If you’ve been away from Anna Maria Island for all or part of 2019, here’s what happened while you were out – and if you were here, there’s probably a few things you may have missed, or forgotten. Take a look at AMI’s 2019.
Anna Maria
The construction of the new Anna Maria City Pier was the dominant news story in Anna Maria in 2019.
In January, the i+iconSoutheast construction company began staging their equipment and materials in the pier parking area.
On Feb. 2, the first concrete pilings were driven.
In mid-March, Manatee County Commissioners Betsy Benac, Steve Jonsson and Carol Whitmore took a boat tour of the work in progress and got an up-close look at the pier project being partially funded by county funds.
In April, the last pier piling was driven and the construction of the pier walkway and T-end platform began.
In June, the city commission selected Anna Maria-based Mason Martin Builders to build the new restaurant, bait shop and public restrooms at the T-end of the pier.
In September, an i+iconSoutheast barge struck and damaged the pier walkway. The repairs to the damaged pier pilings and pier structure added approximately three weeks to the construction timeline.
Construction of the new pier buildings began in early October and is expected to be completed in late February, minus the interior buildouts to be completed by the pier tenant.
In October, current pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder rejected two lease options presented by Mayor Dan Murphy.
On Dec. 22, Schoenfelder submitted his counteroffer, which the commission considers to be his final offer. That offer is scheduled to be discussed on Thursday, Jan. 9.
City events
In 2019, the city of Anna Maria hosted several city events and the mayor and commission continued their efforts to make City Pier Park a community gathering place. The city hosted its annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades, both of which were followed with post-parade ceremonies at City Pier Park.
Free hot dogs and refreshments were given out during the annual Fourth of July celebration.
In October, the seasonal farmers market returned and will continue each Tuesday until mid-May. In November, the inaugural Thanks-Living community gathering occurred at the park.
In December, the city hosted its annual Holiday Carols in the Park event that this year included the trophy presentations for the city’s inaugural holiday lighting contest.
Ordinances
In August, the commission denied Anna Maria General Store owner Brian Seymour’s request to amend the city’s alcohol ordinance and allow him to operate a package liquor store on Pine Avenue, within 1,000 feet of Roser Memorial Community Church.
In September, the commission amended the city noise ordinance that now results in a $35 fine being issued instead of a warning upon a deputy’s first response to a verified noise complaint. The first citation triggers a notice to the property owner and property manager. A second noise citation issued to the same guests carries a $200 fine. A third and subsequent citation issued to the same guests carries a $500 fine and the city holds both the property owner and the property manager liable for the fines incurred.
Comings and goings
City Commissioner Brian Seymour resigned in late August and Planning and Zoning Board member Mark Short was appointed to serve the remainder of his two-year term.
City Commissioner Doug Copeland decided not to seek re-election and his time in office ended in December.
Commissioner Dale Woodland was disqualified from running for re-election because he paid his qualifying fee with a personal check instead of with a check drawn from a campaign account. Woodland’s most recent term ended in December and he now hopes to be reappointed on Jan. 9.
In December, Sgt. Mike Jones, from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, announced he would be leaving the Anna Maria unit. Sgt. Brett Getman is now taking over as the leader of the city’s contracted police force.
Notable passings
Longtime Anna Maria General Store employee and Holmes Beach resident George Wilson Jr. passed away in July.
Anna Maria Island Sun co-publisher Maggie McGinley-Field passed away in October.
– Joe Hendricks
Bradenton Beach
The year 2019 witnessed two significant court victories for the city of Bradenton Beach, the initiation of several public projects and the receipt of more than $3 million in state appropriations.
Court rulings
In July, 12th Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas ruled that former Planning and Zoning members Reed Mapes, John Metz, Patty Shay and Bill Vincent, and former Scenic WAVES Committee members Tjet Martin and Rose Vincent violated the Florida Sunshine Law on numerous occasions when discussing advisory board business at their Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach (CNOBB) meetings.
Five of the defendants are now appealing Nicholas’ ruling, however, Shay has not joined the appeal efforts.
In November, Nicholas ruled the city is entitled to recover attorney fees and legal expenses incurred since the city filed the lawsuit in 2017.
When issuing his ruling, Nicholas said the amount to be recovered would be determined at a future hearing. He later ordered the city and the defendants to participate in a pre-hearing mediation session. The mediation session will provide the parties an opportunity to discuss a possible agreement regarding how much the defendants must pay the city.
