Welcome Back: Since you left ...

Traffic jams, car carriers and crowds.

They’re all sure signs that summer is over — and season is here.
They’re small prices to pay for living in paradise with the friends who flee the North each winter. By those measures, season is in full swing.

Summers on Longboat Key have a reputation for being slow. But here at the Longboat Observer, we’ve found that news during the so-called slow season pours in as surely as the afternoon showers.
Here, we’ve compiled all the big news you missed while you were at your summer homes, traveling the globe or enjoying lazy summer days at the beach.

It’s our way of saying, “Welcome back.”

May
+ Tropical Storm Andrea brings floods
Tropical Storm Andrea was the Key’s first and only brush with storm season to date this year.
The June 6 storm didn’t cause destruction or major sand loss, but it flooded many north-end streets in Longbeach Village and Sleepy Lagoon.

+ L’Ambiance penthouse sale breaks county record
A L’Ambiance penthouse sold for $6.75 million — the highest price recorded in property records for a condominium unit in Sarasota County history.

Cheryl Loeffler, of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the buyer and seller. The unit went under contract just 19 days after it was listed.

+ Commission selects new town attorney
The Longboat Key Town Commission selected Maggie D. Mooney-Portale, of Lakewood Ranch-based Persson & Cohen, P.A., as its new town attorney.

Commissioners cited both Portale’s experience and the institutional knowledge that comes with hiring an attorney from the same firm as outgoing attorney Dave Persson, who served the town for 23 years.

Persson, who is now the attorney for the city of Venice, has returned to serve the town until January while Portale is on maternity leave.

+ FDOT seeks Cortez Bridge feedback
More than 150 people attended an open-house meeting April 30, at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, to learn more about the Cortez Bridge’s future and give feedback to FDOT officials as part of a two- to three-year study.

The meeting revealed the results of surveys showing the public is split between favoring a new bridge and a rehabilitation of the existing structure. Repairs to the bridge to extend its life will begin next year while plans for a new or rehabilitated bridge are explored.

+ Turtles got an early start on season
Nesting season begins May 1, but turtles hit the beach a day early this year on Longboat Key.

Sanctuary Manager Sheila Connell and maintenance supervisor Fred Boessel found Sarasota County’s first nest of the season near the condominium early April 30, while checking the property’s lighting in preparation for nesting season.

Nesting numbers for Longboat Key were slightly ahead of last year’s, with 639 documented nests, compared with 628 in 2012.

Mote Marine Laboratory reported 2,240 nests in its 35-mile patrol area this year, just behind last year’s record-breaking 2,462 nests.

+ Swan family continues to grow
Swans Stan and Wendy’s nest yielded six healthy cygnets, while Alan and Beverly hatched five baby swans.

Stan and Wendy’s cygnets continue to thrive but, sadly, Alan and Beverly’s cygnets died, with four falling prey to a river otter.

The swan family had other happy news in May: Two young swans have officially paired. Unofficial swankeeper David Novak named them Sully — in honor of retired U.S. Airways Capt. Chelsea “Sully” Sullenberger, who successfully landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in New York City — and Suzie, in honor of two Key residents: Susan Coyne, who has supported the Regal Swan Foundation, in Kissimmee, which has assisted with the swans’ care in recent years, and Sue Gilchrist, Novak’s partner of 21 years.

+ Crosby assumes leadership role at Mote
Dr. Michael Crosby took on the role of Mote Marine Laboratory president/CEO, three months after longtime president and CEO Dr. Kumar Mahadevan announced his retirement and transition to the role of president emeritus.

Crosby leads a staff of more than 190, of which 31 hold Ph.Ds. He joined Mote’s staff in May 2010 to lead the lab’s scientific endeavors.

+ Lee Fox leaves Save Our Seabirds
Save Our Seabirds founder Lee Fox sent a news release May 9, announcing that the organization’s board terminated her.

Board members disagreed with Fox’s claims, saying she received an offer to extend her employment for a year at her $28,000 salary, provided that she operate out of her smaller home-based facility in Wimauma.

+ Stone crabs scarce in season
Stone crab claws were tough to crack earlier this year.

