Safety Harbor City Commission Meets Twice Again Tonight

Continuing what is fast becoming a tradition in town, the Safety Harbor City Commission will host back-to-back public meetings tonight at City Hall.

The first session is the latest tree ordinance workshop, which starts at 6:00 p.m. and is expected to last until the regular commission meeting begins at 7:30.

During the previous tree ordinance workshop, the commissioners discussed two of the four focal points of the revised ordinance, calling for higher permit fees to remove trees on non-residential properties as well as clarification of some of the language used in the document.

Tonight the commission is expected to address the other two main items in the ordinance: enforcement, and minimum tree plantings.

The agenda for the regular commission meeting is not particularly long, but it does contain a couple of items that should be of interest to residents.

First, the commission will vote on the proposed millage increase and the tentative budget for FY 2014-15.

At the last commission meeting, these issues caused much debate and discussion among the five commissioners; it took two votes apiece before both items were eventually approved on first reading.

Another item that hasn’t been discussed in a while but has always been on residents’ minds is the city’s street light fee.

Resolution 2014-22 calls for a reduction in the fee, which was first implemented in 2012, from $50.97 annually ($4.25/mo.) to $39.00 annually ($3.25/mo.).  The reduction is “based on further evaluation of the Street Light fund reserve,” according to the resolution.

Both the tree ordinance workshop and the city commission meeting will take place at Safety Harbor City Hall, located at 750 Main Street in downtown Safety Harbor.

For more information on these and other city meetings, visit the City of Safety Harbor website at www.cityofsafetyharbor.com.