• Home
• Officials
• Meetings
• City Services
• Local Businesses
• News
• Messages from Mayor
• Flood/Hurricane Info
• Elevation Certificates
• Town Ordinances

Holiday Schedule Set

Not too early to begin making plans for the holiday season. It always gets here much sooner than anticipated. When putting together your calendar, reserve the following dates for the traditional celebrations that have become so much a part of the North Redington Beach community:

• Friday, December 5. 6:30 p.m. Third annual holiday tree lighting at Radcliffe Park.
• Thursday, December 11. Home decorating contest final judging.
• Saturday, December 13. 3:00 p.m. Santa Claus Parade.
• Sunday, December 14. 6 p.m. Holiday boat parade.

For details on how to participate, contact Town Hall at 391-4848.

Dates Set For Town Elections

Also not too early to start thinking about the next town election. We still have a presidential election to go through, but within a month after that, the clock will start ticking on anyone who might be interested in running for town office.

Final action won’t come until the November meeting, but the town commission has taken the first step toward establishing key dates for the next town election. Voting will take place on Tuesday, March 10. To qualify for the ballot, candidates will have to file all necessary papers with the town clerk between Monday December 1 and Friday December 12.

The filing dates have been moved up one week to avoid conflict with the holiday season.

Three offices are up for election, mayor and commissioner for seat 1 and seat 2.

Once again, details are available at Town Hall.

Beach Preservation

Mayor Bill Queen reported on the recent meeting of the Florida Shore & Beach Preservation Association, which the town and other beach communities support because of its work in maintaining our beaches. As always, funding was a big issue, with both new tax policies and general economic conditions cutting into government allocations for beach preservation.

The importance of this work, however, was emphasized with statistics showing that throughout the U.S. the value of the beaches to the economy is 260 billion dollars. In Florida, the tourism industry built around the beach communities remains one of the state’s key economic drivers.

Long range, the Association is concerned about the sources of sand for renourishment. Not much of a problem in our area, but something the communities in southeast Florida are concerned about. They are also keeping an eye on rising sea levels, from natural cycles as well as global warming.

Capital Improvements

State law requires that the capital improvements element of a community’s comprehensive plan be updated every year. The capital improvements element lays out projects for a five year period. The current update will extend the program through the year 2013.

Final action will not come until the November meeting, and some of the projects in the advanced years still require a secure funding source. An example is the proposal to place utility lines underground on Gulf Boulevard. The county has committed some 1.2 million dollars for the town. But Mayor Queen reported that recent estimates he received from the utility companies totaled almost 4.5 million, and that excluded items that could add a lot more when the project is done.

The project remains part of the capital program, but clearly much more work will have to be done on financing before it can proceed.

In contrast, funds are on hand for work scheduled in the current fiscal year, including the replacement of playground equipment at Addie Graham Park, the addition of swings and other play items at Radcliffe Park and the resurfacing of the Radcliffe Park tennis courts.

The full program is available for viewing at Town Hall.

Library Concerns

The town continues to field questions about the future of the Gulf Beaches Library with the decision of Treasure Island to withdraw funding. That issue is still up in the air, since it is not yet known how many individual families will pay $100 to retain their library privileges. There appears to be a commitment among other communities to continue their support, at least for the immediate future.

The town did learn that just short of 500 people from North Redington used the library last year. That’s just a little under a third of the town’s population.

Library supporters, meanwhile, will continue efforts to raise funds. That includes Commissioner Richard Bennett, who is heading the committee to plan the second annual Food for Thought fundraiser. It will be held February 28, 2009 on the library grounds. Last year, the event raised some $8,000.