News Briefs

+ Grossman resigns from ULI committee
Larry Grossman resigned from the Urban Land Institute Implementation Advisory Committee Sunday, in an email to Mayor Jim Brown.

He is the second member to step down from the committee. Tom Freiwald, who was once the committee’s chairman before the group grew larger and decided it did not need a chairman, resigned in May.

In his email to Brown, Grossman wrote that the committee has been useful as a conduit for ideas and citizen input. However, he criticized the committee’s structure.

“I feel the committee is too top heavy with elected/appointed officials and too bottom light with not enough citizen participation from among the larger community of LBK residents. Maybe, given the seasonal nature of residency on the island, this condition cannot be otherwise. This is not to say that the sitting members of the Committee who are also Commissioners and Planning Board members are any less citizens than anyone else. The problem is that they are also decision makers who can in effect get to have their input twice on an issue,” he wrote.

Commissioners Jack Duncan and Pat Zunz, Planning & Zoning Board members Walter Hackett and George Symanski and citizens Roger Leibin, David Novak and Jered Whitehead remain on the committee.

+ Freedom Fest parade seeks volunteers
The town of Longboat Key’s annual Freedom Fest parade is 9 a.m. July 4 near Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road. Volunteers are being sought to help with the festivities.

Parade participants will line up just before 9 a.m. between the Bank of America and Sun Trust buildings and march a quarter-mile around Bay Isles Road.

This year, there’s also a new push for pup participants: The Rotary Club of Longboat Key is sponsoring the “Hot Diggity Dog Parade” as part of the festivities and will award prizes to some of the most patriotic pet costumes.

Human participants of all ages can walk or make the trek on decorated bikes.

The festivities continue at Bicentennial Park with a butterfly release by the Longboat Key Garden Club, music by Jay Goodley Entertainment, four games from Taylor’s Rentals, a sand art station and face painting. Blue Dolphin Café will offer refreshments.

The Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce is seeking sponsors and volunteers for the event. Volunteers are needed to set up and operate games, sell tickets and help in the craft area. For information, call 383-2466 or email [email protected].

For information about the dog parade, email Mary Lou Johnson at [email protected].

Meetings
& agendas
 Urban Land Institute Implementation Advisory Committee Meeting — 2 p.m. Thursday, June 26
 Town Commission Budget Workshop — 10 a.m. Monday, June 30
 Town Commission Special Meeting — 1 p.m. Monday, June 30
All meetings take place at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road, unless otherwise noted.