000/L. Extracts for the control were made from the water, and then injected into laboratory mice, all of which died within 3 ½ minutes. In contrast, when water samples with the red tide organism were treated with ozone, and the extract was then injected into laboratory mice, all the mice lived. The researchers showed that treating a red tide-infected water mass with ozone deactivated the toxin that the red tide organism produces.
This was not a great surprise to the authors, as they noted that ozone had been used to sterilize seawater contaminated with human pathogens as far back as 1929 (Voille 1929) and that ozone was used in shellfish operations that needed to deal with various pathogens and/or toxins as far back as the early 1970s. In the early 1980s, researchers looked at ozone as a more environmentally friendly approach to reducing biofouling in pipes and other infrastructure for power plants, where the default approach had been to use chlorine or chlorinated compounds. Because of this decades-long interest in ozone as a sterilizing agent for marine waters, there is a wide variety of toxicity information available for us to work with, to put boundaries on what might be considered “too much” ozone for non-target species.
In the early 1990s, researchers at the University of Florida (Schneider and Rodrick 1992) verified that the toxins produced by the red tide organism could be reduced by over 99% after treatment with ozone. Importantly, these researchers found that ozone not only killed off the red tide organism, but the toxin itself. After all, what good would it be to kill off the organism only to have the dead cells dump their toxin into the water column? That’s not the case – both the organisms and their toxins are reduced by ozone. A follow-up study by researchers at the University of Florida and Mote Marina Laboratory (Schneider et al. 2003) verified that both the red tide organism and the toxins produced by the organism were substantially reduced by ozonated seawater.
So, what is ozone? It is an oxygen molecule (O2) with an extra oxygen atom (O3). When exposed to seawater, the extra oxygen atom dissociates from the other two oxygen atoms, and it acts as a strong oxidizing agent, seemingly capable of killing off both the red tide organism and its toxins – whether inside the cell or in the water column.
This begs the question – if the topic of ozone treatment of red tide is so well researched, why aren’t we using it already to treat red tides? Good question, and the answer seems to be related to how to make science on a laboratory scale work at a management-relevant scale. And that’s where the folks at Alarivean are important. We’ve known that ozone can work to mitigate the impacts of red tide for almost 50 years, but one of the things that makes this project exciting is the opportunity to find out if we can produce ozonated seawater at management-relevant scales.
The engineers and other staff at Alarivean contacted the SBEP about a year ago, with a proposed project that could potentially create ozonated seawater at rates of 1,000 to 2,000 gallons per minute (gpm) on a mobile platform. That’s a lot of ozonated seawater produced on a short timescale! And the mobile platform – it’s a modified jet ski. Actually, it’s a modified SeaDoo, because that brand of personal watercraft (PWC) has a closed cooling system, like the average car. Other types of PWCs might overheat if you drove them through a red tide, as the high viscosity of such “thick” water reduces heat transfer. Something I learned myself after running my boat through Tampa Bay during the Piney Point-induced red tide of 2021. Ozone would be created by using a tank of liquid oxygen and running the outflow across an electrical discharge. Then the ozonated seawater would be distributed into the water column via the PWC’s nozzle – the same flow of water that can push a PWC across the water at such high speeds (thanks to Newton’s Third Law of Motion). The next step is to discharge the generated ozone gas in the form of nanobubbles.
What’s a nanobubble? A very small bubble. Why is this important? Well, if you SCUBA dive, you know that the rule of thumb is to come up to the surface at a rate no faster than a dime-sized bubble. Large bubbles migrate upwards at faster rates, leaving you at risk of an embolism. Extremely small bubbles won’t migrate upwards – they will hang around in the water column – where they’re needed – and not come up to the atmosphere, where the ozone would be wasted. Also, it appears that nanobubbles can have negative charges, which will help them disperse into the water column better.
