The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

CALL TO ARTISTS: SIDEWALK INLAYS Sarasota, FL:  The City of Sarasota is issuing a Call to Artists for unique sidewalk inlays for the Downtown Sarasota Historic District.  The inlays will replace dozens of 16 x 16 grey tiles along the Main Street sidewalk.  Selected local professional artists will be paid $250 to create a one of a kind 16 x 16 inlay.  Preferred materials include but are not limited to: stoneware ceramic, granite, stainless steel, synthetics, or alternative materials with specifications proving adequate durability with no sharp edges or slick surfaces.  Applications and supporting documents for the Call to Artists are available on-line.  Proposals must include: two (2) jpeg files of the proposed design: 72dpi and 300 dpi drawings must be to scale; a detailed description of the materials to be used to produce the inlay; the dimensional thickness of the inlay when completed.  The deadline for submissions is July 28, 2009.   Interested professional artists shall reside in ...

Sarasota County Planning Services invites you to attend a workshop about proposed amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan. The workshop will take place from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 , in the first floor training room at the Sarasota County Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. Drafts of the amendments will be available at the workshop. These amendments involve: Transportation Plan – identifying significant local roads, reviewing adopted levels of service for roadways, adding new policies for transit services and recognizing the two scenic highways in the county. ·           Future Land Use Plan – adding new policies about nonconforming residential densities and amending policies regarding densities in the Light Office and Neighborhood Commercial Center designations. ·           Future Land Use Map – expanding the boundaries of the Englewood Town Center. Staff involved with these changes will be present to answer your questions. We hope to see you there and pleas...

MEET HERE!  PLAY HERE!  Sarasota County – Something for everyone! MEET HERE!  PLAY HERE!  Sarasota County – Something for everyone!, is an initiative of Sarasota County government to inform the public of the many great events, activities and things to do for free or at little cost, here in your community. Summer is here, and so are hundreds of opportunities to have fun in the sun! For example; in June you can attend a beach run or learn how to get prepared for hurricane season. To find about more information on these and the many other events taking place in June check out the calendar of events at  http://www.sarasotafl.org . With so many events to choose from, you are sure to find something to enjoy! Now is a great time to rediscover your Sarasota community. Become revitalized, rejuvenated and inspired by an enduring spirit of engagement and involvement. Sarasota County is the best place to live, learn, work and play! We are proud to provide you these opportunities and invite you to ...

Are there any ham radio operators in Lake Sarasota? The county's emergency services people would like to get their names, call signals, and email addresses to build an emergency network. Send the above info to Scott Montgomery  of the county's Emergency Services. Also, if you're an operator, please note this from one ham radio operator: My information that I have from ACS data is that the communications frequency to be used will be Alpha Numeric : SAR-1 Frequency: 146.730 Mhz Offset: minus Tone: PL100.00 tone

Interested in helping the area's business community? Here's one way:  Annual BIZ Exchange hosted by Fruitville 210 Community Alliance:    This will be an opportunity to meet & Support F210 local Businesses.   We want all F210 Businesses to be promoted around our F210 Neighborhood. Keep your TAX dollars in the Sarasota County tax base! BE LOYAL - BUY LOCAL            Tuesday - MAY 19th 6:30 - 8:00pm EVENT:            6:30 - Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Pres/CEO Steve Queior will address the meeting. 6:45 - 7:45  - BIZ Exchange / card exchange & networking 7:45 - 8:00  - Clean-up - we MUST be out by 8:00pm Library closes!!       Location: Fruitville Library - 100 Couburn Road      PLEASE bring your Neighbor with you Tuesday Night! Thank you, Karen Heffner Board Secretary/Treasurer Fruitville 210 Community  Alliance www.Fruitville210.org  

The Lake Sarasota Business Directories are done. Who knew there were so many talented and enterprising folks here?  The attractive Directories look will be distributed throughout the community by volunteers very soon. If you can't wait for your copy, you can call Sandy at 321-5582 to arrange to pick up your copy. You might even be able to arrange to pick up some for your neighbors.

Residents of Lake Sarasota:   We had a very interesting and informative meeting Tuesday evening.   The meeting was attended by a high ranking officer from the sheriff's department.  Captain Pelfery attended and took the time to explain some of the things that his office is doing to help decrease crime in Lake Sarasota.   The 2 biggest problems we have are vehicle burglaries and home burglaries.  Captain Pelfery strongly suggests that we do not leave our cars unlocked and that we do not leave anything visible in our cars.  When thieves see something they can steal and sell, it only takes them a few seconds to break into our cars and steal our possessions.  He also stressed the importance of keeping our garage doors closed when we are not in the garage.   OPEN GARAGE DOORS ARE AN INVITATION TO BURGLARS!!!   Captain Pelfery commited to having an officer at our next meeting, (June 9th) to listen to our concerns and explain what the sheriff's department is doing about them.   PLEASE...

Excellent News: Word arrived today that HealthSouth Corporation , which is building an addition to its Rehabilitation Facility on the north side of Bee Ridge Rd., has offered to pay the cost of installing an embellished median at the entrance on Mauna Loa. The entrance is being reconfigured to satisfy traffic requirements due to the upgrade of the HealthSouth facility. Work is expected to begin soon. This generous gesture would not have been possible without the intervention of Sarasota Neighborhood Services , which confirmed the offer this evening, and to whose dedicated staff we now owe yet another debt of thanks. In addition, Neighborhood Services confirms that Lake Sarasota still has $2132.84 in grant funds. These need to be used by Sept. 30,  on projects that meet grant guidelines. If you have ideas, send them along or come to our next meeting on June 9. 

