News Briefs

+ Water-meter replacement begins
An extensive water-meter replacement program has begun in the city of Sarasota.

About 17,000 residential and commercial meters will be upgraded to an advanced system that will allow the meters to be read from radio receivers in moving vehicles and fixed receivers.

The replacement program has begun in the northwest part of the city. A notice will be attached to a customer’s trashcan about one week before a meter is upgraded, and a door hanger will be placed on a front door the day before a replacement.

The water will need to be turned off for up to 30 minutes, while a meter is replaced.

The entire program will take about eight months.

+ Inaugural police-panel meetings scheduled
The first meetings of the two new permanent police panels will be held within the week.

The Police Complaints Committee will hold its inaugural meeting at 3 p.m. May 17, at the Federal Building, 111 Orange Ave.

The PCC is tasked with advising the police chief on policies, procedures and practices relating to the handling of citizen complaints made against Sarasota police officers.

Meeting three days later will be the Independent Police Advisory Panel, which was formed to ensure police accountability and transparency and restore public confidence and trust in the police department.

That meeting will be held at 2:30 p.m. May 20, at City Hall, 1565 First St.

+ Ed Smith Stadium changes approved
The County Commission has signed off on more than $1 million in additional upgrades to Ed Smith Stadium.

About 60 upgrades will be performed, many of them minor.

They include modifying the outfield-wall pads, adding stucco and trim in places, creating more storm drainage around practice fields and installing hydro-therapy equipment.

Funding for those upgrades comes from a spring-training grant the city of Sarasota secured from the state.
That money cannot be spent on anything but spring-training baseball. Any cost overruns will be drawn from a construction-project fund that consists of the same state grant, county bond paid through tourist-tax dollars and a contribution from the Baltimore Orioles.

Meetings & agendas
â–º City Commission Swearing-in Ceremony — Noon Friday, May 13, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota
â–º City Commission — 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 16, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota
â–º Arlington Park Neighborhood Association — 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, Waldemere Fire Station, 2070 Waldemere St., Sarasota
â–º Community Alliance Steering Committee — 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, First Floor Auditorium, 1700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
â–º City Commission Workshop — 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota