Tag: pinellas county
Watering Restrictions for Unincorporated Pinellas County
I forwarded the below email out on Thursday evening to my friends in Pinellas County)
For years, I’ve believed a generalization with lawn watering, and for years I and others have acted without much thought to watering rules and restrictions. It’s always been a very ambiguous thing that was believed (and seldom republished in community newspapers): You can water on X and Y day, it applies for all odd-numbered houses on the block and all the even-numbered houses can water on days A and B).
But as of late, as the drought locally has raged on, I’ve been seeing neighbors apply the above ambiguous rules to different days with thanks to word-of-mouth watering rules. Everyone seems to think they are supposed to water on a certain day, and it applies for everyone on their side of the street… Though that day varies depending on opinion or neighbor gossip.  Or there are no hour-restrictions to watering – run the sprinklers as you please.
That’s NOT the case.
Please visit the Pinellas County Utilities page and familiarize yourself with the rules that apply for you and your yard. This was the first time I’ve ever gone to this web page and actually seen the rules in place… Chances are, that might be the case for you as well.
Dry and true
So there has been rain in the Tampa Bay area the last few days, yay rain…
…Whoopty friggin’ do.
Anyone in Pinellas County that wants to think we’re in the clear with drought conditions need only look at the official Pinellas county rain gauge on their web site. It feels sick and cruel that the tally through today (July 2nd) is 10.59 inches of rain for the year.
2007 is half way finished and we’re only about one fifth of the way to the average rainfall total (Clearwater, Florida’s average yearly rainfall total is 49 inches according to Florida Living Network. The St. Pete Chamber of Commerce lists the city of St. Petersburg’s annual rainfall total at 48+ Inches).
We haven’t hit the Fourth of July yet, nor the peak of the hurricane season (two sub-tropical storms and only a bit of rain from both) and I’m fearing how our water outlook will come November.
Note to self — if you gotta blog, blog here
You know, I get my thoughts out pretty well on here. It might be snipping about personal matters, it might be poetry, it might be just re-listing song lyrics (which seem to be popular with the Search Engines) or quoting movies. Whatever the case, I blog here not-so-much but I do blog here from time to time.
I also blog elsewhere… And tonight I figured I would blog on DFA-link int he Pinellas County DFA group about my fondness for Al Gore and how I am holding out for him to enter the 2008 Presidential primaries.
The only thing I didn’t expect when I blogged this was the fact the post was going to get wider exposure than what I was aiming for. Much wider. Hugely wider.
Blog for America front-paged wider.
More than three years ago, I never would have dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would be featured on the front page of Blog for America — the then-It blog of the Howard Dean for President campaign. Dean failed in his attempts, but he founded Democracy for America in an effort to organize Democratic support better. Blog for America lived on and is still highly thought of on the liberal/progressive blogosphere.
And at 11:45 PM ET, on February 12th 2007 — yours truly has made it to the front page. Whodathunkit?
Pinellas Disconnectocrats
(NOTE — my post below has nothing to do with the Pinellas Democratic Party, it’s members or it’s direction. Apologies beforehand for any confusion or any suggestions this was targeting the local party.)
I’m getting pissed off.
I’m a user on a non-official Pinellas Democrta mailing list/user group and I’m just shocked and dismayed. Somewhat because of what is said on this, but mostly because these are (supposedly) Democrats saying it. I’m not sure if I should accept this as the normal discontent of Democratic voters or if I should feel this is wingnuttery going on?
Restriction-less
The St. Petersburg Times ran a story today about how watering restrictions are needed — Now — in Hillsborough County. It also went on to point out restrictions in place:
Commissioners put off until May 17 a hearing on whether to reduce watering to once weekly from two days. Some other area governments, such as Pinellas County and Brooksville, already impose that sound restriction. With the last heavy rain in February, and nothing significant expected for weeks, the region’s demand for water has soared. Last month’s demand was 22 percent higher than what utility officials expected. And for the first time, demand in Hillsborough outstripped Pinellas. Hillsborough commissioners should have seen the impact they could have made to help the region scrimp along until the wet summer months.
