BELLEAIR BLUFFS -- Belleair Bluffs commissioners postponed the first reading of an ordinance that will regulate home occupations in the city at its regular meeting Monday night.
This was the only hitch in an evening that saw the unanimous passage of five other ordinances.
The home occupations law is extensive and thought it was fully modified from what is presently on the books, commissioners wanted to take time to discuss the radical changes and set it over for a work session.
In the new ordinance, specific designations of what can be done as a home occupation have been eliminated. Other provisions define how much in terms of space a home occupation can take up in a residence.
Other ordinances that were passed Monday night concerned the measurement of the height of fences, discharge into or connection to storm sewers, and identification and fees for solicitors in the city.
Once again, the subject of the purchase of a radar unit for the deputies who police the city came up.
Commissioner Dave Shimkus pressed the issue he had initiated in last week's work shop meeting over the radar gun that had been bought although there was an indication the commission had turned down the idea.
What happened in a spate of confusion is that the radar gun had already been purchased at the time the commission discussed it.
Commission action was not necessary to authorize or kill the idea on the radar gun because the purchase of such equipment was within budget parameters in any event.
But Shimkus expressed upset, referring to a "lie" in connection with the incident when there was obviously only confusion. The commissioner who might have taken umbrage at Shimkus's description, Bob Russo, wisely kept silent.
Debra Sullivan, the city clerk, said that although the radar gun was not specifically budgeted, the $500 spent can easily be absorbed in the police budget.