Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/86226
Sarasota News Leader October 5, 2012 Siesta Seen Given that that was a Tuesday night — the eve of the key's weekly garbage collection — Smith told me he wasted no time calling Championship's office to report the need for workers to collect the pole quickly, before it ended up being sold at a scrap metal yard. Although I was speaking with him on the phone, I could envision Smith shaking his head as he tried to figure out how in the world someone hit the pole in the first place. The incident occurred near the Siesta Beach Resort & Suites, located at 5311 Ocean Blvd. Smith pointed out that the speed limit along Ocean Boulevard is 20 mph. The driver ap- parently hit the gas coming off Calle Miramar — or was distracted, or perhaps both — as he or she turned north onto Ocean, jumped the curb and knocked over the pole. "I don't know how on earth they hit it," he said. "Texting or what?" A DUI case, Blase Cafe co-owner Rahmi Nehme reported during the Siesta Key Village Association meeting on Oct. 2. Nehme said he saw the incident, which the Florida Highway Patrol handled. The driver was a woman, Nehme added. Smith told me it had reminded him of the time someone hit the light pole in front of SunTrust bank, which, he pointed out, is on a straight- away section of Ocean Boulevard. At least, Smith said, when he drove over to check out the situation, he saw the pole "was neatly placed on the side of the road and out of the way." The following morning, Smith said, he left a board of directors meeting at the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and drove down to take another look. The pole was gone, so he was hoping Championship workers, not some- one cruising for scrap metal, had collected it. Sure enough, as he turned the corner of Calle Minorga to head to his office, he saw the pole was resting neatly in the side yard. "They are on the ball," he said of Champion- ship's staff. "I was just surprised to pull up in my driveway and see a light pole." At least, he added, "We have the room." Smith shares the office with Cheryl Gaddie of CG Designs. Tom Maroney, general manager of business operations in the county's Public Works De- partment, first told me about the incident. One of his staffers had received a phone call about it from a county traffic employee, Maroney said. Maroney seemed happily relieved not to have to worry about this situation. While the coun- ty was handling the Village maintenance, he had his share of headaches, including, for a period of time, almost constant vandalism of the fence alongside Ocean Boulevard near the Treasure Boat Way intersection. The county finally replaced that fence with something much sturdier. Page 89