Goals and Objectives meeting is next week

The Longboat Key Town Commission has a busy few months ahead before its annual summer recess.

Here’s a look at what the Town Commission will consider in the coming weeks:

April 19 Goals and Objectives meeting

What exactly should a Town Center entail? How to remedy traffic issues on the island? What updates are most needed on Longboat Key?

The town had to cancel its April 2020 Goals and Objectives meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the annual Goals and Objectives meeting typically provides the community a chance to provide ideas, thoughts and recommendations to commissioners as they plan for the next budget year.

Longboat Key’s Goals and Objectives meeting is set to start at 10 a.m. Monday, April 19 at Town Hall.

The commission’s first special workshop budget meeting is set for May 18.

Sea turtle regulations

The Town Commission is set to hold at least one more workshop about proposed sea turtle protections before considering a formal ordinance.

The commission is expected to discuss the proposals on the afternoon of April 19 at its workshop meeting.

The marine protection proposals include window tinting for beachfront properties, regulating sources of artificial light, prohibiting beach furniture within 5 feet of marked turtle nests, allowing the use of permitted motorized vehicles to retrieve beach furniture on the beach, prohibiting temporary lights such as lanterns or tiki torches, allowing storage of recreational equipment at night, adding a recreation-use agreement to avoid having people leave beach furniture on the beach and requiring beach furniture to be stacked.

Longboat Key’s ordinance has been in effect since 1987.

If the Town Commission ends up approving a formal ordinance, the changes would not take effect in time for the start of sea turtle season, which runs from May 1 through Oct. 31.

Town Commission retreat on April 23

While commissioners can’t make any formal votes, they also hold an in-person retreat each year to discuss long-term strategic planning.

The COVID-19 pandemic postponed last year’s retreat to November.

Topics that came up during the 2020 retreat included budgeting, intergovernmental relations, mainland transportation’s impact on Longboat Key, the Town Center site and improving cell phone service on the island.

This year’s retreat is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 23 at a location to be determined.