BRADENTON BEACH – Four tragic non-COVID-related deaths were among the top Bradenton Beach stories in 2020.
Tragic deaths
On Saturday, Oct. 17, Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale, Det. Sgt. Lenard Diaz and officers Steve Masi and Devon Straight were among those who responded to a suspected murder-suicide in the upper unit of a triplex at 2514 Avenue C.
The incident resulted in the deaths of Sabrina Dumdei, 37, and her boyfriend, Zachary Winton, 34. Speciale and Diaz both described the crime scene as the bloodiest and most gruesome they’d ever seen.
The funeral service for Dumdei, a well-known local hairdresser, was held in Bradenton on Nov. 2.
On Nov. 12, the new owners who purchased the property before the suspected murder-suicide occurred had the triplex demolished to make room for the new structure they already had planned.
At year’s end, Diaz had not yet released his final investigative findings.
During Tropical Storm Eta, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, longtime Island insurance broker Mark Mixon died of accidental electrocution when he entered a flooded, ground-level utility room that contained a clothes dryer that was still connected to an active electrical circuit. Diaz also responded to that tragedy.
On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Diaz responded to the suspected fatal drowning of 60-year-old Jerald Oliver. Oliver, who lived on his sailboat at the Bradenton Beach Marina, was found floating and unresponsive near one of the marina docks late that afternoon. The attempts to revive Oliver were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
COVID-19
As the only Anna Maria Island city without its own local mask mandate, Bradenton Beach businesses and their employees and patrons were subject to Manatee County’s countywide mask mandate from July 27 until county commissioners repealed the mandate on Sept. 29. The county mandate also applied in Cortez and the unincorporated portions of Manatee County.
Some Bradenton Beach businesses still require facemasks or face coverings and management retains the ability to trespass a patron who refuses to comply with a business owner’s mask policy.
As of Jan. 1, 58 Bradenton Beach residents had tested positive for COVID-19 since the first Manatee County case was reported in March.
CRA projects
The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) completed several projects on and around Bridge Street in 2020.
The completed projects included the undergrounding of utility lines along Bridge Street; the installation of brick pavers in the Bridge Street rights of ways, the city-owned parking areas and the crosswalks.
The CRA-funded landscaping improvements included the installation of several trees, shrubs and plants and the removal of the unpopular concrete planters that were installed in 2015.
Bridge Street’s previously installed faux brick surface was removed and the street was resurfaced with asphalt.
In September, using a $50,000 West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND) grant, the city completed its long-desired installation of a police department boatlift along the south side of the Bridge Street Pier. Before the boat lift was installed, the police boat had to be trailered to a boat ramp to be placed in the water. To accommodate the boat lift, the CRA had to first fund additional repairs and revisions to the floating dock.
In mid-November, the CRA launched the long-discussed parking tram shuttle service that now provides free shuttle rides for visitors and residents who park at Cortez Beach and elsewhere in the CRA district that extends from the Cortez Bridge to Fifth Street South.
In December, county commissioners expressed unanimous support for future tram-related improvements that could include a dedicated tram path alongside Gulf Drive South, reconfigured diagonal parking spaces at Cortez Beach and a dedicated parking area near the county-owned Marine Rescue Building for employees who work in and near the Bridge Street business district.
Tropical Storm Eta
On Nov. 11, the floating dock sustained minor damage during Tropical Storm Eta when multiple sailboats and dinghies from the nearby unmanaged anchorage broke loose and sank near the pier, the floating dock and the Cortez Bridge.
At least one sailboat struck and damaged the south side of the Bridge Street Pier and a small section of the pier’s composite TREX decking. This damage resulted in the east end of the pier, including the T-end fishing area, being closed to the public.
Less than a week later, WCIND funded the swift removal of a dinghy and four sailboats that sank alongside or under the dock and pier.
The east end of the pier was repaired and reopened in mid-December.
Commissioners return
Running unopposed in the city elections, incumbent city commissioners Ralph Cole and Marilyn Maro won additional two-year terms in office.
Sunshine settlements
In December, Sunshine Law lawsuit defendants John Metz and Tjet Martin agreed to pay the city $350,000 as part of a settlement agreement that also ended their appeals of the 2019 court ruling that they and four other city advisory board members violated the Florida Sunshine Law in 2017.
Co-defendants Patty Shay, Bill Vincent and Rose Vincent also reached settlement agreements with the city that required them to each pay $500 and drop their appeals.
At year’s end, defendant Reed Mapes remained the only defendant who had not reached a settlement agreement and dropped his appeal.
