BRADENTON – The Palma Sola Scenic Highway Committee asked Bradenton officials and Manatee County commissioners to contact Minto Communities to inquire about purchasing its Perico property.
Last fall, Minto Communities, a subsidiary of the Canadian Minto Group, purchased St. Joe’s Perico property and the Perico Harbor Marina. St. Joe suspended sales on its high-rise condominium development in 2007.
“Has anybody asked about Perico?” Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie asked the committee. “It doesn’t hurt to say, ‘Do you want this? And if you don’t want it, what kind of deal can be worked?’”
Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore said the committee should ask county commissioners to contact Minto and ask if the property is for sale.
Keith Bettcher, of Manatee County’s Natural Resources Department, said representatives of Minto “were inquiring with us how they could tie in the recreational amenities they have with Perico (Preserve).”
Seth Kohn, of the city of Bradenton, said Minto has a conceptual plan and has hired an engineer.
Extending the highway
Members approved a letter to the Florida Scenic Highway program coordinator asking to have the scenic highway extended into Holmes Beach. Currently the highway begins at 75th Street West in Bradenton and ends at East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach.
The extension would include Manatee Avenue from East Bay Drive to the Manatee County Public Beach, East Bay and Gulf drives from Manatee Avenue to the city limits of Bradenton Beach and Old Gulf Drive from Manatee Avenue to East Bay Drive.
Whitmore asked about the status of a sidewalk along Manatee Avenue from East Bay Drive to the public beach.
“The city of Holmes Beach requested a sidewalk on the south side,” responded Manon Lavoie, of the Florida Department of Transportation. “We’re processing it as a project and doing cost estimates. I’m really working on it.”
Other business
• Manatee County has requested funding from the DOT for the underpass from the overflow parking lot on the south side of the Perico Bayou Bridge to a boardwalk on the north side of the bridge that will tie in to Robinson Preserve.
• Keep Manatee Beautiful has applied for a grant from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Project to plant grasses along the sidewalk in front of Kingfish boat ramp.
• Manatee County commissioners requested that RCND, which manages Geraldson’s Community Farm, place a produce stand at the Perico Preserve.
• Chappie said county commissioners ruled that the town of Longboat Key would be the first to get sand dredged from the Intracoastal Waterway near Jewfish Key for its critically eroded north end.