Superintendent of Public Works Sage Kamiya was back in front of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) at its June 10 meeting. He was there to answer questions and concerns previously brought up by TDC members after his initial presentation requesting tourist tax funding for a city-long multimodal path at an Aug. 21, 2023 meeting.
Kamiya noted that there is a path for walkers and bicyclists that runs along a portion of Marina Drive, but it needs improvement. The proposed new path would begin around the 2800 block of Gulf Drive and continue almost the entire length of the city to where Gulf Drive and Marina Drive merge in the 8000 block. The proposal calls for the path to be separated from the road by a grassy buffer area to keep people using the path separated from the road, improving safety.
At their last presentation to the TDC, city officials estimated the budget for the entire project was $2,436,727 with half of the money going to the Gulf Drive path improvements ($1,293,238) and the remainder designated for Marina Drive path improvements, engineering design, flashing crosswalks and educational signage. Kamiya told the TDC that the path improvement plan would be implemented in phases, with the first phase focusing on the city center area on both Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. The phase 1 estimate is $1,133,401, with $399,460 coming from the city of Holmes Beach and the remaining $733,948 being requested from the TDC.
Rather than approve or deny the funding at the Aug. 21 meeting, the TDC unanimously chose to have the matter brought to a future meeting in hopes of getting answers to questions multiple board members had, such as whether or not the path would eliminate public parking spots, which side of the street the path would be built on and a more specific timeline, among other concerns and questions. The TDC discussed the request at both the Oct. 16, 2023 and Dec. 4, 2023 meetings, but still had questions.
According to Kamiya, because of the delay, Holmes Beach decided to use funds set aside for phase one of the project for other city projects, so the numbers have changed since it was last discussed. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has recently started the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Barrier Islands Complete Streets Improvements Study. This study includes the evaluation of multimodal alternatives for State Road 789, County Road 789, Marina Drive and Palm Drive in Holmes Beach.
Kamiya told the TDC that his hope is the PD&E study will provide funding that will take some of the financial weight off the amount the city is requesting from the county’s tourist tax dollars.
“We did get an FDOT letter to support the project,” Kamiya said. “This makes sense from their perspective because they do want to improve safety. There’s been several fatalities along the roadway, so that’s been our push for this.”
Kamiya went on to ask the council if they would back a portion of the proposal that would not be funded by the PD&E study. He said that amount would be around $500,000. Kamiya also noted that the study doesn’t initially carry construction money with it. The funds would be for design and planning, and when it is time for construction, funding through the study as well as the county would have to be discussed further.
TDC member and Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown had concerns about this project at each of the previous two meetings in which this was discussed and was the first to speak up with more questions this time around.
“I’ve been one that’s said all along that it’s important to do the whole Island if we’re going to do anything,” Brown said. “I do have a question; you’ve asked Rep. Buchanan for $2.24 million dollars for a multimodal path along Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. What is that money to be slated for?”
Kamiya responded saying the actual amount requested was $2.9 million and, because the PD&E study does not include construction money, those funds requested would be used for just the multimodal path along Gulf Drive. He added that the $2.9 million would only pay for part of the project and further funds would have to be found to complete the entire project. Kamiya also made it clear that the study funds would only be for the Gulf Drive portion of the project, not Marina Drive or any remaining portions.
Mayor Brown countered, saying he still did not support the request because too many questions remained and he thought the proposal was confusing and incomplete without solid details. Brown also said he was not pleased that Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth was not in attendance for what he saw as a very important meeting. He believed it was not in the best interest of the city to request such a large sum of money without a mayor or vice-mayor in attendance.
Minutes before the TDC took a vote on the request, the discussion took a turn toward the Gulf Island Ferry having a docking place in Holmes Beach. TDC members discussed whether an existing docking location could be improved to support the ferry or the possibility of a new dock being built somewhere in the city. With the stipulation that the possibility of the ferry landing in Holmes Beach be added to the request, the TDC voted unanimously to send the recommendation for $500,000 to Manatee County commissioners.
