Passing the Leash
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Sarah Karon
Yep that’s the direction I was aiming for. Unfortunately, I’m a part-time resident there but hopefully if you think the idea is good, and if you don’t, that’s fine as well hopefully you are somebody that’s associated with. You can take up that discussion regardless of whether or not it were to pass and go through in terms of changing the regulations I think it’s worth wild of a discussion from a public safety, sanitation standpoint, and just making the beach pleasant because as you will know, the service dog situation has been completely misused by dog owners to a large degree. And to be clear, I’m not anti-service dogs at all.
Pete Dewlaney
Longboat Key
Speak! You Get Three Minutes
To: Pete Dewlaney
Yes indeed, Pete, sanitation and safety are the first concerns. So currently, the Town ordinance restricts all animals from our beaches, other than documented service animals, which must be restrained. If you’d like to request the Town to consider a new ordinance that allows animals on leashes to be present on the beach as long as they are within 200 feet of the shoreline, your first step would be to attend a Town Commission meeting and speak to the group as a member of the public. You will have three minutes to share your thoughts, then the Commission can ask questions and discuss with you before advising any next steps. Our next meeting will be held in Town Hall on Monday, Nov. 9, beginning at 1 p.m. After that, meetings are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Dec. 7 and 14. Thanks for teeing this up, it will be an interesting point to discuss.
Sarah Karon
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
Mind the Gap: All 200 Feet of It
To: Longboat Key Sarah Karon
No, not at all. Dogs are the beach are an issue of sanitation and safety. You never commented on my suggestion of restricting dogs to no closer than 200 ft of the shoreline.
Pete Dewlaney
Longboat Key
For the Birds (and the Turtles)
To: Pete Dewlaney
Thanks for writing and sorry for my delayed response (traveling). I, too, am a dog lover and a beach lover and I can relate to your frustration. However, once I learned about the endangered shorebird species who nest in our dunes I had an easier time accepting the dog restrictions. Apparently even the sight of a predator can prompt a nesting shorebird to abandon its vulnerable nest. Beyond birds, our sea turtle nests are also vulnerable to dog excavations.
If you see anyone with a dog off-leash, please call 941-316-1201. We’re all trying to educate beachgoers and protect the habitats.
For off-leash dog time, try Bayfront Park (fenced play areas) and Durante Park (nice small bayside beach). My two labs enjoy both! Thank you for being in touch, I hope this alleviates your concerns.
Sarah Karon
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
The Leash We Can Do
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Sarah Karon
Hello, I’m a frequent visitor to LBK. We’ve been coming to your little slice of Paradise for many years. However, you knew something was coming, of course; well, no dogs are allowed on Longboat key while service dogs are allowed and while I recently learned of this and have seen service dogs off leash, which they’re not supposed to be and urinating, etc. in the water.
Why not meet the issue halfway in between and while your service dogs are allowed on the beach except for except for emotional support dogs just revise the ordinance to read that dogs while they’re allowed on the beach, they must remain 200 feet from the shoreline and on leash.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide some feedback.
Pete Dewlaney
Longboat Key
Love Means Nothing, but 22 Years Means a Lot
To: Longboat Key Commissioner BJ Bishop
Thank you so much BJ, that truly means a lot to me! 22 years have flown by! All of you wonderful members/friends and great co-workers/Kay have made it a wonderful place to work.
Grace Hacket
Tennis Center
Town of Longboat Key
Game, Set, Match: 22 Years
To: Longboat Key Tennis Center Grace Hackett
Grace: Congratulations on your 22 year anniversary with the Town. You have done so much for the tennis center and been such a great friend for everyone there.
BJ Bishop
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
It Passed. Now Pass the Calculator.
To: Longboat Key Commission
As you probably already know, Amendment 3 passed. The team will prepare strategies that we will share with you all at an upcoming workshop. We are very blessed to have you all serving as the elected body for LBK!
In addition, we are extremely fortunate to have great employees lead by amazing Directors and Chiefs. Like anything else that comes our way, we will work towards positive solutions and continue to serve the residents of LBK in the manner they deserve. Thank you for serving and for the confidence you all have in this team. Together, we will continue to be an example for other municipalities to learn from!
George Landry
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
Scorecard From the Ballot Box
To: Longboat Key Commission
Jen Ahearn Koch and Flo Entler won the City of Sarasota seats in the town election.
Jim Boyd won his State Senate Seat (really good thing since he will be Senate President)
Nick Pachota won State House Seat 74
Jordan Varnadore won State House District 71
Bill Conerly won State House District 72
Fiona McFarland won State House District 73
Danny Nix won State House District 75
Amanda Ballard won District 2 County Commission seat in Manatee Tara Poulton won District 6 (at large) Commission seat in Manatee
District 16 House Seat won by Sydney Gruters
I have written congratulations notes to our state and federal winners.
