WELCOME BACK: What you missed

The general feeling is that Sarasota gets a little sleepier in the summer. Snowbirds have flown the coup, traffic flows once again on Tamiami Trail and parking spots downtown can be found in abundance. But, this summer proved that news in this town never falls short. The City Commission removed benches in Selby Five Points Park, not once but twice; it will revisit the issue in December. Eight Sarasota County employees resigned or were fired amid a procurement department scandal, including County Administrator Jim Ley. Terry Lewis stepped in as interim county administrator. And the battle for Selby Five Points Park, between the homeless and their supporters and those against the homeless congregating there, rages on.

The City Commission seated three new commissioners, and its votes throughout the summer show a more business-minded commission: Parking meters were installed, bagged and then moved off certain streets, after downtown merchants flooded the commission chambers to explain the meters’ impact.
And then there are stories that embody the phrase: “Only in Sarasota.” For instance: CLUCK, Citizens Lobbying for Urban Chicken Keeping, continues to push for county-wide chicken keeping; and a heroic visitor apprehended a bank robber while visiting his family.

So, sit back, relax, and catch up on the news you may have missed from May through October.

MAY 
+ Yacht broker wants to rebuild boat basin
The once-thriving landmark on the bayfront at the western terminus of Fruitville Road, the Quay, was the spot for nightlife in the 1990s and also a boating hotspot.

Four years after it was demolished, yacht broker Roy Kaplan has been lobbying to resurrect the boat basin, which includes property owned by the Hyatt Regency hotel and private condo buildings.
But until the ownership gets straightened out, no one can do anything with that property.

Irish developer Paddy Kelly and his Irish American Management Services Ltd. are still the official owners of the Quay property, but, in essence, the Irish government controls the land, because it took over the bank that held the mortgage.

Bob Morris, who is part of a Sarasota development group trying to acquire the property, believes the government will hold onto the property at least for several more months to try to recoup some of its lost value.

+ CLUCK makes noise at county level
Three months after it was successful in getting City Hall to allow chicken keeping in Sarasota, advocates prepared to push county commissioners to OK it across the entire county.

“We’re testing the waters to see if there will be acceptance or a lot of opposition,” said Laney Poire, coordinator of CLUCK, Citizens Lobbying for Urban Chicken Keeping.

CLUCK wants the county to allow people to keep chickens in their backyards in residential areas.
Currently, the county only allows them in open-use zones, which are mainly agricultural, because it categorizes chickens as livestock, not pets.

But CLUCK members say chickens are good pets for several reasons:
• They provide eggs for food.
• They teach kids about food sources.
• They provide natural plant fertilizer.

During the fight over chicken keeping in the city, opponents expressed concerns mainly about noise and waste.

But supporters said chickens aren’t noisier or messier than other pets.

+ U.S.S. Sarasota holds reunion
About 30 former crew members of the U.S.S. Sarasota Naval ship descended on Sarasota the week of May 12, 20 years after the group’s inaugural reunion.

The U.S.S. Sarasota was a 12,000-ton Naval attack transport ship in the United States Fleet named after Sarasota County.

Nicknamed the “SARA,” the U.S.S. Sarasota was built in California and commissioned Aug. 16, 1944. The ship served in the Southwest Pacific Ocean during World War II, and during the war, transported troops, defended itself against air attacks, aided wounded ships and engaged in assaults and landings on Lingayen, Iwo Shima, Japan, Okinawa, Japan, and the Philippines.

+ Mayor Atwell outlines approach this year
City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell, who was appointed mayor May 13, has a determination to do what she thinks is best for the city. She said the citizens of Sarasota can look forward to a number of changes under her leadership, including being more friendly to business, more attentive to city staff and more likely to get things done in a timely fashion.

“We’re not going to keep throwing up impediments in developing the city,” she said. “(Citizens) sometimes associate a development with the personality of the developer. We can’t throw out the merits of the case with a development. The more development we bring in, it’s only going to help the bottom line when budget time comes.”

+ All benches removed from Selby Five Points Park
In April, the city removed six benches from Selby Five Points Park, because residents had complained that the benches attracted transients and panhandlers and allowed them to mass together, which intimidates some citizens and tourists.

A month-and-a-half later, residents came forward to ask that the remaining three benches in the park also be removed to detract people — namely homeless people — from gathering there.

