ANNA MARIA – The Island Community Center board of directors has called an emergency meeting of the community on Wednesday, June 4, at 6:30 p.m. to help Save the Center.

“It’s a crisis situation that could result in the loss of the Community Center for the community,” Executive Director Dawn Stiles stressed. “We are reaching out to the community to say we need to come together.

“If people want a Community Center, they need to step up and say we really want this and it’s a positive force for the community.”

Stiles said board members and staff would be present at the meeting to respond to questions. Rev. Ed Moss, of Cross Pointe Fellowship, will moderate.

Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie vowed his support and said, “I’ll do anything I can as a county commissioner and a long time Island resident to help. It has been such a major part of the Island for kids and adults. It’s the fiber that binds us all.”

Restaurateur Ed Chiles, a long time Center supporter, called it “a rough patch in the road” and said community leaders have held several meetings to try and find a solution.

“We’re trying to bring together those who have supported the Center in the past and those with the ability to support it in the future to insure that one of the most important institutions in our community thrives and has a bright future.”

Rex Hagen, who funded the Center’s tennis courts, asked, “This Island is so important to the county and the Community Center is so important to the Island, so why in the world doesn’t the county give us more money to support the Center?”

David Zaccagnino, Holmes Beach’s commission liaison to the Center, said, “Right now we need to rally around the Community Center so they can get through the summer and then regroup and really look at their business plan to be more effective in the future.”

Nancy Yetter, Anna Maria’s commission liaison to the Center said, “I believe that the financial problems can be attributed to several factors; however, one stands out. The Community Center is another victim of the increase in tourism and investors on the Island.

“The TDC, Chamber of Commerce, builders and other businesses are trying to change the residential nature of the Island to that of a tourist destination hotspot.

“Because of this, we are losing the very people who supported the Center in the past with their donations. We need people who live here full time and who will donate time and money to make sure the Center thrives.”

Wednesday’s meeting will be at the Center, 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria.

 

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners recently approved a 15 percent stormwater fee increase that left some Bradenton Beach property owners very unhappy.

Commissioners also agreed to do away with the stormwater credits that for the past 10 years have provided significant discounts for property owners who took additional steps to retain and mitigate water on their property, as opposed to allowing it to run into the city system or nearby waterways.

When annual stormwater assessment bills are mailed out this summer, the owner of a single family home will receive a rate increase from $100 to $115, with an additional $11.50 charged for an impervious paved driveway, a tennis court and/or a pool with decking.

Duplex and triplex owners will pay $115 per dwelling unit and similar fees for pool decks, driveways and tennis courts.

Mobile home owners will pay $86.25 and additional fees for community pools and tennis courts.

Commercial buildings, including restaurants, will be charged $172.50 per unit, plus $11.50 for each off street parking space.

HARDEST HIT

Owners of multi-unit developments will be among the hardest hit, paying $115 per unit, plus the additional per-unit fees for paved driveways, pools and tennis courts.

During the May 22 commission meeting, resort owners David Teitelbaum and Angela Rodocker opposed the fee increase and credit elimination.

Teitelbaum is president of the Anna Maria Island Resorts group that owns four resorts in Bradenton Beach.

“We kept every bit of the water on our property,” Teitelbaum said of his Tortuga Inn property, while expressing his view that credits should remain in place.

“We have gone up from $1,980 to $7,590. I can understand an increase, but this is outrageous, and we’re not going to accept that,” he said of his estimated 2014 bill, noting that his other properties would experience similar increases.

Rodocker serves as general manager of the Silver Surf and BridgeWalk resorts she operates with her mother, Barbara. She said their stormwater fees will have increased from $1,300 to $13,000 in the past two years.

“We spent our money to make sure that we took care of the stormwater drainage on behalf of the city, and now you come back to us and ask us to make up about four percent of your budget? It’s almost unfathomable that you would expect that from us,” she said.

It was later agreed that multi-unit property owners would pay the fees owed at the pre-increase rates according to the summer billing cycle, but receive an additional six months to pay the additional fees, which Teitelbaum noted, will be passed on to guests and unit owners.

