Water-Related News

Applying for a Neighborhood Initiative Grant? Attend a seminar by April 30th.

Only two application seminars remain for this cycle. Attendance at one of these seminars is the first step in applying for a Neighborhood Initiative Grant. The two-hour seminars cover the history and objectives of the grant program, timeline and processes, and application instructions. Pre-registration is required by emailing neighbor@scgov.net with your desired seminar date/location, your name, your neighborhood, and the number of people in your party.

Certificates of completion are valid for three years.

Remaining seminars:
 •  Tuesday, April 30 at 10:30am - Fruitville Library, 100 Coburn Rd, Sarasota
 •  Tuesday, April 30 at 5:30pm - County Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota

Application seminars are now approved for 2.0 CEU for Community Association Managers.

News about a prior recipient of a Neighborhood Initiative Grant:

An update from the Serenoa Community Association, which recently held a volunteer day as part of their landscaping grant. Sounds like a good time was had by all!

Saturday morning we had our community work day in preparation for our landscape project to begin on April 22. When we were beginning the process, [we] were very concerned that there would be no one to help us out. Our community has many snow birds and our population is, to be tactful, not youthful.

But, Saturday morning at 9am, 38 people showed up with clippers, rakes, ladders, pole saws and even chain saws and pick up trucks to trim our oaks, clean up the area to be planted, and remove Spanish moss. We were done by noon.

We are so very happy to have had so many volunteers, many of whom do not even work in their own yards! I am sure the average age for our industrious group was over 70 years old, with several being over 80. We met many new residents; it was a cheerful occasion (much like a barn raising), and no one was injured! This has really turned into something we weren't expecting for our community.