Will this technique, the “magic jet ski” work? Frankly, we don’t know. But, the science is solid, the engineering expertise impressed both ourselves and FDEP, and this project has cost the SBEP nothing to develop. That’s right – no funds were used from SBEP, or the state or the federal government to get this permit. The vessel itself was constructed by the folks at Alarivean on their own. Why would they do this for free? Well, if it works, and if agencies want to try it out in their own waterbody, Alarivean would not likely want to continue to run their operation for free, basically. That’s the business model, and it is not only transparent, it incentivizes creativity and engineering expertise.
However…SBEP is involved in the permit as a party that is charged with testing the technique’s efficacy. The permit calls for testing this out in the open waters of Sarasota Bay, with both a treatment and a control plot. This would not be an aquarium, or even a canal, but the open waters of the bay. The idea would be that when the next red tide event arises, both the “magic jet ski” and a regular, unmodified one would head out onto the bay and pilot those crafts across the water in a pattern similar to each other in areas that would then be sampled. Samples would be collected to test if there is a difference in the amount of red tide organisms, red tide toxins, and a suite of indicators to show if there are any adverse environmental impacts.
Currently, we have no red tides in our local waters, and frankly, I think we’d all prefer that this technique never gets tested, because we have to have an active red tide (Karenia brevis levels higher than 100,000 cells/L) to test this out. But the absence of red tides is unlikely to be the situation long-term, which is why we are happy that FDEP gave us a five-year window on this permit. To be clear, we don’t know if this will work, or not. The permit makes it clear that whatever the results are, the SBEP will inform FDEP, as well as our Policy and Management Boards, in a timely manner.
This may or may not work. But if it does, envision this scenario – satellite imagery suggests a red tide is forming offshore, and field samples verify it is in fact Karenia brevis. Then, the USF red tide forecasting center tells us that a mass of red tide organisms would be expected to enter Sarasota Bay via New Pass and Big Pass next Tuesday on incoming tides. If this technique works, it might be worthwhile sending a magic jet ski or two out to those passes during that red tide, going back and forth across those passes treating that incoming mass of water at a rate of 1,000 to perhaps 2,000 gpm.
This is not a remedy for dealing with the excessive nitrogen loads that we deliver to our nearshore waters that make red tides larger, more intense, and longer-lasting –Director’s Note: Red tide duration and nitrogen loads (sarasotabay.org). This is a band-aid, basically. But sometimes you need a band-aid.
Dave Tomasko
Executive Director
Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
Bacteria levels – 4 weeks after Debby
To: Sarasota City Commission, Longboat Key Commission
Just a few minutes ago, I received our results from the latest sampling trip to quantify the bay’s water quality after Tropical Storm Debby. Similar to after 2022’s Hurricane Ian, we focused on the lower bay, in part because it is more susceptible to impacts from large rain events. Why more susceptible? Because there is much more land draining into much smaller areas of water in the lower bay, compared to the upper bay. The ratio between the amount of watershed and the amount of open water is close to ten times higher in the lower bay than in the upper bay. In the upper bay – except for Palma Sola Bay – there is a water exchange of about 80% after 10 days. In contrast, it takes about a month for the same amount of water exchange in Little Sarasota Bay.
As a result, and consistent with our Post-Ian sampling effort, we’ve sampled three locations in each of the three lower bay segments, three times now. Those dates roughly correspond to one, two, and four weeks after the passage of the storm. Sampling locations are shown below.
The graph below shows our results, from each location within each bay segment from each date sampled:
In this part of the bay, the fecal indicator bacteria used (as determined by FDEP) is enterococci, and the appropriate standard for such waters (Class 3 – marine) is 130 / 100 ml. The red line represents that bacterial threshold. As you can see, there are only two location and date combinations below that threshold (South Roberts Bay on 8/8/24 and South Little Sarasota Bay on 8/29/24). All these samples are taken in the middle of the bay – not along the mainland shoreline. This means that bacteria levels would be expected to be higher still along the mainland shoreline.
