The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 14 No. 40 - July 30, 2014

headlines

‘No parking’ plan worries chief

HOLMES BEACH – Police Chief Bill Tokajer told congestion committee members that he has some concerns about their recommendation to eliminate street and right of way parking in all residential districts.

When committee members said if there is a party, residents could call police and tell them there would be several vehicles parked there, he questioned how that would work.

“How do they do it in other communities?” he asked. “How many times are they allowed to have gatherings? How many cars do they allow?

“Is it anybody that’s staying there? Are you going to say only residents, not visitors can do it? What about the party houses? What are the perimeters?”

He said holidays also could be difficult.

“If you’re talking about a holiday and we’re trying to enforce parking, and there are a couple hundred people with permits, who’s taking those phone calls to set it up?

“How do I get all that information out to the officers? How do they know which cars are allowed to park?”

He said if it’s Thanksgiving and “you and your neighbor each have eight guests coming, it might be a logistical nightmare.”

Members said they would have to work out the specifics, which could include decals for residents and temporary decals for guests or guests could park in the residents’ driveways.

Budget deficit projected
Carol Whitmore

Bradenton Beach City Treasure Sheila Dalton reviews the
preliminary city budget during last week’s Budget
Committee meeting.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN

BRADENTON BEACH – The city of Bradenton Beach is expected to enter the 2015 fiscal year with a projected budget deficit of $441,458.

The preliminary budget lists $3,254,005 in projected expenditures and $2,812,547 in projected revenues. These figures do not include community redevelopment agency and Tingly Memorial Library funds.

City Treasurer Sheila Dalton delivered this information during the Tuesday, July 22, budget committee meeting.

“These are preliminary numbers, but I don’t expect them to change. I expect this to be very close to the first preliminary budget submitted in September,” Dalton said.

Dalton said contributing factors include $225,000 in stormwater improvements tied to a Southwest Florida Water Management District grant; $76,000 in increased employee health insurance costs; an estimated $60,000 escalation in attorney’s fees; and $200,000 in potential capital improvement projects, including street repairs that may or may not be included in the 2015 budget.

“With all that, we’ve got over $500,000 in extra costs. If we didn’t have those, we would actually show revenue over expenditures for the fiscal year,” Dalton said.

Appointed by Mayor Bill Shearon, the budget committee consists of Vice Mayor Jack Clarke and Commissioners Janie Robertson, Ed Straight and Jan Vosburgh.

During last week’s meeting, Clarke pointed out that the city commission has little control over the stormwater expenditures, insurance costs and attorney fees that account for $360,000 of the projected deficit.

“It’s not realistic to expect that this $440,000 is going to disappear,” he asked.

“No, believe me I have tried,” Dalton responded.

In order to balance the budget, the final deficit amount will be subtracted from a general fund that has a current balance of slightly more than $1 million. The city also has $320,000 in recently received cell tower lease revenues that have been set aside in a separate fund that requires commission approval for future expenditures.

When Public Works Superintendent Tom Woodard inquired about pay raises for his employees, he was told raises would be limited to an across the board 1.5 percent cost of living increase for all city employees.

Budget hearings scheduled

Last week’s budget committee meeting concluded three months of preliminary budget sessions that gave the city commission a head start on the public budget hearings scheduled for Sept. 4 and Sept 22.

During those hearings, citizens and business owners will be allowed to comment on the city’s financial policies, including the yet to be determined millage rate.

On July 17, commissioners approved a proposed maximum millage rate of 4.7967. The actual millage rate levied on Bradenton Beach property owners will be determined during the budget hearings. It is expected to be significantly lower than the maximum rate submitted to the state.

Last year’s millage rate was 2.3329. Dalton said a millage increase to 2.45 mills per thousand dollars in property value would produce an estimated additional $50,000 in revenues. She will provide commissioners with a list of potential millage scenarios prior to the budget hearings.

The city’s fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

Treasurer praised

After the meeting, committee members discussed the benefits of having a city treasurer to assist with the budget planning process.

“It made a huge difference. We know where the money’s actually going and where it’s coming from, and we have estimates of the amounts we don’t know” Robertson said.

“At this point, we have a lot less questions than we’ve had in the budget hearings before. It’s definitely been an advantage having a treasurer,” Straight said.

Clarke, the newest commission member, said, “I was very impressed with the performance of our treasurer; and I’ve learned that a municipal government does not have the same level of control over expenses that private industry does.”

Commission to study parking proposal

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners weren’t convinced by the congestion committee’s recommendation to eliminate street and right of way parking in all residential districts.