The city’s attorney fees and legal costs already exceed $450,000 and that figure will increase as more attorney invoices are received.
State appropriations
In 2019, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded the city of Bradenton Beach $3.2 million in state funds. The state funds include $2.69 million dollars for stormwater and drainage improvements and $500,000 for seagrass mitigation to compensate for dredging the navigation channel south of the Bridge Street Pier in 2020.
Floating dock
The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) spent much of 2019 trying to get a new floating day dock installed next to the Bridge Street Pier.
First contracted with the Technomarine Group in early 2017, the premanufactured floating dock was installed by the Hecker Construction Company in July and opened to the public on Aug. 2.
In early October, the dock was closed due to issues with the gangway that provides access between the pier and the floating dock.
On Oct. 22, Public Works Director Tom Woodard told the CRA members some of the roller brackets that connect the floating dock to its wooden pilings failed as a result of wave action associated with Post-Tropical Cyclone Nestor.
The dock reopened on Dec. 4 after Duncan Seawall, Dock & Boat Lift completed its revisions and modifications to the gangway. The failed roller brackets must still be replaced.
CRA projects
In October, the CRA reached an agreement with the Bradenton Beach Post Office that now allows after-hours and weekend parking for the public, while reserving at all times three spaces for post office users.
In 2019, the CRA members agreed to bury the utility lines along Bridge Street; that project is expected to be completed in early 2020.
The CRA has purchased the brick pavers that will soon replace the white 57 stone that sits atop the stormwater infiltration trenches and parking spaces along Bridge Street.
Australian pines removed
In May, Bradenton Beach commissioners were surprised to learn the county intended to remove more than 100 Australian pine trees to accommodate the first phase of a drainage and paving project at the south end of the Coquina Beach parking area.
In response, the city commission sent a letter of objection to county commissioners, who later decided to move forward with the proposed phase one tree removals.
In late June, Bradenton Beach Building Official Steve Gilbert received from the county a city code-required landscaping plan that stated the removed pines would be replaced with 83 green buttonwoods, 10 gumbo limbos and 10 shady lady black olive trees.
Vosburgh returns
In November, Jan Vosburgh returned to the city commission. Vosburgh served six 6½ years as a commissioner before term-limiting out of office in 2016. She ran unopposed in the 2019 city elections and now fills the Ward 3 seat formerly held by one-term commissioner Randy White, who did not seek reelection.
Mayor John Chappie and Commissioner Jake Spooner also ran unopposed in 2019 and are now serving new two-year terms in office.
– Joe Hendricks
Holmes Beach
2019 was a busy year for city leaders in Holmes Beach.
The year kicked off with the newly-elected members of the Charter Review Commission meeting beginning in January. Though Charter Review commissioners could not reach a majority vote to consider the issue of a city manager in Holmes Beach, they did propose eight charter amendments, all of which passed with voters in the November election.
Also passing with voters in November were the re-elections of Commissioners Carol Soustek and Jim Kihm and the election of Commissioner Terry Schaefer.
After spending the first several months of the year making plans, work began in the fall on improvements at the city field complex, including the dog park, skate park, tot lot and multi-use field. Gone is the ball field, replaced by the large dog park with the rest of the space taken up by the expanded multi-use field. The old skate park was torn down with the cement pad to be used for staging by public works employees and a new skate park is under construction along Marina Drive. After receiving feedback from Island skaters, city commissioners chose Pivot, a division of American Ramp Company, and designer Tito Porrata to build the concrete promenade style skate park and skate bowl. Though the city had enough funds budgeted to build the skate park, it took members of the community stepping up and pledging funds to get the bowl built.
Members of the city’s Parks and Beautification Committee worked for months with dog park users to help design a new park to meet the needs of both canine and human users. At the end of 2019, those plans were finally coming to fruition with the large dog park being relocated and work being done in both the small and large dog parks.
The multi-use field, dog park and skate park are all expected to be opened to the public in January with the first opening scheduled for the multi-use field on Jan. 10, 2020.
Though funding was received to replace the aging playground equipment from the Hagen Foundation and private donations, work on the new tot lot playground had not begun as of the end of 2019.