As of now, the open waters of Sarasota Bay from Siesta Drive down to Venice Inlet are out of compliance for fecal indicator bacteria, and should not be considered to be safe for recreational activities such as swimming, jet skiing, wakeboarding, or any activity that could involve the participant accidentally ingesting water through their mouth or nose or entry of water via a cut or scrape. These aren’t samples taken by stormwater pipes or in quiescent dead-end canals – these are out in the open waters of the bay.
There is some good news, in some locations, such as central and south Blackburn Bay. But these most recent values are higher than week 2 samples in Roberts Bay and north and central Little Sarasota Bay.
This begs the question – where did these bacteria come from? Unfortunately, we don’t know – but that is an important question. This “fecal indicator bacteria” is not restricted to humans, or mammals or even animals. It can arise from human sewage, but also bird poop on pilings, dog poop in people’s backyards, but also potentially from grass clippings and oak pollen (shown to be the case with other FIBs in Florida), or even decomposing seaweed. This is important, because FIBs like enterococci are not, by themselves pathogenic, or “disease causing”. Most of the human health risk from sewage contamination is from viruses, and as NIH has pointed out, “When the source of enterococci to surface waters is not fecal, their presence may not indicate a health risk.”
This last point does not mean that the water is safe to go in, because if the bacteria are not from sewage, but from all the worms and clams and starfish and stingrays that have died in the lower bay due to the low levels of oxygen we reported in a prior Director’s Note, then it could still be a problem. You obviously wouldn’t want your kids or grandkids to swim in sewage-contaminated waters, but you wouldn’t want them to swim in waters where the bacteria were due to thousands if not tens of thousands of dead fish either, right?
For now at least, please use caution recreating in the lower bay. According to FDOH, every designated public swimming beach in Manatee County is now considered “safe” for swimming, including Palma Sola Bay South (Florida Healthy Beaches Program | Florida Department of Health), although Palma Sola Bay South and Bayfront Park were considered “poor” a few weeks ago. Likewise, all designated bathing beaches sampled by FDOH in Sarasota County are considered safe for swimming now, including Bird Key Park and at the southern end of Longboat Key.
So if you want to go swimming to cool off – go to the Gulf Beaches, or the beaches that are sampled by FDOH, or go to the open waters of the upper bay. It’s never a good idea to go swimming along the mainland by a storm drain, or in a dead-end canal or boat ramp or marina. Sorry, but those will likely never be safe and appropriate places to swim. And after big rain events like we had in early June and now after Debby, it’s not typically a good idea to go swimming in the open waters of the lower bay either. We’ll let you know more when we know more.
Dave Tomasko
Executive Director
Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
Bacteria levels – 4 weeks after Debby
To: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko
As always, thanks for this update with a very clear analysis and explanation!
Jen Ahearn-Koch
Vice Mayor
City of Sarasota
Support Services Director
To: Longboat Key Department Directors
Good morning! Hope everyone was able to enjoy the Labor Day weekend.
I wanted to share that I have received notice from Chris Kopp of his intention to step down from the Support Services Director position and leave the Town of Longboat Key effective close of business on September 13th. The letter mentions the departure is for personal reasons which I fully respect. Although a short tenure, I have appreciated all that Chris has done in his Director role and wish all good things for him as he charts a next chapter.
As to filling the position and, I am reviewing options and will announce a direction shortly. In the interim period, all of the Support Services functions and reporting responsibilities will transfer to the Town Manager’s Office effective September 14th.
Please join me in thanking Chris for his service and wishing him well.
Howard N. Tipton
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Longboat Key Beaches
To: Longboat Key Commission
We live in the most amazing, peaceful and naturally beautiful city! First, I would like to say thank you to the past and current mayors and council members who have worked diligently to maintain LBK’s vision. We should continue to elect representatives or appoint individuals who are willing to “do the work” to support the residents and LBK’s vision.
