Mote loses red tide funding

By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

While red tide symptoms have become as common as dead fish on the beach, funding for Mote Marine Laboratory’s research on the health effects of the microscopic algae has dried up.

Mote and its research partners, the Florida Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, had a five-year, $7-million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to research the health effects of red tide.

The grant ran out on June 30, and the institute has turned down a proposal for a second five-year grant, said Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, manager for Mote’s environmental health program.

The scientists plan to submit another grant proposal by Oct. 1, but they don’t know how long they’ll have to wait for an answer, she said.

"We don’t have any money to do any studies right now," Kirkpatrick said. "It’s very frustrating, especially when we have a red tide bloom."

The funding gap comes at a particularly bad time considering the research team’s discovery earlier this year of two antidotes to the respiratory effects of red tide - one man-made and the other a natural compound derived from the Karenia brevis algae itself. Both block the respiratory effects of the red tide toxin in sheep in the same way that antihistamines block allergens in people.

Kirkpatrick believes the study was the only one in the country that focused on the health effects of red tide. Other research on locating, tracking and controlling red tide continues under other funding sources.

The new grant proposal will ask for funding to look into the recent discovery that respiratory effects from red tide last for several days in some people, even after they’ve gone back up north following a beach vacation, Kirkpatrick said.

"We thought when they leave the beach, it ends, but for some populations of people, they’re still miserable hours to days later," she said.

It’s the institute, not the research team, that decides the subject of the research project, she said, explaining that the funding agency asks for proposals from different groups, then selects the proposal that most closely matches its goals.

The first grant was to study what red tide does to the respiratory systems of healthy lifeguards and people afflicted with asthma while they’re at the beach.

Kirkpatrick’s research on Sarasota lifeguards showed that red tide caused them upper airway symptoms such as a tickle in the throat, stuffy nose and itchy eyes, but no lower airway symptoms such as tightness of the chest, shortness of breath and wheezing, even while exercising.

But tests on people with asthma and chronic lung disease show both upper and lower respiratory symptoms and a decrease in breathing ability when red tide is present.

While some funds to continue the research may become available from Mote and the Florida Department of Health, the lion’s share of the project’s funding came from the institute, Kirkpatrick said.

The grassroots group Solutions To Avoid Red Tide (START) provides seed money to get red tide research started, but doesn’t have funds to support ongoing research projects, Chairman Ed Chiles said.

"What we will do is weigh in with the federal officials and let them know how important red tide research is," said John Connor, president of START. "They’ve made so much progress and they’re getting so close."

To contact federal legislators about red tide funding, call Sen. Bill Nelson at (202) 224-5274, Sen. Mel Martinez at (202) 224-3041, Rep. Jim Davis at (202) 225-3376 and Rep. Katherine Harris at 747-9081.

And until research resumes, Kirkpatrick’s advice remains the same– use antihistamines and inhalers before going to the beach during a red tide outbreak, or avoid the beach altogether.

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Rental moratorium evicted

By Pat Copeland
sun staff writer

HOLMES BEACH — Commissioners last week said no to the planning commission’s recommendation of a moratorium on rental licenses in the R-1 and R-2 districts.

Planners had asked for the moratorium to date back to June 15, the date they agreed to recommend a change in the rental periods from one week to 30 days for the two districts.

"A moratorium is an excuse for putting off a decision," Commissioner Don Maloney said.

Planning commission chairman Sue Normand said the request for 30-day rentals is in keeping with the comprehensive plan’s goal of insuring that the residential character of the city is maintained and protected while recognizing the potential for economic benefit resulting from the tourist trade.

"The moratorium or work in progress order would allow for the completion of the planning commission’s work and final recommendations to the city commission while keeping the status quo of short-term rentals legally licensed in the city as of June 15, 2005," Normand explained.

She said the two districts are losing their residential character and that the majority of the city would still permit short-term rentals. She also said that those protesting the recommendation are rental agents and investors who have a vested interest in keeping one-week rentals.

Bill Brisson, the city’s planning consultant, said the moratorium would be in place for only a few months while he drafts language for the revised land development code.

"You don’t have a problem yet, but if it continues, you won’t have a rental district," Brisson said, speaking for the planning commission.

Commission concerns
Mayor Carol Whitmore said she has always supported rental restrictions, but commissioners have never agreed. She pointed out that of the 3,900 parcels in the city, only 1,421 are homesteaded.