Work also was completed on a multi-use trail stretching down an eastern portion of Palm and Marina Drives to meet up with a multi-use trail in Anna Maria. An effort to install lighted crosswalks in dangerous areas for pedestrians was begun along Gulf Drive. A project to widen bicycle paths along the city’s main corridors and restripe bicycle lanes also was approved by commissioners.
Also, after months of work and the installation of an aeration system, Development Services Director Eran Wasserman said the waters of Spring Lake were clear with visibility to the bottom of the lake in December. The lake is scheduled for a water quality test in January 2020.
It wasn’t all good news in 2019 for Holmes Beach city leaders. Several Bert Harris cases made an appearance in court; though the city walked away with victories, many cases are still outstanding.
In other court cases, the tree house at the Angelinos Sea Lodge is still standing and its fate is still being disputed in court. Kicking off the new year, city leaders are scheduled to meet tree house owners Lynn Tran and Richard Hazen in court on Jan. 8.
2019 also marked the first year of Judy Titsworth’s first term as mayor. She marked the occasion in November with a state of the city address and in December by recognizing former Commissioner Rick Hurst, charter review commissioners and all of the committee members who resigned from service to the community during her first year as mayor.
– Kristin Swain
Cortez
The battle over a stilt structure in Sarasota Bay continued in 2019.
A Jan. 13 trial in Manatee County Circuit Court may decide the fate of the building, constructed in 2018 by Raymond Guthrie Jr. in Sarasota Bay offshore of the A.P. Bell Fish Co. in Cortez.
Guthrie claims the 1200-square-foot building is a net camp, built where his family’s previous net camps stood.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ordered Guthrie to take down the building, claiming state ownership of the submerged land.
A.P. Bell Fish Co. sued DEP for ordering the demolition of the building, claiming it owns the submerged land under the 1921 Butler Act, which awards title of submerged lands to adjacent waterfront property owners who made permanent improvements on the submerged lands.
Net camps were used by commercial fishermen to clean, dry, mend and store nets, and dotted the Cortez shoreline until the 1950s. They declined in use when netmakers began using polyester, and were made obsolete by the 1994 Florida gill net ban.
– Cindy Lane
The Center of Anna Maria Island
The good news continued to come in at The Center of Anna Maria Island in 2019.
The Anna Maria nonprofit started the year off by hosting a five-part concert series in conjunction with the Manatee County Tourist Development Council and Manatee Performing Arts Center. With the success of the first concert series, another five-part series kicked off in December with doo-wop band Sha Na Na and continues into 2020.
Financially, The Center remained on solid ground in 2019, ending the calendar year and the first half of its fiscal year within 1% of budget. During a December board meeting, Executive Director Chris Culhane said that the nonprofit’s finances are expected to continue to improve in 2020 as the winter high season hits with more events, members and fundraising opportunities.
The Center’s Go Green campaign officially launched in November with a presentation by Philippe Cousteau Jr. and continued in December with the installation of 52 mini reefs in the waters around Anna Maria Island. The reefs provide homes for marine life and can help filter the water. Thanks to a matching donation of up to $130,000, each reef purchased as a part of the Go Green campaign resulted in a $300 donation to The Center. To help facilitate increased fundraising opportunities, the nonprofit welcomed new Director of Development Jim McDaniel in May.
Capital improvements included changing all of the nonprofit campus’ lighting to LED bulbs, improvements to the second-floor restroom facilities and the start of an effort to replace all of the aging air conditioning units.
– Kristin Swain
West Manatee Fire Rescue
West Manatee Fire Rescue district had an eventful year, beginning with the retirement of Chief Tom Sousa and appointment of Chief Ben Rigney as his successor. A change of command ceremony was held on Oct. 17 at Station 1 on 67th Street in Bradenton.
District commissioners also opted to move forward with plans to relocate WMFR’s administrative offices from temporary quarters at Palma Sola Presbyterian Church to a new, permanent home. Commissioners purchased a lot located behind the Fountain Court Shopping Center on Manatee Avenue and chose Hall Architects in October to develop a design for the project.
Throughout the year, commissioners handed out commendations for promotions, career milestones and service to the community. One of the most popular awards in 2019 was the Phoenix Award, an award given to first responders who help bring patients back from the brink of death. The district handed out almost a dozen Phoenix Awards to first responders who helped give patients a second chance at life.
– Kristin Swain