After a three-month trial of bench removal from July to September, the Sarasota City Commission will revisit the bench issue in early December.

+ City of Sarasota on the hook for park funding
City commissioners approved May 16 a new 10-year parks agreement between the city and Sarasota County.

Within five years, the city will be responsible for millions of dollars in park operations costs that it had not previously funded.

Sarasota County currently funds parks within the city limits, but due to its own budget constraints, it plans to withdraw most of the money it has traditionally devoted to the city’s park operations.

Annually, the county contributes $2.9 million to run city parks.

The previous agreement expired last year but had been extended six times, while the county and city negotiated a new deal.

Terms called for the city to take over all funding for 16 smaller “neighborhood” parks. The county will continue to fund “regional” parks, which are defined as those that attract people from the city and county

+ County administrator resigns after procurement scandal
For 14 years, Jim Ley served as Sarasota County administrator.

It took just minutes for him to say his final goodbyes after the County Commission accepted his resignation Wednesday, May 25.

Caught up in a procurement-department scandal that took place under his watch, Ley offered his resignation during the Tuesday, May 24, commission meeting.

By May 24, seven county employees were fired or resigned for offenses ranging from allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in gifts from companies securing lucrative county bids to improperly using county credit cards.

+ Sarasota visitor apprehends bank robber
After a gunman threatened his son inside a bank, a vacationing U.S. Army staff sergeant chased down the crook, disarmed him and held him for sheriff’s deputies.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Eddie Peoples flew into the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport with his wife and four young children May 31. He and his family were here visiting his sick father.

While Peoples was inside the Bank of America at 3600 Bee Ridge Road, he saw a man enter the bank and pull out a gun. The man took money from four tellers, and after ensuring his children’s safety, Peoples jumped in his rented van and blocked the thief was leaving.

+ Casey Key restoration to begin
County commissioners approved May 10 a $559,650 contract with an environmental-restoration company to improve Palmer Point Park, on Casey Key, which was overrun with invasive species, such as the Australian pine.

Water quality and wetlands restoration are the project’s main goals.

It used to be a wetlands, but the placement of dredge spoil in the area destroyed that natural habitat.

The project will restore two acres of Palmer Point Park by removing invasive, exotic and nuisance trees and plants, re-grading the land by taking out excess dredged material and re-plant native coastal vegetation, such as mangroves and marsh grass, as well as live oaks and sabal palms.

+ Terry Lewis steps in as interim administrator
Terry Lewis had planned to retire, but his phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

The former colonel with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and former North Port police chief has been in high demand in the past year.

The latest call was from Sarasota County government, which tapped Lewis June 8 to be its interim county administrator for up to six months following the resignation of former County Administrator Jim Ley, who left in May amid a widespread procurement scandal.

Lewis, 59, agreed to serve for up to six months.

“I want to stop the bleeding and then fix it,” he said. “The community wants to know how we’ll prevent it from happening again.”

JUNE
+ Observer Group acquires the Pelican Press
The Observer Group Inc. acquired the 40-year-old Pelican Press from the Milwaukee-based Journal Community Publishing Group Inc. The purchase increased the number of newspapers the Observer Group publishes to six.

+ Panhandling outlawed near downtown parking meters
Wanting to protect citizens who use downtown parking meters, the city has adopted an ordinance to make it illegal to panhandle within 20 feet of a meter.

“This is in direct response to something that happens anytime you install something that requires people to take out their wallets or purses,” said Sarasota Police Capt. Jeff Karr.

Panhandling is already illegal near a number of places where people take out money, including bank ATMs, bus stops, city buses, sidewalk cafes, public parks and public parking garages.

+ Observers named top-three Florida weeklies
The Longboat, East County and Sarasota Observers were named the top-three weekly newspapers in the state in the Florida Press Association’s 2010 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest. YourObserver.com also received top honors in its category. The Observer Group received a total 27 awards at the FPA’s annual convention July 1.

+ Tempers flare over homelessness issues
The June 20 City Commission meeting devolved into a session of civil disobedience, name-calling and physical threats.

At issue were several items that homeless supporters and advocates felt were aimed at ridding the city of homeless people.

The removal of benches at Selby Five Points Park, a petition to eliminate homeless feedings at the same park, an ordinance outlawing panhandling within 20 feet of parking meters and the banning of smoking in city parks were all on the agenda and all had large turnouts of supporters and opponents.