The season, which ended May 15, was one of the slowest in recent memory for many local restaurant owners.

A lack of cold fronts most likely contributed to the scarcity because stone crabs don’t burrow in warmer water temperatures, making them vulnerable to predators.

+ Colony lands a ‘lucky’ break
The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort received a “lucky” break.

No, litigation involving the property didn’t end this summer, but the shuttered property was the site of filming for “The Lucky 6,” a comedy-drama film about six employees of a Sarasota tech startup who win $120 million in the lottery.

It was the inaugural project for the Summer Feature Film Program, a collaboration between the Ringling College of Art and Design and FSU/Asolo Conservatory, in which Ringling students produce films and Asolo students act.

Shooting took place from May 20 through June 13.

June
+ Chiles nixes Mar Vista plan
Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub owner Ed Chiles announced during the June 3 Longboat Key Town Commission meeting that he would not pursue a plan to use the historic Rufus P. Jordan House for receptions and meeting space.

The plan had drawn opposition from residents of the Longbeach Village, who complained about noise and parking at the restaurant.

The commission had already approved the application on first reading in April, but the town realized residents of nearby properties weren’t properly noticed about the hearing.

+ Property values increase by 2.1%
Longboat Key property values rose for the first time since 2008.

Estimates from the Sarasota and Manatee county property appraiser offices showed a Key-wide 2.1% hike in property values. Based on the 2012-13 fiscal year millage rate of 1.8872, town officials projected in June the increase would give the town an extra $171,919 — an amount that wouldn’t offset the approximately $300,000 reduction in non ad-valorem revenues from decreased franchise fees, interest reductions and sale of fixed assets.

+ Town postpones sand project
The town postponed a summer beach project until next year, after the only bid the town received came in more than 40% higher than expected, at more than $13 million.

Town Manager Dave Bullock attributed the price tag to demand to rebuild the Northeast’s coastline after damages from Superstorm Sandy. The sole bidder told the town his company would leave the Northeast for six to eight weeks for the project only if the town paid $5 million to move the dredge to the Key. The town declined the offer.

+ Town hires new finance director
Susan Smith assumed the role of finance director of the town May 28. Smith previously served as finance director for Thomaston, Conn., and Wethersfield, Conn. She was hired for an annual salary of $95,000.

+ Long Bar Pointe meeting ends in compromise
The Manatee County Commission voted to approve a 250-room hotel for the 463-acre Long Bar Pointe property, but nixed a proposed 300-berth marina. Commissioners voted around 2 a.m. Aug. 7, at the end of a meeting that stretched more than 12 hours.

Longboat Key officials monitored the application for the west Bradenton bayfront property closely because of concerns that the marina could damage Sarasota Bay and the nearby coastline.

The commission’s decision means developers Carlos Beruff and Larry Lieberman will have to draw up a new text amendment and reapply to the county.

July
+ Town puts brakes on trolley funds
The town held firm as Manatee County continued its quest to collect $84,000 to fund the island’s trolley route.

The town paid the county $42,000 in the 2010-11 fiscal year, but Town Manager Dave Bullock insisted in a July 8 letter that there was no agreement that the town would continue to pay that amount in the future. In August, the county finally hit the brakes on sending bills to the town.

+ City takes bird’s-eye view of SOS
The Sarasota City Commission ordered city staff to investigate claims made by former Save Our Seabirds (SOS) volunteers at the commission’s July 1 meeting that the facility had rats and mold and that birds were being mistreated.

After five unannounced inspections, staffers reported back to the commission that none of the accusations appeared to be founded.

+ Firefighter reunites with young crash victim
Longboat Key firefighter/paramedic Brian Kolesa reunited July 29 with a 6-year-old girl he rescued while on his way to work in December in Bradenton.

Kolesa performed CPR on Onicka Patterson, who wasn’t breathing after a car accident, and sustained her C-spine until Manatee firefighters arrived. The girl’s mother, Donna Pearson, wondered about the mystery firefighter and finally tracked him down to thank him in July.

