ANNA MARIA – Laughter rolled through the city as people gathered Friday to celebrate the holidays in Anna Maria.

From the parking lots on Gulf Drive to the porches of Pine Avenue, lights twinkled and people visited, shopped and enjoyed snacks and drinks. Many savored the evening as an annual prelude to the holidays, while others new to the event delighted in sampling the city’s treasures.

At the AMI Historical Museum, the parking lot quickly filled with people who came to listen to the Roser Children’s Choir sing holiday favorites and play the hand bells.

“It’s a lovely sense of community around the holiday, especially listening to the children sing,” Linda Morassi said.

During the children’s breaks, Christian Lasater and Raven Smith played violin and cello for the crowd, which enjoyed cookies and mulled cider made by the ladies of the Historical Society.

“It’s wonderful, a great event,” Carleen Weise said.

“It’s a great community affair,” Melinda Lampariello added. “You can see everybody and wish them Merry Christmas.”

Next door, at Vinnie and Cheryl’s Italian Kitchen, visitors demolished a 40-foot sandwich in short order and then sampled Tuscan pork sandwiches.

Across the street at the shops on Pine Avenue, people drifted from store to store and visited with friends and neighbors while enjoying the evening. Mayor SueLynn dispensed holiday beads to those in the crowd.

One bead recipient, Gerald Kovaleski, said, “I’ve been coming here for 20 years from Pennsylvania. I’m having fun, but I’m taking it slow and easy.”

Sue and Ray Skinner, who come from England for the Thanksgiving through New Year holiday period, said, “We come every year. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we come here.”

Up the street at Pink and Navy, visitors were surprised to find Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore behind the counter. She was helping out her daughter Janae Rudacille, who owns the store.

Customers Tami and Jon Mears confessed to being “all sugared up,” and said, “We love this event, and we really like what’s happing here on this street.”

On Gulf Drive, it snowed while Santa reigned in The Sun Plaza parking lot listening to children’s wishes and dreams. Shop owners dispensed clam chowder from the Oyster Bar, wine sponsored by the plaza’s merchants and ice cream from Dips.

Duncan Real Estate won the decorations contest, while Sun holiday T-shirts were won by Brenda Basiley, Genevieve Blais, Barbara Bovoltaly, Deborah Dale, Miraille Deogagne, Valerie Fisher, Belinda Good, Helen Hicks, Donna Late, Sara Lowe, Lorraine Mayer, Yvonne Neubauer, Jack Neumayer, Thomas Pears, Arlene Portera, Dave Quayle, Emma Raulerson, Marena Rosario, Suki Sheperd, Marlene Thomas, Beverly Tiernan, Bud Umphresa, Carol Welington, RayWien and Helen Wilson.

 

BRADENTON BEACH – Two weeks after the inaugural Lighting of Bridge Street celebration, the grassy lot where the weekly Bridge Street Market takes place was again transformed into a holiday-themed playground for the young and the young at heart during the sixth annual Christmas on Bridge Street.

Santa and his sleigh were parked near the Christmas tree decorated and designed by Deb Myers.

In addition to the many children eager to share their holiday wishes with St. Nick, an occasional pirate or pup hopped into the sleigh with the bearded bearer of all things good.

Youngsters sold cookies and crafts, including the ladies from Girl Scout Troop including the ladies from Girl Scout Troop #316, who were raising money for pending trip to New York City.

Little ones created sand art, played with toy artillery that rapidly-fired soap bubbles. The grown up kids shopped, ate, drank and admired with glazed eyes the bounty contained in the Wheelbarrow Full of Booze and Sprits that would later be awarded to the holder of the lucky $10 raffle ticket.

Not far from the one-wheeled instrument of temptation, others purchased raffle tickets by the arm’s length in hopes of taking home one or more of the valued gift baskets or gift certificates provided by local retailers, restaurateurs and other kind-hearted souls that do business along and near Bridge Street, where two new businesses opened their doors.

The Island Information Center and Island Time Sundries greeted friends and visitors with lobster mac & cheese, served in ice cream cones by Island Time/Bridge Street Bistro chef Keith Daum.

At the other end of Bridge Street, the Rusty Anchor bait shop and the Pelican Perch concession stand celebrated their opening days on the still to be renovated Bradenton Beach City Pier.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, the sounds of live entertainment, played at an acceptable volume, filled the air, with popular music later giving way to the even more popular Christmas and holiday numbers.

Proceeds from the event benefitted Manatee County Food Bank, the Anna Maria Island Food Pantry, Moonracer No Kill Animal Rescue, Forget-me-not Inc. animal rescue and the Cortez Yacht Club.

