The Homeless Leadership Alliance has announced that cold night shelters in Pinellas County will be open on Friday, Jan 28, and Saturday, Jan 29. The shelters will open between 6pm and 7pm. All sites provide a warm and safe place to sleep, and many sites also serve a meal. Guests will be advised if the shelter will be open on additional nights as conditions warrant.

Join in the celebration of Black History Month with your City Commission on Tuesday, Feb 1 at 6pm with a proclamation reading during the Largo City Commission meeting. Tune into Largo TV live or on-demand on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Follow along with the City of Largo on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to learn about other ways to celebrate throughout the month.

Largo Summer Camps are back for another year and registration for residents begins on February 1! See all of our offerings from sports, specialty, theatre, full-day, nature, teen adventure, and more on our website today, and register at one of our recreation facilities. Registration for non-residents begins on February 15. Scholarships are available now. For more information, call 727-587-6720.

To ensure our community is recycling right and to align with Pinellas County’s mixed recycling initiatives, the City of Largo is updating the artwork on new recycling carts. This new message will be distributed to homes when carts are replaced. Your new lid will have updated instructions featuring what you can and cannot recycle, and best practices when putting items in recycling (for example, flatten cardboard boxes and no plastic bags are accepted). Learn more about how to recycle right at LargoRecycles.com or for questions about trash and recycling collection schedules, contact Largo Solid Waste at 727-587-6740.

Does your business have a large truck, cool vehicle, or car with a loud horn? The City of Largo is once again holding its Touch a Truck event in Largo Central Park on Saturday, March 5 from 11am-2pm and we are looking for businesses or individuals with unique or large vehicles to participate. Interested businesses and individuals have until February 18 to apply online. For more information, call 727-587-6740 ext 5014 or email specialevents@largo.com

Did you know the City of Largo implemented mixed recycling in 2014? Since then, the industry has seen tremendous ups and downs regarding how materials get recycled around the world. In 2018, the Chinese Government stopped importing recyclable goods due to a multitude of issues. This caused many municipalities to begin paying to have items recycled, instead of getting a rebate from the processing company.

In 2019, the City entered into a new agreement with Waste Management to recycle the materials from the City of Largo. Unlike garbage collection, which is processed at the Pinellas County Site, recycling is the responsibility of each municipality. To support the City's strategic focus on sustainability, the City Commission pressed forward with the recycling program despite the financial investment needed for a new contract. 

At that time the City was paying $64.85/ton to have our recyclables processed. The next 18 months brought a roller coaster of recycling prices that peaked at $68.47/ton to a price of $16.68/ton in March of 2021. The total cost of recycling 8403 tons of material was $463,336. The first positive price for recyclable goods, at $1.13/ton happened in Spring of 2021. Despite the low value, it did start a trend of positive results over the last nine months. Over that period, the City maxed out at $64.70/ton, while currently receiving $24.87/ton. The City has recycled 4162 tons and has recovered $156,521.79 in the past nine months. 

Starting on Monday, January 31, the tennis courts at Highland Recreation Complex will be closed for a week for renovations. This closure includes the cancellation of all classes and lessons during the week of January 31 through February 6. Renovations on the court include a complete resurfacing of the court and the addition of pickleball lines for multiple gameplay. Renovations are expected to be complete by February 6. For more information, please call Highland at 727-518-3016.

Those interested in playing tennis during this time are invited to visit the Largo Tennis Center at Southwest Recreation Complex which is located at 13120 Vonn Rd in Largo.