As the city proactively looks to the future, I believe there is only one, all-encompassing issue that requires continual attention to maintain our quality of life — preservation of our natural resources. There are so many facets of this issue but today I would simply like to discuss our beaches and request that consideration be given to strengthen ordinances in two ways as our city, county and state welcomes more residents.
1) Property owners in LBK should have priority to our city’s beach access points with a permit parking pass program. There are plenty of public beaches in our and adjacent communities that provide public restroom facilities (which most of our beach access points do not) and ample parking. If no restrooms are available, then it should be restricted to resident permit parking only. Several communities throughout Florida have this permit parking program in operation.
2) In addition, our city officials should act quickly with the county, state and federal agencies to designate a gulf side swim area that will restrict motorized vessels within ~200ft from shore from LBK Pass Bridge to the New Pass Bridge. In the past year, we have seen an influx of motorboats and jet skis running and anchoring very close to shore. These areas are crowded with residents and visitors swimming, paddle boarding, lounging, fishing, snorkeling and congregating in shallow waters and can be dangerous when jet skis or motorboats come to shore. Any actions that will damage our ecosystems and not consistent with LBK’s mission should be restricted and/or “vigorously” managed.
We have seen neighboring cities take action and we should do the same. Thanks for your consideration.
Deb
Longboat Key
Longboat Key Beaches
To: Deb, Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton
Thanks for your note. Beaches are a top priority for us on Longboat and we will discuss your questions when we meet again in September.
Ken Schneier
Mayor
Town of Longboat Key
Longboat Key Beaches
To: Longboat Key Commission
Boats continue to anchor on or near shore. I thought they were only allowed to drop off or pickup? More and more activity is occurring than in previous years.
Last weekend, two different boats anchored up on shore. The boats were pulling out nets.
And Labor Day…three boats anchored offshore on the north end.
Deb
Longboat Key
Intergovernmental Relations, Mobility, and Emergency Management Committee
To: Longboat Key Commission
Good afternoon, Intergovernmental Relations, Mobility, and Emergency Management Committee. Thank you for requesting to serve on the 2024-2025 Florida League of Cities Intergovernmental Relations, Mobility, and Emergency Management Committee. FLC President Michael C. Blake has approved your appointment to the committee, and a confirmation letter will be mailed to your city office.
Attached are three documents:
The committee roster – please review your contact information and let me know if you have any corrections.
Press release template announcing your appointment (feel free to replace the FLC logo with your city’s logo).
Schedule and hotel information for the October 4 meeting.
Please email me at Jbranch@flcities.com by October 11 if you wish to propose a legislative priority for consideration by the committee. Statements should be 75 words or less and in the following format: “The Florida League of Cities supports …” Proposed statements must address a legislative issue of statewide concern that directly pertains to municipal services and functions. The October 4 meeting packet will be emailed to you one week before the meeting.
Are you a new policy committee member or want a committee refresh? The webinar recording will be sent to all committee members.
2024-2025 Meeting schedule:
First Round of Policy Committee Meetings: Friday, October 4, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time at the Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Parkway, Orlando, FL 32819.
Second Round of Policy Committee Meetings: Friday, November 8, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time at the Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Parkway, Orlando, FL 32819. The League will provide hotel room block information at a later date.
Third Round of Policy Committee Meetings: Thursday, December 5, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time during FLC Legislative Conference at the Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Parkway, Orlando, FL, 32819. The League will provide hotel room block information at a later date. The legislative priorities will be adopted during the Legislative Conference. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you in Orlando!
Jeff Branch
Sr. Legislative Advocate
Florida League of Cities, Inc.
Budget and millage rates for Sarasota
To: Sarasota City Commission
The Monday, September 16, 2024, Special City Commission Meeting Agenda packet is now available through your iLegislate app. This meeting is being held for the purpose of Second Public Hearings Re: The City of Sarasota Proposed FY 2024-2025 Budget and Millage Rates; and any other matters that may come before the body.