Canned goods and other non-perishable food items were collected for local food banks and pet food banks.

The festivities were funded in part by a bevy of sponsors that included the Bridge Street Merchants, the BeachHouse, Blue Marlin, The Lot, The Sun, Grayhawk windows doors and remodeling, Miller Electric, Don Meilner Construction, JumpDog, the Anna Maria Oyster Bar, Budweiser and others.

ANNA MARIA – Few things bring joy to a youngster’s heart like the sight of a new bicycle on Christmas Day.

For the past five years, two-wheeled treasures have made their ways into the lives of those in need, courtesy of the combined efforts of Anna Maria resident Carl Augostini and Roser Community Church Facilities Administrator Charles Wade.

Each holiday season, the two good Samaritans join forces to ensure that area youths experience the joy of speeding down the road aboard their prized possessions.

Augostini, a retired Xerox electrical engineer, grew up in a large family where money and bicycles were scarce.

“I guess I do this because I came from a poor family. When we were young, we were always looking for bikes. I had a bike, but I worked for it, and this is my way of paying back,” said Augostini, who, along with his wife, has called Anna Maria home for the past 16 years.

A decade ago, Augostini started refurbishing bikes as a hobby and those early reclamation projects wound up in the hands of friends and neighbors.

About five years ago, his stockpile grew to the point where he had more bikes than recipients, so he contacted City Commissioner Dale Woodland and then-Mayor Mike Selby to see if they could steer him in the direction of an organization in need of refurbished bikes.

Selby recommended Wade and a charitable friendship was born. Augostini has provided Wade with holiday bikes each year since.

Friday afternoon, the two men stood in Augostini’s driveway admiring this year’s fleet. When asked how it felt to see his work on display, Augostini said, “It feels great because it’s going to a good cause. This is probably the most bikes I’ve had in any one year.”

As he looked over the 2013 collection, the Kris Kringle of bicycles said, “We’ve got a couple of Barbie bikes, a couple Huffys, a few Mongoose, a Rally, some Schwinns, some with no names, mountain bikes, beach cruisers and kid’s bikes.”

Looking at a beautiful, vintage, light blue Schwinn with extremely skinny tires, Augostini said, “That bike there is probably 30 or 40 years old.”

As for what these bikes might bestow on their future owners, Augostini said, “I hope it brings them good luck and gratitude, and hopefully they’ll have some fun.”

Wade is a member of the Light of the World International Church in Sarasota. Some of this year’s bikes will wind up in the hands of Island youngsters and others will grace the lives of those living in north Sarasota, where poverty is an all-to-frequent fact of life.

“It means a lot to help the ones that can’t afford bikes and allow families to give their kids something special,” Wade said.

With bikes of all sizes to disperse, some will go to youngsters, some will go to teenagers and one or two might wind up in the hands of an adult in need of transportation.

No man is an island, and Augostini relies on support from neighbors and friends to make pedal-powered dreams come true, especially Richard Clark, proprietor of the Happy Trails bike shop at the Red Barn flea market in Bradenton.

“Richard has given me several used tires and parts and provided me with technical support. Others here on the Island have dropped off discarded bikes and I just take it from there,” he said.

Augostini also credits his better half for supporting his time consuming labor of love.

“My wife has been a big supporter of my hobby. She has to put up with me when the garage is filled with bike parts, but she’s goes along with it because it’s for a good cause.”

When refurbishing the bicycles, Augostini likes to paint them with colors bright enough to boost the spirits of those receiving them, stripping the bikes down to their smallest parts before reassembling, repainting and restoring them to like-new condition, spending an average of 20 hours on each one.

As for what he receives in return, Augostini said, “I just want these kids to be happy and I’m sure they will be.”

 

BRADENTON BEACH – Residents got their first look at the proposed amendments to the noise ordinance during Wednesday’s planning and zoning board (P&Z) meeting.

Planning Official Alan Garrett told P & Z members the purpose of the first of two public hearings was to garner input from board members and residents.

“I want to hear from the residents; I want to hear from the citizens,” Garrett said as the discussion ensued.

“I’m putting a lot of weight on public comment,” he stated, noting that public input will help craft the document eventually presented to city commissioners.

“It’s all based on decibel levels,” Garrett stated.

Building Official Steve Gilbert said the new decibel level chart was taken from the Key West sound ordinance. This statement raised a few eyebrows, due to Key West’s reputation as a party town, but Gilbert explained that Key West attached an outdoor music permit to its noise ordinance. The southernmost city also established guidelines for ambient noise not directly associated with amplified music.