+ North-end home sells for $6.8 million
A north Key home at 6001 Gulf of Mexico Drive sold for $6.8 million July 31. It was the highest amount paid for a Longboat Key residence since April 2011.

The Addy-Wittig Team, of Michael Saunders & Co.’s Longboat Key South office, and Jonathan Abrams, of the company’s Siesta Key office, co-listed the property. Lynne Koy, of Longboat Key’s Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, represented the buyer.

+ Key celebrates festive Fourth of July
Community members painted the town red, white and blue July 4, for Longboat Key Freedom Fest. The event, which many longtime attendees say boasted a record crowd, included a parade around Bay Isles Road and games in Bicentennial Park. Town Manager Dave Bullock was so impressed by the artwork of young parade-goers that he snagged a painting to hang in the Town Hall art exhibit.

One thing that made this Fourth of July different from past celebrations: There were no fireworks at Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub later that evening. Owner Ed Chiles opted to nix annual events at the restaurant after hearing complaints from Longbeach Village residents about noise and parking at the restaurant when he submitted redevelopment plans for Mar Vista.

August
+ DeFuria retires from bench after 11 years
The Hon. Rick De Furia retired Aug. 1, after 11 years as a 12th Judicial Circuit Court judge.
De Furia, a Longboat Key resident, told the Longboat Observer that his greatest rewards as a judge came from helping to rehabilitate young people and those struggling with addiction.

+ Swan keeper unveils swan family planning effort
Same-sex unions are the future of the Bay Isles swan family — but not because of any U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Swans will pair off with a same-sex partner if they’re placed together in the same territories.

Unofficial swan keeper David Novak will work over the next five to eight years to establish a same-sex pair for each of the Key’s six swan territories, while relocating other cygnets using his contacts at the Regal Swan Foundation to avoid overpopulation.

+ License cameras start to snap
The long-awaited license-plate recognition camera system went live during the second week in August.
In the first month of operation, the cameras flagged approximately 5,000 vehicles. Those stops included registered owners of vehicles who had an arrest warrant, suspended or expired driver’s license or expired tag and tags that came from stolen vehicles. Police have had to prioritize which drivers to stop.
In August, police made double the number of traffic stops than they made in August 2012.

+ Insurance rates are on the rise
The price of paradise includes rising insurance costs.

Longboat Key property owners who don’t use their island homes as a primary residence are seeing 25% increases in their flood insurance as the result of an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Association’s National Flood Insurance Program. The program also stopped writing new policies for homes built before 1975 while insuring homes built before that date with existing policies at a higher premium.

The overhaul came after Superstorm Sandy ripped through the Northeast last year, resulting in $3 billion in flood losses.

+ Commission approves DROP, early retirement
The Longboat Key Town Commission approved both a five-year Deferred Retirement Options Program (DROP) window and an early-retirement incentive for general employees Aug. 14 in a 4-3 vote.

The decision allowed eight employees to enter DROP. All eligible employees chose the option.

DROP allows employees to retire and begin receiving their pension benefits for up to five years. Benefits plus interest are put into a separate account that the employee can collect when he or she no longer works for the town.

Both the DROP and early-retirement incentive will cost an estimated $1,937,190 amortized over 30 years.

+ Nechtem expands corporate headquarters
Charles “Chuck” Nechtem, president and CEO of Charles Nechtem Associates, announced plans to double his office space from 3,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet in Mediterranean Plaza and add seven associates, bringing his total Longboat Key staff to 23.

The company provides employee-assistance programs and manages mental-health programs and customer-service programs for companies and municipalities throughout the country.

+ Loefgren returns to Longboat Key Chamber
The Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors announced Aug. 23 that Gail Loefgren would return to her role as president.

Loefgren served as chamber president from 1993 to 2008. During that period, the chamber grew from 285 members to more than 600 members and was named Best Small Chamber in Florida by the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals.

+ Hilton submits $24 million plan
Ocean Properties Ltd. submitted plans for a $24 million redevelopment-and-expansion plan for the Longboat Key Hilton Beach Resort in September that could begin in the first or second quarter of 2014.