(This meeting will begin immediately at 5:30 p.m.)
Please note that paper packets are available for pickup in the Commission Liaison Office for those who have indicated a wish to continue to receive them.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of further assistance, or if you have any questions. Thank you. Have a great day!
Shayla Griggs
City Clerk
City of Sarasota
Letter
To: Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown
I came across this article this weekend and thought of you and your leadership and vision for the City of Sarasota. This was the first time I’d heard of this incredible story, and I found the mayor’s words and sentiments below so similar to the message in your letter, I felt I had to share:
“At his retirement, Wamura stood before village employees to bid farewell: ‘Even if you encounter opposition, have conviction and finish what you start. In the end, people will understand.’”
While obviously as a city we face much different challenges than this one, I expect we will look back on your tenure with similar gratitude for the lasting impact and foresight you’ve had in your visions and efforts for making it a better place. As a native and parent to the next generation of Sarasotans, I wanted to get ahead of the curb and go ahead and say “Thank you” now.
Ciera Coleman
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator
City of Sarasota
Letter
To: Sarasota City Clerk Shayla Griggs
I received permission to share this. I especially love the quote at the end of the article which was shared below by Ms. Coleman who is from here. Mayor and Commissioners, Charter Officials and E-Team, please stay focused, and with conviction, please trust and believe in the work that you are doing today and in what you have accomplished. This will be understood and appreciated in the end despite the opposition today. I strongly believe this and have witnessed it from my 31 years in this field.
Marlon Brown
City Manager
City of Sarasota
Today’s DRC meeting
To: Sarasota City Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch
I was glad to see you at today’s DRC meeting. I was disappointed in a few of things.
1) There were a number of people who sent Noah Fossick as well as Shayla Griggs requests to have the developer and or the city hold an open workshop to discuss this project. Nothing was mentioned and I believe this project will affect anyone living on the Blvd of the Arts. What do we need to do to get this done?
2) There has been no mention of a demolition plan. With the Condo on the Bay butting up to the Hyatt property, we will definitely feel any demolition activity.
3) I was shocked to hear that the “Complete Street Project “ at Blvd of the Arts has reached the point the area in front of the Hyatt will lose all of the existing Royal Palms and that the medians will lose their trees/pants and be reduced in size.
I have attended several “idea sessions” where changes were discussed but from today’s DRC meeting it sounds like plans are firmed up.
Can you give me the person’s name and contact information that is in charge of this project?
Thanks for listening.
Bill Diehl
Sarasota
Today’s DRC meeting
To: Bill Diehl
Nice to see you as well today at DRC. I have copied the City Manager, Deputy City Manager, and Planning Director on this email to respond to your questions and copy me as well.
Jen Ahearn-Koch
Vice Mayor
City of Sarasota
Today’s DRC meeting
To: Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown
Noah was supposed to have put a comment suggesting a voluntary CW. It doesn’t appear to be on the comment memo. I will make sure he reaches out to the applicant to suggest that.
Lucia Panica
Development Service Director
City of Sarasota
Tree Canopy Funds Transfer
To: Sarasota City Mayor Liz Alpert
I was able to watch much of the city commission meeting yesterday and first want to say I was pleased on the positive outcome of the Colson Hotel discussions. Fingers crossed that an ownership and a rehabilitation plan for the building is determined soon.
I do need to ask for clarification on the remarks made about the funds transfer out of the tree canopy program. Did I hear correctly that the funds will somehow be placed back into this important project? It is more apparent than ever, after a couple of very hot summers, replacing and adding high quality canopy trees to the city is key in helping to moderate the urban heat island effect.