Committee member Jayne Christenson made the presentation by stating that problems created by visitors parking on residential streets include parking on both sides of the road, parking the wrong way and leaving trash. She said residents are putting signs, fences, rocks and plants in the rights of way to prevent parking in front of their homes.

“We’d like your help to change our ordinance,” she said. “We’d like safe, clean streets. Other cities have done it and don’t allow street parking or parking in the right of ways.

“We want you to consider R-1 through R-4, all the truly residential areas. We would propose a simple decal for residents to have on their registered vehicles, so that those vehicle can be parked on the street.”

She said guests could park in the residents’ driveways or if there is a party, residents could call police and tell them there would be several vehicles parked there.

“The summer is worse,” she said. “The families are coming for the day and trying to find a parking spot. People who rent have a parking spot. We can take control of this.”

Beach renourishment parking

In addition, she said the city should relocate some of the parking that is counted for beach renourishment. She cited a draft county study just completed that states that the city is required to have 364 signed parking spaces to be eligible for beach renourishment.

She said the draft study named 41 parking spaces that either do not exist or are in front of residences. She said the committee found 52 parking spaces in beach access locations to replace the 41 and recommended that the city ask the county to replace those.

Questions from commissioners

“I’m in R-4, and I don’t mind people parking to go to the beach,” Commissioner David Zaccagnino said. “People who are not having problems like Key Royale or the canal streets don’t want to get lumped in with this. Try one area and don’t blanket the city.”

However, Planner Bill Brisson pointed out, “You don’t use zoning districts, you use distance from the beach, the areas where people are willing to walk to get to the beach.”

He said resident and guest decals work well and that people will stop parking in places when they start getting towed.

“We complain about how much traffic and congestion we get out here, yet we have trolleys and free parking, including the beach,” Mayor Carmel Monti stressed. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

“That’s why I propose paid parking at Manatee Beach, and the revenue will come from the tourists, not the residents. At the same time, do what you’re saying and we’ll take care of both problems.”

Committee Chair Carol Soustek advised commissioners to think about the proposal. Commission Chair Judy Titsworth moved it to the Aug. 12 meeting.

Couple arrested on beach sex charge

BRADENTON BEACH – Police arrested two people on Sunday, July 20, after receiving a complaint that the two were engaging in intercourse on a sheet on Cortez Beach.

Jose B. Caballero, 39, of Bradenton, and Elissa M. Alvarez, 20, of Bradenton, were arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition.

Witnesses said the couple appeared to be intoxicated as they had sex on a sheet on the beach in plain view of other beach goers for about 25 minutes and then went into the water, presumably to cool off. When they returned, they fell asleep for hours and when they awoke, they again fondled and had sex.

On a recording of the 911 call, the complainant said Alvarez took off her bikini top while they were having sex.

According to the police, the complainant was upset because her 4-year-old granddaughter witnessed the act, and six other people signed a complaint when Bradenton Beach Police officers arrived. One witness filmed the couple on her phone for evidence.

Both suspects will be arraigned on Friday, Aug. 8, at 9 a.m. Cabellero will be arraigned in the courtroom of Judge Charles Roberts, and Alvarez will be arraigned in the courtroom of Judge John Lakin.

Records requests fly fast and furious

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Bradenton Beach Commission candidate
Tjet Martin is both the
requestor and the subject of recent
public records requests.

 

BRADENTON BEACH –City Commission candidate Tjet Martin and her partner, Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon, are the subject of an extensive records request submitted last week by Sarasota-based legal consultant Michael Barfield.

Barfield’s request arrived 10 days after Martin submitted a public records request pertaining to the e-mail accounts of her Ward 4 opponent, incumbent Commissioner Jan Vosburgh. Martin also requested the e-mail records of Vice Mayor Jack Clarke.

Last week, the city also received a lengthy letter from a citizen expressing concerns about Martin and Shearon.

In his July 24 e-mail to Shearon, Barfield submitted the following request:

• “Detailed billing for any cell phone utilized to conduct city business for the time period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

• All e-mails or Facebook messages sent or received on any non-governmental account to which you have access that relates to city business, including, but not limited to, any matter reasonably foreseeable to come before the city commission; lawsuits or litigation involving the city of Bradenton Beach; the office of the city clerk; the office of the city attorney; and e-mails sent or received from the e-mail address tjet2@hotmail.com or tjet.swpc@gmail.com.”

Martin uses the SWPC account as co-chair of the city’s Scenic Waves advisory board.

