Belleair Beach Causeway Closure

The Belleair Beach Causeway will be closed to traffic from Sunday, November 2nd, at 11 p.m. until Monday, November 3rd at 7 a.m. All lanes of traffic will be shut down that evening. There will be no access across the bridge, as all lanes will be blocked with construction equipment.

Biltmore Pool Bar Destroyed By Fire

The gazebo was destroyed during a pre-dawn fire at the Belleview Biltmore’s Bay Breeze pool bar on October 28th. There were no injuries and the fire was put out in about 10 minutes and did not spread to other buildings. According to Belleair Bluffs fire department, a condo resident across the street from the Biltmore reported hearing an explosion and called 911 around 4 a.m. The fire was located at the gazebo pool bar, which is detached from the historic hotel. the fire appears to be “electrically related” and originated in an electrical inverter box under the cash register area of the bar. week or two. The loss from the damage is estimated to be around $50,000 and there are plans to rebuild.

Bridge Closure This Saturday

The Belleair Beach Causeway will be closed Saturday October 25th at 8 pm and remain closed until Sunday morning at 7 am.

Verizon Digging in Belleair Beach

You may have noticed dozens of holes being dug along the streets of Belleair Beach during the past few weeks. Verizon is burying equipment for their Fios cable service. If they haven't been on your street yet, don't worry they will be any day now.

Beach May Lose Sand Renourishment Funding

The 2010 beach renourishment project cound be cancelled because of a lack of parking at the Morgan Street Park beach access. If public funds are used for the project, the beach must be available to the public.

Mayor Lynn Rives has tried to get approval of parking spaces available in the city’s marina for use by the public going to the beach, but was told the marina was too far away to qualify.

The last renourishment in 2006 has been washed out, building a sand bar offshore and will continue to worsen. Owners of condos next to the park wanting the renourishment, but object to making the park more accessible to the public. They complaine of people trespassing and noise.

Rives hopes to obtain parking spaces from nearby condos. He said the city can get credit for each parking space that is dedicated to a tenants, who are considered part of the public accessing the renourished beach.Some are 80-100 % rentals. A meeting will be set up with the condo owners to determine the number of spaces the city could get credit for against the 90 spaces needed in or near the Morgan Street Park.

Barkoween Pet Costume Party at Biltmore

The party will be sponsored by Fluffy Puppies and the Belleview Biltmore on Wednesday October 29th from 6 - 8 pm at the Belleview Biltmore. Both dogs and guests are invited to wear costumes. There is a $10 cover charge that include entry into a costume contest, a raffle ticket, and a "trick or treat" doggie bag. The Belleview Biltmore is a pet friendly hotel. Proceeds will benefit STOP (Stop Pet Overpopulation Together). For ticket information call 727-545-3463

Belleair Beach Election News

While Mayor Lynn Rives hasn’t made up his mind yet whether to seek re-election, 3 other incumbents have announced they will seek re-election on March 10th.

3 sitting city council members announced they intended to seek re-election: Vice Mayor Stan Sofer and Rob Baldwin for their council seats. Kathy Mortensen said she would run for mayor, giving up her council seat.Mayor Lynn Rives said he hasn’t decided yet whether to run again for mayor, but ruled out a run for a council seat.Mortensen’s plans will leave her seat open on the council with no candidate yet. The council set the 2009 election date for March 6. Any candidate for election will have one week, Dec. 12 to Dec. 19 to qualify to appear on the ballot for the two-year terms available.

Belleair Bluffs Publix May Open Next Month

A Publix publicist has said the store could open as as early as November. The exact date will depend on how the permitting process proceeds, but the schedule definitely calls for an opening this year. The former Albertson's closed back in September along with several other Albertson's locatons that were purchased by Publix.

Belleair Beach Ctiy Hall Breaks Ground

Residents, city officials and State Rep. Jim Frishe (R-St. Petersburg) gathered Oct. 6 to break ground for the city’s new municipal building.The groundbreaking took place where the 50-year-old octagonal landmark city hall once stood. City Council sank their golden-colored shovels into the freshly turned dirt with construction equipment surrounding them. Work is expected to be finished in 12 months.

Belleair Bluffs Rotary Spaghetti Dinner

The Rotary Club will host the dinner Friday October 17th from 6-8 pm at the community center in Belleair Bluffs. The cost for advance tickets is $8.95($12.95 at the door) per person or $34.95($49.95 at the door) per family of 4. The meal will include pasta, meatballs, homemade sauce, salad, bread, iced tea, and dessert.

City Hall Groundbreaking Today

City Council members will mark the official groundbreaking of a new $3.3-million City Hall on today. The old City Hall was torn down last spring and the new site has been cleared and ready for construction to begin. Construction is expected to take about a year. Once completed, the City Hall will have to be furnished at an additional $100,000 cost, according to City Manager Nancy McCollum. The new building will be about 2,000 square feet larger than the old City Hall and will include staff offices, including space for the sheriff's deputies that patrol the city and space for a code enforcement officer. The council chambers will double as a community hall and a conference room is also included. Until the new City Hall is completed, the council will meet at the Cedar Drive home purchased by the city last year. The home has been converted into office space for the city clerk, and the city treasurer, as well as other city staff and the on-duty sheriff's deputy.