The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

About 50 neighborhood residents turned out Tuesday evening to meet the candidates for the County Commission District 2 seat, Casey Pilon , John Lewis , and Joe Barbetta .

Candidates for District 2 Sarasota County Commission Seat will be on hand at a Meet the Candidates Forum , Tuesday, Aug. 29th, at Sarasota Baptist Church , 7091 Proctor Rd., across from Lakeview Elementary. Meet the people who are vying to represent your district: John Lewis , Joe Barbetta , and Casey Pilon . The event runs from 6:30 - 8 p.m. in the church auditorium, and light refreshments will be served. Bring your questions for the candidates.

Work on the Westminster Entrance to Lake Sarasota is almost complete, according to the Beautification Committee , which received donations of mulch and plant material. Trees are also planned for the entrance. The committee is looking for volunteers, and always welcomes contributions. To become involved, call Dawn at 377-4710, or email Tisha. The county will be conducting a traffic study on Mauna Loa in the next few weeks, to determine the level of traffic, number of accidents, moving violations and other safety data. Based on that information, a decision about stop signs in Lake Sarasota will be made. The next general Neighborhood Group meeting will be on September 12th . Realtor Micky Schweitzer will be on hand to discuss trends and issues.

Tuesday's General Meeting at Sarasota Baptist was well attended. Some highlights: Volunteers are invited to join the Yard of the Month committee. The committee will seek a grant to buy signs to place in yards that are awarded the Yard of the Month designation. Thanks to one resident, the committee now has several prizes to award, including a free haircut and free hair products. The Beautification Committee meets at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Aug. 15th, at 6571 Friendship to organize landscaping the Westminster entrance gate. The wall has already been painted, and the volunteers urge all to drive by and see the improvements. They plan to mulch and plant, as well as to add lettering to the wall. It will read: "Lake Sarasota - East Gate." All interested parties are welcome. Call Debbie if you have any questions. David Johnson was made chair of the Traffic Committee , and is seeking volunteers to join him. A request for several stop signs has been submitted to the County and t

The next general meeting for Lake Sarasota residents is set for Tuesday, August 8th, at Sarasota Baptist Church , 7091 Proctor Road. It starts at 6:30 p.m. The Beautification Committee will have an update, and the group will begin setting up other sub-committees for the neighborhood. Nominations will also be taken for a voluntary board to oversee the activities. If you would like to volunteer for one of the positions or know of someone who would be good at that, please let me know and plan to attend Tuesday's meeting. Some of the sub-committees being discussed are as follows: Traffic Committee Citizen's Patrol/Neighborhood Watch Committee County Liaison Committee Peer to Peer Code Enforcement Committee Yard of the Month Committee Other suggestions are welcome. Please join us! === Meanwhile, here are a few links to timely hurricane info: Weather Underground Dr. Jeff Masters' Wunder Blog Hurricane and Storm Tracking IBISEYE

Good morning everyone. Dawn and I will be meeting at the Westminister wall Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. to give it a second coat and possible landscaping. If you have a couple of hours, please come and join us. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks! Debbie Debbie Marks Senior Planner Neighborhood Services 1660 Ringling Boulevard Sarasota, FL 34236 (941) 861-5865