A former mayor’s refusal to stop talking when his allotted time was up led to a few more incidents of disobedience, cursing and threats of violence.

Richard Martin, a former Sarasota mayor, is now executive director of the Suncoast Partership to End Homelessness.

He expressed incredulousness several times throughout the day at the steps he believed the city was taking to push homeless men and women out of the area.

After Martin refused to stop talking once his allotted time to speak was up, some downtown residents told him to stop talking. Then, a homeless man in the audience began yelling at those residents.

JULY
+ Commission hits the brakes on parking meters
Approximately 460 downtown parking spaces got some change at Tuesday’s Sarasota City Commission meeting — and it wasn’t in the form of coins. The commission voted to bag parking meters until Oct. 1 to allow the city to gather input from downtown business owners.

The 3-2 vote came after commissioners heard from more than a dozen merchants, most of whom said that the meters, which went into effect May 23, have negatively impacted their businesses.

After starting the meter program again Oct. 3, the commission decided meters should have seasonal rates of 50 cents per hour from May to October and $1 per hour from November to April.

+ Homeless battle continues
After downtown resident Phil Grande bused homeless people to Cherokee Park to dine in front of Vice Mayor Terry Turner’s house in July, Mayor Suzanne Atwell attacked that stunt and asked for more civil discourse.

Atwell took the unusual step of opening a City Commission meeting with a statement criticizing Grande.
“It’s time to respond to the vitriolic (comments),” said Atwell Monday. “It has gone beyond reasonable standards.”

Grande began July 11 by paying for bus rides for the homeless to eat and hang out in front of Turner’s house.

On July 12, he chartered a bus and catered a meal from Sonny’s Bar-B-Q for about 40 homeless people.

Again, on July 15, he provided bus fare and food for homeless to visit Turner’s neighborhood.
He’s also been waging an e-mail war with city officials.

Grande opposes the organized homeless feedings outside his condo at Selby Five Points Park. For a while, Turner shared that view.

But Turner said he began to feel the measures the city was taking to keep the homeless out of the park were becoming overkill.

That angered Grande, who accused Turner of caving to political pressure.

+ Food fight erupts between two eateries
The relationship between the owner of Patrick’s Restaurant and Tavern, Patrick Sullivan, and his landlord, Harry Walia, soured, which prompted a move down the street earlier this year.

After Patrick’s moved from the Kress International Plaza to a new location at 1481 Main St., Sullivan said his restaurant was being mimicked by his former landlord.

Walia opened Patty’s on Main in the former Patrick’s Restaurant spot; the two restaurants had similar names and similar menu items. Walia denied the claim and said Patty’s is named after the restaurant’s general manager, Patty Ridings, who formerly worked for Sullivan at Patrick’s.

Patty’s on Main closed in early November. Patrick’s remains at its new location. Sullivan said the business is doing well.

AUGUST
+ Group addresses homeless feedings
The Sarasota Ministerial Association approached city officials, in an attempt to be a facilitator between Selby Five Points Park area residents and business leaders and groups feeding the homeless in the park.
Sarasota Ministerial Association President and Goodwill Industries of Sarasota Chaplain Tom Pfaff said his organization would hold two separate independent meetings this fall to address the issue and could reveal its recommendations as early as January.

One meeting will be held with city residents and merchants to address the homeless feedings in the park and how it has disrupted the community. The other meeting will be held with area churches and associations that have held feedings in the park.

+ Roundabout schedule revealed for downtown
Construction on two Ringling Boulevard roundabouts at Palm Avenue and Pineapple Avenue will begin Nov. 14, roughly at the same time a paving project on Fruitville Road is scheduled to begin at the end of November.

Traffic is expected to keep moving on both roads, although traffic delays are likely and lane closure on Fruitville Road are expected in the evening hours.

+ Sarasota Farmers Market has a great summer
The Sarasota Farmers Market did so well in the midst of the heat and humidity this summer that some vendors boasted of days that rivaled their very best days in season.

Chris Keesecker, owner of Java Dog and an 18-year market vendor, said he has seen a huge increase in traffic this summer.

“Two years ago, summers were stagnant and vendors were stressed,” Keesecker said. “This summer, revenues are up and vendors are happy.”

