Bay Isles landscaping project begins

A landscaping project adjacent to Town Hall and a block from Publix is set to get under way this week.

Holland Landscaping & Tree Service has been contracted by the town to install plantings in medians along Bay Isles Road. Town spokesperson Tina Adams said the cost for the project was originally expected to be $529,305, but a change order by the Public Works Department means the price will come in lower after some of the chosen plantings were switched out for other flora. 

Staging for the project will be held at the Town Center Green as work gets under way. 

Described by Town Manager Howard Tipton as the “last piece” of town-managed repairs from the 2024 hurricanes, the landscaping project is long-awaited. A long, winding median adjacent to Town Hall is filled only with white shell, and the island median at the end of Bay Isles Road next to All Angels Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Israel is filled with leafless oaks and overgrown palmetto bushes. Not included in the landscaping work are the unhealthy trees that border the sidewalks next to the Bank of America building. Town staff has reached out to the bank to see if work can be done to rejuvenate the landscaping, but have not heard back according to a recent update to Town Commission.

Tipton said in a recent meeting with barrier island mayors that the work will be complete in time for the town's annual Freedom Fest celebration and parade on July 4.