Excuse me, did you say Pinellas?
Living at the top’o’the’bay here in Pinellas county, I’ve seen neighbors watering twice a day every day for the past few weeks. I’ve seen absolutely nothing in the paper (be it the Times or the free Suncoast News ) suggesting Pinellas is restricting water usage, let alone enforcing watering restrictions.
I don’t know if this is bad journalism (I doubt it) or more like bad – if not terrible – enforcement and advertisement of watering rules in county.
Pinellas Rail's Backwards Tale
Well, well, well, the Pinellas County MPO gave their blessing to a slightly-poor-but-better-than-nothing Monorail system in Pinellas County. The seeds of Mass transit are either sown or they are buried before their funeral has commenced.
I’m not a big fan of the separate-but-equal mass transit planning of the Bay area, that’s part of the reason why I call the plan slightly poor. I’m also not a fan of the idea that the current scheme basically ignores commuters in North Pinellas who have the farthest to travel.
But my opinions on Pinellas County Mass Transit and the proposal are better than my opinion on some of the comments coming from Pinellas County Commissioners who are against the concept. Let’s take Susan Latvala for example:
“I just think we’re too developed to integrate something into our system,” County Commissioner Susan Latvala said. “We’re way too far down the road for this.”
When things get built out – that’s when Mass Transit comes into play. Why doesn’t that logic register with Latvala? Has she ever been out of Pinellas County? What IS the solution if not a rail system? Wider roads? More roads?
I guess Susan is resigned to the idea that every commissioner from this point on should be convincing Pinellas County residents they can’t do shit about traffic…
This plan is part of a coordinated mass-transit effort that Karen Seel can’t quite grasp:
“In 95-degree weather, will someone really take the rail and walk the rest of the way?” said Seel, the MPO chairwoman.
I guess she doesn’t have much confidence in how well coordinated this will be with buses and trolleys as was stated in the MPO endorsement. Buses running in coordination with rail stations cut down on wait times. As it stands right now, Pinellas County buses are running in a non-coordinated effort and in poor run times. Seel’s statement gives blessing for this – not seeing mass transit improvements tied to the monorail system.
Either it’s a step forward or a step deeper into the back-water politics of Tampa Bay. Only time will tell if Pinellas will make the right call on mass transit instead of allowing further traffic fatalities and headaches because of commission indolence and fears of the unknown.
Tampa Road Jam
I’ve lived on Tampa Road in Pinellas County for 16 years….
And until today, I have never seen it backed up as bad as it is right now…..
I've failed you, Rebecca McKinney
There’s been a story that has been runnng pretty strongly through the Tampa Bay Area for the last week… It’s something that I take a personal interest in… No, that’s not correct. Or it just feels wrong and short stepping for me to say I take a personal interest in it.
Let me start by telling you the situation: A sixteen year old girl by the name of Rebecca McKinney was hit and killed on McMullen Booth road in Pinellas County, Florida last week. She was crossing 6 lanes of highway after the school bus dropped her off.
I tell you that I take what happened personally not because I am related to Rebecca McKinney – I never knew her. I never met her. I take personal interest in this because I feel like I have failed Rebecca McKinney and thousands of pedestrians and motorists around Pinellas County and in the Tampa Bay Area.
I’ve been vocal in the past 6 years about various transit conditions in Pinellas County. You can point out absurdities left and right, which I did, but what it comes down to is change. And from an advocates point of view, I changed absolutely shit.
And for that I apologize to Rebecca McKinney’s friends and family.
I’m not a government official – I just badgered them time and again and didn’t accomplish anything. I’m not a Department of Transportation worker. I’m just a citizen who wanted those assclowns to stop mis-designing roads and thoroughfares and making other bad decisions based on money and not wanting to spend.
