Longboat Observer 08.30.12

Page 1

bserver O LONGBOAT

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

NEWS

Pensacola thrives under strong mayor leadership. PAGE 3A

OUR TOWN

time bomb

free • Thursday, AUGUST 30, 2012

DIVERSIONS

NEWS

Designer Christopher McConnell creates functional works of art. INSIDE

Martha’s Vineyard’s summer mirrors Sarasota’s season. PAGE 17A

by Robin Hartill | City Editor

Colony: signs of progress? The Colony Beach & Tennis Association must show forward movement when it petitions the commission next week for a second extension of the resort’s re-opening deadline.

Photo courtesy of Gabriela Wagner

+ Pinot makes a new friend Pinot Wagner couldn’t help but wag his tail in happiness when he made a new friend last week. Pinot, owned by Longboat Key resident Gabriela Wagner, stood on the edge of the dock to get as close to his manatee acquaintance as possible.

When the parties involved in the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort gave a status update in March, town commissioners bemoaned the lack of progress. Tuesday, Sept. 4, those involved will be back in front of the commission. That is when the Association will ask the commission during a

ST RM DRILL

quasi-judicial hearing to extend the Dec. 31 deadline for re-opening as a tourism property to June 2014. But, in the meantime, those involved are working overtime to show commissioners evidence of what the commission wanted to see in March: progress. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29,

the Association’s board will meet to consider a recommendation of the Owner’s Redevelopment Advisory Committee to approve what board President Jay Yablon described in an email sent Monday night to unit owners as a “non-binding memorandum of understanding between Breakpointe LLC and Coral Hospitality

LLC for concluding settlement negotiations among all parties and for redeveloping and reopening The Colony.” Breakpointe LLC is owned by longtime Colony unit owner Andy Adams, whose entities own at least 48 of the resort’s 237

SEE COLONY / PAGE 2A

by Robin Hartill | City Editor

+ Good eats support a great cause Want dinner to satisfy your hunger and satisfy your craving to help a local nonprofit? During the month of September, The Columbia Restaurant will be donating 5% of each patron’s check to support the nonprofit of his or her choice. The 15th annual Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest has raised more than $1.3 million for Florida non-profit organizations. The Columbia Restaurant is located at 411 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota. Other Columbia locations participating in Community Harvest will include: Ybor City in the historic district of Tampa, St. Augustine, The Pier in St. Petersburg, Sand Key on Clearwater Beach, Central Florida’s Town of Celebration, the Columbia Café on the Riverwalk in Downtown Tampa at The Tampa Bay History Center and the Columbia Restaurant Café at Tampa International Airport. For more information about Community Harvest, including a list of participating nonprofits, visit columbiarestaurant.com.

Turtle tracks Week of Aug. 19 through Aug. 26

Nests.................................2 False crawls.......................0 2012 Nests 629 False crawls 466

Waves crashed against the North Shore Road sea wall Tuesday, Aug 28.

Hurricane Isaac blows past Key Before Hurricane Isaac’s shift in course to the west, high winds and rain were predicted to threaten the island early this week. The most coveted items on the Key over the weekend were bags of sand. The town ran out of bags Saturday morning, just one day after it made sand, bags and shovels available to residents at the Broadway beach access. Some residents filled as many as 30 to 40 bags in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac’s wrath.

“Sandbags were a hot commodity,” said Public Works Director Juan Florensa. “We gave out literally hundreds of sandbags.” In the end, Isaac’s fury sounded more like a whisper than a roar. Longboat Key experienced scattered showers and intermittent winds throughout the day Monday and flooding

in low-lying areas such as the Longbeach Village following high tide Tuesday morning. Its effects on the island were nowhere near the hurricane conditions that seemed a possibility heading into last weekend. But, with memories of Tropical Storm Debby still

SEE ISAAC / PAGE 5A

Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara

Mendi Vardon, 15, skim boards Monday, Aug. 27, on Lido Beach.

INDEX Bridge Bites....... 24A Briefs....................4A

Classifieds ........ 26A Cops Corner....... 10A

Crossword.......... 25A Letters..................9A

Real Estate........ 20A Weather............. 25A

Vol. 35, No. 6 | Two sections YourObserver.com


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Longboat Observer 08.30.12 by The Observer Group Inc. - Issuu