Summer / Fall 2023 Newsletter

Message From the President

It has been a busy first half of the year here in Kensington Park. We have had our first food truck rally, a craft fair, two road cleanups through Keep Sarasota County Beautiful, and this is our second newsletter. We also have been working working with the county on a number of projects such as cleaning up several areas to move the homeless out of our area and in general to cleanup what is left from hurricane Ian. Not to mention clean up some area that were just over grown and unsightly. We will be continuing to work with various county departments to improve Kensington Park in the coming months. There are exciting things happening every month as we move ever closer to the fall and cooler weather. Keep an eye out for emails and on our Facebook page or website for details.

Updated By-Laws

We have spoke with several other Civic Associations within Sarasota County about how they structure their Board, By-Laws and elections of officers in this day and age as our By-Laws were written in the 1950's. Our By-laws have been partially amended a hand of times but still wildly out of touch with what is happening in our community and the world today. We took a hard look at the information we received and what is currently in the By-Laws. Much of that has not been followed for a very long time or just no longer works, this gave us a starting point for our amendments. We started from page one and went all the way through. We also added an amendment to include assets.

As per the By-Laws the Amendments were read at the April Civic Association meeting and Voted on at the May Civic Association meeting. You can find the new By-Laws on the Kensington Park website. Once there click on About Us and you will see By-Laws. For those who don't know the website address it is as follows; kensingtonparkfl.com

Reporting a Code Enforcement Violation

Sarasota County administers a Code of Ordinances that is designed to maintain and enhance the character, safety, and environment of our community. We have included some of the new ordinances that pertain to our community for your

information and reference. We, as a Civic organization, have no authority to address violations. We ask that the residents issue their complaints to the Code Enforcement department of the County, contact info is listed below. You can report a Code Violation to Sarasota County by

calling 941 861-5000 or by calling our Code Enforcement

Officer Mike Taylor at 941 221-2415 or by email at

mitaylor@scgov.net.

off street parking

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Download PDF • 275KB

Complaint Process Handout

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Download PDF • 173KB

Projects in the Park

There is much going on behind the scenes here in our little community. It may not look like anything is being done but if you look closely in various area you will see vast improvements occurring. We are working with Sarasota County to get improvements in infrastructure, road sides, ditches and water ways, sidewalks and of course the never ending sage of the water main breaks.

Public works has gotten Lockwood Ridge Road approved to be a gateway road which means they can get money to improve the road and the roadside. This means tree removal, new landscaping, possible new fencing if needed. This has already started. With this they are working on clearing the cars out of the drainage ditch next to the FPL easement where people were also living. They are also working with FPL and FEMA to get the large tree debris removed that was left after hurricane Ian which was brought into Kensington Park and left on the easement.

Public Works will be repairing the sidewalk on Monica behind the shopping center as well as a few other places. They are also clearing out several overgrown areas of and that are owned by the county. They cleaned out the ditch and area by the wall behind the shopping plaza. The homeless group on Monica was relocated and the overgrown pepper tree was was cut, hauled away the mess from the homeless camp cleaned and the grass mowed. There is more of this work to be done in the coming months.

We are getting new water meters, I am not sure why. I am still continuing to work with the Director of the Utilities Department on a time line as to when we will have a fix for the water main break issues. This is a much more complicated issues as it affects much of Sarasota county not just us.

Upcoming Events

September 30th Keep Sarasota County Beautiful Cleanup
November 7th Kensington Park Civic Association Meeting - 7pm, 1201 N. Beneva Rd, Faith Presbyterian Church
December 5th Kensington Park Civic Association Meeting - 7pm, 1201 N. Beneva Rd, Faith Presbyterian Church

Kensington Neighborhood Park Naming

The Sarasota County Neighborhood Services team reached out to request a meeting to start the naming

process for the Community Park that will be here in Kensington Park.

President Gena Allison and Vice President Mary Jo Pribe from the the Kensington Park Civic Association

met Jessica Sepulveda and an intern from Neighborhood Services to discuss the process of naming a

County Park. Jessica outlined the information that would be necessary to provide to the County

Commissioners in order for them to consider the name we propose.

Following is the requirement for naming a County Park and the Letter we will be submitting to the

Sarasota County Commissioners.

letter comm moran re park

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Download DOC • 16KB

Kensington Park Neighborhood Park Newsletter From Sarasota County

Hello, from Sarasota County Neighborhood Services! This newsletter serves as the quarterly update for the Kensington Park project. Here are the most recent updates!

Residents of Kensington Park will have an opportunity to provide their input for the park’s name. Neighborhood Services Team and summer intern met with 2 members from the Kensington Park Civic Association on July 11th to explain the park naming process. The park naming process is based on County Code Section 2.2.

To initiate the process, the Kensington Park Civic Association has to submit a Letter of Interest to the Board of County Commissioners who represent District 2, the district where Kensington Park is located. The Letter of Interest to name a county facility must be in KPCA letterhead. The Letter of Interest shall consider the following criteria:

Geographic Location.
Historical Values.
Individual or group.

a. A well-known, elected, appointed or volunteer community leader.

b. An individual or group that has positively influenced a large populace of the County through a significant contribution of money, time or material.

c. An individual or group who had a major involvement in the acquisition or development of the facility.

d. An individual or group whose civic leadership contributed to the betterment of the community

Once it's finalized, emailed and mailed to the Commissioner, and received and acknowledge by the County, the process for naming a county facility will be initiated. Once this is started the process will take 3- 4 months. Stay tuned for updates on this process!