ANOTHER LOOK

Commissioners also agreed to revisit, at a future meeting, the city ordinance that determines how the fees are calculated. This may provide some relief for multi-unit owners.

Along these lines, Vice Mayor Janie Robertson questioned why a property with a higher number of smaller units is subject to higher fees than a similarly sized property with fewer larger units. She contends the fees should be based on the building footprint and square footage of the structure and not the number of units contained within.

The commission’s decision to raise fees and eliminate credits was made at the request of City Engineer Lynn Townsend Burnett and Public Works Director Tom Woodard.

According to Burnett, stormwater rates have not been increased since their implementation in 2004. She said the increases are needed to generate the $900,000 required to complete stormwater improvements from Bridge Street to 12th Street North. Failure to complete these scheduled projects by December 2016 would result in the city not receiving a 50 percent reimbursement grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

When addressing the elimination of stormwater credits, Townsend said elements once considered voluntary are now mandatory for new construction. She feels it is unfair to continue giving discounts to some property owners, while those who have implemented similar drainage and retention elements are charged the full rate.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four men from the Gulf of Mexico Sunday about 20 nautical miles from Anna Maria Island after their 28-foot boat capsized. One of the men contacted Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector in St. Petersburg via VHF-FM channel 16 to say the boat was taking on water with four people aboard. Everyone had a life jacket. After the initial contact, Watchstanders lost communication with the boaters and issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast.

Coast Guard Station Cortez sent a 45-foot response boat and the Clearwater Coast Guard station sent an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to search for the boat. They found four men clinging to the capsized vessel and got them out of the water and to shore with no reported injuries. The names of the boaters were not released at press time.

Meanwhile, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) suspended a search for a missing Avon Park fisherman Monday because of high winds and the threat of thunderstorms. Authorities are looking for 63-year-old Enrique Rodriguez after the boat he was in capsized north of Egmont Key near Fort De Soto Park early Sunday.

According to the FWC report, Joaquin Machado launched his boat with three passengers from the Fort De Soto Boat Ramp at 4 p.m. on Saturday on a fishing trip. They fished around the Skyway Bridge and later went to another fishing spot. Around 2 a.m., the boat started taking on water, capsized and sank. All four occupants went into the water with only one life jacket and a cooler. Machado said Rodriquez was seen clinging to the boat wearing the single life jacket when Machado grabbed him and swam toward a buoy a mile away. He said he checked Rodriguez later and he was not breathing and had no pulse so he let him drift away. The three remaining anglers were found clinging to the buoy around 6 a.m. by another boater. The U.S. Coast Guard and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office were assigned to the search.

The others anglers with Machado and Rodriquez were Manuel Perez, 41, and Andrew Hernandez, 26. Machado is from Greeley Colorado, and the others are from Avon Park.

HOLMES BEACH –The months-long saga for Nicole Heslop’s attempt to obtain city approval for her Barefoot Tiki Bar and Café may soon be coming to a conclusion.

City Planner Bill Brisson recommended approval of the site plan, and city commissioners said they plan to vote on it June 24.

“I heard there would be a special exception given for the outdoor dining and entertainment, but there’s nothing in your code that provides for that, so I’m suggesting that we approve it as part of the site plan,” Brisson told the board.

Brisson said the site includes a 10-seat indoor dining area, a proposed mobile kitchen, five moveable tiki huts for retail sales, an open tiki hut for outdoor dining with seating for 34 and an outdoor dining area with picnic tables, outdoor games and a stage with seating for 52 people.

He said there are 96 seats, and there are 16 parking spaces on site. The remainder is provided through a shared parking agreement with Florida Gulf Vacation Homes.

“They have more parking than necessary,” he said. “Everything meets the requirements except the performance stage. It’s set back 20 ½ feet and it needs to be set back 22 feet.”

He said there are two ways to resolve the issue: provide documentation that the structure is legally nonconforming with respect to the setbacks or apply for a variance.