The plan calls for redeveloping existing Hilton buildings that are home to 102 rooms and seeks 85 additional tourism units. If approved, the resort would become the first applicant to take advantage of a town-wide pool of 250 tourism units that voters approved in 2008.

September 
+ Brenner won’t seek third term
Vice Mayor David Brenner announced he won’t seek a third and final two-year term in March for the District 3 seat he holds on the Longboat Key Town Commission.

Brenner, 78, made his final decision after spending 10 days in France with his wife, Maggie. He was elected to the commission in March 2010.

+ Mar Vista application stalls … again
Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub owner Ed Chiles submitted a fourth application for his restaurant that eliminated the controversial plan to restore the Rufus P. Jordan House, but sought to build a tree house and add 11 seats to the restaurant.

The Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board was scheduled to review the application Sept. 16, but postponed the hearing after Longbeach Village resident Corinne Ragheb submitted an objection to the plan the afternoon before the hearing. The objection stated that the special exception the board recommended and the Longboat Key Town Commission approved in 2010, allowing for 11 additional seats, had expired Nov. 16, 2011.

Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale agreed the exception had expired and Chiles would have to request a new exception. Chiles has not submitted a fifth application yet.

+ State bill dissolves Public Interest Committee
The Longboat Key Public Interest Committee (PIC) dissolved after a state bill eliminated all committees of continuous existence (CCEs). The bill required all CCEs, including PIC, to have a zero bank-account balance by Sept. 30.

Board members of the former PIC will meet in November to discuss the possibility of reorganizing as a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).

+ Landowners approve BID extension
St. Armands Circle landowners voted to approve a 10-year extension of the St. Armands Business Improvement District (BID).

Fifty-four of 69 ballots were cast in favor of the special taxing district.

The first official business for the BID is a $50,000 St. Armands parking feasibility study that’s been supported by the Sarasota City Commission and will be paid for solely with BID funds.

+ Board recommends boat-parking ordinance
The Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board recommended a revised ordinance that would prohibit boat owners from anchoring their vessels on front lawns.

Longbeach Village residents have opposed the ordinance, saying that a ban on boat-and-trailer parking in a historic boating community where many lots don’t have waterfront access is unfair.

The Longboat Key Town Commission will discuss the issue this week.

+ Ocean Properties: $4 million worth of upgrades
Resort at Longboat Key Club General Manager Jeff Mayers detailed the $4 million upgrade the property has undergone since Ocean Properties purchased the resort last year.

Capital investments at the Key Club include upgraded golf courses, a newly renovated spa, new pool deck furniture, new golf carts, new landscaping, new menu offerings, new restaurant equipment and more.

+ Developer proposes Villa Am Meer project
Sarasota developer Jay Tallman, president of Ascentia Group LLC, and Northbrook, Ill.-based BBC Key LLC, submitted pre-application materials to transform the historic, five-acre Villa Am Meer parcel at 2251 Gulf of Mexico Drive into a 16 luxury residential condominium site.

The $60 million project will likely come before the Longboat Key Town Commission in January or February.

+ Commission approves 10% millage hike
The Longboat Key Town Commission approved a millage rate of 2.0760 mills, an amount that’s 10% higher than the rate of 1.8872 mills that was in effect since 2010.

Commissioners opted to raise the millage rate after Town Manager Dave Bullock explained rising pension costs called for an increase, either this year or the following fiscal year.

+ PZ&B director Robin Meyer resigns
Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Robin Meyer resigned Sept. 26, effective immediately.

Meyer, who was hired in May 2012, received three months’ severance pay, according to Town Manager Dave Bullock, who described Meyer’s departure as a resignation, but said he determined severance “was appropriate in this situation.”

Bullock appointed town planner Alaina Ray to lead the department in the interim.

+ Klauber, Association confirm settlement
The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association board of directors and longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber signed a tentative agreement Sept. 25 that would give Klauber $3 million through a “Klauber Family Consulting Agreement” and dole out another $2.3 million to bankruptcy trustee William Maloney over five years to distribute to creditors. If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May approves, the agreement would absolve the association from a $25 million judgment for damages Klauber won last year.

