CLEARWATER - Pinellas County Commissioners spent part of the first meeting of 2017 listening to presentations about the future of transportation in Tampa Bay.
Katharine Eagan, CEO of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, talked about a planning effort that begins this year by the Transit Coalition, made up of HART, Pasco County Public Transportation and Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, with guidance provided by the Tampa Bay TMA Leadership Group.
She said the effort was a Florida Department of Transportation initiative that would include a multi-county view of past studies, as well as modern alternatives, such as ride sharing and autonomous vehicles.
CLEARWATER - A blue sky speckled with white billowy clouds, a light breeze and cool temps served as a perfect backdrop for more than 30 residents, city leaders and civic organizers who gathered on Seminole Street in downtown Clearwater to volunteer their time to revitalize their community.
The six-hour event was the second of three community events aimed at engaging the community in efforts to improve the downtown experience for both residents and tourists.
Clearwater Neighborhood Coordinator Lawrence Young organized the day’s activities, which included the creation of temporary and permanent street enhancements, such as sidewalk extensions, crosswalk enhancements and the installation of planters and benches along Fort Harrison Avenue.
CLEARWATER - Clearwater firefighters were joined with firefighters from around Pinellas as they battled a brush fire Sunday afternoon along the easement under high-voltage power lines in the Countryside area just south of Northside Drive.
Officials said high winds caused the fire to spread quickly, but firefighters were able to keep it from damaging any homes. Some fences, sheds, screened enclosures and other out buildings did receive damage.
The cause of the fire was still unknown as of Sunday evening.
LARGO - When John Piazza Sr. founded the Armed Forces History Museum in 2008, his goal was to share his collection of military memorabilia and preserve history. After his death in October and the subsequent announcement that financial losses would force the museum to close Jan. 29, the goal has become to preserve the museum itself.
Piazza’s son, Steven, and museum staff say those efforts won’t stop until every option has been explored - even after Jan. 29.
MADEIRA BEACH - City officials are planning to recognize “Madam Madeira” Pat Shontz, who died Jan. 18, 2016.
Shontz, 83, served five terms as a Madeira Beach city commissioner in the 1970s and 1980s, one term as mayor from 2008 to 2011 and again as a commissioner from 2013 until she resigned in June 2016.
City Manager Shane Crawford said the mayor and he are planning a special City Commission meeting to honor Shontz for her professional accomplishments “and for the person she was.”
SEMINOLE - For decades, Seminole’s “iconic and historic” water tower has served as a landmark for city residents and visitors, said Mayor Leslie Waters at the Jan. 10 City Council meeting. It’s also located on a popular, “sweet, little park.”
“The city of Seminole is known for the water tower,” she said.
She added, “It gives our city a sense of place, like nothing else in the city, probably because it is the only landmark that can be seen for miles around.”
CLEARWATER - Pinellas County Commissioners listened to opinions Jan. 10 for and against a proposed moratorium on approving new medical marijuana dispensing facilities in unincorporated Pinellas.
They want to give staff time to prepare zoning regulations that would ensure the “health, safety and welfare relating to the cultivation, possession, processing, transfer, transport, selling, distribution and dispensing of medical marijuana,” according to the proposed language governing the moratorium.
DUNEDIN - Opinions vary whether a proposed mixed-use development at Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Dunedin would be an eyesore or an eclectic addition for the city’s vibrant downtown.
The fate of it now rests with the City Commission.
The Local Planning Agency Jan. 11 recommended approval of the development, reversing an earlier recommendation Nov. 9 that it be denied.
After the Nov. 9 Planning Agency vote, Arlis Construction revised its plans for the M&D Lofts, which would have 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level, 18 condominiums on two stories above it and basement parking.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Long time Indian Rocks Beach resident and former commissioner Bert Valery appeared before the commission in his capacity as a member of the Pinellas Bicycle Pedestrian Committee to talk about crosswalk safety in Indian Rocks Beach.
“Our goal is to have the city have painted crosswalks all along Gulf Boulevard,” he said. “After 30 years of talking about pedestrian safety you would have thought that things have gotten better, but no, they have been getting worse.”
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