"It’s already too late; I think that time we could have done it is past," she said.

"The one-week restriction in the R-4 district produced a lawsuit from the 30-day restriction in Key Royale, and I don’t intend to let the planning commission lead me down the path to the courthouse again," Commissioner Rich Bohnenberger pointed out.

"Every one of these commissioners made a decision when we did the one-week rentals throughout the city recently that we were not going to go any further unless there was a need to do so and it came from the public and not from the planning commission."

"The 30-day thing, has been a horse running in the field for so long, and now we’re trying to catch that horse," Commissioner Pat Morton said. "Now all of a sudden you’re going to tell these people, ‘You’re out of business.’ I think it’s a tragedy.

However, one resident asked commissioners to reconsider.

"I live in R-4," David Zaccagnino said. "I used to live in a residential neighborhood. I don’t have any neighbors any more. You can come to my house any night of the week and hear fireworks going off. There’s trash all over the place. If we don’t do something now, it will just get worse and worse."

Resident Joan Perry agreed and added that the city is ignoring its comprehensive plan.

Whitmore said the flood of letters from property owners protesting the 30-day recommendation has produced an unintended consequence. Some of the letter writers do not have rental licenses, and the code enforcement department is investigating.

 

Cortez Road improvements begin this month

By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

CORTEZ – A new traffic light will be installed at Cortez Road and 119th Street West a few yards west of the existing light in an extensive road improvement project that begins Aug. 15.

Cortez villagers expressed mixed opinions about the Florida Department of Transportation’s final plans for Cortez Road between 119th Street and the Cortez Bridge at a meeting on Thursday.

Manatee County Commissioner Jane von Hahmann, who lives at the intersection across from the 1912 Cortez schoolhouse, said that motorists need the additional light at the dangerous junction.

Others were disappointed that the new plan does not realign the Cortez Road and 119th Street intersection as many had previously requested. That’s because only one of the streets, Cortez Road, is a state road under the jurisdiction of the DOT, spokesman Albert Rosenstein said.

To avoid traffic backups from motorists turning left off Cortez Road, a dual left turn lane will be built in the center of the road running from the bridge to 119th Street with a landscaped oasis in the center lane where pedestrians can safely pause while crossing the road. No crosswalks will be installed because they are required only at intersections with traffic lights, but stamped brick pavers will be installed to mark where pedestrians should walk.

Other improvements in the $2.5 million plan include bike paths and sidewalks on both sides of Cortez Road and a new right turn lane from Cortez Road into Harbour Landings.

Drainage improvements include deeper, reshaped roadside gutters, FDOT construction administrator Susan Kinney said. Drainage concerns from the Southwest Florida Water Management District delayed the project for more than two years and more than tripled the cost.

Lane closures will be between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. with a minimum of one lane open at all times and no detours. The work, contracted to APAC Southeast Inc., is expected to be completed by spring.

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On Star ends criminal's escape

By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

ANNA MARIA – If you're going to steal a car, you might want avoid certain brands.

A 38-year-old man is in custody following a crime spree, of sorts, and the On Star feature in the 2005 Cadillac DeVille he stole is what gave police his location.

Sarasota County officers arrested 38-year-old James David Greig Friday within an hour of notifying On Star that the car had been stolen. He and his fiancee, Teresa Pfister, who was reportedly with him when the crimes began, were at a gasoline station filling the tank of the hot Caddie.

According to Sgt. John Kinney, of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Anna Maria substation, it all began Thursday evening when Greig and his fiancée had dinner at the Sandbar restaurant. Kinney said Greig did not have the money to pay the $142 tab and restaurant management called police.

The officer who responded arrested Greig, who put up a fight while he was being handcuffed and got away. During the struggle, a handgun reportedly fell out of Grieg's pocket, which the officer found out later was a pellet gun. The officer suffered minor injuries and chased after him, but the couple disappeared. The sheriff's office helicopter, a K-9 unit and officers from Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach helped scour the area without success.

Friday morning, the sheriff's office got a call from a resident on Oak Street in Anna Maria who said his new Cadillac had been stolen. When the victim informed officer Gary Sellito that the car was equipped with On Star, a General Motors program that has an on-board locator device, they called an On Star operator who tracked the car to Englewood, south of Sarasota.