BJ Bishop
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
Tallahassee Takes Note
To: Longboat Key Deputy Clerk Stephanie Garcia
Thank you for forwarding Commissioner Coffin’s email. I appreciate him taking the time to share his thoughts and suggestions. I’ll make sure this is considered as we continue the committee’s discussions on housing and development issues. Please pass along my thanks to Commissioner Coffin.
David Cruz
Deputy General Counsel/Legislative Counsel
Florida League of Cities, Inc.
Return to Sender: One Letter Too Many
To: Florida League of Cities Deputy General Counsel David Cruz
Commissioner Coffin meant to send this to you, but unfortunately, he included an extra letter in your name. Please see the information below. Thank you!
Stephanie Garcia
Deputy Town Clerk
Town of Longboat Key
No Island Is One-Size-Fits-All
To: Florida League of Cities Deputy General Counsel David Cruz
The Town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Director, Allen Parsons, and I recently discussed an issue that we thought might be worth bringing before the committee for consideration.
As promised, I wanted to share some initial thoughts on the importance of providing barrier island communities with greater local authority to regulate development, particularly when statewide legislative initiatives may not fully account for their unique challenges.
While the State’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing are important and well-intentioned, these initiatives can unintentionally apply a one-size-fits-all approach to jurisdictions with vastly different circumstances.
Barrier island communities face unique public safety, infrastructure, and development challenges, particularly when it comes to hurricane evacuation. With limited routes on and off the islands, safely evacuating residents ahead of major weather event is a significant concern. Additionally, many barrier island communities are already managing development capacity in increasingly vulnerable coastal areas.
These challenges become even more critical during major weather events, when entire communities may be shut down, inaccessible to emergency assistance, or completely isolated due to damage or closures affecting the limited access routes.
While we recognize the importance of addressing affordable housing needs statewide, we believe there is a strong case for the Legislature to provide barrier island communities with greater flexibility and local authority to determine where, how, and to what extent additional development can safely occur.
My goal would not be to undermine the State’s housing objectives, but rather to ensure that public safety, evacuation capacity, and the unique vulnerabilities of barrier island communities are appropriately considered at the local level in development decisions.
This is an initial attempt to frame the issue, but we would welcome the opportunity to explore whether this might be an appropriate topic for future committee discussion.
Thank you for your consideration!
Gary Coffin
Town Commissioner
Longboat Key
Circling Back (Lawnmower Not Included)
To: Longboat Key Commissioner BJ Bishop
The team will look into this and circle back to you.
George Landry
Town Manager
Town of Longboat Key
The Grass Is Always Taller on DeNarvaez
To: Longboat Key Town Manager George Landry
I was contacted by a resident of DeNarvaez Dr. They have reached out to Code Enforcement several times, using our automated phone system and filling out some form with a code complaint about 535 and 541 DeNarvaez Dr. These lots belong to the same person. The grass has not been dealt with since July and none of the neighbor’s attempts to get action from Code Enforcement has produced any results.
BJ Bishop
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
SBEP Staff Update
To: Longboat Key Commission
I want to let you know about an upcoming staff transition at the SBEP. After five years of dedicated service as our Operations Manager, Heather Moody will be leaving the organization on November 30th. Throughout her time with the SBEP, Heather has played an essential role in ensuring our operations run efficiently and effectively. Her contributions have supported not only the organization but also our many partners throughout the watershed.
Heather has long expressed an interest in returning to conservation, and she has accepted an exciting position with The Nature Conservancy, where she will manage the 11,500-acre Disney Wilderness Preserve. This is a wonderful opportunity for her to reconnect with the type of work she is passionate about, and we are thrilled for her as she takes this next step in her career.
We thank Heather for her outstanding service to the SBEP and wish her every success in her new role. The SBEP will be advertising the Operations Manager position starting on Monday, November 2nd in the Careers page of our website. If you know of qualified candidates, please feel free to share the opportunity or circulate the announcement through your professional networks.
Ryan Gandy
Executive Director
Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
SBEP Staff Update
To: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Ryan Gandy
So sorry to hear about Heather leaving. I’m very excited for her and congratulate her on her new position. It sounds like a perfect match for her skill set. Please give her our best from all of us on Longboat Key, and thank her for her dedication throughout the years.
Gary Coffin
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
SBEP Staff Update
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Gary Coffin
She has been an essential part of our team and will be missed. I will relay your gratitude for her service and wishing her good luck in the new job. It is great to see staff grow and move on to new opportunities.
Ryan Gandy
Executive Director
Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
SBEP Staff Update
To: Sarasota Bay Estuary Executive Director Ryan Gandy
Thanks, Ryan please let me know if I can be of any assistance through the transition.
Gary Coffin
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
The Great Sidewalk Crumble of GMD
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Steve Branham
Hi Steve, Hope you are doing great. I don’t know if the town is aware of what’s happening on our sidewalks or not, but I wanted to make someone was aware.