Hurricane Season is almost here. It's time to prepare - here a couple of places to start: Hurricane Prep Guide (Sun Sentinel) Hurricane Preparedness Week (NOAA)

Good Afternoon: the Sarasota County Health Department will be conducting a faith-based and neighborhood volunteer training on May 19 at 3:30 in the EOC.  This is training about being a volunteer in our community. If there are any questions, please contact: Jamie P. Mahadeo   Human Services Business Professional Sarasota County Health and Human Services 2200 Ringling Boulevard, Suite 2001 Sarasota, FL  34237   (941) 861-2563   jmahadeo@scgov.net

For Immediate Release: May  13 , 2009     Contact:  DOH Communications Office     850-245-4111 www.doh.state.fl.us    1-800- 775-8039          May     13, 2009           11:15 a.m.        All four Department of Health laboratories have received testing supplies from the Centers for Disease Control and now can test samples to confirm H1N1 Swine Flu. This testing capability allows the Department to expedite results as we no longer need to send probable cases to CDC laboratories. Florida has 58 confirmed cases   in the following counties: one in Osceola, Alachua, Indian River, Marion, Clay, Collier, Lake, Manatee,  Flagler,    Seminole, Okeechobee, and Duval, two in   Orange ,  Brevard and Sarasota, 3 in Pinellas, 7 in Lee, 8 in Hillsborough, and 11 in Dade and Broward each.         New confirmed case s :      Broward: a 14 year-old female Dade:  a 10 year-old female   We have 3 probables in the following counties:        Palm Beach has one probable and Okaloosa has 2.    CDC no longer re...

Highlights of the May 12th meeting include: Mike Pelfrey of the Sheriff's Office listened to concerns about speeding, break ins, and narcotics dealing. He recommended that garage doors be closed and locked at all times; that cars be parked inside garages, and that GPS systems and garage door openers not be visible from outside the vehicle.  He noted that motorcyclists now can incur fines of $1,000 for doing wheelies. The higher fine is one reason they go faster - to avoid having their plates read. Anyone who spots a UPS, Fed-EX or other truck speeding is encouraged to get the truck number and report it to the Sheriff. With the number, usually visible on the side of the vehicle, they can track down the actual driver. Mike said he or another member of the department will return to our meeting next month (June 9). Ted offered a superb report noting a consistent pattern of break-ins to autos and houses on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, especially between 6 - 8 pm and 10 am to noon...

A representative from the Sheriff's Office will be on hand at tonight's meeting to field questions about recent upticks in the incidence of crime in the neighborhood - burglaries, suspected drug dealing, etc. Ted Cover from Citizens Patrol will also talk about recent auto and house break-ins - three on one recent afternoon. Sandy expects to have the Business Directory  all done, and an accounting of costs. A vote will be necessary on whether to go ahead with plans for stamped brick at the Mauna Loa entrance. Here is an image of herringbone pattern stamped brick: It's all happening tonight, Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m., at Sarasota Baptist, Room 100. Other items on the agenda: Park restoration, Yard of the month, Lakeview update, future events (Thanksgiving, Park celebration,) etc.

Several residents of Lake Sarasota took time recently to participate in marking area storm drains. According to Ray: This is an ongoing County program that began about 10 years ago to educate the public not to dump near drain openings and pollute the water ways and ultimately the bays. Any one can do it. The County provides everything that is needed. Read more about the program here and here (scroll down), and if you'd like to get involved, here's how: To find out more about how YOU can participate in a storm drain marking, contact Julia Burch of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) at 941.955.8085. Or, you can e-mail her at julia@sarasotabay.org.

Sarasota, FL: The Steigerwaldt-Jockey Children's Fountain, located within Bayfront Park, reopened today following maintenance work on the water filtration system. The fountain is open daily 10am - 5pm until Memorial Day. On May 25th, extended summer hours will go into effect with the fountain open daily noon - 7pm. For information call the Children's Fountain hotline: 941-954-4101 ext. 5254. Jan Thornburg City of Sarasota Public Information Officer 941-954-2613 941-650-9693 (Cell) 941-954-4113 (Fax)

Update: Florida has five confirmed cases; two in Lee , one in Broward, one in Orange County , and one in Pinellas. The second Lee County confirmation is a 7 year old male who attends Spring Creek Elementary School. The Pinellas County confirmed case is 24 year old male. Alachua, Lee, Indian River, Okeechobee, and Clay have one probable case each. Palm Beach has two probable cases and Miami Dade has three. Hillsborough County has five probable cases. A public health emergency was declared by the State Surgeon General. A toll free information line has been established to address an increasing number of calls from the public requesting Swine Flu information. The number is 1-800-342-3557 and it is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m Note: The "Swine Flu" is now called the H1N1 Virus: SitRep #6 Level - 3   (Monitoring)) Saturday & Sunday, May 2-3, 2009, 1500 hrs H1N1 Preparedness Sarasota County Health and Human Services  Situation Report Weekend (Saturday/Sunday – ...

As a model of what community organizing might be, here's a handbook from Vancouver: The Citizen's Handbook - Practical assistance for those who want to make a difference  

A new burglary incident has been reported: Burglary at 3990 Hina Dr. occuring some time between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Among items stolen was a big screen TV. The house was unoccupied at the time of the burglary. The break-in and burglary was discovered by one of the children on returning home from school. The house was locked and garage door down at the time of the break-in. Either the house did not have a security alarm, or it was not activated. Citizens Patrol organizer Ted Cover said: "This very serious incident illustrates the audacity of the perpetrators, and the importance of having a working security alarm and setting it on leaving the house."