Keesecker attributes the market’s newfound summer success to the board of directors commitment to a year-round market.

+ Walmart approved for North Trail
A new Walmart for the grocery store-starved North Trail will be built in 2012.

At a city Planning Board meeting, the board’s five members unanimously approved a site plan application for a Walmart “neighborhood market” concept and pharmacy.

The new Walmart will replace the shuttered Winn-Dixie supermarket at 3500 Tamiami Trail.

“This is not a perfect project, but this is a needed project,” said Planning Board Chairwoman Susan Chapman. “There is a food desert in this area.”

+ Budget cuts proposed
The Sarasota City Commission received a new list of budget cuts Aug. 22 from city staff that recommends commissioners make $844,091 in additional budget cuts and approve a 3% millage rate increase.

In the proposal, City Manager Bob Bartolotta explains the staff recommended list requires a millage rate of 2.8607 mills. The move would allow the city to use $1,155,909 in its revenue stabilization fund, instead of Bartolotta’s previous suggestion the city use $2 million out of a fund that currently has approximately $2.9 million.

The increase in millage would also pay for $459,490 worth of expenses and operations costs for the Lido Pool and Robert L. Taylor Community Complex.

+ Main Street project planning begins
The city of Sarasota’s Downtown Improvement District is starting to plan its biggest and most expensive project to date.

At its Aug. 23 meeting at City Hall, DID board members began setting the tone for a multimillion dollar project that calls for widening five sections of Main Street sidewalks to create better landscaping and more space for outside restaurant seating.

The four sections of Main Street the DID wants to transform are:
• From Gulfstream to the Pineapple Avenue roundabout
• From the Pineapple Avenue roundabout to Orange Avenue
• From Orange Avenue to Osprey Avenue
• From Osprey Avenue to U.S. 301

Residents attended a public workshop in October to help shape the project and meet again Nov. 14 to pick a plan the commission could review by the end of the year.

SEPTEMBER
+ New wayfinding system proposed for downtown
The city of Sarasota’s Downtown Improvement District is investigating a new free downtown Wi-Fi service that would act as an electronic wayfinding application to help pedestrians find the shops they want to access and where the best deals are.

DID Operations Manager John Moran and city officials met with Delray Beach-based Blueweb Mobile Media chief executive officer Daniel Kinney to discuss the system.

The wayfinding screens would include sponsorship branding with downtown merchants.

“The point is to set up a Wi-Fi network for free via means of mobile advertising with merchants,” Kinney said.

Details are still being agreed upon for the wayfinding system, which needs Sarasota City Commission approval.

+ Parking meters reappear
The city of Sarasota resumed its metered parking program Oct. 3, albeit with less metered parking in the downtown core.

The city has relocated some of the parking meters and pay stations east of U.S. 301.

Meters were removed from State Street, the 1300 and 1500 blocks of First Street, Cocoanut Avenue and Gulfstream Avenue. Meters were installed on Main Street, Adams Lane, East Street, and east of U.S. 41 on Ringling Boulevard.

The city also created six free 15-minute parking spaces on Main Street, between blocks 1300 and 1500.
Enforcement hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with rates of $.50 per hour from May to October, and $1 per hour from November to April.

With this implementation, 20% of public parking space downtown is now metered.
 

+ Commission approves 5.3% millage hike
The Sarasota City Commission approved a 2012 fiscal year budget on first reading at its regular meeting Sept. 6 that called for a 5.3% millage rate increase.

The millage rate, which was approved later on second reading, means the millage rate has risen from 2.7771 mills to 2.9249 mills.

Mayor Suzanne Atwell and Commissioners Paul Caragiulo and Willie Shaw approved the millage rate and recommendations proposed by staff, which eliminates an $800,000 shortfall by seeking more dollars from taxpayers.

Vice Mayor Terry Turner and Commissioner Shannon Snyder were the dissenters on Shaw’s motion to accept staff’s budget recommendations.

“It’s not fair to our citizens to allow the millage rate to rise, when we move to protect the government’s revenue and not the revenue of our citizens,” said Turner, who warned that the millage rate needs to fall with declining assessed property values.

+ City to receive electric car charging stations
Florida Power & Light has plans to install six electric car-charging stations within city of Sarasota limits by the end of the year.