Project Milestones:

Kensington Park Neighborhood Plan was approved by the Board of County Commissioners in 2016.
In May 2019 the development concept plan was presented to the community.
A revised concept plan was presented to Kensington Park residents in May 2021 reflecting community feedback, along with a Q & A session with Mike Sosadeeter and Elma Felix.
Final concept plan was presented to the community in February 2022 by Neighborhood Services at the Kensington Park monthly HOA meeting.
A Memorandum of Understanding was finalized by staff in July 2022 to describe the partnership and responsibilities of collaborating departments with respect to the Kensington Neighborhood Park.
In January 2023 the design work assignment was issued to DMK Associates.
On April 24th, 2023 Neighborhood Services and collaborating departments hosted an open-house meeting at First Presbyterian Church to residents in Kensington Park to provide an update on the neighborhood project.

Executive Board Elections Process

As the By-Laws have changed so has the election process. In the past we have had a Nominating Committee of three paid members who would seek out paid members who might want to be on the Kensington Park Executive Board.

We have had issues finding three paid members to serve on the Nominating Committee as there is a time commitment factor. The new process is much more streamlined. If you wish to seek a position on the Kensington Park Executive Board at this time you simply go to the our website and click on “About Us” and then “Election.”

Once you are at the Election page of the website there are a couple of question for you to

consider and submit to our email. A followup in person interview will be conducted.

Update on Entrances

Although we made great improvements in the entrances last year and the beds are ready for plants we have made the decision to wait on placing plants in the beds for now. After careful consideration we felt it best to wait until the extreme heat and drought have subsided. With the cost of plants, watering costs and the most probable loss of plants due to weather conditions and the the cost of replacement plants it would be financially irresponsible. When the weather gets cooler we will revisit plans for the entrances.

Ingot & Prudence Drive Gocio School Access Improvement

Sarasota County Pubic works has agreed to make several improvement to Gocio School access at Ingot and Prudence Drive. Those improvements include putting in a new cement walkway which was badly needed, clearing the vines off of the chain link fence leading across the drainage ditch and clearing out the dead trees and under brush and vines from the entire piece of property.

The walkway and vine clearing on the chain link fence will be done before school starts. The rest of the work will be some time after that.

Looking Back 35 years Ago -1988

In the summer of 1988, the County advised that they would advertise for bids on the Lockwood Ridge Road project and begin construction in August. Scheduled completion is for September 1989. The plans were changed to save the punk trees and the entrances.

It is hard to believe that it has been 35 years since the chickens were let loose by a renter on Melgert Lane. Those roosters crowed at 5 AM every morning for months. It is comforting to know that Animal Control would not take any action unless they were captured and caged! A letter was received from the Department of Transportation notifying the Park that their request for 1,300 foot noise abatement wall along 17 th Street was denied as it was not in the public interest spending an estimated $72,000.00 for this purpose.

You Can Make A Difference

The Kensington Park Civic Association needs board members now! Do you live to post Facebook, live to be on social media? Interested in staying up to date on what is happening in your community and Sarasota? If you have a few extra hours to spare each month we would greatly appreciate your help in managing our social media platforms. Training is available if you have time and are interested. Contact us at kpcasrq.office@gmail.com.

Technical Communication Director.

Shall be annually appointed by the Executive Board of Directors, to be responsible for all social media platforms including Facebook, email program, the website, blogs and social media platforms Kensington Park may utilize. The Technical Communication Director will be responsible for keeping the community informed on all aspects of developments as they arise within the community. The Technical Communications Director will work closely with the Public Affairs Director. Please call or email today!

Without your help, this could be Kensington Park!!!

The entrances to this park were filled with weeds. There were no lights to light up the Entrance ways. The lawns were overgrown, and debris and garbage everywhere. More cars and homes were broken into, also gangs coming in the park, taking advantage of people and there property.

Unless the county enforcement was notified by someone, the neighborhood became one of the worst in Sarasota County. If no one has contact with the county to request repairs like sidewalks, road maintained when they should be. Trees trimmed regularly, fire hydrants. No one to pay the power bill for the lights at the entrances, no Facebook, no website or newsletter for the homeowners to be informed. There is more but I hope you get this concept!

I have lived in this neighborhood since 1980. Been a proud owner. I am asking for your help as part of the Civic Association. Whatever language you speak we could use your help in paying your dues, help with volunteering!

That brings me to what events would like to see happen in our neighborhood! It would be so nice to have events happen here right in our own neighborhood. Just can’t do it without your help!! Please reach out on our social media. We need your help!!! Volunteer’s needed!! Become a member, $35.00 a year. Also, what events would you like to see happen in this park? Kpcasrq.office@gmai.com

This could be Kensington Park!

Thank YOU!

A big thank you goes out to all the residents of our community who have paid there 2023 membership dues, made donations and have generously given your time and labor to help make Kensington Park a better place to live.

Through your membership dues, donations and volunteer hours we have been able to have our very first food truck rally and craft fair. We have also been able to do some electrical and lighting work at the entrances although we still have lights out due to FPL not being responsive to repair requests. The Spring newsletter was also delivered. We have been able to hire someone to mow the entrances and the sidewalks along the FPL easements and the Kensington Park Events complex. We are still working with Sarasota County Public Works in order to get the large tree stumps and tree trunks moved off the property so it can be properly cleaned up. We are working on getting the high grass weed whacked down but it is dangerous as there is a large amount of tree debris.

Kensington Park now has a storage unit in which to put all of its belongings which is a good thing. We rented a 5ft x 5ft unit which is jam packed full. We bough two shelving units to help organize the unit. In the past things were scattered all over with some things stored here and some stored there and lots of things were lost and had to be purchased

again.

Its not too Late to Pay Your Membership Dues!