from the desk of:
Tom Barwin
Sarasota City Manager
January 17, 2020
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Thank you for reading Weekly Briefs.
If you have questions or comments, please contact us directly: 941-263-6402 or
CityNews@SarasotaFL.Gov
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City Commission
Tuesday, Jan. 21 - 1:30 p.m. & 6 p.m.
City Hall - Commission Chambers
Firefighters' Pension Plan Board of Trustees
Wednesday, Jan. 22 - 9 a.m.
City Hall - Commission Chambers
Police Complaint Committee
Wednesday, Jan. 22 - 5:30 p.m.
City Hall Annex - SRQ Media Studio
Police Officers' Pension Plan Board of Trustees
Friday, Jan. 24 - 8:15 a.m.
City Hall - Commission Chambers
General Employees' Pension Plan Board of Trustees
Friday, Jan. 24 - 10 a.m.
City Hall - Commission Chambers
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MLK Day:
Jan. 20 – Admin. offices closed; No change to trash collection
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On Monday, Jan. 20, City administrative offices will be closed as we observe the federal holiday celebrating the impactful life, dreams and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our Solid Waste crews will be working and will collect trash, recycling and yard waste as usual.
The regularly scheduled Monday City Commission meeting will be deferred to
Tuesday, Jan. 21
.
Robert L. Taylor Community Complex, Bobby Jones Golf Club and the Box Office at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will be open on the holiday with regular hours.
Payne Park Tennis Center will have limited hours from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Arlington Park & Aquatic Center and Lido Pool will be closed.
Many of us will attend the annual MLK memorial breakfast, which is a highlight of the day drawing the community together to reflect on Dr. King’s life and how he effected change throughout the nation. Dr. Rachel Shelley, Booker High School principal, is the scheduled keynote speaker with the breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m. at Robert L. Taylor Community Complex. For tickets and information, please contact Izetta Fields: 941-356-3200 or
Fieldsi1@verizon.net
Following the breakfast, the community will come together for a unity walk from Robert L. Taylor Community Complex to MLK Park, where a remembrance and celebration with music and vendors will take place from approximately noon to 5 p.m. All are welcome.
Several other community events
commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are scheduled throughout the weekend. We hope you're able to participate and reflect on Dr. King's indelible role with the civil rights movement.
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U.S. 41 Traffic Patterns - Fruitville Rd. closure in early March
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With the combination of road construction along US 41 and seasonal residents returning to enjoy the beautiful winter weather in Sarasota, we’re experiencing some heavy traffic days, especially for those coming off the barrier islands.
In the past, even with all three left turn lanes open for vehicles travelling eastbound on Gulfstream Ave. (from the Ringling Bridge) to northbound US 41, traffic has been known to stack past Coon Key. Now, intermittent lane closures at 10
th
Street plus a lane reduction at Gulfstream Ave. are creating some particularly heavy traffic, especially in mid-to-late afternoon.
City staff is in contact with the FDOT team working on the 10
th
Street roundabout construction to try to alleviate the congestion. We’re told the recent significant backups we’ve seen should cease for the next 2-3 weeks until the next anticipated lane closure near 10
th
Street.
As for the Gulfstream Ave./US 41 intersection, the third left turn lane heading northbound on US 41 is expected to be re-established in early March. That lane has been temporarily removed while construction crews work on underground utilities and build a temporary diversion roadway on the west side of US 41 for the US 41/Fruitville Rd. roundabout construction.
When the third left turn is re-established in early March, the left turn lane from northbound US 41 to westbound Boulevard of the Arts also will return. In addition, the traffic signal at Fruitville Road will be removed, so traffic will flow freely up to Boulevard of the Arts, which should improve movement from Gulfstream.
With the removal of the traffic signal at Fruitville, Fruitville Rd. will be closed between Cocoanut Ave. and US 41. Again, these traffic changes are expected to occur in early March.
We encourage drivers who want to make that westbound to southbound movement, from Fruitville Rd to US 41, to start planning alternate routes now.
Electronic message boards will be installed prior to the Fruitville closure alerting drivers and designating Lemon Ave. and 10
th
Street as the official detour to get drivers to US 41, where they can then travel north or southbound to their destination.
Many drivers rely on a navigational app to get around, and we’re pleased to share that Google Maps will alert its users about these significant traffic pattern changes in Sarasota. We’re reaching out to the popular app Waze for directional assistance as well.