If adopted by city commissioners, the amended noise ordinance would require music venues to secure an outdoor entertainment permit, subject to suspension or revocation in the event of ongoing noise complaints.

The BeachHouse, Blue Marlin, Bridge Tender Inn and Dock Side Bar, Gulf Drive Café and Island Time Bar & Grill are among the local establishments that currently feature live music in an outdoor or open-air setting.

Police and code enforcement officers will have the authority to issue a written warning before writing a first offense citation that comes with a $150 fine. The fine increases to $300 on second offense and could escalate for repeat offenders.

Garrett said the potential suspension of a venue’s outdoor entertainment license would prevent establishments from simply paying the fines and chalking them up as the cost of doing business.

When given the chance to speak, the citizenry responded. Year-round Imperial House resident Barbara Hug said she turns her television up and closes her windows to drown out the bass frequencies coming from the Gulf Drive Café.

“My quality of life has changed,” she said. “I can’t open my windows because the sound comes right down the driveway. It’s just terrible.”

Highland Avenue resident Mary Mohr restated her concerns about The BeachHouse and worries that the situation will get worse with the addition of a second story patio.

“The noise level at the BeachHouse is significant,” she said. “I can’t really sit out on my lanai and listen to anything but BeachHouse music … as it is today, on the first floor. I ask that this commission take this seriously.”

Moose Lodge manager Ernie Casali feels the proposed decibel levels are still too high and said the music performed across the street at Island Time, and at other locations, can be heard inside his office.

“The quaint little city of Bradenton Beach from 10 years ago is turning into a three-ring circus, especially Bridge Street,” he concluded.

Tjet Martin, Mayor Bill Shearon’s significant other, said she was tired of hearing the constant “boom-boom-boom” of live music. She said she hears the music while sitting inside the Linger Longer resort, south of Bridge Street, where she and Shearon reside.

“If I want to hear music, I’ll put on my headphones. I don’t need to hear it two or three blocks from the source,” Martin said.

Newly-appointed P & Z board member Ric Gatehouse said he knew the city was “opening a can of worms” when the outdoor dining regulations were revisited a couple years ago, at a time when amplified music was not permitted outdoors.

That said, he likes the idea of a decibel-based ordinance and thinks the amended version will be more enforceable and less subjective than the current ordinance.

In regard to the stipulation prohibiting the use of lawn mowers, lawn equipment and power tools on Sundays and certain holidays, including Christmas and Thanksgiving, board member John Burn suggested this only be applicable to commercial entities.

Garrett told Burns the ordinance would be subject to legal challenge if it allowed residential lawn maintenance but denied commercial firms the same privileges.

In regard to party boats, Police Chief Sam Speciale and his officers will have the authority to enforce noise regulations within 500 feet from shore.

The public will get another chance to address the noise ordinance during the Wednesday, Jan. 8 P & Z board meeting at city hall at 3 p.m.

BRADENTON BEACH – During last week’s planning and zoning board meeting, citizens were given the opportunity to share their thoughts on proposed changes to the Bradenton Beach noise ordinance.

Absent from that discussion were the voices of those who operate open air or outdoor music venues in the city.

Saturday afternoon, The Sun contacted representatives of the Gulf Drive Café and Island Time Bar & Grill to get their perspectives on the matter.

Tom Brennick is part of the Gulf Drive Café management team. Sharing his views on noise issues, he said, “Last night we had a band and closed the blinds to help keep the music inside. We heard what was said and we’re going to try to do other things to help the situation. We don’t want to disturb anybody’s peace, and we don’t want to lose the right to have bands. We all have to work together to make this workable.”

Owner Wendy Kokolis said, “We do our best to try to make everybody happy. We want peace; we don’t want animosity with anybody.”

When asked if the café receives many noise complaints, Kokolis said, “It’s the same one or two people. It’s actually very minimal.”

As for the potential impact a revised noise ordinance might have on the local music scene, Kokolis said, “It’s going to be what it will be. If there’s no music, there will be no musicians on the Island, and that will hurt the musicians.”

Brennick said, “It will be interesting to see what they come up with in terms of decibel levels. Whatever it is, we’ll comply. We love having music and people enjoy it. Is the noise ordinance going to stop us from having business? No. We didn’t have music before, and neither did the Bridge Street Bistro.”

While making the rounds during Saturday’s Christmas on Bridge Street event, Island Time and Bridge Street Bistro co-owner Bill Herlihy shared his thoughts on the subject.

“Being in a commercial tourism district, I think it’s very reasonable that we only have live music until 10 o’ clock. Places like Miami, Tampa and St. Pete are going until two o’ clock in the morning. I think we keep peace with our neighbors by stopping at 10,” he said.

