The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners approved a $1.6 million design-build contract with Cone & Graham for the “north gap” segment of the Pinellas Trail Loop, a 6.8 mile segment from John Chesnut Park to Enterprise Road in Clearwater. It’s one of two remaining gaps in the Pinellas Trail Loop, a 75-mile regional trail network, according to the county. The agreement approved by county commissioners on Tuesday authorizes Cone & Graham, a Tampa construction firm, to begin the design phase, which is expected to be completed in just under a year. After a guaranteed maximum price is developed, county commissioners will consider the construction portion of the project, or phase two. The total estimated cost to complete the north end of the Pinellas Trail Loop is $8 million. The Florida Department of Transportation provided $5.7 million for the project, and the county will fund the difference of $2.3 million from the Penny for Pinellas tax.
The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners appointed Caprice Johnson to the Citizens Advisory Committee for the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area. Johnson was part of the 2019 inaugural class of the Emerging Leaders Fellowship & Intern Program, an initiative by the 2020 Plan, City of St. Petersburg Department of Urban Affairs and One Community, according to a profile in The Weekly Challenger. The Citizens Advisory Committee was created by an interlocal agreement between the St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners.
A Pinellas County circuit judge has ruled that a lawsuit intended to stop construction of a Topolf in Carillon Office Park can move forward. Concerned Residents of Carillon LLC filed suit in November to stop construction of the driving range and restaurant, saying its members would be irreparably harmed by the project. Attorneys representing Topgolf and the property owners challenged the citizen group's standing in the case and asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit during a court hearing in early March. Judge Thomas Ramsberger ruled on March 30 that the case can proceed as long as Concerned Residents of Carillon amends its complaint to provide more details about each member's basis for standing in the case. Attorneys for Topgolf and the property owners agreed not to make the names public. The attorneys for Topgolf and the property owners also argued the citizen group had failed to exhaust all its administrative remedies with the city of St. Petersburg, but the judge ruled that argument was not appropriate for a motion to dismiss since the attorneys were relying on information outside of the amended complaint.
H.I.G. Capital has completed the sale of AVI-SPL, a digital workplace services provider headquartered in Tampa. The deal was first reported by the St. Pete Catalyst in February. H.I.G., a Miami-based private equity investment firm, sold AVI-SPL to Marlin Equity Partners, a global investment firm based in Los Angeles. Marlin with merge AVI-SPL with Whitlock, an affiliate of Marlin focused on workplace collaboration solutions, resulting in $1.3 billion of pro forma 2019 revenue. H.I.G. will retain a minority stake in the combined entity, a news release said. “This is a very exciting new chapter for our dompany and a strong endorsement for AVI-SPL and our highly talented team," said John Zettel, AVI's CEO.
Spatial Networks Inc., a St. Petersburg company that uses geography to solve business problems, has closed on additional funding from CIBC Innovation Banking. The latest funding follows the company's $42.5 million Series A round, led by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Kennet Partners Ltd. and announced in January 2020. The new funding brings the total amount raised in 2020 to $47 million, a news release said. The funding will primarily be used to scale the company’s sales and marketing capabilities, accelerate its product development roadmap, and further expand the company's platform into international markets.
A 40-year-old Pinellas County woman who died on March 30 has been confirmed as a victim of Covid-19 coronavirus. The woman, whose death was reported early Sunday, is the 8th person in Pinellas County to die from the illness. As of midday Sunday, Pinellas County had 347 confirmed cases, with 59 hospitalizations, the Florida Department of Health said. Statewide there were 12,151 cases and 218 deaths as of midday Sunday. Florida added 1,198 cases on Saturday. Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, there were 23 new deaths, the Department of Health said.
Pinellas County will open nine new donation sites for gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment supplies to help protect health workers and first responders on the front lines in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. Donated supplies will be delivered to local hospitals, long-term care facilities, and first responders to ensure their safety as they take care of our community. Click here for a list of items needed. The nine new sites, at local fire stations and nonprofits, will operate this week Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. Here's a list of the sites: • Fire Station 29, 11195 70th Ave. N., Seminole • Fire Station 57, 3375 Tarpon Lake Blvd, Palm Harbor • Fire Station 54, 225 Pine Ave, Oldsmar • Fire Station 35, 11350 N 43rd St., Pinellas Park • Fire Station 25, 250 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach • Fire Station 24, 180 108th Ave., Treasure Island • Fire Station 23, 7301 Gulf Blvd., St Pete Beach • St. Pete Free Clinic, 3115 44th Ave N., St Petersburg • RCS Pinellas, 700 Druid Road, Clearwater
Seven people have now died as a result of Covid-19 coronavirus in Pinellas County. An 82-year-old man who had traveled to Ohio and in Florida and died on March 26 was included in a Friday morning update from the Florida Department of Health. His death had not previously been reported but was verified on April 3, the health department said. As of noon Friday, Pinellas County had 289 confirmed cases of coronavirus with victims ranging in age from 10 to 95. There were 58 hospitalizations. Statewide, there were 9,585 total cases; 1,215 hospitalizations; and 163 deaths, the health department said.
Harvey Golub, retired chairman and CEO of American Express, has been named interim non-executive chairman of the board of Dynasty Financial Partners. Golub replaces Todd Thomson, who will remain on the board and as a member of the executive committee, a news release said. Thomson, a Dynasty co-founder, joined Los Angeles-based investment firm Kairos Ventures as its chief operating officer and chief financial officer last year. Golub was an early investor and founding board member of Dynasty, said Shirl Penney, president and CEO. Dynasty is a St. Petersburg firm that provides wealth management and technology platforms for independent financial advisory firms.
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance has increased the number of Individual Artist Grants it will bestow, from 15 to 20. The $1,000 grants are intended to provide financial assistance to City of St. Petersburg resident artists, in the visual/craft arts, dance, music, theater or literature. The application deadline has been extended through April 24; the grants will be disbursed immediately upon acceptance by the Arts Alliance. “If they meet the criteria,” executive director John Collins said, “they’ll get the award.”
Researchers at University of South Florida say the demand for hospital beds for patients with Covid-19 in Hillsborough County could significantly exceed the availability of those beds, unless social distancing measures are widely followed for two months. Hillsborough County has a total of 4,060 hospital beds. Research by Thomas Unnasch, distinguished professor in the USF College of Public Health, shows that if individuals do not reduce the number of different people they come in contact with each day by at least 45 percent, there will be more than twice as many patients than total hospital beds by June. Data provided by state regulators shows current bed occupancy is 62 percent and occupancy in intensive care units is 66 percent in Hillsborough County. Patients hospitalized with the coronavirus spend between four and 10 days in the hospital depending on the severity of their infection. Unnasch has not done a similar model for Pinellas County. A 30-day Stay at Home order for all of Florida took effect Friday morning.
About 227,000 Floridians filed initial unemployment claims in the week ended March 28. That's more than triple the number of claims filed in the previous week, when 74,313 initial claims were filed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, initial claims doubled, to 6.6 million, the labor department said in a news release. Nearly every state providing comments to the labor department cited Covid-19 as the reason for the increase in claims. The services industries, led by accommodation and food services, were hardest hit, with other impacts in health care and social assistance, and manufacturing industries. An increasing number of states identified the retail and wholesale trade and construction industries, the labor department said.
