Longboat Observer 5.7.15

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LONGBOAT

Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

VOLUME 37, NO. 40

BLACK

FREE

TIE

‘AN UNBRIDLED EVENING’ Guests bet on the YMCA Foundation at Derby-themed gala.

ARTS+CULTURE

ART AND ADVOCACY

The Harvey Milk Festival strives to promote one message: equality.

INSIDE

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

Manatee County: Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, 600 301 Blvd. W., Suite 108, Bradenton, FL 34205. Sarasota County: Sarasota Supervisor of Elections Office, 101 S. Washington Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34236.

Ocean Properties’ Mark Walsh says voters should check ‘yes’ on their May 12 referendum ballots if they don’t want more traffic on Gulf of Mexico Drive. KURT SCHULTHEIS SENIOR EDITOR

Do Longboat Key residents want tourism units or residential units built within Islandside? Mark Walsh, vice president of Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., says that’s up to the 6,340 registered voters of Longboat Key to decide. The vision Ocean Properties has pitched to community associations around the Key calls for a redeveloped Longboat Key Club Islandside property with a 259-unit hotel, expanded meeting space with 10 to 12 meeting rooms and approximately 93 condominium/villa units that are 130 feet tall. But even if voters quash the request, development is coming to the parcel. If the Key’s electorate votes

File photo

Longboaters from all over Longboat Key cite seasonal traffic as their top concern when asked about whether to check yes or no on their May 12 mail-only referenda ballot. Ocean Properties Ltd. Vice PresiSEE REFERENDUM PAGE 2A dent Mark Walsh says a yes vote means less traffic on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

THRE E ’S CO M PAN Y

YOUR TOWN CALLING ALL GRADUATES Do you know a soonto-be graduate who lives on Longboat, Lido, St. Armands or Bird keys? The Longboat Observer is compiling its graduation special for its May 28 edition, which will feature all graduates who live on Longboat or its outer keys. To be featured, contact Kristen Herhold at kherhold@yourobserver.com by May 20.

The town manager doesn’t believe pay/ pension issues will ignite hiring concerns. KURT SCHULTHEIS SENIOR EDITOR

SEE PENSION PAGE 3A

7 P.M. TUESDAY, MAY 12 Deadline for supervisors to receive ballots. Do not return ballots to Longboat Key Town Hall. Send or deliver ballots to:

TRAFFIC TIPPING POINT: ‘The elephant in the room’

Bullock: Firefighter hiring won’t be problem

Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock doesn’t share Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi’s concern when it comes to replacing six longtime firefighter/paramedics set to retire beginning in 2016. Last week, the Longboat Observer reported about Dezzi’s concerns that the current defined benefit plan and wages that firefighters agreed to as part of their current three-year contract that expires Sept. 30 is inhibiting his ability to attract new firefighters. But Bullock told the Longboat Observer May 1 he doesn’t believe

THERE’S STILL TIME TO VOTE

LAST CHANCE: CRACK THOSE CLAWS

Photo courtesy of Lou Newman

Forget royal baby Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Longboat Key is celebrating the closest it has to a royal birth: the hatching of six cygnets. READ THE STORY ON PAGE 16A.

It’s that time of year: Turtles are nesting, snowbirds have vanished, and you have one more week to savor stone crabs. Stone crab season ends May 15. So, strap on your bibs and sink your teeth in one last time this week until Oct. 15.


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