According to records at the Manatee County Circuit Court website, Grieg has a string of arrests and convictions for burglary, grand theft and resisting arrest dating back to 1986. Charges of burglary, grand theft auto, resisting arrest with violence, carrying a concealed weapon and defrauding an innkeeper have been filed against him in last week's incident.

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Fishing village target of new projects

By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

CORTEZ – Big changes are happening in Cortez, from the bridge to the FISH Preserve.

On the north side of the Cortez Bridge, Manatee County is interested in buying the Seafood Shack for a museum and traditional wooden boatbuilding facility. One block east at Hunter’s Hill, developer Peter Thurell is proposing to build 35 residential buildings and a commercial building with townhouses on top, closing HH Marina at 12444 Cortez Road to make more room for homes. (See related stories, Page 1).

At Keyway RV Park, 12316 Cortez Road, new owners Brent Whitehead – who is slated to build Hunter’s Hill – and Ed Chiles have tentative plans to build a new clubhouse and possibly install a swimming pool, Chiles said, adding, "We may put some more pads in there, but we have no development plans."

The new owner of the former C&C Marine at 12123 Cortez Road says he will not build condominiums as originally planned. Instead, owner Norman Burke, of Naples plans an upscale "dockominium," with 300 dry slips protected from the weather in a building, and 20 to 25 wet slips in the open.

Plans for the tentatively-named Bradenton Boat Condominiums include a boat launch and an office where boat owners can coordinate getting their boats in and out of the water.

"I don’t think the community wanted residential," he said, adding that permits have not yet been approved. "There’s so many boats coming into Florida there’s a real need for boat storage."

Just east and across the street, the Seahorse restaurant, at 12012 Cortez Road, is being transformed into Pelican Pete’s. Anna Maria Island owners Al and Sylvia Marnie plan a September opening for the seafood restaurant, which will feature light entertainment including karaoke.

Back on the north side at 11900 Cortez Road, Holiday Cove RV Resort reports long-term plans for redevelopment, but not for at least three years.

In Cortez Village, Hunter’s Hill developer Peter Thurell, along with Karen Bell and Judi Breuggeman, plan to open Cortez Cove Boatworks in October, a long-needed local place for commercial fishing boats to be pulled out of the water and repaired, according to Bell.

At the 1912 Cortez Schoolhouse at 4415 119th St. W., renovations continue to transform the building into a museum. If the museum is ultimately housed at the Seafood Shack, Manatee County officials say the schoolhouse can serve as a community center.

The county recently moved the eastern boundary of the Cortez Historic District to include the schoolhouse property, which will be the new home of the 1895-era Burton store when it is moved from its present site across from the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Cortez.

At the former Sunny Shores Marina at the end of 115th Street West, new owner Bob Gertz is putting the final touches on a fully-renovated 30-slip marina he calls Parrot Cove.

On the south side of Cortez Road, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) is making progress on cleaning up its recently-acquired Wilkerson property in the FISH Preserve on Cortez Road, despite continued illegal dumping there.

FISH also is clearing a site in the preserve to contain the spoil from the Cortez channel dredging, scheduled to begin in November. After it’s dried and cleaned, native vegetation can be planted on the spoil.

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Raccoons, flooding taking toll on nests

By Laurie Krosney
sun staff writer

It's been a tough week in the world of Anna Maria Island turtle nests. Residual effects of Hurricane Dennis continue to be felt, raccoons are dining on fresh turtle eggs and nesting seems to have slowed down prematurely.

One nest hatched out last week sending 105 baby turtles into the waters of the Gulf. More nests were due this week, but none have hatched.

"Those nests were drowned when we had the high tide and storm surge from Hurricane Dennis," said Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Chief Suzi Fox. "When we saw those nests underwater during the storm, we were afraid this would happen. We think we've lost all the nests in that relocation area, but we'll won't know for sure until they're due to hatch."

Nests on the Island are being relocated to the north and to the south at Coquina Beach. The area on the north end of the Island was seriously flooded.

Problems at Coquina Beach
The nests at Coquina are under threat from another source.

"The raccoons are just awful here, and they're digging up the nests and eating the eggs," Fox said. "We've never seen anything like it. Tommy (Turtle Tom Van Ness) said he thinks there has been an explosion in the raccoon population down here."

Fox said she thinks there may be a correlation between what she believes is an increase in the number of people using the picnic area.

