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Beaches notebook
By AMY WIMMER and KATHY SAUNDERS End in sight for Land's End suitTREASURE ISLAND -- The saga of the Land's End lawsuit could be concluded Monday when city commissioners make a final decision on how to pay the judgment. Commissioners have scheduled a special meeting for 11 a.m. to discuss the lawsuit and the approximately $3-million the city could owe in damages. The meeting will be at City Hall, 120 108th Ave. The original damages of $1.77-million, plus 12 percent a year interest, were awarded in 1994. The case involving Provident Management Corp. and the Land's End Condominiums began with a 1988 zoning decision by the city and its action in 1991 to stop Provident from issuing short-term leases at the Sunset Beach complex, 7500 Bayshore Drive. The city did not obtain a bond at the time it shut down Provident, and the courts ruled against Treasure Island's argument that it had sovereign immunity in the case. City officials said they believed Treasure Island's damages should be covered by the Florida League of Cities insurance pool. However, the league has maintained its right not to cover the losses. On Monday, City Manager Chuck Coward said he will reveal the minutes from several closed-door "executive sessions" in which commissioners have been negotiating the final settlement. Indian Rocks BeachTrolley riders will get a new spot to await the bus in Indian Rocks Beach. The city and Action 2000, a community organization that works on city beautification projects, will spend $8,500 to build a bus shelter in front of the Eckerd drug store at the intersection of Gulf Boulevard and Fourth Avenue. Action 2000 donated $4,200 for the shelter. The $4,300 the city will spend comes from money it raised at two galas in 2000 and 2001. The shelter will be like the one Indian Rocks Beach recently installed at Chic-a-Si Park. City Manager Tom Brobeil said he wishes the Chic-a-Si Park shelter was bigger because so many people use it, but space limitations prevent the shelter from being larger than the one at Chic-a-Si. * * * Indian Rocks Beach received a $75,000 grant from Pinellas County to install marine turtle sensitive lighting at public beach access sites. The lights will be installed at Central Avenue, First through Fifth avenues, Ninth Avenue, 15th Avenue, 17th Avenue, 18th Avenue and 22nd through 23rd avenues. Engineering plans for the project are being prepared free of charge by city resident Hank Johnson, who is a licensed electrical engineer. * * * Applications for educational scholarships from the Indian Rocks Beach Civic Association are available at City Hall, 1507 Bay Palm Blvd. The civic association has awarded $101,300 in scholarships since 1984. Any resident or dependent of a resident of Indian Rocks Beach is eligible for up to four $1,000 annual awards paid directly to the accredited school of his or her choice. Students attending an accredited undergraduate program, graduate school or trade school are eligible. Call 595-0344 for information. Deadline for returning completed applications is April 8. Incomplete or late entries will not be reviewed. * * * Several community groups are joining to make next weekend a big one in Indian Rocks Beach. The Beach Art Center will sponsor the 24th annual Spring Fling from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday in Kolb Park, between 15th and 16th avenues. The arts and crafts festival is held in conjunction with the city's Beauty and the Beach festival, the Friends of the Library Book Sale and the Gulfside Gallop. The Indian Rocks Beach Rotary Club will serve an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast in the Gray Gallery of the Beach Art Center from 7 to 11 a.m. Tickets are $3.50. A few blocks away, on the beach, will be the city's food and music festival, Beauty and the Beach. Everyone is welcome to bring a beach chair. Festivities get under way Saturday morning when 300 runners are expected to participate in the Fourth Annual Gulfside Gallop. The Gallop, a five-kilometer race or one-mile fun walk, is sponsored by Guppy's on the Beach, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Harbourside, Jimmy Guana's and the Red Lion. Sponsorship funds from these Indian Rocks Beach businesses have been used to purchase tank tops for every registered racer. The race, which is run along the beach, begins at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Pinellas County park located across the street from Guppy's near 17th Avenue. Registration closes at 7:58 a.m. Madeira BeachThe Madeira Beach Seniors will meet at 1 p.m. Monday in the City Hall Auditorium. Meetings are free and open to the public, age 50 and older. For information, call Dorothy Shepherd, at 397-4081. * * * The Pinellas Parliamentarian Unit will meet from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in the City Hall Auditorium. Coffee and social hour starts at 9 a.m. Programs are devoted almost entirely to education. Meetings are free and open to the public. The group tries to help associations having difficulty at meetings. For information, call 866-3899 or 392-3263. -- Compiled by Times staff writer Amy Wimmer and correspondent Kathy Saunders. To submit items to the beaches notebook, e-mail wimmer@sptimes.com.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
