Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/277189
The development would face south into the mangroves of Sperling Park, where kayakers from near and far enjoy the "tunnels" through the greenery. DiPinto's plan includes built-in kayak storage for the owners. City staff supported the plan but objected to three "curb cuts" for driveways to allow visitors and service vehicles to enter off Taft Drive. Doing away with the driveways would eliminate some parking, a proposal that, in turn, sparked a discussion Wednesday night about changing the no-parking status of Taft and even widening the street to allow parking on both sides of Taft. In the end, the Planning Board approved the developer's proposal with the curb cuts on a 4-1 vote (Jennifer Ahern-Koch in the minority). The motion had no recommenda- tions to change the parking status along Taft. NEW TV SYSTEM MAKES ITS DEBUT Wednesday night's Sarasota Planning Board meeting was the inaugural test of the city's new high-definition television makeover. More than $200,000 in new equipment was installed over the past two weeks to replace old equipment, some impossible to repair. The timing was perfect, for immediately after the final broadcast with the old gear, a critical camera failed. Any gear salvageable will go to the city's second meeting room equipped for live and recorded TV production. After city staff num- bers shrank over the past years, half of the first floor of the City Hall Annex was made camera- and microphone-capable. The new hi-def signal is striking. Planning Board Member Jennifer Ahearn-Koch's wild blonde tresses were visible hair by hair, and documents captured with the overhead cam- era were clinically sharp. Unfortunately, none of this improvement in screen resolution is noticeable outside the monitors in the City Commission Chambers. While the "feed" provided to the local cable signal provider is high-definition, the output from the cable company remains the same old low-resolution quality. One change will be noticeable, though. The city commissioners now have buttons to push for their votes, allowing the final tallies to be shown on the screen. There are still a few small details yet to be fin- ished, but the hardware and software upgrade is more than 99 percent complete. So why upgrade? The system was failing and low-resolution gear is no longer produced. Going high-definition was the only path avail- able to keep the system working. % Master control for city television production lies behind the dais. The new gear takes about one-third less space than the equipment it replaces. Photo by Stan Zimmerman Sarasota News Leader March 14, 2014 Page 40