When contacted Monday morning, Barfield said, “There are a lot of reports of activity and goings-on in the city of Bradenton Beach, and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”

He said his request had nothing to do with Martin’s July 14 request regarding Vosburgh and Clarke.

As a consultant for attorney Andrea Flynn Mogensen, Barfield has contributed research to successful Sunshine-related lawsuits filed against the city of Sarasota and the city of Venice.

In 2013, Barfield reviewed city-related e-mails regarding Shearon’s role as a former planning and zoning board member. In 2010, Barfield’s records investigations revealed violations committed by then-Anna Maria Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus.

Timing questioned

Vosburgh was vacationing in Utah when Martin requested her e-mail records.

When asked about Martin’s actions, Vosburgh said, “I think it was very insensitive of Tjet to do this while I’m on vacation.”

Clarke said, “While there’s no apparent reason to ask for my e-mail records, I willingly comply. The motives for requesting Commissioner Vosburgh’s records are obviously linked to the election campaign.”

Martin also spent time recently trying to determine if Vosburgh’s long-term rental properties are subject to the same state law she and Shearon violated when they operated the Linger Longer resort without a state-issued public lodging license.

To date, Vosburgh has not been cited for any violations, and she maintains that her annual rentals do not require a state license.

Letter critical

Martin and Shearon are the subjects of a five-page letter Laurie Higgins sent to the mayor and commissioners last week. Higgins is the wife of public works employee David Higgins, and she requested that her letter be read into record at the Aug. 7 commission meeting.

In her July 23 letter, Higgins questioned Martin’s efforts to displace Public Works Superintendent Tom Woodard and Police Chief Sam Speciale. She also accused Martin and Shearon of creating a “hostile work place.”

Higgins addressed the frequency of Martin’s city hall visits and the impact they have on city staff.

“As a concerned citizen, and wife, I formally request that Tjet Martin not be allowed on city property unless it is for official business, not to berate people, or ‘stir things up’ as she likes to call it. She does not work for the city, and she has no business there other than on the committee she volunteers for. You have several employees ready to band together for a class action suit because Tjet Martin and the mayor have made the workplace so hostile.”

Higgins’ issues with Martin date back to Martin and Shearon’s alleged roles in seeking discipline against her husband when he was observed by a former city employee on the other side of the Cortez Bridge, outside the city limits, in a city vehicle during work hours. He was on break at the time looking at a property in the vicinity and received a warning from Woodard for his actions. On the day the city received Higgins’ letter, Shearon felt the need to apologize to temporary staff member Karen Perry for the manner in which he treated her earlier in the day.

When asked about the work environment under Shearon’s leadership, one longtime employee recently said, “The mayor is an equal opportunity bully.”

Another said, “The morale here is terrible.”

Monday, Mayor Shearon was heard loudly asking City Attorney Ricinda Perry to leave his office because she was performing legal work at the request of other elected officials.

No breaks yet in suspicious death case

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the death of a woman who reportedly had a fight with her husband and hit her head on their personal watercraft when he threw her off the vessel near Passage Key, northwest of the Island.

The fight began on Sunday, July 19, when Pamela Doster caught her husband, Michael, both of Bradenton, having sexual relations with another man. Sheriff’s Office Detective John Kenney said they have not heard from the other man and are still looking for more witnesses to the fight.

“We’re talking with first responders now to find out what they might have seen,” he said.

According to law enforcement, the couple was intoxicated and when the fight broke out, she was riding behind him on the personal watercraft, and he pulled her off by her hair. He would come back and she would climb aboard again. That happened several times until she hit her head, causing some bleeding. He could not find her after that and called for help. The Coast Guard and an aviation unit from Pinellas County joined in the search along with West Manatee Fire Rescue's boat.

When they found her standing on a sandbar, she was wearing only her life jacket. She was hospitalized and died three days later. Doctors said she died of uncontrollable bleeding in her head.

Anyone with information on the couple, the other man or the fight are urged to contact Kenney at 941-747-3011, ext. 2216. or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.

Austin fundraiser takes place Saturday

submitted

This photo shows the interior of the Mar Vista Dockside
Restaurant & Pub before the bills were recently removed
to benefit an area youth and his family.

BRADENTON BEACH – A benefit for Austin Goncalves and his family will take place Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Blue Marlin restaurant, 121 Bridge Street, in Bradenton Beach.

Goncalves, his mother Karen, her boyfriend Allen Smith and 14-year-old Marlin Ellis were stricken with ciguatera fish poisoning during a recent vacation in the Bahamas.

Ellis’ parents own the Blue Marlin.

