REDINGTON BEACH – There were no leadership changes at the Redington Beach Commission’s annual reorganization meeting on March 17.
Three incumbents returned to the town commission for another term. Mayor Nick Simons along with Commissioners Mark Deighton and Fred Steiermann took the oath of office administered by Town Attorney Andrew Salzman.
“It has been a pleasure the last two years and I look forward to the next two years,” Simons said.
Deighton will continue to be in charge of finance and Steiermann public works. Other commissioners are David Drillick, in charge of building; and Michele Fox, public safety. Deighton also was selected unanimously to serve another one-year term as vice mayor.
During the public forum, resident Paul Madsen said he was very disappointed voters failed to pass a proposal March 10 that would have raised compensation rates for the mayor and commission. The town’s compensation rates are much lower than neighboring beach communities.
“Time should be compensated whether times are good or bad,” Madsen said.
He said he hoped the rate increase could be on the fall ballot.
“Anybody willing to serve should be compensated fairly. So many people voted against it because they were uninformed (on the number of hours the commission serves,)” he said.
“None of us serves because of the compensation,” Simons said.
Fences
The commission discussed a proposed ordinance on fences. Drillick said the proposed changes follow resident complaints and discussions with vendors over confusion with when fences require permits.
Proposed changes included not needing a permit to refurbish a fence. Permits would only be needed for new installations. The changes would also make it simpler to place security fencing around construction sites, Drillick said.
The commission discussed the visibility requirements for waterfront fencing. For 4-foot fencing, because of 85 percent visibility requirements, only chain link is allowed in rear yards.
The commission will talk with the code enforcement officer to see about eliminating this requirement to allow for different types of fences.
Commissioner Steiermann said, decreasing the visibility requirement is a common request at board of adjustment hearings.
Beach parking tags
The new hang tag program for beach parking is fairly popular with residents.
The tags replace stickers for parking in the resident only beach lot. Well over 150 tags have been handed out. Proof of residency is needed to get the tags in Town Hall.
Deputies will receive a spreadsheet with resident names and license numbers to discourage tag swapping with a different vehicle, Town Clerk Janina Patrus said.
The ordinance making way for the tags passed March 17 on its second reading. The ordinance eliminates the need for decals on the rear bumpers of cars for parking in the beach lot on Gulf Boulevard and 159th Avenue.
Other business
At its March 3 meeting, the commission discussed a Sierra Club letter promoting the use of slow release fertilizers to deal with concerns of releasing nitrogen into bays, rivers, and estuaries. On March 17 Town Clerk Janina Patrus said pamphlets on fertilizers are now available for residents at the Town Hall.
The spring town-wide yard sale is Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28. The sale starts both days at 8 a.m.
