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 The 2000 census proved Greater Seminole was a thriving, growing community. 73,293 live in Seminole and the surrounding unincorporated areas, which includes Bay Pines to the south and neighborhoods west and east of the city. Within city limits, the census counted 10,890 residents. However, the surveying was done before recent annexations that have boosted the population by almost 18,000.  While Greater Seminole is popular with retirees, the number of younger people and families attracted by the climate and growing business opportunities it provides is growing. The profile of the new resident is a younger, well-educated, employed individual, with a big level of income. According to the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, the 25 to 44-year age bracket is the fastest growing population in the county.Most residents live in single-family homes, with a median value of $200,000. A look back ... Nov. 15, 1970: City incorporates at a meeting at Seminole Mall by a vote of 823 to 72. 1973: City builds first recreation facility: eight horseshoe courts. 1974: City buys land at 7464 Ridge Road for $200,000 for city, park, lake and new City Hall. April 1, 1984: Seminole tops 5,000 residents. April 1985: Seminole buys 9.6 acres on 113th Street for $520,000. Land later becomes site of post office and city library. June 1985: City annexes Seminole Gardens apartments, adding 1,000 residents. Dec. 12, 1989: Seminole attempts to annex 4,000 people. It gets only a fraction of that number. The city does not hold another referendum on annexation until 1999. Oct. 9, 1991: City agrees to buy former church on 113th Street as a future recreational complex. Cost is $1.5 million. City later spends an additional $1 million to increase the size of the property to 15 acres. Aug. 16, 1992: Seminole opens a $1.5 million library. Sept. 8, 1994: Seminole voters decide to change from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager form. May 1995: City hires Frank Edmunds of Newmarket, N.H., as its first city manager. He begins work in July. Oct. 1, 1995: City absorbes the independent Seminole Fire Rescue, tripling its budget from about $3.5 million to $11 million and increasing its number of employees from 40 to 140. January 1996: Seminole hires new fire chief, Vicki L. Murphy, the first female fire chief in Pinellas County and only the seventh woman in the country to be a paid fire chief. She resigns July 1, 2000. Sept. 14, 1999: Votors approve spending $5.8 million to expand and renovate the recreation center at 9100 113th St. N. It is the largest capital project in the city's history. The cost later increases to $6.1 million. June 13, 2000: Voters in three unincorporated neighborhoods overwhelmingly approve joining the city, nearly doubling its size and substantially adding to its tax base. The city's population jumps from 9,000 to 14,000. September 2000: City enters into an agreement with St. Petersburg Junior College to build a $6.8 million joint use library, scheduled for completion in 2003, on the school's Seminole campus. November 15, 2000: City of Seminole celebrates its 30th anniversary. Mayor: Jimmy Johnson http://www.myseminole.com/ |
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