Chair Judy Titsworth asked about parking for the retail sales, and Brisson said it would be at different times than the outdoor dining, but there is adequate parking for that also. In fact, he said there is enough parking for 102 people.

City Attorney Patricia Petruff suggested adding a provision to the shared parking agreement that the city would be notified if the parking were no longer available.

ANNA MARIA – Commissioners reached consensus on some basic elements of a proposed citywide paid parking program, but last week’s special commission work session also left many questions still unanswered.

Based on these preliminary decisions, city staff has been asked to create a draft version of a parking ordinance that will serve as a starting point while additional details are ironed out.

During the Thursday, May 27 session, commissioners agreed that city residents would receive a free parking pass for each vehicle registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Proof of residency will also be required when visiting city hall to receive residential passes.

Residential property owners also will receive two property-specific guest passes that allow for right of way guest parking at that address only. Questions remain as to how parking for parties, family gatherings and other events will be addressed in residential neighborhoods.

Residents who use maids, landscapers and lawn and home maintenance professionals will have to provide a guest pass or space in their driveway for their visiting service providers.

Commissioners agreed that visitor passes would be issued in daily, weekly or monthly increments, but the cost of these passes has not been determined; neither has the method in which the passes will be distributed. Potential solutions include passes sold at city hall, at staffed kiosks or at automated pay stations.

In regard to visitor passes being sold at city hall, questions were raised as to how this would work during evening, weekend and holiday hours when city hall is closed. There also are questions about the additional workload these sales would place on city staff.

Stickers and hangtags were mentioned as the most likely form the passes would take, but Commissioner Dale Woodland favors a system based on electronic license plate readers. This would require vehicle information to be entered into an electronic database upon the issuance of a pass.

Rental properties will not be issued guest passes that allow for right of way parking, and free rental parking will be limited to what is available on site.

Parking will be free on Pine Avenue, at Bayfront Park and in the right of way surrounding the AMI Community Center.

City Pier leaseholder Mario Schoenfelder will retain control over the parking spaces allotted to his business operations. The status of the remaining pier parking spaces has not yet been determined, but may include some paid parking spaces.

No decision was reached on how the commercial parking spaces along Gulf Drive will be managed. Commissioners discussed allowing the business owners to manage the spaces via guest passes or allowing the permitting process to govern those spaces on a first-come/first serve basis.

Part-time meter maids would likely be hired as a cost-saving alternative to contracting additional deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Parking violation citations of $30 will be issued in two-hour increments in order to discourage motorists from accepting a single ticket in exchange for a day’s worth of parking.

Eight hours of non-permitted parking would cost a vehicle owner $120, and an accompanying towing ordinance will be created to address repeat offenders who fail to pay their fines.

ANNA MARIA – Last week’s special commission work session provided Anna Maria residents an opportunity to share their views on a proposed paid parking program.

Marsha Lindsey encouraged the commission to push the Manatee County Tourist Development Council for funding assistance.

“Since the TDC sold Anna Maria so well, why are we not holding somebody’s feet to the fire here to get some help?” she said.

As for the program’s intent, Lindsey said, “Is the problem volume or revenue? I’m not sure whether we’re trying to manage volume or create revenue?”

Commission Chair Chuck Webb said the intent of paid parking is to raise revenue to help offset the cost of trash clean up, additional police enforcement, wear and tear on city streets, and other expenses associated with high volume visitation, taking an approach often used by other cities.

As for the TDC question, Webb said, “We have requested that they share those funds, and we’ve gotten a negative response.”

In regard to the automated license plate readers favored by Commissioner Dale Woodland, Lynn Brennan said, “I’m sorry, but for me to go and look at a license tag doesn’t tell me whether or not that car’s illegal, so that would be difficult to enforce.”

Brennan thanked the commission for considering paid parking and asked them to address parking issues associated with weekend weddings taking place near Oak Avenue.