A fund-raising boat poker run will being at the Blue Marlin at 10 a.m. and continue until noon, with stops at the Drift In, the Bridge Tender Inn, Mar Vista and the Swordfish Grill.

A silent auction and a 50/50 raffle will also be part of the fund-raising efforts, and Trevor Bystrom and The Tribal Trio will provide the live entertainment.

An online fund-raising effort has been established at www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/florida-teen-diver-down-needs-your-help/204714, and as of Sunday afternoon, had already raised $7,705 of the $30,000 fund raising goal.

Those wishing to contribute in advance can do at the Website or at any Sun Trust bank location by informing the teller you want to contribute to the Austin Goncalves Trust Fund.

The Ed Chiles-owned Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub on Longboat Key is one of many local businesses joining the cause.

According to restaurant spokesperson Megan Brewster, “Those dining at Mar Vista as of July 22 might be shocked to actually see the restaurant walls for the first time in years, since the many of the rows and rows of dollar bills covering the walls and ceiling have been taken down to benefit Austin.”

The value of the bills has been estimated between $1,600 and $2,000, and an online contest at the Mar Vista Facebook provided patrons an opportunity to guess the exact value of the bills removed.

For more information about the benefit, call the Blue Marlin at 941-896-9737.

Beach flags at fire stations questioned

CINDY LANE | SUN

A green flag flies at the Coquina Beach
lifeguard stand, letting beachgoers know
that all is well.

Beach condition flags flown at fire stations may be giving beachgoers a false sense of security, according to Joe Westerman, captain of the Manatee County Marine Rescue Division.

The West Manatee Fire District recently began flying the flags at its stations in Holmes Beach and on Cortez Road to let motorists on their way to the beach know about rip currents, jellyfish and other conditions at Anna Maria Island’s beaches before they arrive.

But the fire station flags and the lifeguard flags are often different colors at the same time, leading beachgoers to think all is well at the beach when it is not, Westerman said.

“When I come to work in the morning, the flag is already up at the fire station on Cortez Road before I even get to the lifeguard tower to assess the conditions and put up the flag,” he said.

Lifeguards change flags at their towers as soon as a condition changes – such as a school of stingrays swimming towards bathers, a developing riptide, or lightning – but fire departments lag behind, relying on a Web-based beach conditions reports from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, which gets its information from lifeguards twice a day.

However, conditions change more than twice a day, and they differ up and down the beach, Westerman said, adding that Mote’s report was designed specifically for red tide alerts, not rip currents and other dangers.

A green flag flying at a fire station while a red flag is flying at a lifeguard tower “is eventually going to get somebody hurt,” he said.

The statute

Florida law states that flags should be used at public beaches, with no mention of fire stations off the beach, Westerman said, citing Florida Statutes 380.276.

The Florida Beach Patrol Chiefs Association states in a position statement on the issue that flags should be used “always in conjunction with a certified and well-trained lifeguard while on duty.”

Another confusing factor is that beach flag colors are similar to fire flag colors used in many states whose residents come to Anna Maria Island on vacation, and may think they signify warnings about BBQ grill use, lit cigarettes, campfires and other fire-related conditions, Westerman said.

“What we’re doing is probably not ideal,” said Randy Cooper, West Manatee Fire District commissioner, who said he agrees that beach conditions change so quickly that using twice-daily updates to Mote to determine a flag color at a fire station is not adequate.

“We have good intentions and are working with them (lifeguards), but there are some details to work out,” he said. “We are trying not to overstep our boundaries.”

An app for that

Cooper said his board is planning to write the Manatee County administrator with an idea to develop a Web-based system allowing automatic updates of changing beach conditions on cell phones and other devices.

“An Internet-based alert system could fill in the gaps between lifeguard towers,” he said.

The idea came from the South Walton Fire District in Florida’s panhandle, which offers cell phone alerts whenever the flags change, he said, adding that lifeguards and firemen work for the same organization there, while in Manatee County, the two organizations are independent.

The system would require money for new lifeguards to gather and input the information, Westerman said, adding that his department, which is seeking more county funding, was cut from 17 guards to 11 guards in 2008, resulting in guards leaving the beach at 4:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

In addition, lifeguards are stationed only at two Anna Maria Island public beaches, Coquina Beach and Manatee Public Beach, and “outside that are areas which we don’t inspect nor do we know what the conditions are.” With present staff and funding constraints, he said, such an app would only work for the two public Gulf-front beaches.

But with limited funds, he asked, “Would you rather have an app or would you rather have a lifesaver in a tower?”


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