Colony Lender LLC, which owns bank loans on Klauber’s property and is seeking to collect on a $13 million judgment, opposes the proposed settlement. In October, Colony Lender attorney Michael Assaf told May that Orlando-based Unicorp National Development would be willing to pay $2.3 million cash immediately to pay off creditors if chosen as the property’s developer.

May will review the proposed settlement and a series of motions Nov. 22, in his Tampa courtroom.

+ State delivers kick to groin objections
The state’s Department of Environmental Protection dismissed petitions from former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash and Longbeach Village resident Gene Jaleski objecting to the construction of three north-end groins.

The state dismissed McClash’s petition because he didn’t sufficiently state why he had standing to file and Jaleski’s petition because he filed it after a July 16 deadline. It also dismissed both petitions because they contained allegations of federal environmental claims over which the town has no jurisdiction.

McClash has since re-filed his appeal, and a state hearing will be scheduled soon to review the appeal.

October
+ Aging in Paradise hires executive director
Longboat Island Chapel hired Donna Dunio for the new position of executive director of its Aging in Paradise Resource Center (AIPRC).

Dunio is the nonprofit organization’s first paid employee and was chosen from a pool of 102 applicants. She previously served as senior director of resource development for American Red Cross Southwest Florida Chapter.

+ Town freezes two pension plans
The town froze its firefighter and general employee pension plans Oct. 1, as anticipated, at the start of the new fiscal year.

Twenty-nine of the town’s firefighters enrolled in the Florida Retirement System (FRS) plan, while five firefighters declined to enroll, opting instead to enter the Deferred Retirement Options Program (DROP).

Firefighters agreed to split the required FRS contribution with the town and cap the town’s required contribution at 13% of their salaries.

The town set up defined-contribution 401(a) accounts for general employees, who are eligible for a town match of up to 13% of their salaries.

The town also reached an 11th-hour agreement with the Longboat Key Police Union in October on a contract that will freeze the police pension plan and set up 401(a) accounts for police officers. The union rejected an offer similar to the FRS agreement the town reached with firefighters because of concerns about the FRS plan’s rising costs.

+ Old Publix plaza comes down
Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. demolished the last remaining part of the old Avenue of the Flowers plaza to make room for additional parking.

The company originally planned to tear down the plaza in Easter but ran into scheduling issues.

+ Colony severs relationship with developer
The Colony Beach & Tennis Association board terminated its relationship with development partner JHM Financial Group Oct. 16, after the parties couldn’t reach an agreement.

It’s the second time the association has parted ways with its developer. In May 2012, the board voted unanimously to end its relationship with Club Holdings LLC.

+ Whitney Beach Plaza welcomes first new tenants
The mostly vacant Whitney Beach Plaza received its first new tenants in October: Linen Locker, a 24/7 laundry and dry-cleaning kiosk, and a second Engel & Volkers Longboat Key real estate office.

According to listing agent Debbie Anglin, of Ian Black Real Estate, leases have been signed for a breakfast-and-lunch restaurant and an attorney’s office.

+ Town to budget pension debt
The town doesn’t plan to ask voters to approve a bond to pay down pension debt. Town staff and the Investment Advisory Committee recommended the town budget each year to pay more than its required contribution toward pension debt. Staff and committee members agreed it doesn’t make financial sense to pay off all the debt at once through a bond because of rising bond market interest rates.

+ ULI panel presents recommendations
An Urban Land Institute panel suggested the town toss its codes and Comprehensive Plan and start from scratch when it presented its recommendations to the Longboat Key Town Commission Oct. 25, after a five-day study of the Key.

Other recommendations from the $125,000 study: Relax the 30-day rental restriction mandate during off-season (the commission already nixed this idea); make Bayfront Park a recreational hub for outdoor activities but don’t build a community center there; and encourage a town center concept for the area around Publix.

The panel will submit a formal report to the town later this year.

+ Chart House blaze causes $25,000 in damage
An early morning fire at the Chart House Restaurant resulted in $25,000 worth of damage Oct. 22. The fire was limited to the decking area and didn’t damage the structure. The state is investigating the cause of the blaze, including the possibility that it resulted from a tossed cigarette.