"There's trash everywhere, so there's plenty of food for the raccoons to feast on," she said. "The trash cans are full, and there's trash strewn all around. We've lost a total of five nests."

Turtle Watch volunteers have started laying protection across the top of nests, and that seems to be working.

"We called FWC (Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission) and they told us how to screen the nests," Fox said. "I had to go to a feed store to get the materials."

Fox said the screening is a kind of wire material that's used in farming. It comes in a roll. She said Volunteers Ed and Patti Oliver cut the screening to size and then helped install the screens on the nests.

"We just lay the screen over the nest and use our stakes to secure it to the ground," Fox said. "The hatchlings can get out, but the raccoons can't get in — though they've tried. You can see where they tried to dig in, but they can't reach their little paws inside any more than six inches, so the eggs stay safe. They also try to dig under the nest, but they can't get any deeper that way, either."

Kemp's ridley dies
One of the rarest marine turtles on the planet was found dead near Eighth Street in Bradenton Beach last week.

The Kemp's ridley is the smallest marine turtle, and it's one of the most seriously endangered. Only a handful of these once plentiful turtles have nested on U.S. shores in recent decades. Two nests were laid on the Gulf coast of Texas in the mid-1990s and a couple more have been documented in the Carolinas. Employees of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium documented two in Clearwater.

Typically, the only known current nesting site is about a 20-mile stretch on the Gulf coast of Mexico at Rancho Nuevo.

Occasionally, boaters will spot Kemp's ridleys swimming in the water.

Fox said the turtle was a young adult and showed immediate signs of trauma or sickness, but when she opened the turtle's mouth, she noticed a bloody froth.

"You often see that when there's no other sign of injury," she said.

Fox said she documented the find and reported it to FWC.

"It's sad to see a healthy-looking turtle washing up dead," she said. "And for it to be a Kemp's ridley is especially awful, because there are so few of them."

Turtle baby shower
The annual turtle shower is coming up this weekend. This year, you can bring gifts to help the activities of both Turtle Watch and Wildlife Rescue.

Fox said old sheets, towels, surgical gloves, medical supplies such as gauze, surgical tape, cotton balls, anti-bacterial creams and ointments and q-tips are good ideas for gifts. And both organizations are in serious need of gift certificates from Staples and Home Depot.

The shower is set for Saturday, Aug. 6, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Bayfront Park in Anna Maria.

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Red tide affecting renourishment workers

By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

HOLMES BEACH – The sand and water coming out of the Goodloe Marine pipes from the barge anchored off Bean Point is bringing this summer's nemesis – red tide.

Larry Chapman, Goodloe's safety officer for the project, said the fumes from the single-celled organisms that are in bloom off the shore is causing them a lot of discomfort.

"I had to buy them masks and respirators," he said.

Goodloe said they had about 3/4 of a day of downtime last week due to some bad pipe between the barge and the shore, but everything seemed back on track as of the weekend. The project, which began at the 77th Street beach, got as far as 72nd Street by Saturday and barring any bad weather, they hope to stay on track despite the red tide.

There is still no word from the Army Corps of Engineers or Manatee County about adding sand to the 402,000 cubic yards of sand scheduled for the renourishment. The project was delayed when Hurricane Dennis came up the Gulf last month and there was more beach erosion. Goodloe asked for a new survey to see if they needed more sand to bring the beach to the profile the Corps wants. The results from that survey came in a week ago, and the two agencies are assessing it. Ron Rutger, team leader for the Corps, said earlier that if they need more sand, there is no money in the budget to pay for it.

Rick Spadoni, senior vice president of Coast Planning and Engineering, the company Manatee County hired to keep track of the sand quality, said he expected to hear from the county soon as to whether they would reduce the new beach profile to stay within budget or find new funding.

Coastal Planning and Engineering is also engineering an additional renourishment in the city of Anna Maria. That portion of the project that was done in 2002 was not funded by the federal government, and it is not eligible for federal funding from the Corps during this interim renourishment. Manatee County has agreed to pay for that project with money from the tourism bed tax.

Spadoni was on the Island last week and said they looked at the beaches off Anna Maria to see if they needed additional sand after Hurricane Dennis. He said there was good news and bad news.

"There was quite a bit of erosion and some of the beaches lost a lot of sand," he said. "The good news is, it is contained in a large sandbar just off the coast. Over time, we expect to recover that sand through natural wave action."

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