IN BRIEF

+ Key Club appeal date set for Sept. 17

Town Attorney David Persson has decided the Zoning Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction over The Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Islandside renovation project’s appeal.

The zoning board, Persson said, will hear the appeal at its 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 17 regular meeting.

The Longboat Key Association, which owns Longboat Club Road, appealed Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Simpson’s decision to deem the Islandside application complete earlier this month.

Persson said the zoning board would decide at the meeting, once and for all, whether the association has to sign the application because curb cuts need to be performed on Longboat Club Road.

Meanwhile, town staff is moving forward with coordinating a date and finding a suitable location for the Planning and Zoning Board’s October public hearing on the proposed $400 million project.

+ Publix discussions get underway

Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Simpson and Commissioner Jim Brown met with Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. officials Friday, Aug. 21 to discuss potential plans for Avenue of the Flowers.

Publix spokesperson Shannon Patten said there is no news to report yet on plans for the plaza.

“We are still evaluating plans and exploring our options for the plaza,” Patten said.
In the meantime, Publix has begun advertising spaces for lease in the existing plaza.

+ Commission addresses projects

The Longboat Key Town Commission will discuss the 2009-10 fiscal-year budget and two water-and-wastewater projects at two consecutive meetings starting at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.

After a budget discussion, the commission will consider approving a $2.1 million contractor bid that will pay for a project to upgrade town water lines along Gulf of Mexico Drive from Bay Isles Road to the south end of the Key starting in October.

The town will use part of its $7 million state revolving-fund loan, also known as an SRF loan, to fund the project. The SRF loan has a 2.82% interest rate.

Public Works Director Juan Florensa said the bid is lower than the anticipated $4 million that staff originally expected the project would cost.

The project is expected to take at least 18 months to complete.