“We cater to families here and don’t have hard core rock and roll playing all night long. We keep it to a very reasonable noise level. If you go 100-200 feet down the street, you can barely hear it. The traffic is louder,” he added.

“We have our own decibel meter, and we’ve taken our own readings. We have people dining here, and we want them to be able to enjoy conversations with their friends and family.”

When asked what would happen if the amended noise ordinance became too restrictive, Herlihy said, “That would hurt all of Bradenton Beach and everything we’ve built up over the past few years. Bradenton Beach has become a vacation destination for a lot of families because we do have entertainment. If it was quiet, why would anybody want to come? We want to make our locals happy, but we are a vacation destination and live music is part of that. If we take away the entertainment, we might as well shut it down.”

Faced with strong winds and choppy seas, 10 captains and crews braved the elements and set sail Saturday night during the annual Cortez Yacht Club Holiday Lighted Boat Parade.

The parade route began at Moore’s Stone Crab restaurant in Longboat Key and ended at the Seafood Shack in Cortez.

“Because it was such a short distance between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we ran out of Saturdays to host the parade,” said yacht club member and newsletter editor Laura Ritter.

She pointed out that the Bradenton Yacht Club and the Sarasota boat parades both took place on the same night and suggested that this, along with the windy weather, probably affected participation in this year’s event.

“A couple boats that went up the river said they will do our parade next year instead,” Ritter said, noting that the Cortez Yacht Club event will continue to be held on the second Saturday in December.

According to Ritter, four of the 14 captains signed up for the parade decided to stay in port due to the conditions.

“We had 20 knot winds and the smaller boats just can’t go out in that weather, especially with all those decorations aboard,” she said.

On the brightest of sides, Ritter said, “We collected a ton of Toys for Tots. That was the entry fee. People gathered at Moore’s contributed toys too.”

George Glaser, captain of the Mystic Dolphin charter boat, has participated in the local boat parade for the past 20 years and Saturday night was no exception.

“Except for the wind, the weather was fantastic, with the moon and warm weather,” he said.

Boat Parade Results:

Best in Show $500 prize sponsored by Gulf Auto Clinic - awarded to Spring Fever 34’ sailboat owned by Pat Roberts of Bradenton. Decorated with a lighted angel with crew in white robes and wings as a tribute to Ginny McNeil

First Place Power $200 prize sponsored by AMI Sun - awarded to Lil’ Toot 28’ power boat owned by Randy Stewart of Cortez. Featured a lighted Santa that led the parade.

First Place Sail $200 prize sponsored by AMI Sun - awarded to Running Tide 38’ sailboat owned by Robert Lund of Cortez. Decorated with a snowman and lively elves as crew.

Honorable Mention- $50 awarded to Gradito 43’ power boat owned by Gerry Slavin of Cortez. Decorated with reindeer leaping from the bow.

ANNA MARIA – During a special commission meeting that took place Thursday, Dec. 12, Anna Maria commissioners decided to forgo $155,000 in private donations that would have assisted in the construction of a new public park on six city-owned lots at the corner of Pine Avenue and North Bay Boulevard.

The privately-initiated park was designed by former City Commissioner Gene Aubry.

Those who have been following this issue wondered if verbal fireworks would ensue when the matter was discussed Thursday night. Instead, attendees were treated to a fairly low-key conversation led by Chair Chuck Webb, who on more than one occasion expressed his view that the city should not accept financial contributions if those donations came with “strings attached.”

The strings in this case were parking spaces and a public bathroom requested by local philanthropist Rex Hagen, who wanted to honor his late wife with the park.

Hagen pledged $55,000 to the project, but withdrew that support after Commissioners Webb, Carol Carter and Nancy Yetter recently voted 3-2 in opposition to the inclusion of 15 parking spaces. Commissioners Doug Copeland and Dale Woodland voted in favor of the plan that included public parking.

That commission decision also cost the city the $100,000 pledged by the Pine Avenue Restoration (PAR) group over a four-year period. Like Hagen, PAR withdrew its financial support because of commission actions that eliminated parking for park users.

This means the city is now on the hook for park improvements already completed. According to a report prepared by Finance Director Diane Percycoe, the city budget must be amended to reimburse the city’s general fund for the $42,935 already spent on the now-aborted park.

The city spent $26,425 of Hagen’s money to plant new trees in the park and city taxpayers will now absorb those costs.

PAR will be reimbursed $9,240 for a recently installed well, and the city owes $2,985 for previously-contracted irrigation work.

Mayor SueLynn, who acts as the non-voting CEO of the city, suggested the money be taken out of the city’s reserve funds – money previously set aside for emergencies and unexpected financial burdens – rather than “cherry picking” the city budget department-by-department.

