Republican Club of Longboat Key gets update from town leadership

The Republican Club of Longboat Key met for its second time of the 2021 season on Nov. 9. Several members of town leadership attended to give an update on town happenings as the meeting’s speakers. 

Before dinner, club president and Air Force veteran Scott Gray recognized Veterans Day and asked fellow veterans to stand and be recognized. He also provided a quick update on the Miracle on the Key Project, which is bridging the gap between the Republican Club and the Democratic Club. Members have met to discuss their differences and found that they’re not all that different. Gray is among those linking the two. 

“It’s a small step but we hope it sends a message to our elected officials that it’s time to put our differences aside,” Gray said. 

After dinner, town manager Tom Harmer was the first speaker of the evening. He briefly discussed his background in the Marine Corps, as a 911 dispatcher, a firefighter, fire chief, city manager and county administrator before he came over the John Ringling Bridge and became Longboat Key’s town manager. He gave an update on big-picture goings-on in the town, including a rundown of the 2020 Census. The town’s year-round population of about 7,500 hasn’t changed much in the past 10 years, thanks to the island being mostly built out. The citizen survey from 2020 also revealed high satisfaction from residents, 99% of whom said that the quality of life on Longboat Key is “good or excellent.” 

“We started this three years ago and we asked the residents how they feel about the town,” Harmer said. “And the numbers really scare me because they're so high, and it's hard to live up to that. When I was first hired, we set a goal of meeting with 100 residents my first 100 days, but the thing that came out of that was they all said, ‘OK, so you're the new town manager. Don't ever mess up our town.’ That's kind of the mission that I was given four years ago. So we're really trying to do that as we go forward.”

The most important challenges according to residents who answered the survey are traffic congestion, beach erosion, maintaining existing infrastructure, sea-level rise, taxes and fiscal sustainability. Several of those align with the five big goals of the town commission, which focuses on community character, fiscal sustainability, environmental resiliency, infrastructure, and services. Commission terms are three years each, and each member has priorities for their term. 

“We present a list … and then they finalize that list and give it back to us,” Harmer said. “The list right now has about 52 items on it. We don't complete this all in one year. This is kind of a two to three year list, and they also prioritize what's most important to them.”

Commission priorities include finalizing Phase 2 improvements at the Town Center Green, seeking private funding for the stage and working on programming for the center. They are also focusing on the wastewater main project, looking for ways to enhance the Gulf of Mexico pedestrian crossings with the help of FDOT, working to improve cell service, seeking funding for canal dredging and improving red tide mitigation education. He also gave a quick update on the St. Regis project, which will be a 30-36 month construction project and is on its way to getting its final permits. For citizens concerned about the roundabout project on Gulfstream in Sarasota, he provided some context.  

“Ultimately, this work is supposed to occur through this season,” Harmer said. “Some of us are concerned about January, February, March when traffic is the heaviest, but before next season, they're supposed to have this in place with all the improvements done, so we'll hopefully keep our fingers crossed.”

Harmer ended with ways citizens can get involved in the town, including through the Citizens Academy in January, the annual citizens survey, volunteering, attending town meetings or working to get onto an advisory board. He was followed by the leaders of the three biggest departments on Longboat Key: Fire chief Paul Dezzi, interim police chief George Turner and public works director Isaac Brownman.