EMINOLE EACON SVolume XXXII, No. 7 B June 17, 2010 www.TBNweekly.com The Rays win the Seminole Little League Minor League crown. See Page 24. City moves forward on upgrades County Plans set to make the Fleet Maintenance Building more weather worthy Leaders find By BOB McCLURE improvements. cuts difficult In other action: Many of the county’s constitu- SEMINOLE – The first step toward making the A 1997 engineering report red- • Councilors approved an interconnection city’s Fleet Maintenance Building more storm-re- agreement with Progress Energy that will allow tional officers and independents flagged the building at 11195 70th say they are unable to cut the re- sistant became official June 8 when city coun- the city to use net metering and receive a credit quested 15 percent from their cilors approved funding for project engineering. Ave., for structural deficiencies that for energy produced through solar panels on the budgets for fiscal year 2011. City leaders voted unanimously to authorize need attention to make the roof of the new Public Works ... Page 8. City Manager Frank Edmunds to enter into an Administration/EOC and Public Works Opera- agreement with McCarthy and Associates, a structure more weather worthy. tions buildings on 70th Avenue. The two build- Clearwater-based structural engineering firm, to ings are expected to produce 86,732 Kw of free Community provide engineering services not to exceed electricity per year. $17,000. building at 11195 70th Ave., for structural defi- • Veteran Seminole Fire Rescue firefighter Sanctuary deploys McCarthy and Associates estimates its work ciencies that need attention to make the struc- Mike Lathrop was promoted to lieutenant. group to Alabama will cost $15,510. ture more weather worthy. • Christa Wingert, volunteer coordinator for The Suncoast Seabird Sanctu- The breakdown for the hardening project is: The first phase of the building at 11195 113th Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County, said ary has deployed a team of experi- evaluation, $2,800; construction documents, St. was constructed in the early 1980s and a six boys in Seminole are currently in need of Big enced, wild bird rescuers to $7,500; bidding process, $1,360; construction two-bay addition was built in 1991. Brothers. For more information, go to www.bbb Orange Beach, Ala. administration, $3,350; and reimbursable ex- Since then, the city has removed certain win- spc.org. ... Page 11. penses, $500. dows, replaced other windows with an impact- A 1997 engineering report red-flagged the resistant design and made general See UPGRADES, page 15 Schools Lima scholarship Graduation night Cow takes is awarded Bob and Stella Lima of Semi- nole have awarded the annual spotlight $1,000 scholarship in honor of their late daughter, Michelle Lima, to a student in Mississippi. at band ... Page 27. Entertainment fundraiser New movies open By BOB McCLURE A number of new movies open SEMINOLE – Since it first became this week in the area, including known that Seminole High School’s the animated adventure “Toy marching band was invited to the Story 3.” 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Pa- ... Page 13. rade in New York City, the school’s band boosters have been organizing a variety of methods to raise money for the trip. One of the more innovative fundraisers will take place Saturday, June 19, at the Seminole Vocational Education Center where the boost- ers’ Cow Chip Classic Bingo event will take place in conjunction with the Summer Fun Festival. Sponsored by the Seminole Kiwa- nis Club, the festival starts at 9 a.m. Marisa Tomei and John C. Reilly and will continue to 2 p.m. The day star in “Cyrus.” will include food, drinks, snacks, children’s games, contests, a dunk tank, inflatable jumpers and Semi- Sports nole Fire Rescue’s fire safety house. Photo by BOB McCLURE Seminole High School’s band and Swim lessons Valedictorian Carley Pels addresses the Seminole High School Class of 2010 on June 9 during graduation available ceremonies at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater. More photos, page 4. See FUNDRAISER, page 15 Registration continues for the sixth annual Tri-If You Dare Fit Kids Triathlon on Sunday, June 20, at the Seminole Recreation City Recreation Center to get Kids Appreciation Day Center. ... Page 23. new air conditioning system By BOB McCLURE Dolphin The city is currently accepting Lucas Wooten, a 9- statements of certification from year-old student at SEMINOLE – The city will soon be HVAC engineering firms and will Watch Bauder Elementary replacing the air conditioning system contract with the most qualified to Ann Weaver School, tosses a dart at the Holland Mangum Recreation design a new system for the build- toward