News Briefs

+ Town Hall to close for Thanksgiving holiday
Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road, will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday and will re-open at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28. Solid waste pickup scheduled for Nov. 24 will occur Nov. 25. For information, call 316-1999.

+ Ray Rajewski to run for District 3 seat
Bay Isles resident Ray Rajewski has qualified and plans to run for the Longboat Key Town Commission District 3 seat currently held by Vice Mayor David Brenner. The deadline for candidates to submit paperwork to the Sarasota and Manatee county supervisor of elections offices was Monday, Nov. 21. The town’s election is scheduled for March 20.

+ Town issues requests for proposals
Interim Town Manager David Bullock issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for a telecommunications study and for the town’s update of its Comprehensive Beach Management Plan Monday, Nov. 21. Responses for the telecommunications study are due Dec. 7. Bullock told the Longboat Key Town Commission Nov. 17 that he could not estimate how long the study would take. Responses for the coastal-engineering proposal are due Dec. 21.

+ Town Commission approves write-off of debt
The Longboat Key Town Commission approved a write-off of $25,585.98 of uncollectible water-and-sewer utility receivables that could not be collected. According to a memorandum Finance Director Tom Kelley sent to Interim Town Manager David Bullock, $23,934.22 of the outstanding amount stemmed from penalties charged on accounts, and $1,651.76 was accrued through services provided. More than $22,000 of unpaid penalties were accumulated in 2004 by a single residence owned by Sarasota Bay Investments.

+ Commission appoints new audit firm
The Longboat Key Town Commission appointed Carr, Riggs & Ingram as the town’s new auditing firm at its Thursday, Nov. 17 meeting. The audit selection committee, created after the commission ended the town’s relationship with the Bradenton-based Shinn & Co. in September, ranked their top three choices of audit firms for the commission.

+ Correction
The Bacchus on the Beach festival, benefiting the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design, raised $6,800. The amount raised was incorrectly stated in the Nov. 17 article.

Meetings & agendas
• Town Commission Regular Meeting — 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5
• Police Officers’ Pension Board Meeting — 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6
• General Employees’ Pension Board Meeting — 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6
• Firefighters’ Pension Board Meeting — 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6
• Zoning Board of Appeals — 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8
All meetings take place at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.