Chamber of Commerce member Janet Mixon worries that paid parking would diminish Anna Maria’s reputation as a “diamond in the rough.”

As for the potential return on the investment and effort, she said, “You have to decide if it’s going to be worth the trouble you’re going to.”

Joan Voyles expressed concern about guests not being allowed to park in residential neighborhoods without being at risk of getting a ticket.

“If you don’t have hang tags, you can’t have company? People can’t come to a birthday party or a graduation party?” she asked.

The businesses perspective

Later in the week, a local business owner, who asked not to be identified, said he is concerned about paid parking’s impact on the business community.

“I don’t think there’s a lot of support for it in the business community. I also don’t think it’s fair that local residents get a pass and county residents, who also pay taxes, don’t. That’s tremendously unfair. Are they trying to discourage commerce here?”

He also thinks it is unfair that full-time residents receive citywide parking passes free of charge, while seasonal residents and neighbors in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach pay to park.

After acknowledging that he plans to increase the signage in his parking lot in an attempt to prevent non-customers from monopolizing his spaces, the business owner said, “I’m thankful for everyone that comes up here. I’m thankful for our visitors, and I love the excitement of people walking around.”

Having seen previous commission proposals fall short of completion, the business owner said, “They get these ideas that don’t always make it all the way, and I hope this is another one of those that dies.”

HOLMES BEACH – City Commissioner Jean Peelen and Mayor Carmel Monti showed their impatience with Commissioner David Zaccagnino’s presentation on nine concepts for an Island-wide parking plan.

The concepts came out of a recent meeting of Island elected officials and included: keep it simple, revenue/cost sharing, paid parking, congestion alleviation, traffic analysis, communicate with the county, uniformity, enforcement and exempt residents.

“If we work together and come together as a coalition and present some ideas together we might get some support from the county and the TDC,” Zaccagnino said. “If you don’t like any of these concepts let me know and I’ll cross them off.”

“There’s nothing new here,” Peelen pointed out. “I’m delighted that you did finally attend a Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting. You’re acting as if you created something brand new.”

“People have been hard at work on these for a considerable period of time. The Island congestion committee has been working on these for months. The mayor for a year and a half has been working on the relationship with the county.”

Monti reiterated what Peelen said about the work already being done, and said the three mayors agree on implementing paid parking.

“The county will support whatever we come up with, but we can’t do it without the county because the county controls 2,000 parking spots at Manatee and Coquina beaches,” he stressed. “That’s why I’ve been working on it for over a year,”

“We can talk and talk and talk, but at some point in time we have to come up with a proposal,” Zaccagnino replied.

Peelen told Zaccagnino to put the issue on a work session if he wants further discussion.

HOLMES BEACH –The Bradenton Police Department (BPD) has recommended that city commissioners and attorneys be exonerated of allegations that they violated Florida’s Sunshine Law.

Last fall, attorney David Levin, representing tree house owners Lynn Tran and Richard Hazen, said a shade meeting the city commissioners and attorneys held to discuss litigation strategy on the appeal of the code enforcement board’s order regarding the tree house was a violation of the Sunshine Law.

He said according to the Florida Statute, “The subject matter of the meeting shall be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to litigation expenditures.”

In his 41-page report, Lt. Nicol Scholer, of the BPD’s Office of Professional Standards, Internal Affairs Division, said the city commissioners and city attorneys “did not violate this Florida statute when adjoining together after the public commission meeting on Aug. 29, 2012.

“Section (8) of the Florida State Statute 286.011lists several distinct exemptions and after reviewing the information obtained from all parties involved, it was evident that the city commission and the Holmes Beach city attorneys acted well within the Florida State Statute guidelines.”

Scholer then went on to elaborate on each portion of Section (8) before making his final recommendation.

“Accordingly, I recommend that the allegation of Florida State Statute 286,011 (8): Public meetings and records; public inspection; criminal and civil penalties against the city commissioners and attorneys be classified as exonerated. The shade meeting did occur, but it was lawful and proper and well within the guidelines of the Florida State Statute.”