The reason I feel I failed her, that I indirectly caused Rebecca’s death, is that I’ve grown tired of the rhetoric. I wasn’t vigilent… I couldn’t have changed things myself alone but I could have kept trying. I should have kept trying. I should have kept writing, I should have stopped being pissed off at the fact certain St. Petersburg Times editors weren’t thinking my letters newsworthy… Or my letters to Pinellas County Commissioners were turned into mush because of political bullshit being spewed from those very County COmmissioners who are out of touch with conditions out there. Heck, I should have started to badger Pinellas County Sherrif’s for their lack of policing the roads. There own cruisers tend to speed instead of doing traffic duty.
And what’s going to come of Rebecca’s death? That also makes me angry – there will be talk, denials, there will be scapegoats made out to appease those upset by what happened. There will be planning, workshops, there will be community forums…
And yet nothing will change. There won’t be vast improvements made for pedestrians. There won’t be driving alternatives for daily commuters who were witness to this accident. There won’t be help for law-enforcement officials to make sure drivers obey the laws of the road. The simplest plan will be adopted, the one that costs the county the least amount of money. Commissioners will applaud it and say it’s a step in the right direction…
And then nothing…
…until the next tradgedy.
A 16 year old girl was robbed of her life, of her future. If the Pinellas County School Board, the Pinellas County Commission, the Pinellas Sheriffs office and the Department of Transportation want to dismiss this like I believe they will ultimately do – it’s blood on their hands. If these bastards don’t think changes are in order – no matter what the cost, for the sake of lives young and old – then let them be escorted out of office post haste.
This is the 21st Century in Tampa Bay and the market is one of – if not the – worst for pedestrians and for motorsts alike. I’m sick and tired of the thrift-shopping solutions for transit woes from government officials.
Rebecca McKinney probably wouldn’t have died if changes had come to how we do things around here.
And for that, I’m sorry. My vigelence may be renewed, but at too high a cost.
From inside the storm
I don’t know how much time I have so I am going to make this entry quick — power fluctuations and momentary blackouts are routinely happening at my home in North Pinellas County…. I’ve lost an Indian Rosewood tree that I planted almost ten years ago — it snapped in two under the wind. Some fencing has been knocked down, but we’ve pretty much been fortunate… THough I can’t see much more than my property rght now.
Frances spins on… and I keep on muddling.
Oldsmar Florida gives Michael Moore a Standing Ovation
Fahrenheit 9-11 was a sold out this evening and my older brother attended the showing at AMC Woodlands Square this afternoon…
Now, this isn’t a first hand report, I’m relaying this story because I didn’t attend, but the movie had people in tears and roaring with laughter at other times… It also received a five minute standing ovation upon conclusion of the film.
AMC Woodlands Square 20 caters to a very large range of movie viewers due to it being one of the only movie theaters in North Pinellas County… I can’t say anything about who was in attendance, it it was a college crowd, minority crowd, a general mix of people of all age groups (which I would hope for) or a predominantly retiree crowd (which I would be shocked with — but North Pinellas County does have a large population of retirees here)… But it’s nice to know that liberal or not, people could appreciate the mixed emotions provoked by the movie.
Monorail or sky gondola??
The city of Clearwater has plans on being a vital part of Pinellas County’s (flawed) Monorail plan that is on the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s drawing board. The monorail would run into downtown and then across Clearwater Harbor and arrive at Clearwater Beach as an alternate mode of transportation.
Overkill. Over costly and not a sure fire way to bring in tourists or re-vitalize downtown.
I came across a thread on Skyskraperpage that talked about Sky Gondola’s that will connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario and I thought that it was a perfect mode of transit for a link between Clearwater and Clearwater Beach. Why? First off, it would be a surefire tourist attraction among those who are out-of-state visitors along with drawing the curious from in and around the Bay area. Secondly, it is a much less costly mode of transit than a monorail between the two land masses.
Another part of why I like this idea is because you can really obtain a better termination point for the Gondola because the station would not have to take up a lot of land (I think?). I would think that a terminal close to the main strip of the beach (and much closer than the termination point / terminus of the Monorail system) and the main drag would be a possibility. Depositing people in the heart of the area would be outstanding instead of letting people get lost trying to find attractions.
