UPCOMING MEETINGS, & NOTICES & HAPPENINGS

Mon, 9 August 5:30pm City Community Workshop meeting (on Zoom): New 250-unit apartment building, in application process, for corner of Bahia Vista and Tuttle.  See  Bahia Vista Apts  for proposed development details. 

Mon, 23 August 7pm AVNA meeting; RSVP on AVNA MeetUp website  or email AltaVistaSarasota@gmail.com  for location of meeting. 

Summer 2021  AVNA is working with the City on new or improved pedestrian crossing markings and signage at various neighborhood intersections.  See See Traffic Calming for more details.

Click-2-Fix: New Service Request App, the City's new, convenient mobile app. 
"If you happen to be out and about and would like to submit a non-emergency service request immediately, you can do so now with a few taps on your cell phone. For example, you may notice a streetlight isn’t working properly. You can report it through Click-2-Fix and even send a photo, if you’d like.
Within the app, a drop-down menu offers 10 categories for service requests: code compliance, noise complaint, public landscaping/trees, park issues, parking, safety hazards, sewer issues, streets/signs/streetlights, trash/recycling and water issues. 
The specific location of the request is pinpointed through GIS mapping on your mobile device. Once submitted, you can receive tracking updates on the service request. ...
The app is free and available now via Apple and Android app stores. Search “CoS Click-to-Fix”. "

Payne Park update on future plans:  The April 2021 repurposing of part of Payne Park (since resolved) took everyone by surprise. Because of that...I asked Jerry Fogle, Parks Dept Head, for a public presentation on actual plans for Payne Park for, say, the next three years.    Mr Fogle replied that maintenance of parks is the only short-term plan, so no public meeting is being scheduled at this time.  See Q&A for details regarding short-term plans for Payne Park.

Duplicate Power Poles: help needed!  Does anyone know how to get rid of that mess of duplicate power poles on School Ave between Hatton to Novus?   FPL installed new poles about two years ago, then notified the telecommuncations companies ("wrote a ticket") for them to move their wires to the new poles, so that FPL could then remove the old, duplicate poles. No dice. Does anyone have any Inside Information that can push Verizon, Frontier, whomever, to move their wires so that FPL can remove the 9 old poles, making the neighborhood nicer?  Contact webmaster, below.

Summer 2021 Sewer Laterals Lining   You may see trucks about, and fresh green marking paint on manhole covers. The City is continuing its project of relining (instead of digging/replacing) a lot of the old sewer lines, now in our neighborhood.  The process, sequentially:  first they jet the lines (like power washing), then run a camera through them to see what they need to see, then they re-line the old pipes.  (No, they don't do the pipes that run between the street and each house.)

June 16 2021 Update The Preserve Payne Park Coalition reports that the Sarasota Observer reports that the Sarasota Orchestra has decided not to pursue Payne Park as a location for their new Music Center development.

Summer 2021 Sarasota High School construction.  What's that noise?! They're totally redoing the football field and track: new drainage and installing artificial turf, and replacing asphalt track with improved, rubberized surface.  And a big new state-of-the-art video scoreboard.   (A little editorial footnote: Once upon a time the School District offered to let local residents use these athletic facilities during summer break; however, with modern security concerns plus alleged constant, year-round school activities, this offer of sharing with the taxpayers has fallen by the wayside.)

New Downtown Cooling Plant: this Sarasota County construction project on School Ave. near Ringling Blvd and along Adams Lane (between School Ave and Police Department building), is now wrapping up; replacing the old, outdated A/C plant to provide A/C to multiple nearby Sarasota County buildings.  CIP #83304, est. completion Sept 2021. 
​AVNA will look into the possibility of getting a mural painted on the exterior facing the Park.

Schools News for Fall 2021:  Community Day School is relocating from the Temple Beth Sholom campus (at Tuttle and Bahia Vista) to their new location over on Wilkinson.  New K-5 dual-language English-Spanish charter school Dreamers Academy will open at Beth Sholom campus. 

Ringling Trail (Ringling Blvd Complete Streets project).  On Feb 1 2021 the City Commission voted unanimously in favor of this project (Agenda Item X.1 Discussion Re: Ringling Trail and Concept Plan Approval). See Ringling Trail page for additional details plus link to City Commission documents and meeting video. 

Upcoming...  SHS (Sarasota High School) new perimeter re-fencing.  Originally, in 2019, projected for completion by August 2020, the latest (July 2021) update from School District is that design and construction schedule are in the works.  Watch for further info...

Upcoming...  The MURT = west-side pedestrian enhancements around SHS (Sarasota High School).   In conjunction with the permanent closure of School Ave at SHS, enhancements were promised for around the now-mega-block campus. See The Murt page and ... Watch for further info...

GET YOURSELF IN THE CITY NEWS PIPELINE!

In case you ever wondered how to keep up with City news, a few good sources for City news are:

- City webpage news tab: features the list of recent news item announcements.

- City list of upcoming public meetings.  Includes agenda items and links to backup documents. Scroll down for archives of past public meetings, including always-essential detailed backup documents.

- Mayor's Update: comprehensive weekly email which also includes upcoming City meetings with links to agendas. Sign up to receive this and/or other communications from City at  https://www.sarasotafl.gov/services/email-subscriptions​