The charging stations, which will be free for the public’s use until further notice, will be installed in the following locations:
• Two pedestal-mounted charging stations at Bayfront Park Marina
• One wall-mounted charging station in the City Hall parking lot
• Two pedestal-mounted charging stations for the St. Armands Circle south parking lot
• One wall-mounted charging station on the second floor of the Whole Foods parking garage
The city has already installed two charging stations in the Palm Avenue parking garage, which will give the city eight charging stations by the end of the year.

+ Annual Chalk Festival is off, then back on
Despite spending $4,000 preparing financial statements to alleviate the city’s concern for a $25,000 grant request, Chalk Festival Director Denise Kowal announced Sept. 19 that a 4-1 vote by the Sarasota City Commission potentially ruined any chance of the festival’s return.

The Sarasota City Commission voted 4-1 to approve more stringent Community Redevelopment Agency grant guidelines.

Those guidelines, which have now been modified for the second time this year, now require organizations seeking a city permit to be designated as a registered non-profit organization or to partner up with an organization that meets that requirement to receive a permit.

Weeks later, however, an agreement was reached with the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the festival began as scheduled Nov. 1.
 

+ Fractured relationship emerges at Town Hall
City Manager Bob Bartolotta believes that the Sarasota City Commission’s decision to transfer the city’s Information Technology Department out of his office is a sign that commissioners are losing confidence in his ability to manage the city and its departments effectively.

Commissioners voted 3-2 at their Sept. 19 regular meeting to approve a new city organizational chart that transfers the IT department from Bartolotta’s office to the office of City Clerk and Auditor Pamela Nadalini.
The concept was proposed in early September by Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, who believes the auspices of the IT Department can be handled more efficiently through the clerk’s office, which is in charge of all city information requests.

Caragiulo and Commissioners Willie Shaw and Shannon Snyder voted for the change. Mayor Suzanne Atwell and Vice Mayor Terry Turner voted against it.

“I have to take this action as proposed as a vote of no confidence,” Bartolotta said.

+ Homeless issue at library surfaces
The downtown homeless issue has stretched to the Sarasota County-operated Selby Library.

Downtown resident and radio host Phil Grande, whose frustration with the homeless led him to fund catered meals for transients in front of Vice Mayor Terry Turner’s house in July, said that the homeless have left a benchless Selby Five Points Park and have taken over the library.

Without both the city and the county working together to combat the transient issue, Grande says the problem will continue downtown.

In a Sept. 5 email to Sarasota County commissioners, Grande reported that the library is being used “as a homeless shelter.”

Grande noted that transients are hanging outside the library and its entrance on a daily basis and go inside frequently to use the restrooms.

County staff promised to investigate the issue, and homeless loitering in the area has since been reduced.

OCTOBER
+ Parking garage public art approved
Thanks to City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo’s last minute reconsideration, a $25,000 art mural project for the Palm Avenue parking garage was moved forward.

Caragiulo initially expressed concern about the project, which called for the expenditure of $25,000 in public-art funds to create the first downtown public art mural project. Later, Caragiulo changed his mind, and the commission approved the project Oct. 3 when another vote revealed a 4-3 approval.

The concept calls for five artists painting sweeping, colorful murals, with a different theme planned for each floor.

+ City Commission approves pool contract
The City Commission agreed to a new contract with the current concession operator of the Lido Pool, with the underlying understanding that it expects bigger and better things for the beachfront pool.

Commissioners approved a contract with Seabreeze Concessions LLC by a 5-0 vote at its Oct. 3 regular meeting. The contract called for Seabreeze to pay a base concession fee of $3,500 per month, plus 15% of gross monthly sales and 80% of the Lido Pool fees the operator collects. In addition, the agreement requires the licensee to pay for all sales tax on the concession fee and all property tax associated with the concession.

+ Computer allegations surface in City Hall
City Manager Bob Bartolotta is frustrated and upset with what he perceives as a contrived effort to undermine his management of City Hall.

In mid-October, an email from Sarasota attorney and former state Sen. Bob Johnson came to light, which accused Bartolotta and Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown of ordering their computers “scrubbed” of data before the IT Department was officially transferred to Auditor and Clerk Pamela Nadalini’s office Oct. 1.

Johnson has declined to disclose his source, and Bartolotta said that should be a sign that the accusation is false.

An investigation of the computers was deemed necessary by Nadalini but has yet to be completed.