Hurricane DEBRIS  Final pass for storm debris collection to begin Nov. 25
Residents are asked to prepare all Hurricane Helene and Milton-related storm debris for collection by Monday, Nov. 25, when the City’s contractors will begin the final pass for pickup.
“We are encouraging residents to take time this weekend and prepare any remaining storm debris for collection,” said Todd Kucharski, Public Works Department General Manager. “Debris must be hurricane-related to be collected. Residents will need to call the Solid Waste Division for special pickup of non-hurricane-related items. This final pass of storm debris pickup brings us one step closer to restoring our city and putting the 2024 hurricane season behind us.”
Since storm debris collection began 37 days ago, City contractors have removed 291,310 cubic yards, or 407,834 tons, of debris citywide. This figure is more than eight times the amount of debris collected in the same amount of time following Hurricane Irma in 2017.
8,743 truckloads of debris have been picked up, which is approximately 73% of the total estimated hurricane debris to be collected inside city limits.
​When preparing storm debris, continue to observe the guidelines:

• Separate debris into piles for vegetative debris, construction/demolition debris, bulk items, and white goods (appliances).
• Do not place any storm debris in plastic bags.
• Ensure debris piles are at least 6 feet away from obstructions including utility poles, mailboxes, backflow preventers, water meters, trees, and vehicles.

Vegetative waste that is still green, recently cut or newly fallen (lawn clippings, leaves, sticks, and tree limbs) will not be collected by storm debris contractors and should instead be properly prepared as regular yard waste for pickup.
For special pickup of non-hurricane-related items, call the Solid Waste Division at 941-263-6170.
A storm debris collection map is available for city residents throughout the remainder of the debris pickup process. 
FEMA Storm Debris hotline is 833-947-7739; City Solid Waste Dept is 941-263-6170. 

Our new City Commission District 3 commissioner is Kathy Kelley Ohlrich.

2024-2026  SHS construction alert:  Hatton Street
Notice all the orange Gilbane fencing along Hatton Street; that shell lot west of Shade (across from the batting cage), plus the grass field east of Shade. Using it for staging materials & equipment, worker parking, and other construction needs, for the major renovation of buildings at Sarasota High, East Campus: new HVAC (air conditioning) system. Expected to take 2+? years. No, nothing's being "built" there, just construction staging.

Tuesday NOVEMBER 5th General Election: Vote!, if you haven't already. On Nov 5th you can only vote in your own precinct. Polls open 7am-7pm. If you want to just drop off your mail-in ballot, you can't drop it at the polling places, it MUST be brought to the Terrace Building at US301 & Ringling. See Sarasota County Elections website.

Cafe in Payne Park closed, and the City is preparing an RFP (request for proposal) for interested vendors for a replacement cafe. Meanwhile, Court Thirteen bar & cafe & pro shop, over at the nearby Tennis Center, IS open to the public and I hear they also serve iced coffee! They also host live music Fridays and lots of other activities. Meanwhile, check out Monika's or Five-O Donuts, just north of the Health Center, on Ringling Blvd.

Exhibit Jul 28-Oct 2024 "Modern Masterpiece Uncovered": Victor Lundy's Galloway's Furniture Building,
at Ringling College's Sarasota Art Museum. No longer recognizable after decades of reconstructions & deconstructions, the building, on Tamiami Trail at Browning St, later became local artist Ben Stahl's studio (of Museum of the Cross local fame), and later VisionWorks; now a part of Ringling College's Museum Campus.

Halloween on SLime, Oct 30 & 31, 7-10pm, 133 S. Lime Av (beside Lyra Apts). A wonder-full, awe-full, free Halloween art happening, for kids & grups, by Enlightened Monkey Arts.  Interactive activities, projection mapping, video stuff, light shows. A local tradition, each year a new theme; a truly unique experience!

Hurricane Milton Oct 9-10: whew!. The Alta Vista neighborhood got thru Hurricane Helene, two weeks ago, pretty well, but coastal and island areas of Sarasota have been devastated. Same for Milton; LOTS of trees down. See Sarasotafl.gov/Alerts for updates and links to City, County, State and Federal emergency services.

FRI Oct 18 City Commission Meeting, 9am, City Hall: Players Theater the Stage at Payne Park
Agenda Item IX.1 Lease Agreement between the City of Sarasota and The Player's Inc. for the Payne Park Auditorium Building. To read lease, click on link to agenda backup document at LEASE AGREEMENT (legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com) Plan is to utilize the auditorium initially as theater space, without new building, while keeping options open for developing a new theater on nearby Washington Blvd lot.
​(WAS rescheduled due to storm)

Speaking of responsibilities of residents, did you know that residents are required to maintain the public right-of-way between their front yard and the street, including sidewalk:  keeping abutting sidewalk (if there is one) clear of debris, weeds, sand, and overgrown/overhanging vegetation.  Also, you cannot park your car so that it obstructs a public sidewalk!  (Does this really need to be pointed out?)

Hurricane Milton trash news. Friday pickup on Sat this weekboth City and County residents) If you put out yard waste in plastic bags, they won't pick it up, except as a special pickup, for which you PAY EXTRA. So for your yard waste, please bin or bundle, or put in paper yard waste bags.

New "welcome" lights for neighborhood at Hatton & Shade. After nearly 5 years of follow-up by Ms. Mirabelli, the City has installed new, working, solar-powered, decorative street lights on the twin "welcome" brick pillars.  

Sprouts Farmers Market opened Fri, Sept 6, 2024.  New grocery store opening nearby, across Washington Blvd, over on Fruitville at Links Ave, across from where Staples used to be. 

