Letters to the Editor

+ Colony interests to give status update
Stakeholders in The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort will give a status update to the Longboat Key Town Commission March 5. The status update was a condition the commission set in May when it extended a continuance of the town’s tourism abandonment requirement for the Colony to Dec. 31. Without the extension, the property could have lost 85 of the resort’s units by Aug. 15, 2011 — exactly one year after the resort closed — because they were built on the property before town code limited tourism units to six per acre. Town Manager David Bullock recommended in a Feb. 9 letter that the parties make a coordinated presentation and asked that the parties submit any documentation they plan to use to the town by Feb. 28.

+ Budget module now available
A new module that allows users to track the town’s budget is now available at longboatkey.org. Users can track expenditures in 39 categories and each of the town’s departments. The information is updated several times a week and is provided through the “Budget Live” program. The town will hold informational meetings to educate the public about using the tool.

+ Bullock recommends three engineering firms
The town will move forward to enter into contracts with the coastal-engineering firms of Olsen Associates Inc., Tetra Tech/Coastal Tech, a joint venture, and Coastal Planning & Engineering (CP&E), after the Longboat Key Town Commission reached consensus at its Thursday, Feb. 16 workshop at the recommendation of Town Manager David Bullock. Bullock said that having three contracts would allow the town to determine work accommodations by qualification and price while remaining in compliance with the state’s Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act. Commissioner Jack Duncan dissented, citing concerns with CP&E, the town’s long-term coastal engineering firm.

+ Correction
Marty Rappaport suggested that two Business Improvement District board members sharing ownership of one or more properties within the district cannot serve on the board.

Meetings & agendas
• Police Officers’ Pension meeting — 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22
• General Employees’ Pension meeting — 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22
• Firefighters’ Pension meeting — 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22
• Town Commission regular meeting — 7 p.m. Monday, March 5
• Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting — 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 8