The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

After hearing a presentation from engineer Jeff Roberts, the Sarasota County Commission today approved, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, the Low Impact Design option for Bee Ridge Road east of I-75. That means Bee Ridge Rd. will be four lanes from Mauna Loa Blvd. to Bent Tree, then two lanes from there out to Iona. About 40 properties on the south side of Bee Ridge (many of them in Lake Sarasota) will be acquired - hopefully at reasonable and realistic market prices - in order to develop a broad corridor with community features such as meandering sidewalks, ponds, bio-swales, and a good deal of buffering between the road and communities that abut it. (click to enlarge) It's a wise and timely decision, given that new projects that will increase density, traffic, and noise along Bee Ridge are on the drawing boards. Besides protection from noise, dust, pollution and sirens, the buffering and attractive landscaping will give the area east of I-75 a "Gateway" quality. Eventually the...

On Wed., Oct. 28, at 1 p.m., the Sarasota County Commission will hold a public hearing concerning plans for Bee Ridge Rd. east of I-75. Engineers will explain plans and probably answer questions, and presumably public comment will be invited. The hearing will be in the Commission chambers on Ringling Blvd. For more background on Bee Ridge projects, click here . Important update from the Bee Ridge Neighborhoods Committee : The Public Hearing is still at 1 pm, but the actual presentation from the Engineers has been moved to 4:30 pm on Wed. Oct. 28: County Staff has met with Commissioners earlier this week to secure their input and questions in preparation for the Wednesday, Oct 28 Commissioner meeting. This meeting will begin at 4.30 PM. Bee Ridge Road Construction will be the third agenda item. The County Administration Building is located downtown on Ringling Boulevard, across from the Post Office, just east of Orange Avenue. Come early to secure parking, located behind the building...

Hello Residents of Lake Sarasota: We had a very interesting and informative meeting on Tuesday night. We had guest speakers from Florida Power & Light who discussed how we can lower our electric bills. It was valuable information. We will be having another guest speaker on November 10, 2009 (7 pm). A representative from the Sarasota Fire Department will be at the meeting to discuss a program they have to replace batteries in your smoke detectors or actually provide you with a smoke detector free of charge. YOU MUST BE AT THE MEETING TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE BATTERIES OR THE FREE SMOKE DETECTORS! At Tuesday's meeting we had a treasury report, a report from the citizen's patrol (which was very positive), and we chose 3 new homes for the Yard of The Month Award. Please be advised that we will be having a community garage sale on November 7th . For information on the sale and to be included in map, please call Sandy Allen at 321-5582, or email her at sallen11@comca...

Ted reminds us that Sarasota's branch of IFAS has a whole Autumn calendar of programs to help with landscaping, bug control, Florida yards, bees, spiders, organic gardening, even bedbugs and retirement planning. Get the complete brochure here . IFAS is UF's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences , a terrific resource. The local office is right in Twin Lakes Park .

The main part of the October meeting was given over to a very useful presentation by two representatives from FPL, covering energy saving tips (also here ) home energy surveys , and rebates for certain improvements. Did you know, for example, that it's possible to get a rebate of up to $1,100 from FPL towards your home's next AC system? To schedule a home energy survey , call 1-800-DIAL- FPL . (1-800-342- 5375) In other business: The Treasury's current total is: $1262.19 Citizens patrol: Sheriff's crime report covered only 4 incidents - three thefts, 1 burglary Times: 10 am - 8 pm No juvenile disturbances No vandalism reported Ted reminds us to keep an eye on vacant houses. To learn more about Citizen's Patrol, call Ted (379-0758) or email him at TCover6161@aol.com One person asked about who to call to get certain streets repaved. It was suggested they go down the street and tell everyone to call the county and bug them until the work is done. Santa will appear ...

IF so, come to the next monthly meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m, when an FPL rep will talk about Managing Electric Use Explains FPL's energy-efficiency programs and tips to help residential, business or special-needs customers manage their bills and energy use. The brief presentation and Q & A leads off the agenda (7 to 7:30 pm) which will also include: A brief summary of the most recent Bee Ridge Committee Meeting (Ray) Garage Sale and upcoming events, holidays. (Sandy) Yard of the Month, Citizens Patrol Crime Report, Treasurer's Report (Renee, Ted, Ellie) Updates on Current Business: Lakeview Park (Tom) New Business, if any