More is better. With Christmas lights and decorations it's also "the more the merrier." ...more

July 30, 2008

AVON PARK — Its members question their own existence. What is their role? What purpose do they have toward benefiting the city, or are they nothing more than a waste of space, time, effort and ultimately the taxpayer's dollar? After finding out earlier this month that its own members lacked the authority to dissolve itself, the four remaining members of the Main Street Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board considered resigning. Main Street CRA advisory board Chairman Devon Donaldson, speaking for the board, repeated the frustrations he had with the council, and what they saw as the inability of the board to have much of an input on facade grants as a reason for their attempted disbanding. ...more

November 26, 2007

To folks around here, it's known as the Spider's Web. The Port Richey Mobile Home Park, which straddles the corner of Grand Boulevard and River Gulf Drive, has over the years earned a dubious reputation as the epicenter of drug-dealing and prostitution in the city's crime-ridden east end neighborhood. ...more

November 20, 2007

AVON PARK — After canceling their meetings the past two months because there weren't enough members present to have a quorum, the Main Street Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board found the quorum it needed Thursday, then decided they shouldn't bother anymore. In an unanimous decision, the Main Street CRA literally voted itself out of existence, eliminating one of the three advisory boards created earlier this year after questions came up over the legality of having multiple CRA boards. Main Street-area residents and businesses would now have to apply directly to the City Council, which doubles as the main CRA board, for a facade grant. Devon Donaldson, who chaired the now-defunct advisory board, said Sunday that he and the rest of the board realized several facade grant applications skipped their board, which the board members themselves thought was unnecessary. "We just didn't see a need for us to be there anymore," Donaldson said. "All of us are willing to serve, we just felt our energies were being wasted." ...more

November 5, 2007

In the spring of 2006, less than two weeks after a contentious election that divided this small waterfront city, a newly elected council faced a difficult choice. ...more

September 24, 2007