The temporary closure of westbound Fruitville Rd. from Cocoanut Ave. will be a challenge for all of us accustomed to traveling Fruitville Rd. Time is on our side to plan ahead and determine alternate routes and even consider different ways to get around including transit, carpool and ride share.
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Bobby Jones Golf Club – Readers’ Choice Awards; Workshop Jan. 27
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Congratulations to our historic municipal golf course, Bobby Jones Golf Club, for being honored with two prestigious Herald-Tribune Sarasota Readers’ Choice awards: First Place for Best Golf Course and First Place for Best Public Country Club. 22 out of the last 24 years, Bobby Jones has taken the title for Best Golf Course -- an impressive track record for this wonderful urban venue.
Spanning 300 acres, Bobby Jones is the City’s single largest greenspace. It plays a critical role with the ecological health of the region filtering stormwater from as far north as University Parkway while serving as an urban habitat for an array of birds and other wildlife. The City is actively planning to further enhance Bobby Jones' environmental role while improving public access to the property.
On Monday, Jan. 27, the City Commission will resume discussion on the renovation of 36 holes of golf at Bobby Jones and recent public input requesting additional environmental elements. Previously, the Commission designated the remainder of the course as park land. Concepts showing potential designs and uses for the new park land were presented to the community in November. Based on thoughtful community feedback, the City’s consultant, Kimley-Horn, created an additional option providing for more park land and 27 holes of golf.
Integrating park space into the property allows for walking and biking paths to wind around the outskirts of the golf course with light recreational activities woven into the park land and potentially hundreds to thousands of new trees planted that would clean the air. We’re continuing to work closely with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast on a possible conservation easement for all or a portion of the property, which would keep it greenspace in perpetuity.
The City Commission will receive a comprehensive presentation from the consultant showing the
three options
, all of which preserve the city's longstanding history of affordable golf while enhancing the amount of greenspace for all to enjoy. While no decisions will be made during t
his workshop,
the information presented will be vital as the City Commission charts a course for this treasured and award-winning community jewel.
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Recycling - Composition Study
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With our new single-stream recycling program up and running in the City since last April, and now with our seasonal residents back in town, the time is right for us to conduct a recycling composition study to find out exactly what types of materials are being collected from our residents.
This week, a crew from Kessler Consulting set up at our transfer station to take samples from more than 20 truckloads coming in from our residential recycling routes. The items were weighed and sorted by type into various categories, including both the accepted materials (corrugated cardboard, newspaper, glass, aluminum, etc.) and various contaminants – pizza boxes, plastic bags, hazardous waste, etc.
The results were recorded and will be compiled into a full report that will give us a better understanding of what's getting sent to the recycling facility at Waste Pro and what non-recyclables may be contaminating the loads. We collected a whopping 433 tons of recycling last month – compared to the 260 tons collected in December 2018 under our old two-bin system. That's a 66 percent increase! So,this data will be extremely helpful in our efforts to educate our customers about what should and shouldn’t go in your recycling cart.
Remember, if you're not sure if something is recyclable, you can always check the handy info graphic on the lid of your recycling cart or visit
www.SarasotaFL.gov/BeCartSmart
and type in a particular item. Thank you for doing your part by recycling properly and making our community more sustainable!
To learn more about the study check out the video below.
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YouTube - Recycling Composition Study
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The Greatest Love of All: A Tribute to Whitney Houston
Tuesday, Jan. 21
The Drifters, The Platters, and Cornell Gunter's Coasters
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Steve Martin & Martin Short
Thursday, Jan. 23
Waitress
Jan. 24-26
Louie Anderson and Rita Rudner
Tuesday, Jan. 28
Kristen Chenoweth in Concert - For The Girls
Thursday, Jan. 30
Steve Solomon's - My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy
Monday, Feb. 3
Bandstand
Monday, Feb. 4-5
Lewis Black
Saturday, Feb. 8
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
Sunday, Feb. 9
Stayin' Alive
Monday, Feb. 10
Pirates of Penzance
Thursday, Feb. 13
Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell
Saturday, Feb. 15
Mandy Patinkin in Concert
Sunday, Feb. 16
The Beach Boys
Tuesday, Feb. 18
Neil Berg's 111 Years of Broadway
Wednesday, Feb. 19
An Evening with Michael Feinstein Singing Gerswhin
Tuesday, Feb. 20
John Fogerty
Friday, Feb. 21
Les Miserables
Feb. 26 - 28
To purchase tickets over the phone call 941-953-3368 or stop by the Box Office at 777 N.Tamiami Trail.
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"Sarasota Scene"
Norm Schimmel
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