Christopher Naese
Sarasota
Tree removal Ecopro
To: Sarasota City Development Services Director Lucia Panica
If trees are being removed under 163.045F.S. the owner simply has to possess the documentation from their certified arborist or licensed landscape architect. There is no requirement to display or produce the documents upon request, even for the city. We do encourage those companies using the law to provide us a copy prior to the work being done or have a copy onsite while performing the work in case anyone has questions. Again, while we encourage these practices there is no requirement for the documents to be produced upon request. Lastly a permit is not required to trim trees in the City of Sarasota.
Donald Ullom, Senior Arborist, City of Sarasota
Tree removal Ecopro
To: Sarasota City Assistant Manager Pat Robinson
I went to the site on Monday. I briefly chatted with the crew of the tree company, specifically with Chris. He was very polite to me. When I arrived, I was happy to see the Slash Pine standing. The large (invasive, I think) tree had already been removed. I was joined by the Neighbor who alerted me to the situation.
I politely asked Chris for the permit to remove the invasive as I did not see one displayed and was assured it was requested and received from the City but that I would not be able to see it, as it was on the phone of the tree trimmer. When I showed him the text that required a permit for an invasive be obtained and displayed, he respectfully responded that he did not have to share that and did not have to answer to citizens, but only to his director. When I explained that it is in the best interest of the tree company and the neighborhood to display the permit, so that everyone is aware of the situation, he agreed. When I asked to see the permit, he did not comply. I didn’t argue or discuss further. I left. Perhaps I have mis-understood the ordinance, so pleas clarify if I have.
In any case, I have no doubt that the Slash Pine was beautifully trimmed and am thrilled it was not removed. I am, however, concerned about not displaying the permit of tree removal / trimming permit as it causes consternation for all parties. Clarity on a solution would be welcomed.
Jen Ahearn-Koch, Vice Mayor, City of Sarasota
Tree removal Ecopro
To: Sarasota City Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch
Reference the tree issue on Waldemere. The removal meets the criteria set forth by Florida State Statute. Also if you have citizens that suspected noncompliant tree work they can contact Code compliance by the number and website below.
“Citizens can report a suspected violation by calling Code Compliance Monday – Saturday 8 a.m. -5 p.m. (M-F 941-263-6417, Saturday 941-894-2790) or online anytime here https://ftgportal.sarasotafl.gov/Common/Login.aspx ” The concerned party can also report it on our “Click 2 Fix” app on iPhones and Android cell phones.
Pat Robinson, Assistant City Manager, City of Sarasota
Arlington
To: Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown, Assistant City Manager Pat Robinson
I hope your day is going well. I just want to clarify a comment that was made by Mr. Grant. Mr. Grant has been amazing to work with at Arlington, and his comment, as always, was in support of Parks and Recreation. Arlington’s heater/chiller system has been maintained by pool contractors. There were no major issues with the heater/chiller system. This may be a bad analogy but think of the maintenance for the heater/chiller system like preventative vehicle maintenance. You have been diligent with the preventative maintenance of your vehicle as you continue to get regular oil and filter changes, tire rotations, changing brakes, etc. Then, one day you get up to go to work and your car doesn’t start. This could be a simple maintenance repair or a major maintenance repair. For Arlington, this was a major replacement of the heater/chiller system.
The public is not always aware of the many moving parts in Parks and Recreation, and regular maintenance plays a major role in our day-to-day operations.
Parks and Recreation is unable to move forward with the Nature Park Design, along with other important park and recreational facility projects due to an unforeseen failure of Arlington’s heater/chiller system. If the unforeseen failure of Alington’s heater/chiller system did not occur, then Parks and Recreation would be able to move forward with the Nature Park design, along with other important park and recreational facility projects.
I’m unable to recall a time that Parks and Recreation did not receive necessary resources from current and former Commissioners. Our Commissioners, Mr. Brown, Mr. Robinson, Ms. Griggs, Mr. Fournier, and Residents continue to support Parks and Recreation when it comes to resources needed to perform our duties and responsibilities for our amazing City.
Jerry Fogle, Parks and Recreation Director, City of Sarasota
