Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100825
Sarasota News Leader December 28, 2012 Adding his frustrations to those voiced just a couple of hours earlier at the monthly Siesta Key Village Association meeting, Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta demands to know during his board���s regular meeting why ���everybody���s frozen in place��� on the Siesta Public Beach improvements project. Moreover, the county���s chief engineer reports to the County Commission that an open-house meeting on the project scheduled for Nov. 13 on Siesta Key might have to be postponed. Barbetta points out that when the board last saw the plans for the improvements, in June, the board asked staff to move ahead expeditiously with completing the design work and proposing funding options, including use of Page 70 bond revenue, because construction costs and interest rates were low and jobs were needed. ��������� The Sarasota News Leader learns City Auditor and Clerk Pam Nadalini has secured one quote from a bonding company, although two sources say the rates are roughly 20 times the amount paid for the same coverage for the other city officials required to have bonds. City Human Resources Director Kurt Hoverter says he is ���shopping��� for a lower-cost bond with other venders, and he said he might ���save a few thousand dollars��� over the first figure he received. In 2011, staff presented to the County Commission a possible three-phase plan for accelerating the completion of the Siesta Public Beach improvements. Graphic courtesy Sarasota County