HOLMES BEACH – There were a few anxious expressions on the faces of kids and parents, but the first day of school brought mostly a sea of smiles to Anna Maria Elementary School.

Leah Suzor brought her daughter, Maya, for her first day of kindergarten and included her daughter Siena, who is still in preschool, on the adventure. To make the first day of school easier on herself, she said that Siena would be going home with her instead of to preschool so the house would not be too quiet.

As kindergartner Aidan Brobecker checked out the school’s aquarium in the lobby, his mom predicted she would cry when he walked down the hall to his classroom. A few minutes later, she did.

But most of the kids seemed excited and happy to be at school. Vanessa and Jacqueline Vazquez, starting kindergarten and third grade, were all smiles, as was Taylor June, who carried a sign with her saying, “1st day of kindergarten.”

The two kindergarten classes will have about 18 students each, Principal Jackie Featherston said, adding that the school is expecting 276 students this year, slightly more than last year, but still under capacity.

To keep them all safe, “intelligent” speed limit signs have been installed on either side of the school on Gulf Drive from Marina Drive to the Manatee Public Beach Park to slow down drivers to 25 miles per hour, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said.

The signs can calculate the number of cars that pass them and when cars travel the fastest, allowing Tokajer to assign officers to patrol the area more at those times, he said, adding that according to the sign data, about 18,000 to 19,000 cars travel Gulf Drive each day.

ANNA MARIA – Taking recent Planning and Zoning Board recommendations into account, city commissioners further modified the vacation rental ordinance during Thursday’s special meeting and public hearing.

The meeting began with Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen thanking commissioners.

“We are dealing with many of the same issues you are. Bradenton Beach is just beginning to deal with the same issues, having their neighborhoods invaded by huge short-term rental houses. I know you’re catching all of the flack … and I know your goal is the same as ours – to save our neighborhoods, while putting the least amount of burden possible on our long-term renters. Thank you for taking the lead,” she said. City Attorney Becky Vose then sought commission consensus on planning board recommendations received Tuesday.

Opting out

The commission debated proposed language Vose introduced that allows property owners to opt out of designating a rental agent to address rental-related complaints. The planning board opposed this language.

“They still have to be available by cell phone so they could contact them, and it’s my understanding that this would address some issues of the small vacation rentals that are now owner-managed,” Vose said.

Commission Chair Chuck Webb disagreed.

“Someone’s got to be on the property to respond. We can give citations; we can take them to code enforcement; we can go to court and get injunctions … That doesn’t solve the problem at midnight when the whole neighborhood’s been woken up,” he said.

Commissioner Doug Copeland said, “I don’t see a real problem with this. I can understand that for certain people having an agent could be an undue burden.”

Commissioner Dale Woodland said, “If a property owner chooses to engage a rental agent that is their choice. We, as a government, shouldn’t tell them how to run their business, but we’ve got some serious consequences if you don’t comply with what we’re trying to do in our residential neighborhoods.”

Commissioner Nancy Yetter said, “If they don’t want a rental agent I’m fine with that, but there has to be some accountability.”

Yetter said the actions of a small number of non-compliant rental operators led residents to request the ordinance, and that is who compliant rental operators should be upset with.

“They should be mad at the ones who caused this, not us. We didn’t cause it. Those renegades out there have done it,” she said.

The commission reached 4-1 consensus to accept the opt-out language, with Webb opposed.

The commission unanimously agreed to increase rental agent response time from 30 minutes to one hour.

The commission agreed 4-1, with Woodland opposed, to increase the number of violations allowed to a single rental agent in a 12-month period from 10 to 15. A similar allowance for rental agencies was increased from 20 to 25. Those who exceed these limits would lose their licenses for two years.

Woodland favors eliminating agent and agency regulations completely because a property receiving three unresolved violations or six total violations in a 12-month period loses the ability to operate as a vacation rental for one year.

Grandfather clause

Woodland also objected to the grandfather clause recently added in response to a lawsuit filed against the city. This allows the eight person maximum occupancy limit to be exceeded if the license applicant provides documented proof that a higher average rate of occupancy occurred during a consecutive four-month period.

Woodland said he would rather negotiate a Bert Harris claim than adhere to a permanent grandfather clause that allows for 15 to 20 occupants.

Webb said the Bert Harris Act requires a property owner to be given the opportunity to recapture their investment after new legislation is passed.

