In Brief

+ Commission gives support for park
The Town Commission gave support for the new concept plan at Bayfront Park Recreation Center, which includes a new community center on the park’s most northern parcel. Town staff will create a set of steps that need to be taken to deal with zoning, Comprehensive Plan changes and funding, so the commission can continue to make decisions regarding the project.
 

The town’s Comprehensive Plan requires a baseball field to be a part of the plan, which had previously been removed from the concept plan.

+ Town Commission changes its mind
It took two meetings and more than two hours of combined discussion, but the Town Commission finally decided to allow the Planning and Zoning Board to review the controversial sign code in its entirety at its Thursday, April 16 regular workshop.

Five of the seven commissioners previously took issue with the fact that the planning board wanted to review the sign code and had planned to review it at the workshop.

But, instead, the commission considered Commissioner Gene Jaleski’s idea to form an ad hoc citizens committee to review the code, before deciding to just let its planning board review the sign code.

Commissioners Jim Brown, Peter O’Connor and George Spoll and Mayor Lee Rothenberg reached a consensus to let the board review it at public hearings.

At the end of the discussion, O’Connor made his fellow commissioners laugh when he reminded them that the entire discussion could have been avoided if the item had not been removed from the consent agenda just 10 days earlier at their regular meeting.

+ Town accepts stimulus money
The Longboat Key Town Commission agreed to accept the $500,000 in economic-stimulus-package monies for the beautification of Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Trees, shrubbery, trash receptacles, benches and welcome signs are some of the items that the town can use what’s left of the federal funds after design, which is expected to be approximately $350,000, said Public Works Director Juan Florensa.

Bidding for the project will begin soon, once town staff gives dimensions for new welcome signs on either end of the Key.

+ Meetings
& Agendas
• Town Commission Regular Meeting — 7 p.m. Monday, May 4.
 

All meetings take place at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.