In exchange for refunding Hagen and PAR’s money, Webb asked that city be released of all contractual obligations entered into with those two entities regarding the park.

After commissioners voted 5-0 to surrender the funds, a disappointed SueLynn said, “Obviously the park is now at a standstill, so we’ll keep watering the trees, and clean it up some, and that will be it until we come up more money.”

The undeveloped site has been used in the past during Bayfest and other special events.

When Webb implored commissioners to seek out new park donors, SueLynn said, “I don’t understand that. If we get more donations, and donations being made to the park, how is that different than what we just went through. There’s strings attached.”

Webb countered by saying, “Ask people to donate and say ‘We’d be happy to accept your donations, but we’re not accepting donations with strings attached,’” noting that this approach, in his opinion, abides with city policy.

SARASOTA – Holmes Beach Mayor Carmel Monti was left shaking his head at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) answer to his question at a town meeting last week: Go online and read a 693-page document to find out.

Monti and Anna Maria Mayor SueLynn and commissioners from several island cities attended the event, at which Susan Wilson, chief of FEMA’s Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch in Atlanta, directed Monti to www.fema.gov to find out why his city and Bradenton Beach are rated differently in FEMA’s community rating system than the city of Anna Maria.

Anna Maria and Manatee County are in class 5, with resident flood policyholders getting a 25 percent discount on insurance. Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Longboat Key are in class 6, with a 20 percent discount.

Wilson said that cities do different things to qualify their residents for lower flood insurance premiums, such as beach renourishment or stormwater management improvements, and depending on what they do, their residents get more or less of a discount on flood insurance premiums. But the daunting task of looking into the hundreds of criteria left him pondering FEMA’s bureaucracy.

The federal agency’s red tape tightened in October, when part of the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012 took effect.

The act caused some flood insurance policyholders to experience up to 1,000 percent increases in premiums, said event sponsor and U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Sarasota), who called it “absolutely unacceptable,” and said he was working on legislation that would delay the rate increases until an affordability study required by the act is completed.

“We've got to have something that makes sense,” he said.

The bill is one of about a dozen pending in Congress to reform the act, which aims to have all flood insurance policyholders eventually paying full actuarial rates, without subsidies.

To address the problem of homeowners whose mortgages require flood insurance, one proposal would allow property owners to get private flood insurance with more coverage choices than federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies.

The act does not affect 81 percent of flood policyholders nationwide, who already pay full actuarial rates, Wilson said.

That leaves 19 percent of flood policyholders who are impacted by the act, she said. Of those, 5 percent fall under the part of the act that phases out subsidized rates on non-primary residences, business properties and properties that have experienced severe repetitive losses and are pre-FIRM (built before Dec. 31, 1974, when flood insurance rate maps were created), she said.

Ten percent of affected policyholders own pre-FIRM primary residences that were sold, have let their flood policies lapse or bought new policies after the act became effective on July 6, 2012. Those were the hardest hit, going to full actuarial rates as of Oct. 1, 2013, she said.

Four percent of those affected are pre-FIRM condominiums and multifamily buildings such as those used as vacation rentals on the Island, but FEMA has not yet analyzed and implemented that part of the act, Wilson said.

Part of the law will not go into effect until Oct. 1, 2014, she said – a phaseout of grandfathering discounts with 20-percent premium increases each year for five years for properties whose risk is changed on updated flood insurance rate maps. New maps for Manatee County will take effect on March 17.

Keeping costs at bay

Wilson suggested several ways that property owners can keep their flood insurance rates down, including having adequate flood openings, elevating air conditioners and water heaters, using the lowest floor only for storage and vehicle access and elevating homes – an expensive proposition that may not always be a good idea.

For example, elevating a building in a historic district could cause its historic designation to be lost, Wilson said, adding that the act ends subsidies for most historic buildings, with only primary residences that are historic structures allowed to keep subsidized rates.

Above all, she recommended getting an elevation certificate for pre-FIRM structures, an option disputed by some Island insurers. Policyholders should consult their insurance agents before taking any actions to mitigate premium increases.

Wilson said that FEMA also is considering the possibility of state-run flood insurance companies, similar to Citizens Insurance, which insures high-risk Florida properties against wind damage. The agency also is considering allowing a higher deductible than $5,000 dollars to reduce rates, she said.

Damage from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey are the main reasons for the NFIP’s deficit, which the act seeks to reduce, Wilson said, adding that Floridians have more than 38 percent of the nation’s NFIP policies.

SueLynn wondered about the disproportionate effect of the act on the state, and on the Island.