With the new water piping in Country Club Shores, the contractor is continually running up and down the GOM sidewalk, taking bobcats with buckets full of soil and sod to their staging area on Channel dr. Attached are a few damage photos I grabbed this morning. You can also see in one of the attached photos the tire marks and dirt that shows this is how they are moving it. It’s destroying the concrete that was, apparently, never designed to take that much weight. Coupling that weight with all of the rain we had this month, has probably exasperated the problem. There are serious cracks and some with elevation changes. These pictures are just from a two-block stretch starting in front of Bay Harbour going north. I would suggest that the entire length of CCS be inspected, as well as the sidewalks in front of BH. Three of the photos are in the front of our complex.
As someone who has walked GOM almost daily for 5 years, I’m pretty familiar as to what the sidewalks have looked like over the years and it been nothing like this. Some cracks may look old but that’s just because dirt has settled into them.
Hopefully the town knew this was going to happen and has a plan for repairs as soon as the pipes are done. As a member of the Bay Harbour Board of Directors, I would appreciate any information the Town could give us on that. I have copied the BH president on this email.
As you know I broke my wrist falling on GOM years ago and I wouldn’t want to see it happen to anyone else. Thank you Steve. I know your attention to detail, so I’m sure you will pass this along to the appropriate department.
Kathleen D. Wingate
Broker Associate Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The Great Sidewalk Crumble of GMD
To: George Landry
Thanks for making the Town aware, Kathleen. Safety and good repair are always concerns for the Town. George, please forward this to the appropriate staff for follow up regarding the project/repairs and response to Ms. Wingate and the HOA President.
Steve Branham
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
Unearthing Vintage Commission Videos
To: Longboat Key Mayor Debra Williams
Savannah asked me if we had access to older Commission Meetings for you. IBM hosts are videos under two channels. One channel is more recent (including our live streaming) and the other is older content. Here is the channel link but if you know the specific meeting, I can send you the direct link as well. You may have to click down below to continue loading them till you reach that date range.
Jason Keen
Chief Information Officer
Town of Longboat Key
Sleepy Lagoon Wakes Up to $400K in Drainage Dollars
To: Blythe Jeffers
You probably already know about this but just in case.
“More than $400,000 for Longboat Key to plan and design drainage improvements to reduce flooding risk in the Sleepy Lagoon neighborhood. This funding is part of more than $896 million that FEMA announced for more than 620 projects nationwide and is the latest example of the billions of dollars in disaster recovery provided by FEMA to support state and local communities as they work to rebuild from recent natural disasters.”
Sarah Karon
Commissioner
Town of Longboat Key
Sleepy Lagoon Wakes Up to $400K in Drainage Dollars
To: Longboat Key Commissioner Sarah Karon
Thank you Sarah. No, I was not aware so I appreciate the heads up. Are you free for coffee sometime in the next 2 weeks?
Blythe Jeffers
Longboat Key
The Planning Board’s Return to In-Person Reporting
To: Sarasota City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch
It was nice running into you today in the Rosemary District. Seeing you both reminded me of a discussion I had about the Planning Board reporting process to the City Commission.
The commissioner informed me that historically the PB regularly reported on its activities to the CC in person. The idea was to add value for the CC from its advisory board and supplement the recordings and minutes.
I’d like to bring reviving this process up as a PB board topic. And I’ve asked Commissioner Ahern-Koch if she would be willing to describe to the PB what used to happen and how it worked. I spoke with her today and she agreed to attend an upcoming PB meeting. The commissioner could be available for the PB meeting on December 9, 2026.
Would it be possible to add an agenda item for the start of the December meeting to allow the commissioner to speak to the board? I’m asking for board agenda item at the start of the December meeting so the commissioner needn’t sit through a potentially long meeting for a short discussion.
Alexandrea Davis-Shaw
Engineer
City of Sarasota
The Planning Board’s Return to In-Person Reporting
To: Verne Hall
This project info has been “out there” since the work started, but the more we share our progress with the residents the better, especially since the good news is that the project is scheduled to be completed ahead of the planned timeline. This is great information for all the North Trail Neighbourhoods so I have copied some additional folks on this email. Please share.
Thanks again for the informative and timely response!
Jen Ahearn-Koch
City Commissioner
City of Sarasota
Tamiami Trail’s Makeover
To: Jana Hoefling
The US 41 water main replacement project replaces the existing 8-inch Asbestos Cement (AC) water main along the US 41 corridor with a new 18-inch water main to improve the drinking water distribution system resilience and provide for future demand. The project includes replacement of 20 fire hydrants, new water service connections, and new water meters with meter boxes/covers.
The project has a proposed construction timeline of 2.5 years, but completion is anticipated early in the first quarter of 2027 which is just under 1.5 years. Once the project is complete, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is responsible for paving US 41 from 14th Street to University Parkway. Public Works will perform project management for the project subject to procurement and other FDOT scheduling requirements. If you have any additional questions please contact me or Nik.
Verne Hall
Utilities Director
Facilities Director
City of Sarasota