Of course, the biggest positive of this idea is getting people out of cars and onto their feet. Pedestrians are much more manageable than cars and a ton of traffic. Plus, if you are going to the beach to begin with, don’t you want to get out in the sun?
It’s an interesting concept and a viable one at that…. The question is, will Clearwater even consider looking into this (I wrote the City Counsel and Mayor a letter with regards to this)? My guess is no, but you never know….
Nothing to see here, please disperse
The Dodger Boy is back again with yet another epic tale of sausages having their way with your intestines….
Yes, it’s another journal entry. Feel free to move on to the new web page that actually provides content besides my daily life…..
……
What? You’re still here? Shame on you! :smile
So I have a full work week in front of me — which is sort of cool and sort of bothersome… Bothersome because Bill quit Target in a hissy fit and I feel like I am getting —
Getting ahead of myself with negative thoughts. BAD BAD BAD. I want to have this job and I need this job and I need something to do every day instead of sitting at home on my ass in front of the computer, waiting for Bill to tell me another story about his niece Jillian and her life sus-far, or about his dog Bradley becoming Ernie-the-Hound-dog’s bitch….
Then again, I could also write. I started working on a story again that I started pre-9-11…. 9-10-01 to be exact. I had plans to finish it the next day but you know how that went…
I also had thoughts about a cool concept business that I do not have the capital to start up. I like the concept that I pieced together but I don’t know if it would work or not. Basically it’s a charter van that drives between downtown Tampa and a fixed location (locations? plural?) in Pinellas County. It can be used to commute to downtown Tampa or as a way to get to St. Pete Times Forum and other venues nearby. I figure it can be hired out by retirement homes and local associations (or schools?) to shuttle people around to fixed areas too….
At a flat cost compared to a Cab, though.
Meanwhile, I want to make note that Tampa/St. Pete is the second worst metro region for Pedestrians in the US of A…. How many times have I found this out to be the truth in person? :sad
Wall Off Wal-Mart!
Last night I finally got a good night of sleep after tossing and turning all weekend and getting up early. Nice refreshing change back to the norm – me sleeping in….
I went downstairs and I read the newspapers like usual and one of the top stories in the local “North Pinellas Times” section of the St. Petersburg Times simply enraged me. I ought to find something normal to get pissed off about, because politics and business (especially here in Florida) will be the end of me…
You see, Wal-Mart is proposing a new Supercenter along the bank of Lake Tarpon, which is entirely ridiculous. Where the building would be is not more than 10 miles from another Supercenter, nor is it 2 miles from a current Wal-Mart location….
The story’s headline? “Wal-Mart proposal includes traffic signal”…
You mean to tell me that a building that 1) adds to sprawl in North Pinellas, 2) hurts the environment, 3) Paves over a wooded RV Park and D) is useless, should make me feel more comfortable because they would add a TRAFFIC SIGNAL at their entrance point? Give me an f’n break!
I ended up going all out this morning over this – I emailed the stories writer with a complaint that he did not include the information that the proposed store rests only a few thousand feet from another Wal-Mart. I also went out and emailed my County Commissioners expressing displeasure over the proposal which now rests in their hands:
Commissioners:
My name is John Fontana and I’m a Pinellas County resident in North
Pinellas County. What I read in the newspaper today disturbed me and it
also made mention that the County Commission controlled the outcome of this
planned development – so I am emailing you in order to voice my displeasure
and concerns about what has been proposed.Walk Mart Corporation and Wilder Corp development have proposed a
Supercenter to be built adjacent to Lake Tarpon and U.S. 19 south of
Klosterman Road. While Wilder Corp argues about how the region suffers from
a lack of shopping (which has been their public argument since attempting to
build a Target and Lowe’s Home Improvement center on the property), it does
not seem to take into consideration why people oppose it and why residents
do not like the proposed.For starters, Wal-Mart has both a Supercenter and a standard Wal-Mart store
within driving distance of the proposed location. It is not a problem for
any resident to drive from Klosterman or points around the area to either
Alderman Road or Oldsmar where the locations of Wal-Mart’s stores are. The
proposed construction also adds more apartments to an already over-saturated
market here in North Pinellas. Innisbrook Resort gutted it’s property to
add hundreds of apartments within the last 5 years, and other Apartment
options surround the area…. Adding a new set of apartments would not just
drive down opposing apartment complexes value, but just continue to add
clutter to the sprawling North Pinellas area.Another problem with this proposal is environmental impact. Wilder Corp’s
plans would gut it’s wooded RV park and pave over the spot… It would also
disturb the Lake Tarpon ecosystem due to rain run-off that would end up in
the lake from the parking from both the proposed Wal-Mart and also the
proposed apartment’s.What is to become of the Wal-Mart that is currently located at Alderman Road
and U.S. 19? Would it be vacated and left to be an empty and ugly “box”?
