The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 14 No. 37 - July 9, 2014

FEATURE

Grassy Point master plan presented to board

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Submitted

Holmes Beach Commissioner Marvin Grossman
shows one of the two bat houses he donated
to Grassy Point Preserve. Grossman said
George Fenner, of the Florida Bat Conservancy,
helped with information about where to place
the bat houses and contributed an experimental
bat house. The city’s public works department
installed the bat houses.

 

 

HOLMES BEACH – The city has developed a master plan for Grassy Point Preserve that addresses the concerns expressed by Florida Communities Trust in an April letter to the city.

The letter from Denise Rach, of FCT, said staff visited the preserve in February and the exotic removal requires follow-up treatment, the city must provide an as-built master site plan and it should install a directional sign on the main road to alert the public to the existence and location of the park.

Rach said certain amenities such as a boardwalk, observation platform and fishing pier are required by the original grant award agreement and asked when the city planned to construct them.

“We answered Denise Rach by giving her drop dead dates,” reported Human Resource Analyst Mary Buonagura to city commissioners recently.

“The city has embarked on a regular monitoring and maintenance schedule to remove invasive exotic plants and then aggressive native plants that will take over.”

She said a citizen group would monitor the preserve every two weeks and that LTA Engineers has submitted a site plan.

Two phases

The first phase of the plan includes a boardwalk from East Bay Drive to the shell trail/parking area. It will begin Oct. 1 and take six months to complete. The second phase from the shell trail to the observation platform to the fishing pier will begin in October 2015.

In addition, directional signs will be installed at Manatee Avenue and East Bay Drive Gulf Drive and 29th Street and at the end of 29th Street by Sept. 1.

Rach said the plan meets FCT requirements and will fulfill the grant contract conditions.

Barbara Hines, a resident and member of the environmental group ManaSota 88 objected to the plan and said the boardwalk would shade the seagrass and keep it from growing and they would have to cut mangroves.

“This proposal is not a preserve,” she said. “If you want to turn this into a park for people at least be honest. Don’t pretend you are preserving. What’s being done makes it look like a park and that’s wrong.”


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