“I would like to say everybody has five years and it’s over, but I’m real concerned about trying to do that,” he added.

“I think we’ve done the right thing,” Commissioner Carol Carter said.

The commission voted 4-1 in favor of leaving the grandfather clause intact. The provision can only be sought when applying for the property’s initial annual rental license and cannot be applied for later.

Additional requirements

The commission unanimously supported the recommendation that an appeal of an alleged violation be heard by a special magistrate within 35 days, that the licensing process be halted if the property is in violation of city code and the words “when applicable” be removed from sea turtle protection notification requirements.

The names of all adult occupants 18 and older, and the number of teen and child occupants, as well as the license numbers of all vehicles permitted to park there, must be posted on the back of or next to the main entrance.

The vacation rental ordinance applies only to short-term rentals that do not have on-site management and rent to guests more than three times a year for less than 30 days at a time.

The second reading of the revised ordinance will be Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 6 p.m.

HOLMES BEACH – Joe Collier, president of Mainsail Lodging and Development Company, said his company is ready to begin on the Waterline hotel, lodge and marina project in the heart of the city as soon as it receives permits from the city.

“We submitted site plans in May and construction drawings in June,” he said last week. “I expect to have permit in hand soon, then we’ll be off and running. We’re ready to rock and roll.”

The project, located near the intersection of Marina and Gulf drives, includes a lodge with two wings that feature two-bedroom lodging units, an 80-seat restaurant and meeting rooms; a 50-boat slip marina and a separate building with two-bedroom lodging units.

The process to approve the project took 21 months after city commissioners objected to various aspects of the site plan. Over that period of time the company reduced the area of the buildings by 20 percent, removed 2 ½ buildings and added parking to satisfy commissioners.

The company recently bought the Tidemark Shoppes center, adjacent to the Waterline project, that is home to the AMI Chamber of Commerce, Eat Here restaurant and Island Fitness for $2.79 million.

The company also owns the Mainsail Beach Inn at 101 66th Street, where two- and three-bedroom units in two buildings are sold as condo/hotel units and rented as hotel units when not used by the owners. Guests at both projects can use amenities at either location.

ANNA MARIA – The proposed $4.16 million 2015-16 fiscal year budget for the city of Anna Maria has been amended to account for employee pay increases and additional legal fees.

“The first revision, the biggest revision, was the legal expenses,” Murphy said, during the Wednesday, Aug. 19 budget work session.

The budget Murphy first presented on Aug. 12 called for $217,000 in legal expenses, with no legal fees budgeted for code enforcement. The revised budget projects $240,000 for general legal expenses and an additional $75,000 for code enforcement legal expenses.

“We discussed whether we should come in high or at what I projected before. It’s a difficult thing to scientifically project,” Murphy told the commission.

Some of the budgeted legal expenses could be used to defend the vacation rental ordinance that is currently being challenged.

Murphy said legal expenses projected for the new fiscal year are 54 percent higher than the final $199,000 he projects for the current fiscal year-end on Sept. 30. The adopted 2014-15 budget included $160,000 for legal fees, including $4,000 for code enforcement.

Preferring to err on the side of caution, the commission supported Murphy’s proposed increases.

The new budget includes $600,000 in first-time vacation rental license revenues. This is expected to offset the $512,529 budgeted for code enforcement, much of which will be dedicated to enforcing the vacation rental ordinance. Code enforcement will become the city’s second largest annual expense, exceeded only by the $685,626 budgeted for contracted Sheriff’s Office services, which the county just increased by 7 percent.

Employee increases

Last week, Murphy also proposed a 1.5 percent across the board salary increase for full-time city employees.

In an effort to bring the total pay increases to a maximum of 3 percent, Murphy also proposed merit-based bonuses that could provide employees up to 1.5 percent in additional earnings.

Murphy said the bonuses would be paid in one lump sum in July or August and be based on goals, objectives and evaluations.

He said the initial 1.5 percent across the board salary increases would cost the city an additional $11,361, but would not require any deficit spending.

“Holmes Beach is currently projecting a 3 percent raise, using a merit-based system. Bradenton Beach has settled at 3 percent across the board. Longboat Key has got 3.5 percent as the merit-based system and Manatee County’s at 4 percent,” Murphy said.

The original budget Murphy proposed on Aug. 12 did not provide for employee raises.

“I was a little miffed that you didn’t have any raises for the employees. We have a pretty good staff, and it’s almost like a slap in the face with no raise,” Commissioner Doug Copeland said, noting that pay increases help prevent employee turnover.