the target Complex following a total failure a ing. Columnist Ann Weaver discuss- during Kids month ago. “We want the most energy-efficient es why some dolphins are swim- Appreciation Day City Manager Frank Edmunds system we can get,” Edmunds said. ming slower this time of the year. June 9 at Seminole ... Page 22. said the system suffered multiple “We had been experiencing high en- failures May 18 prior to an event ergy costs (with the failed system) City Park. The event, sponsored by the Features scheduled there by the Pinellas and we think it was the inefficiency County Sheriff’s Office. of the system that may have caused Seminole Chamber Business . .21 However, Public Works Director it.” of Commerce, Classified . .30-34 Jeremy Hockenbury was able to lo- The failed system was 10 years attracted hundreds Community . .9-12, 18-19, 29 cate a portable unit and had it in op- old. of kids who were celebrating the last County . .2-3, 8 eration in time. The portable unit Edmunds did not say what the day of school. Entertainment . .13-14, 16-17 has been in use since and will con- cost of a new system would be but Health & Fitness . .28 tinue to be used for up to eight said the funds are available in the months while a new system is de- Just For Fun . .26 signed and installed. See AIR CONDITIONING, page 15 Photo by BOB McCLURE Pets of the week . .29 Police beat . .5 Schools . .27 Sports . .23-25 Lolly’s Wigs Viewpoints . .6-7 Summer Clearance 30% OFF Call 397-5563 In Stock Wigs Only Exp. 6-24-10 For News & Advertising 13611 Park Blvd. Suite G, Seminole • 369-8299 • See Ad on 2A 727-723-5255 • 9148 Seminole Blvd., Seminole 2 County Beacon, June 17, 2010 PSTA ridership growing this year to over 12 million riders By TOM GERMOND “We are on a course to have somewhere be- Over the past several months, the PSTA has “They worked on land use for about 30 tween 12 million to 13 million riders on an an- seen dramatic increases, he said. years so they really matured as a transit sys- LARGO – The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Au- nual basis,” said PSTA Executive Director Tim In March the PSTA had a 10 percent in- tem,” he said. thority expects to have record ridership on its Garling at a Largo City Commission work ses- crease over March 2009 and a 12 percent in- The key to developing ridership, he said, is buses this year. sion June 8. crease in April compared to April 2009. serving customers by frequency of service. “These are huge changes. Usually in public The agency is looking to double ridership Dr. Marni L. Mentis, Invites you to celebrate the transit, things move a little up or little down,” over a 10-year-period if it can obtain funding. he said. In combination with rail service, that would After a somewhat slow start this year, the give the county an excellent public transit sys- Grand Opening of agency is expecting to have at least a 5 percent tem, he said. Iconique Plastic Surgery ridership increase. He called the Tampa Bay Area Regional OPEN “So what’s interesting, given even fuel prices Transportation Authority’s efforts a “real posi- Thursday, June 24 • 5:00-8:00pm 7 DAYS right now and the shape of the economy, peo- tive step” in cooperation among its seven Wine Tasting and Light Hors d’oeuvres! A WEEK ple are coming to public transit now, albeit a member counties to take a regional approach public transit system that probably needs im- to addressing transportation issues. Come Visit Our Office and Mon.-Sat. provement,” Garling said. Garling said plans call for the Gateway area Enter Raffles For: 8am-8pm The system needs more hours of service, of Pinellas County to be the top employment Sun. 11am-5pm more bus frequency, he said. center in the county between now and 2035. Latisse, Botox Injections, “Despite where we are, we are seeing more He called the federal government’s allocation Haircuts for Men, people come. I think that is reflecting the atti- of $1 billion for high-speed rail between Orlan- Juvederm Injections Women & Children tude people have and the acceptance growing do and Tampa “the game changer.” Iconique Skin Care Products & for public transit in general,” Garling said. “We need to have a way to distribute people $ 00 $500 Off an Elective Cosmetic He said he came from Portland, Ore., which when they get to Tampa,” he said “from high 2 with this ad. has about 1.5 million in population and “a speed rail to Pinellas County, to our beaches, Surgical Procedure OFF Exp. 7/9/10 very good transit system” getting more than to our employment centers, employment Dr. Mentis, D.O. R.S.V.P. 727-474-0205 or 100 million rides per year. areas.” [email protected] Seniors 62+ $10 Men’s Cut Specializing Regular Customers $12 in cosmetic EVERYDAY! surgery of the Park Blvd.