Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/293799
Siesta Seen Commissioner Nora Patterson, who lives on Siesta Key, made the motion to accept DeMarsh's recommendation. Commissioner Carolyn Mason seconded it. "Although the county has neatened up the [construction] site, it's quite an eyesore," Patterson said, "and I'm increasingly getting concerns emailed to me that it's the entrance to Siesta Key." She added, "A lot of tourists and people who are new in town are passing it …" Patterson also noted the park is "a pretty good recreational asset," that has been partly cor doned off since the project has been on hold. The park's location was a factor in his recom mendation, DeMarsh responded. Additionally, with the stipulated settlement approved, he said, the county could pursue an emergency procurement procedure to get the work started again, further speeding up the process. The seawall is more than 40 years old, according to a staff memo issued prior to the awarding of the bid to CB Construction Services in March 2013. THE SKUA SITE Bay Island Park was not the only Siesta issue Commissioner Patterson brought up during the April 8 board meeting. A second one involved the site of the old Siesta Key Utility Authority sewer plant, which is near Glebe Park. The facility is scheduled to be decommis sioned at the end of 2016, according to county staff. Patterson prefaced her comments about the wastewater treatment plant site by saying she expected she and Commissioner Joe Barbetta would be long gone from the board before any real consideration could be given to the pro posal she planned to offer. (They both will be stepping down after the November election.) Over the past couple of years, Patterson said, people occasionally have emailed her to suggest what a great place for a park the wastewater treatment facility property would be. However, she continued, the board previ ously had discussed selling the land after the plant was decommissioned. "There's not a lot of access to it," she added, and residents on the nearby Shadow Lawn Drive probably would oppose such an inten sive use of the property, because Shadow Lawn Drive is the main route to the site. Further, if a park were placed there, she pointed out, a home would block a direct route from the land to Glebe Park. Nonetheless, Patterson said, she recently received an email suggesting the county could create a bicycle and pedestrian path to connect the three other streets closest to the treatment plant site — Oakmont Place, Dewey Place and Siesta Woods Drive. "Then you could basically get to the beach without ever going on the main road." Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 105