John and I have a low tolerance for inclement weather. Two days of cold, rainy weather and we’re climbing the walls. The high today was 53, and it rained ALL day. The sky was dull gray. We’ve layered and unlayered to walk Toby.
I spent the day measuring our closet for a possible makeover. The 1990s wire shelving has got to go, and the current configuration just doesn’t work for us. IKEA has some affordable options. The challenge with our closet is that it’s basically a u-shaped rectangle with one side of the u curved, just like the letter. In addition, one of the legs of the u has a clipped corner. Therefore, no side is normal. It’s tricky to measure, and I’m sure it will be even trickier to make standard pieces fit.
We’ve been here long enough to know that two long sleeve shirts is sufficient. I’ve worn long pants twice in two years (elastic athletic pants don’t count). So the only hanging space we need is for those items plus coats, hoodies, and suits. Most of the things we wear are folded: shorts, t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, and loungewear. As a consequence, our new closet would need more shelves and less hanging space.
John says to wait until tax season is over before embarking on an expensive project. Sensible advice. With the exception of our sunroom table, we’ve avoided doing expensive home projects that are discretionary. We wanted to wait until I am 62 and collecting social security (this August). The discipline has been worth it in order to retire two years early.
Highlights from last night’s HOA meeting with the city manager:
Jennifer Bramely has been city manager since 2017. She is very sharp, poised, knowledgeable, and extremely competent. She uses self-deprecating humor and facts to inspire confidence and put people at ease. She lives on Wood Street which is where our first vacation rental was located, a few blocks from downtown.
The causeway bridges are scheduled to be replaced in 2025. The preparatory work has already begun. The city hopes to have the funding secured soon, perhaps from the recently passed infrastructure bill. This project is important to us because we cross the bridges nearly every day. The new design will offer a 15 foot pedestrian/biking sidewalk. The current sidewalk is about 4 feet wide, even less on the drawbridge. It’s tricky to pass walkers or another bike.
Skinner Road is due for a major renovation in 2024. The lanes will shrink from 4 to 2 with two traffic circles, a wide pedestrian/bike lane on one side and sidewalk on the other. In the meantime, due to the congestion and recent fatality, traffic lights will be installed at the Pinellas Trail crossing for cars and bikes to follow. This fix will be temporary until the road project has been completed.
The gateway project near where Main and Skinner meet will get underway this spring. It will include parking, restaurants, shops, and apartments. It’s located across from the hospital.
The new City Hall is 40% complete and should be ready for occupancy this fall. It’s going to be a beautiful building, coastal themed.
Pioneer Park has been renovated with new landscaping, hard scaping, and stage improvements.
A large parking lot has been bought that abuts the Pinellas Trail and Scotland Ave downtown. A future garage structure may be considered.
A developer is preparing a proposal for the two lots across from Al Frescoes, the Pinellas Trail, Main and Pioneer Park. I think this will be the third developer to give it a go. It will be some combination of hotel, retail, and dining. There’s a lot of pressure for this key piece of real estate since it needs to fit in with surrounding retail and it needs to address parking and congestion issues, as well as be aesthetically pleasing in the coastal or Mediterranean vernacular.
The Dunedin Blue Jays and the city have approved the building of a hotel for the minor league baseball team to use when in training and in season. It’s across from Frenchy’s on the causeway. The team will use buses to get back and forth to the training complex and stadium, helping to keep traffic increases down for such a large structure.
The city is preparing to open a new city park on a 100 acre track of land, adjacent to a lake, recently purchased and spared from development. It was the largest tract of undeveloped land left in the county. Generous donors, conservationists, county and city leaders made it happen. The city will increase the parking area and add trails and a restroom.
We got an update on the fire recovery on the reverse osmosis water system. The water taste is now back to normal, but building construction is ongoing as they continue to recover from the fire.
The Dunedin Golf Course has been bailed out of financial difficulty and will now be operated by the city and its parks and recreation department in consultation with the golf course board. The city will be funneling a lot of money into upgrades to make it a “destination” golf course. As the first home of the PGA and a Donald Ross design, the course is deserving of an upgrade. The upgrades will certainly improve our community and house values. Incidentally, Ross also designed the Hope Valley Golf Course, as well as the famous Pinehurst, no. 1, 2, and 3.
Highlander swimming pool will be replaced soon. It literally has holes in it and is leaking. To the city’s credit, instead of spending money to patch it, they’re going to scrap it and start all over with a state of the art pool.
Even with all this development, the city’s financial condition is sound and its economic future is bright. Tax increases were not necessary because of county, state, and federal funds, as well as grants and gifts.
We left the meeting feeling that our city was incredibly well managed by hard working and talented people. We picked up a parks and recreations spring magazine with 60 pages of events and information on everything happening for seniors, boaters, dogs, kids, bikers, beer lovers, sailors, history buffs, festival lovers, music lovers and more.
Toby says to wake him when it stops raining.
Miles walked: 5.5
Miles biked: 0
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