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Welcome to LARGO
TODAY
, News from the City Manager. Stay up-to-date on the superior services the City of Largo offers to our residents, businesses and visitors to build the "Community of Choice in Tampa Bay."
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THIS WEEK IN LARGO
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
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CONGRESSMAN CRIST TO HOST TOWN HALL
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Congressman Charlie Crist will host a town hall at the Largo Community Center on September 7
th from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.
Please note: This is subject to change due to Hurricane Dorian.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, Congressman Crist represents Florida’s 13
th Congressional District which spans from St. Petersburg to Clearwater and includes Largo. Previously, he served as Florida’s 44
th Governor, served two terms in the Florida Senate, as the state’s Education Commissioner as well as being elected to serve as Florida’s Attorney General.
In January, Congressman Crist was appointed to serve on the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations, an important committee on which the late, former U.S. Representative C.W. “Bill” Young also served for nearly 40 years. Crist also serves on the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
In order to effectively serve his constituents, Congressman Crist maintains a year-round office at 696 1
st Avenue North, Suite 203, in St. Petersburg. His office can be reached at (727) 318-6770.
- Cheryl Coller Reed
Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator I 727-586-7452 | creed@largo.com
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Heads Up, Largo. Great Change is on the Horizon!
The community of choice of tomorrow will be served by an organization that provides superior services with modern tools. In order to meet the future needs of our residents, businesses and visitors, City Leadership heard you when you said you needed access to the right tools and technology to do your job effectively. Now, we can now look forward to an innovative solution that is officially on the horizon!
An interdepartmental team has identified an easy-to-navigate, single software program that will help to eliminate cumbersome paper process, provide self-service access to information you need, and take the place of the finance and human resource software that we have outgrown after nearly 25 years of use.
After a year-long research project that included vendor interviews, demos, site visits and reference checks, the unanimous decision was to invest in a software solution called Workday. The project team is confident that Workday, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, will support high performance by offering a flexible, modern approach that will lead all of us into the future by streamlining our work and putting more information at your fingertips. Workday supports a variety of high performing entities like: the City and County of Denver, City of Orlando, City of Dallas, and companies like Netflix and Chiquita (bananas!).
What does this really mean?
You can look forward to modern, streamlined internal business processes like:
- travel requests
- purchasing
- payroll/time-cards
- electronic employee self-service features
- new employee recruitment and onboarding
And best of all, many of these functions will be available in a mobile app!
Look for additional information to follow in the MMB including more information on what Workday can do, our implementation timeline, and interactive workshops to share how it can work for you in providing superior service. Questions can be directed to the Office of Budget and Performance at (727)587-6727 or OPB@largo.com.
- Meridy Semones
Performance & Budget Director I 727-587-6700 | msemones@largo.com
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LARGO'S 2019 PRELIMINARY POPULATION ESTIMATES
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The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) produces Florida's official population estimates each year and have released the preliminary 2019 population as of April 1, 2019. Largo's 2019 population estimate is 83,737, an increase from the 2018 population estimate of 83,526.
- Isabella Nunez
Economic Development Coordinator I 727-586-7360 | inunez@largo.com
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ROSERY ROAD CLOSED FROM PINELLAS TRAIL TO MISSOURI AVENUE
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Rosery Road from the Pinellas Trail to Missouri Avenue will be closed September 3, 2019 for 17 months. Please visit largo.com/Rosery Road for a detour map and for weekly updates throughout the project duration.
- Barry Westmark
Senior Engineer I 727-587-6713 | bwestmar@largo.com
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SANITARY SEWER REHABILITATION PROJECTS - JEFF RD
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As an ongoing effort to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows in the City of Largo, the Engineering Services Department’s contractor has been replacing the sanitary sewer line along Indian Rocks Road and Jeff Road. That pipe replacement work is now complete. The contractor will continue to be within the area finishing the site restoration work that remains. Weather permitting, all work will be complete within the next four (4) weeks.
- Joshua Carlsson
Asset Management Data Coordinator I 727-587-6713 | jcarlsso@largo.com
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SANITARY SEWER REHABILITATION PROJECTS -
137th STREET NORTH
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As an ongoing effort to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows in the City of Largo, the Engineering Services Department’s contractor will be replacing the sanitary sewer line along 137th Street North between Anona Heights Drive and Croft Drive S. This work began earlier this week and is expected to take four (4) weeks to complete, weather permitting. While the work is underway, traffic along 137th Street North will be impacted by lane reductions. Please drive with care when encountering work zones and crews.
- Joshua Carlsson
Asset Management Data Coordinator I 727-587-6713 | jcarlsso@largo.com
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TRAFFIC CALMING POLICY MODIFICATION
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The City Commission has recently authorized a modification to our current traffic calming policy to address citizen requests for speed limit reductions from 30 mph to 25 mph on residential, local roadways. The policy requires the community to complete a four step process that consists of the following steps:
1. Resident completes application
2. Petition phase
3. City Ordinance approval
4. Sign installation
To date, completed applications for speed limit reduction requests on residential streets have been received for the following four locations. All four requests are currently in the petition stage of the process. A vote of yes will need to be obtained from at least 60% of the property owners for a speed limit reduction ordinance to be presented to the City Commission to authorize the speed limit to be reduced.
• Cambridge Drive (west of Highland Avenue)
• Dart Avenue / East Overbrook Drive area
• Ridge Road SW (between 8th Avenue SW and West Bay Drive)
• 6th Avenue NW (West of Clearwater-Largo Road)
To date, completed applications for traffic calming due to reported concerns of cut-through traffic or speeding have been received for the following five locations. Traffic studies will be conducted to determine if the affected roadways meet the criteria for traffic calming.