“I like the idea of a merit base too. Those people who are doing a good job get rewarded, or it could be every one of them. It also gives the employees an incentive to do a good job,” he added.

“Having people evaluate what they want to accomplish in the next year, along with their supervisor, really gives them some skin in the game,” Commissioner Carol Carter said.

Carter said the bonus payments, unlike the salary increases, would not trigger additional employee benefit costs.

Commissioners Chuck Webb, Dale Woodland and Nancy Yetter also supported the pay increases.

The adopted 2014-15 fiscal year budget was $3.47 million; Murphy projects it to close slightly higher at year-end at $3.49 million. With the changes discussed last week, the proposed $4.21 million 2015-16 fiscal year budget is now approximately $740,000 higher than the adopted 2014-15 budget.

The first budget public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9, and the final reading is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Anna Maria Island is worth 16.8 percent more than it was last year, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office, while Manatee County as a whole is worth 12 percent more.

Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices are showing up in Island mailboxes, notifying property owners of their taxable values, used to calculate how much property tax they will owe and their market values, based on sales.

A recent survey by the property appraiser’s office shows market values rising in all three Island cities. Anna Maria’s 2015 market value is $1.07 billion, an 18.2 percent increase over 2014. Bradenton Beach’s market value is $604 million, a 13 percent increase. Holmes Beach’s market value is $2.01 billion, a 19.2 percent increase over last year.

Taxable values, which are market values less assessment reductions and exemptions, also are rising. Anna Maria’s 2015 taxable value is $793 million, a 10.6 percent increase over 2014. Bradenton Beach’s taxable value is $468 million, a 9.6 percent increase over 2014. Holmes Beach’s taxable value is $1.56 billion, a 9.4 percent increase over last year.

Countywide, market values are up 12 percent from last year, reaching nearly $39 billion, while taxable values are up 8 percent to $28 billion.

Market values listed on TRIM notices typically are higher than taxable values. The property appraiser determined market values by comparing 2014 property sales within the same or similar neighborhoods with similar characteristics. Property owners who dispute their taxable values may call the property appraiser’s office at 941-748-8208 or file petitions with the Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of the date the TRIM notice is mailed, which is specified on the notice. Petitions are available online at www.manateepao.com under the VAB tab.

The TRIM notice also includes the proposed millage rates and taxes proposed by community taxing authorities. Times and locations for the public budget meetings held by these authorities are listed to enable property owners to comment on the tax rates. The meetings begin Sept. 3 and continue through Sept. 15.

Tax bills will be mailed in November.

Island property values

Market values 2015 difference from 2014

Anna Maria $1.07 billion up 18.2 percent
Bradenton Beach $604 million up 13 percent
Holmes Beach $2.01 billion up 19.2 percent

Taxable values 2015 difference from 2014

Anna Maria $793 million up 10.6 percent
Bradenton Beach $468 million up 9.6 percent
Holmes Beach $1.56 billion up 9.4 percent

Source: Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office

Florida has set another record in tourism by welcoming the highest number of visitors of any six months in the state’s history, with 54.1 million visitors in the first half of this year, according to Gov. Rick Scott.

In the second quarter of 2015 (April-June), 25.8 million visitors came to the state, an increase of 5.5 percent over the previous year. The average number of direct travel-related jobs in quarter two of 2015 was also a record high, with 1,213,500 Floridians employed in the tourism industry – up 4.9 percent over the previous year.

“We are excited to mark the first half of 2015 with our biggest second quarter ever, and we look forward to exceeding our goal of 100 million visitors to Florida this year,” Scott said in a press release.

“We were proud to help provide incredible guest experiences in the first half of the year and can’t wait to welcome even more visitors to the Sunshine State throughout the rest of the year,” added Carol Dover, chair of the VISIT FLORIDA Public Affairs Committee and president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

For quarter two of 2015, the average daily room rate (ADR) rose 4.7 percent, the occupancy rate for Florida hotels increased 2.9 percent and the demand in rooms sold grew 4.4 percent compared to quarter two of 2014, according to VISIT FLORIDA.

Estimates show that 2.7 million overseas visitors and 1.2 million Canadians came to Florida in quarter two of 2015, with 21.9 million domestic visitors traveling to Florida in the same time period, reflecting a 6.8 percent increase over the same period last year.

