BRADENTON BEACH – Bradenton Beach commissioners do not want Paradise Boat Tours to continue refueling at the county-owned barge dock near Longboat Pass.
The mayor and commissioners took this position on Thursday, Jan. 21, when discussing an email that City Attorney Ricinda Perry and others received from Manatee County Environmental Program Manager Alan Lai Hipp two days earlier.
In his email, Lai Hipp questioned whether the city wanted to expand an existing interlocal agreement between the county and the city to allow mobile refueling at the county barge dock.
Paradise Boat Tours uses the nearby Bridge Street Pier to pick up and drop off its passengers. Rather than pay the fuel prices charged at marinas, Baldwin has long used a modified Ford pickup truck to refuel his tour boat at the county-owned barge dock at the south end of the Coquina South boat ramp property.
Last week’s refueling discussion was not noticed in advance on the Jan. 21 meeting agenda, but it was added to the agenda when the meeting began, with Baldwin not in attendance.
Commission discussion
Mayor John Chappie said he’s not in favor of expanding the existing interlocal agreement to allow mobile refueling at the county dock.
“I can envision all kinds of boats lining up with trucks full of gas in this public recreational area. I can see this is a safety issue,” Chappie said.
“I think you’re opening up a can of worms,” Commissioner Ralph Cole said. “There’s a lot of people that fish off that seawall. It is a recreational area and you have plenty of places to fuel a boat. I don’t think that’s the place to do it.”
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh said, “I think Sherman is a big asset to Bradenton Beach. I don’t want to hurt his business by not being able to gas up.”
Commissioner Marilyn Maro said she agreed with Chappie.
In response to Vosburgh, Chappie said, “There are plenty of certified fueling places he can go to. We have a marina right here in Bradenton Beach. There’s a marina in Holmes Beach. There’s at least one, maybe two or three, in Longboat Key.”
Chappie also mentioned the possibility of a fuel spill.
“Who’s going to clean it up if it does spill?” Commissioner Jake Spooner asked.
“It seems the response for Alan would be no, we don’t want to allow that type of activity,” Chappie said.
Perry said she would relay the commission consensus to Lai Hipp and Parks and Natural Resources Department Director Charlie Hunsicker.
Baldwin’s response
When contacted Thursday afternoon, Baldwin said he was not upset with the city commission’s decision, but he would have liked to have been included in the discussion.
The following day he emailed Chappie and the city commissioners.
“On Jan. 12, I attended the Manatee County Commission meeting and was informed by Commissioner Whitmore that Bradenton Beach has jurisdiction over the fueling issue. Not seeing it on the agenda for yesterday’s meeting, I opted not to attend,” Baldwin’s email said.
“I respectfully request that an agenda item be added to the Feb. 4 commission agenda and I be allowed a brief period of time to provide important details that I believe the commission needs to consider. I also request that any answer to Alan Lai Hipp’s email be delayed until after the commission has taken up this issue at the Feb. 4 meeting,” Baldwin’s email said.
Past discussions
On Dec. 14, Baldwin addressed his suspended refueling efforts in an email sent to County Administrator Cheri Coryea and others.
“Six weeks ago, sheriff’s deputies informed us that they have been instructed to prevent us from refueling there anymore – and that it was Alan Lai Hipp who they received their instructions from. In fact, if we refueled there again, we would be subject to arrest,” Baldwin’s email said.
“Marina fuel is over $2 more per gallon than the street price,” Baldwin’s email noted.
It also noted that his mobile fueling operations reduce his fuel costs by approximately $650 per week.
On Dec. 15, Baldwin shared his plight with county commissioners. The county commission agreed they did not want to see Baldwin arrested, but they also did not support the county dock being used for refueling.
County Attorney Mickey Palmer said he was not aware of any county code or regulation that currently prohibits refueling at the county dock. He recommended the county take no enforcement action until the matter was further researched.
The county commission supported Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge’s request for the county attorney’s office to prepare a document that formally prohibits refueling activities at the loading dock – and potentially at county boat ramps too. That document has not yet been presented to county commissioners.
Later that week, Baldwin resumed his mobile refueling operations at the county dock.
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