• Chesterfield Drive and Cambridge Drive (west of Highland Avenue)
• Valentine Trail (Posted speed limit is 25 mph)
• 6
th Avenue SW (West of Clearwater-Largo Road)
• Vancouver Drive / Edmonton Drive area
• 137
th Street N (Posted speed limit is 25 mph)
Additionally, a follow up traffic study is being performed this month for the neighborhood roadways south of Mehlenbacher Ave, west of Clearwater-Largo Road. Speed tables were installed along these roadways at various locations this past year as part of a CIP project. Results will be shared once received.
- Megan Dion
Program Engineer I 727-587-6713 | mdion@largo.com
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The Economic Development Division represented Largo at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Florida Conference in Orlando from August 25
th
through the 27
th
. There were over 4,100 registered attendees, 301 booths in the exhibit area and 91 retailers represented. Staff provided development information about the City and other updates at Largo’s booth. The event provided an opportunity for developers, commercial property owners, retailers, brokers and municipalities to network, discuss development opportunities and learn more about new retail and shopping center concepts and trends.
- Karisa Rojas-Norton
Economic Development Coordinator I 727-586-7360 | krojasno@largo.com
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LAKE JUDY MEDICAL CENTER (SPR118-006) DEVELOPMENT ORDER - 1775 EAST BAY DRIVE
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On August 26, 2019, a Development Order (DO) was issued to allow the construction of a 16,925 sq. ft. medical office building with a porte-cochere, covered employee parking spaces with a total of 76 parking spaces, a cross access connecting the western adjacent property, landscape buffers, signage and associated infrastructure improvements. The 1.45 acre property is designated Residential/Office General (R/OG) on the City of Largo Future Land Use Map.
- Rick Perez
Planning Manager I 727-587-6749 | rperez@largo.com
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JOIN THE KILL-A-WATT CAMPAIGN! SEPTEMBER IS THE FINAL MONTH!
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The Largo Sustainability Team wants to challenge you to participate in the 2019 Kill-A-Watt Campaign. To celebrate our commitment to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, the Team is inviting all staff to reduce their energy use by switching off lights and powering down computers when possible for the months of July, August and September. The building with the greatest reduction in energy use will be crowned the winner and receive the victor's trophy! If you take the
Energy Pledge, you'll also be automatically entered to win a $25 gift card each month of the contest.
Stay on the lookout for Sustainability Team members around the office- they are stocked with goodies and can reward energy-smart behavior at any time. Other energy improvements, like IT's new energy-smart computer prompts or "turn out the light" reminders, are coming soon!
So who will be crowned the Largo Energy champion? Who will be all charged up when they win top prizes? Stay tuned in to find out!
-The Sustainability Team
sustainability@largo.com
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HIT US WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
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Do you have a photo of you or your team serving Largo and living our values? Have a great shot in the city that represents our Community Pride? Submit your photos and quotes for a chance to see them featured within the walls of City Hall (and beyond!)
-Katie Bishop
Communications & Marketing Specialist I 727-587- | rperez@largo.com
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GREASE ORDINANCE ENFORCEMENT
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What is the reason for the Grease ordinance?
- To help the City of Largo comply with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued Consent Order which called for a significant reduction in the number of sanitary sewer overflows, many caused by grease. The City revised the Sewer Use Ordinance to require that restaurants and other grease producing customers install grease interceptor units adequately sized to remove grease and greasy solids prior to these substances entering the sanitary sewer system.
When did the enforcement period begin?
- All permitted commercial users, mostly restaurants, were to comply with this ordinance change by October 1, 2016, however, 44 existing businesses remained in non-compliance by the deadline. The City pursued enforcement through a number of methods and brought over 98 percent of these businesses into compliance.
- To date, the City has four restaurants from the original list that have not complied, but one plans to move into a city operated facility where there will be a compliant interceptor unit. The remainder, located in Pinellas County and using the City’s sanitary sewer system, must be pursued using the City’s Special Magistrate. During this process, their case is presented and the code is interpreted and enforced by the Special Magistrate in a manner similar to a code enforcement case. Any new commercial user must be in compliance prior to the start of business activity.
How much grease is going into the sewer system?
- The City does not actually measure grease going into the system, rather, oil and grease levels are measured from flow coming into the wastewater treatment facility. However, 99 % of permitted users have installed compliant grease interceptors. Also, these customers are monitored through periodic site visits and staff review of their required interceptor pumping records, allowing the City to address oil and grease contributions in a real-time fashion.
Largo residents key to further grease reduction.
- Largo residents are key to the further reduction of grease in the system. While their discharges aren’t counted by the FDEP, residential backups and overflows attributable to grease blockages are costly. Data from the City’s Risk Management group reveals that residents who experience a sewer back up can face costs from $50 - $1000; costs which may not necessarily be recouped.
- The City has several campaigns aimed at getting residents to keep grease and other substances out of the sewer. Whether the advice is to “Can It, Cool It and Trash It,” Recycle Cooking Oil, or to remind customers that “It’s a Toilet, Not a Trash Can,” the message reinforces the fact that Largo residents do have a significant part to play in having a system that has substantially reduced overflows.
-Vivian Gleaves
Environmental Manager I 727-518-3061 I vgleaves@largo.com
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JOIN OUR TEAM
Are you interested in helping to build the community of choice? There are great opportunities from interns to engineers. The City of Largo provides outstanding benefits and a modern wellness program. Join us as we serve the community by providing superior services that inspire community pride. The City of Largo is a great place to work, naturally!
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MISSION: Provide Superior Services that Inspire Community Pride
VISION: To Be the Community of Choice in Tampa Bay
VALUES: INTEGRITY | COLLABORATION | PASSION | CREATIVITY
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