ANNA MARIA – Manatee County’s two newly-built water taxis have arrived and negotiations continue between the county and the city of Anna Maria regarding the City Pier being used as a water taxi stop.
On July 13, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione issued a press release regarding the arrival of the two newly-built pontoon catamarans that will serve as the Gulf Island Ferry Service fleet.
“The two 50-foot catamarans, as part of the highly anticipated Gulf Island Ferry Service, have splashed down in Cortez. The water ferry service is set to transport visitors and locals between downtown Bradenton and Anna Maria Island. The service is anticipated to launch later this summer,” according to the press release.
“We anticipate families parking in downtown Bradenton, hopping on the ferry at the downtown port located just off the riverwalk near Green Bridge and enjoying a beautiful boat ride out to the Island. At the same time, visitors staying on the Island can enjoy a leisure boat ride to downtown Bradenton to enjoy our amazing restaurants and attractions located on the mainland,” Falcione said in the press release.
Traveling on the Manatee River and the Intracoastal Waterway, the Clearwater-based Gulf Island Water Taxi company will operate the Gulf Island Ferry Service. The family-owned parent company, Clearwater Ferry, already runs a water taxi service between Clearwater and Dunedin. The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is part of Manatee County government, is marketing the water taxi service.
Initially operating on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., the county-funded service will include water taxi stops at the city of Bradenton-owned Riverwalk Day Dock near the Green Bridge in downtown Bradenton, the city-owned floating dock next to the Bradenton Beach Pier and the county-owned Coquina South boat ramp in Bradenton Beach, across the street from Coquina Beach.
The county also proposes using the Anna Maria City Pier as a landing spot but the city of Anna Maria and Manatee County have not yet entered into an interlocal agreement approving the destination.
The county is willing to pay for any improvements needed at the various water taxi docking stops to ensure public safety and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including safety railings. But the county wants each city to pay for the ongoing maintenance of any county-funded water taxi-related improvements made to their docking facilities.
The Bradenton and Bradenton Beach city commissions have already approved their city-specific, water taxi-related interlocal agreements with the county and those two city commissions agreed to pay for the ongoing maintenance of any water taxi-related improvements made by the county.
When approving the interlocal agreement earlier this year, the Bradenton Beach Commission noted the county’s water taxis are welcome to use the recently expanded floating dock as a landing area on a first-come, first-served basis like other users, but the city is not creating a reserved and designated water taxi landing area on the floating dock.
Negotiations continue
As part of the ongoing interlocal agreement negotiations that began last year, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and the city commission would like the county to also pay for the ongoing maintenance of any water taxi-related safety improvements made to the City Pier – a provision the county has not agreed to.
During past discussions, Murphy said the City Pier cannot be used as a water taxi stop without a city commission-approved interlocal agreement with the county.
In March, the city sent the county a revised agreement that proposed the county pay for the ongoing maintenance. In June, the city received back from the county a version of the interlocal agreement that contained the following language: “Prior to the commencement of water taxi services to the dock, the county shall ensure that the dock is ADA accessible for water taxi service to the public, including constructing any ADA improvements that may be required. The cost of ADA improvements, permits or required ADA-related improvement studies required for dockage of the water taxi vessel or for related upland property are the responsibility of Manatee County and its contractor. Following installation of ADA improvements and acceptance by the city, subsequent maintenance of the cost thereof for the Pier shall remain the responsibility of the city.”
- The proposed agreement discussed in June also says, “The county agrees to provide a detailed plan in advance to the Anna Maria City Commission for approval showing the proposed landing area on the pier and any modifications or improvements required for the dockage and the pier. The city has the right to cancel this agreement if it finds that such modifications or improvements are unsatisfactory to the city.”
At that time, the county had not yet provided city officials with the plan referenced in the proposed agreement. - On July 13, Murphy provided the city commission with a status update on the still unresolved agreement negotiations.
Murphy said City Attorney Becky Vose met with county officials after the city commission’s June discussion and earlier in the week he received the county’s latest proposed agreement.
“I’ve gone through that proposal. There’s still some gaps. Late last night, I received a proposed picture of the landing spot, where they would like this to land. I have not received the ADA improvements that are required nor a cost of those ADA improvements, which we would need,” Murphy said.
Vose said she engaged in lengthy discussions with Falcione and one of the assistant county attorneys.
“They, unfortunately, did not implement my requested changes,” she said.
“In the big picture, we certainly do not want to let small details interfere with this, but I’m putting together a short list of some things that need to be changed in the agreement, particularly having to do with liability issues,” Vose said.
She said the negotiations are more challenging for the city because the Bradenton Beach and Bradenton city commissioners already signed the agreements as proposed by the county.
“They just took what was presented, signed it and sent it back,” Vose said.
Murphy said, “There’s attachments missing and I’m not going to put the city in the position of recommending to you signing a contract with attachments that are blank, or not attached or not filled out. Secondly, I’m not real satisfied with the terms and conditions. I’ll come back with a recommendation one way or the other.
“I’m hoping that we can successfully do this, but if we can’t, we can’t. There’s some things you just need to walk away from and hope that things get better later. The legal issues are going to be escalated to the county attorney himself (Bill Clague) rather than to an assistant attorney. There are legal aspects of this contract that to me seem serious and not something that is in the best interest of the city. Those all have to be ironed out, but I think we need to get this off the table one way or the other in two weeks.”
Commissioner Robert Kingan said, “You would certainly think that the county would have engaged us much earlier in the process and got this sorted out at the beginning.”
“It’s a serious matter. I don’t want to be an obstacle. I don’t want bad will, but our interests have to be looked out for,” Murphy said.
Since the water taxi agreement discussions began in 2022, the mayor and commission have also continually expressed a desire for discounted water taxi fares for the service industry employees and others who work on Anna Maria Island and commute from the mainland. During Thursday’s meeting, Anna Maria Commission Chair Mark Short noted the county’s proposed agreement makes no reference to discounted fares for Island employees.
Murphy said he’ll present a “last, best and final proposal” during the commission’s Thursday, Aug. 3 meeting. At that point, the commission will approve or reject the proposed agreement.
After Thursday’s meeting, Murphy said he also received from the county a diagram that illustrates how the county proposes using the existing landing area near the T-end of the pier as a water taxi landing. That diagram was not shared during Thursday’s meeting and as of press time had not yet been provided to the media due to the city’s pending review of the plans that may require some additional pier improvements.
The water taxi service is also scheduled for discussion at the Tuesday, Aug. 1 Manatee County Council of Governments meeting taking place at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto at 4 p.m.
