BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach City Commission is not mandating that masks and face coverings be worn and there are no plans to close the county beaches during the Fourth of July weekend.
During this morning’s weekly emergency city commission meeting, Mayor John Chappie said County Administrator Cheri Coryea informed him that the county has no meetings scheduled this week to consider closing the beaches before or during the Fourth of July weekend. Manatee County commissioners are currently on their annual summer break.
The only reference to masks and face coverings made at today’s meeting came in the form of a letter the city received from Lynn Selander.
“As a very concerned citizen of Bradenton Beach, of a certain age with underlying medical conditions, I am asking that you take decisive action to join with our neighbors in Holmes Beach to protect the health and safety of our community members by requiring face masks/coverings to be worn in public,” Selander’s letter said.
“Recommending is not enough. Since Manatee County opened the beaches, Publix, Walgreens, CVS and other stores serving Island residents have been overwhelmed by visitors taking a ‘vacation’ from the COVID pandemic, not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing.
“The preponderance of our resident population falls into the at risk category. The CDC and responsible medical experts are clear that wearing face coverings significantly reduces the spread of the COVID virus. This is a very small thing we can all do that can mean the difference between life and death for ourselves and the vulnerable among us as our infection numbers in continue to spike.
“This is not a political issue. It is a human issue. Please step up and mandate the wearing of face coverings in public as part of the Bradenton Beach response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Selander wrote.
The commission did not discuss the letter after City Clerk Terri Sanclemente read it into the public record. The commission did extend the city’s local state of emergency for another seven days.