Monday Sept 30, 7pm, next monthly AVNA meeting @ YMCA, 1075 S. Euclid (corner Euclid & Bahia Vista).   
Speaker is Cheryl Coley, mapping specialist at Property Appraiser office, to teach about using the County's online GIS mapping tools.  See AVNA meetup page for details.  Read full text (including various announcements & links) Sept 23rd  AVNA e-blast.

VOTE: Primary election TUES AUG 20. Polls open 7am - 7pm. See SarasotaVotes.gov for information. Also, see League of Women Voters website (vote411.org) for info on YOUR ballot choices, and lwvsrq.org for info on Sarasota candidate positions.. On Election Day you can only vote in your precinct (check your voter registration card). For Alta Vista residents who usually vote at St.Paul's Lutheran, vote this time at First Presbyterian, on Oak St at west edge of Payne Park.
​THEN LATER, General Election is Nov 5.

Moved to Thurs Aug 8 DUE TO STORM Monday August 5, 9am, City Commission Meeting, City Hall. Agenda Item X.5 SCHOOL SAFETY ZONES. New ordinance being considered to install speeding detection systems (video, photo) in select school "slow" zones throughout the City, to automatically ticket ($100?) speeders in those areas during "slow" morning & evening hours (which are already posted on road signs). Zones being considered include, for Alta Vista Elementary, Tuttle near Browning, also 900-1100 S. Shade, possibly Euclid; and for Sarasota High, 2000-2200 Bahia Vista. See City Commission meeting Aug 5, click on backup for details. That backup document includes actual traffic counts including speed counts from March 2024, which shows ALARMING numbers of speeding cars in these areas; for Alta Vista Elementary analysis see pp55-56, 59-60 and 63-64; for Sarasota High on Bahia Vista St see pp 63-64.

New Post Office on US 301/Washington Blvd by Payne Park?:  NOPE!  Noted in the Observer May 30th (yourobserver.com), in early stages of planning/discussion, building new post office on that vacant parcel of City-owned land between Washington Blvd and Payne Park.  Would allow new Convention Center to be built on valuable downtown parcel that has been the main Sarasota post office for many years.  HOWEVER, the Post Office officially stated, on June 6th, that "The Postal Service is not willing to relocate nor entertain discussions about a land swap."   So, nope.  Wonder what might eventually go on this vacant, City-owned site?

June 2024, Sarasota Paradise preprofessional soccer at Sarasota High School Stadium. Sarasota Paradise, a new team in 2023, played there last year and, as far as I know, chaos did not beset the neighborhood: no crazy traffic, no wacko soccer fan gangs, no ear-shattering vuvuzelas.  Home games scheduled for 2024: June 1, 12, 16, 23, 29, and July 3, and tickets start at just $10.  See sarasotaparadise.us

June 14  Payne Park Tennis Center Open House.    The community is invited to a free all-day open house with music and drinks to celebrate the latest amenities at the City-owned and operated facility, including the grand opening of Court Thirteen, a pro shop, cafe, bar, and social gathering place for tennis enthusiasts (& the rest of us, too).  Complimentary coffee!  See details at City web page.  New fencing work for the Center is just about done.

Monika's Bakery Boutique: new bakery/coffee/desserts shop on Ringling Blvd, next to FiveO Donuts. Opening soon in May 2024.

Payne Park Tennis Center Fence Replacement Project April-June.  No, that fenced-off area is just for project materials, they're not building anything new on that site right now.

FREE WI-FI in Payne Park !   as of April 2024

April 2024 Local Construction / Traffic Alert . Continuing into April FPL contractors continue replacing/upgrading power poles & wires (on School Av, Wood, Shade, etc.). Temporary street closures and traffic detours occur as work progresses; watch for big orange signs.

March-April: Frontier Fiberoptic Cable Installation on Bay St between School and East. Frontier is running underground fiber optic lines in right-of-way along this block.

April 7 - 14, Sarasota Open Tennis Tournament at Payne Park Tennis Center  .  See sarasotaopen.com

March 29 Friday, 5pm  Good Friday in Payne Park. First Baptist Church is holding Good Friday sermon, including sponsoring a free, family-fun event including a helicopter Easter Egg drop, plus a Nik Wallenda wire walk!  See firstsarasota.org for details.

Mature Tree incentive program:  Spring 2024 (and also Fall 2024).  Apparently the 2023 pilot program proved successful!  Now called Neighborhood Canopy Program, this initiative encourages residents to plant and maintain large canopy trees. The City’s Tree Mitigation Fund pays up to $500 toward an approved canopy tree when the required $100 deposit is received. Reservations are now (Feb 3) being taken for plantings in Spring 2024  Interested in participating? Click this link Neighborhood Canopy Program for details.  Then call Mast Landscape Management at 941-480-6387 or email the City at [email protected].

Fri Feb 2 & Sat Feb 3  Concordia Lutheran Church Rummage Sale!  Always a fun time and a great rummage sale.  Corner of Wood St and School Av.  8am-2pm both days.

Shade Ave Complete Streets update:  New SURVEY!  City is requesting more community input for Shade Ave improvement project.  Specifically, based on prior feedback, they are considering removing that weird little "raised bump" traffic circle at Shade and Novus (a.k.a. "Kelly's Bane").  Take a look at 3 options:  Take the survey.  The survey closes 5pm Mon Jan 22, 2024. See more info, plus City website link, at Shade Ave Complete Streets page.

New Sarasota High Master Plan summary was presented at School Board Workshop 8/15/23.  Future Improvements:  Tennis Courts, and a Performing Arts Center.  Just a tad more initial intel, so far, at Schools Update page.

SOLAR COOP!  Thinking of going solar at your home?  A new solar coop formed July 2023; a solar coop is a group of people (in a set area and timeframe) who negotiate a good deal on installing solar panels for their homes.  You must sign up by Nov 30th to participate; but there is no obligation. See Solar United Neighbors