Preliminary figures for the first half of 2015 show 45.7 million domestic visitors, 5.5 million overseas visitors and 2.9 million Canadians have come to the Sunshine State, representing increases of 6.7 percent, 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent respectively, according to the state’s tourism agency.

This is the fifth consecutive record breaking year for Florida tourism, according to VISIT FLORIDA.

BRADENTON – Members of the Palma Sola Scenic Highway Committee recently got a report on nearby county preserves from Michael Elswick, of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department.

He said the Perico Preserve on the Causeway is in the final phase of construction with the basin being opened to connect to Perico Bayou, and bird rookery platforms are being installed on the island.

Member Ken Crayton, of Perico Isle, said the “massive growth of palms and trees” is blocking residents’ view of the preserve.

“There are people who like to look out their breakfast window and see the preserve, the ponds and the birds,” Crayton said. “ I think there’s a shortcoming there.”

“For you to be able to enjoy a clear unobstructed view of the preserve from your kitchen, I don’t know if that’s something we can meet,” Elswick replied. “It’s balancing the interest thousands of users that come through there to have their experience diminished for four or five homeowners.”

Crayton said it involves 25 to 30 homes, and people have complained to him. Elswick said he would take their concerns to department Director Charlie Hunsicker.

Elswick said there are no major issues with Neal Preserve on the Causeway, and the ban on dogs and bicycles in order for people to observe wading birds is working well.

The bid has been awarded for the entrance and parking lot for Ungarelli Preserve on Palma Sola Boulevard, Elswick said, and a trail would be installed on the larger upland area. The preserve should be open in November or December.

Parking problem

Co chair Ingrid McClellan, of Keep Manatee Beautiful, said there is still a problem with people parking on the northeast sides of the Anna Maria Island and Perico Bayou bridges and damaging mangroves.

She said the Florida Department of Transportation said access could be managed but not restricted. She said she would get bids for bollards to control parking.

Elswick said the county is seeking a lease with the state to manage the Winston Tract, a mangrove swamp on the north side of the Causeway between Palma Sola Bay and Perico Bayou.

Jim VanPelt, of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Agency, said a citizen has proposed creating a bicycle trail between Robinson and Riverview Point preserves.

Mark Alderson, director of the Sarasota Bay Project reported on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement. He said there are four components to the settlement – economic claims, natural resource damages, RESTORE Act funding and local claims.

“There is money out there for environmental work,” he said. “We can start making requests.”

Members agreed to make a list of recommended projects at their next meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. at the Bradenton Public Works Department.

ANNA MARIA – Lace up your shoes, polish of your bowling ball and loosen up your arm … The inaugural LaPensee Plumbing Pools and Air Bowling Tournament will take place Saturday, Aug. 29.

Known for decades as the O’Connor Bowling Challenge, and again also sponsored by The Sun, the tournament will take place at AMF Lanes, 4208 Cortez Road W.

“Were very excited to be carrying on this challenge that’s been going on for numerous years. It’s gotten to be a mainstay of the Island being able to offer this great evening that also benefits the Community Center,” said new event sponsor Karen LaPensee.

“I can’t wait for it to get going. Last year, we put teams in the event and we now have two teams that bowl on leagues all year long. These guys have gotten to be so proficient that they’re number one in their league, so I think it’s contagious.

“Come on out, have a good time with your family, and you just might be one of those fabulous bowlers out there waiting in the wings,” she added.

“Fun will be had by all,” said Wende Webb, the Center’s special events and outreach coordinator.

“A lot of people have been doing this for 25 years. It’s a little different from our other events, and it’s a little like the Pied Piper when everyone goes down to the Anna Maria Oyster Bar, where we give out the prizes.

“Instead of the traditional large screen TV, we thought we’d switch it up this year and give away a GoPro and an Apple i-Pad Air instead,” Webb said.

Both are being provided by The Sun.

Awards will be given in the men’s and women’s categories for high game, low game, high series and low series. Check in for bowlers is at 5 p.m. With a limited number of lanes available, folks must register in advance at the AMI Community Center, 407 Magnolia Ave, or online at www.annamariaislandcc.com.

To register, click on the event poster found at the Center home page, click again when the next screen comes up and look for the registration link below. The cost is $25 person for three games and includes shoes. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit children’s programming at the Center.

For more information, contact Wende Webb at 941-778-1908 or wendew@islandcommunitycenter.com.