Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 More money will be going to road resurfacing and bridge repairs over the next five years, thanks to split votes of the County Commission during its May 14 budget workshop. With Commissioners Joe Barbetta and Vice Chairman Charles Hines in the minority, the board approves allocating an extra $10 million to road repaving and about $4.1 million to the bridge work. Before the vote, Chief County Engineer James K. Harriott Jr. confirms it would take about $10 million per year to keep no more than 40 percent of the county's roads from falling below a rating of 60. When a road drops below that level, Harriott explains, the commissioners and staff begin to hear complaints from drivers. Page 49 With thousands of participants coming in from all over North America, the 2013 PanAmerican Masters Swimming Championship is expected to have a $5 million economic impact on Sarasota County, the chairman of the organizing committee tells the county's Tourist Development Council (TDC) on May 16. The event will be held June 1-13, primarily at the Sarasota Family YMCA Selby Aquatic Center, located at 8301 Potter Park Drive (just south of Westfield Sarasota Square Mall). And because 49 percent of the participants are from outside the United States, "it's an opportunity for us to showcase Sarasota to a whole new group of people," Carl Weinrich points out. New Olympic-type starting blocks await participants in the 2013 Pan-American Masters Swimming Championship at the YMCA's Selby Aquatic Center in June. Photo courtesy Sarasota County