Don’t we already have enough of these in the Bay Area and Pinellas County by
carpet-bagging developers? How much development are we going to allow to
tarnish Lake Tarpon? How many green-spots in Pinellas County are left to be
paved over with additional suburban sprawl? Is Wilder Corp’s vow to pay for
a traffic signal at US 19 and Cypress Pointe supposed to put my mind at ease
that my tax-payer dollars will not be spent on this? If that is the case,
it doesn’t. This development should be stopped in it’s tracks. There are
other uses for the property that are more sound than the current proposal.
That was sent to four of seven County Commissioners… I only pray they don’t just file this away and ignore the complaint.
I’m so sick of backing up and giving ground to large, ominous corporations…. I’ve done it with Sony and Apple Corp LTD…. I’ve bowed to the Corporate structure by getting a minimal job with Target Corp…. What’s next? I have to name my first born Microsoft Fontana in order to get to use Windows XP 2.0? Or have UPC codes tattooed to my skin in order to be able to purchase items from a specific company? Will I have to move because someone wants to build a gas station on my property and the County uses some hidden law to evict me? I want to fight it, I want to lobby against it, I want to protest it… And yet I can’t find many like-minded people near me.
Pray For me and to hell with US 19!
One thing I am proud of with this site is being able to come on here and leave one rant each time I leave a journal entry. For those of you still reading my journal you’ll know I was bummed out after the Beatle Lyrics fallout and didn’t quite know what I would do with the web space at hand. I did turn it into your venerable Stonegauge… but there’s still more that can be covered in the future and I hope I can do that….
Anyway, lets get to the rant now shall we? :smile
You hear me complain politics all the time, at times you hear me moan about Tampa and/or Tampa Bay… If I haven’t, well you should be thankful. One thing that irked me the other day while thinking about stuff is the biggest special-interest group in the area. It’s not a company, it’s not a person… It’s a roadway.
US 19 is the worst 30 mile stretch of roadway in Florida and arguably the US. It’s a volume of 80 thousand + cars and trucks a day driving in stop-and-go conditions from the county line to the tip of Pinellas County. Half the people who drive it are trying to commute south, the other half are trying to make minor neighborhood trips.
Why is US 19 a special interest group? The Businesses along it….. Commissioners of Pinellas County do a lot of planning specifically for businesses that are along the corridor. The roadway would be best if it was a freeway with limited access…..
But that would not make the businesses or the consumers happy, now would it?
So Pinellas County gets money from the state, and the National Government in order to “improve” the roadway with minor bits of glam – an overpass here, sidewalks there, streetlights. It still never helps the problems that pop up – the Highway cannot have open access like it does, Pedestrian Overpasses are needed, more flyovers in both directions to help traffic flow….
But why would they do THAT? It wouldn’t help businesses directly. It wouldn’t fill coffers at Election time. It’s political bullshit I’ve been viewing for the past 5 years from a political level and it sucks.
Median breaks, a continuous right hand turn lane, more traffic lights… It’s just adding to the problems while avoiding the solutions.
