MANATEE COUNTY – Manatee County’s public boat ramps are open again.
On Friday, April 10, Manatee County commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of reopening the public boat ramps.
Friday’s decision overturned the decision Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur previously made to close the public boat ramps as of Thursday, March 26. Saur made that decision in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
During Friday’s emergency county commission meeting, Commissioner Priscilla Trace made the motion to reopen the county boat ramps which include the Coquina North and Coquina South boat ramps in Bradenton Beach and the Kingfish boat ramp in Holmes Beach.
Commissioners Vanessa Baugh, Reggie Bellamy and Misty Servia supported Trace’s motion. Commissioners Betsy Benac, Steve Jonsson and Carol Whitmore opposed it.
Trace proposed that the boat ramps reopen on Sunday, but it was decided they would open on Monday so county staff didn’t have to work on Easter Sunday.
A county press release issued after Friday’s meeting stated the boat ramps would reopen at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 13. The boat ramps are now open again to all users, including recreational boaters, charter fishermen and commercial fishermen.
Commission debate
The boat ramp debate ensued after Deputy Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague again shared his legal opinion that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order pertaining to essential services and activities (EO 20-91) requires all boat ramps, boat launches and marinas to remain closed until the order expires on April 30. Clague said the governor’s order provides exceptions for licensed saltwater commercial fishermen, first response vessels, ferries and liveaboard boaters.
“Are we protecting the public’s health by closing the boat ramps or are we creating a bigger problem?” – Misty Servia, Manatee County Commissioner
Clague also referenced the emergency management operations policy group meetings that now take place weekly. Those telephonic meetings include county representatives and law enforcement officials as well as representatives from the city governments and law enforcement agencies in Manatee County, including Anna Maria Island.
“It’s your decision to make, but those views should carry great weight, because many of the people in that group, particularly the representatives of law enforcement, are dealing with this crisis every day on the front line,” Clague said in regard to the boat ramps being reopened.
Saur said all the Island representatives at the policy group meetings supported the boat ramps being closed and support them staying closed because of the large groups of boaters that congregate offshore of the Island.
Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells participates in the policy group meetings.
“The issues that we were having were at Jewfish Key, Beer Can Island and Passage Key. We were not able to control that. That has not changed. We still have that same problem now that we did three weeks ago. Both of my boats are on the water every weekend trying to keep people safe with proper social distancing guidelines and no more than 10 (people) per boat,” Wells said.
Baugh asked if the boat ramps could be opened to county residents only. Wells said he does not have the resources to verify the residency of every boat ramp user.
As commission chair, Benac represents the commission at the policy group meetings.
“The Island folks are all unanimously in support of the closure of the boat ramps because they see the congregation of boaters,” Benac said.
“Every mayor on Anna Maria Island supports keeping it closed,” Whitmore said.
Servia said she respected Clague and Wells’ opinions, but she was concerned about those who’ve become unemployed during the pandemic.
“Unemployment is a public health concern and our poorest people are having problems getting out on the water to fish and get food for their family,” Servia said.
“Are we protecting the public’s health by closing the boat ramps or are we creating a bigger problem? Give me a compelling reason why we need to keep them closed,” she added.
Before making her motion, Trace said, “I’m going to have to disagree with policy group on this one. We did not vote on this. Every weekend since we closed the boat ramps, they’ve had to chase them off Beer Can Island, Passage Key and a couple of the other keys,” Trace said.
She also shared Servia’s concerns about people being allowed to fish for food.
“When you could not get meat at Publix, they would have gone out and caught enough fish to take care of their neighbors, their family and everybody,” Trace said.
