ANNA MARIA – Lobbyist Chip Case and his Tallahassee-based Jefferson Monroe consulting firm have been hired to assist the city of Anna Maria in its attempt to defeat a vacation rental bill filed by state Sen. Greg Steube.

The adoption of Senate Bill 188 and the companion bill, House Bill 425, filed by state Rep. Mike La Rosa, would prevent local governments from adopting new vacation rental regulations or enforcing local regulations adopted after June 1, 2011. This would nullify the vacation rental ordinance adopted in Anna Maria in 2015 and any vacation rental regulations adopted in Holmes Beach or Bradenton Beach after mid-2011.

Based on the recommendation of City Attorney Becky Vose and her son and law firm partner, Wade, the commission authorized Case's hiring last week. At a cost of $5,000 per month for five months of service, Case will work to defeat the proposed vacation rental bills. He also may be asked to lobby for or against other proposed state legislation. Case's contract includes an early termination clause in the event that the proposed vacation rental legislation dies during the committee sessions prior to any final votes taking place on the house and senate floors.

The 2017 legislative session begins March 7 and committee sessions have been scheduled for early February. Steube's bill was referred to the Regulated Industries, Community Affairs and Rules committees.

United front?

Commissioner Nancy Yetter asked if the cities of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach would share the cost of hiring a lobbyist. Vose said Mayor Dan Murphy made some initial inquires but as of now Anna Maria is going it alone.

Vose plans to share information obtained from Case with the Flagler County officials, who are also at the forefront in the fight for local vacation rental regulation. The commission also accepted Yetter's offer to communicate with elected officials in other potentially-impacted coastal cities.

Commissioner Dale Woodland said he had a 30-minute phone conversation with Steube that was cordial, but failed to provide any significant dialogue. Woodland invited Steube to come meet with the commission, but was told Steube preferred to meet at his Sarasota office, where Sunshine Law would allow only one commissioner at a time to accompany the non-voting mayor to a private meeting.

Steube was elected to the state senate last fall by voters in Sarasota County and Charlotte County. He does not directly represent the Island cities represented by State Sen. Bill Galvano and State Rep. Jim Boyd.

Citizen input

Anna Maria residents Ruth Uecker and Amy Tripp addressed the commission last week.

"I think it's certainly the right way to go," Uecker said of the lobbyist.

"I was very concerned when I read about this bill, so I immediately sat down and wrote an e-mail to Mr. Steube. I also plan to copy this to Rep. Boyd and Sen. Galvano," she said.

"The passage of this bill would virtually ruin everything our local community has worked so hard to achieve," Uecker's e-mail said.

"I would like to know what we can do to let this gentleman know that we're not going to roll over and let this happen. Do we get on a bus and go to Tallahassee?" she asked the commission.

Tripp said she e-mailed several state legislators scheduled to participate in the preliminary committee discussions.

"Let the committee members know that we're against SB 188," she said in regard to legislation she feels would be devastating for the Island.

"I'm not very positive that anything we do regarding Sen. Steube personally will change his mind. I think our power lies in the other representatives and senators. If we can quash this in one of the committees and it never gets to the floor that's our best bet," Chair Doug Copeland said.

"These are politicians, they count votes. They want to know how many people are for this, how many people are against this and does it impact me getting reelected? Logic and reason are not what they're basing their decisions on," he added.

"I think it will become clearer once we have conversations with Chip Case. Whether you like lobbyists or not, it'll be good to have one on our side," he said.

HOLMES BEACH - The city may have a noise ordinance, but that doesn't mean the discussion about noise in residential areas is over.

The issue appeared on the Jan. 24 commission work session agenda. Chair Judy Titsworth said she hoped commissioners could discuss the issue and find a way to give some type of relief to residents with vacation rentals in their neighborhoods.

Commissioner Jean Peelen said she was concerned with how the city's noise ordinance is being enforced by police.

Commissioner Carol Soustek suggested rather than rely on a noise meter, police approach the tenants of a property after a noise complaint is received against them.

"I like the idea that the officer just notifies the people there is a problem and to keep it down," she said.

Titsworth said while she understands children in pools and people enjoying the outdoors will make noise, it's the constant noise produced by tenants at vacation rental properties that concerns her.

"Kids are going to laugh and play in pools," she said. "We want young families to move here. We don't want to seem unwelcoming with officers at the door for kids playing in pools."

Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer agreed to instruct officers to enforce the noise ordinance in whatever manner commissioners choose. However, he argued that the noise meter is taken on every possible noise complaint call.

"It is being utilized at all calls, if available," he said, adding that officers issue a citation if it's found the noise produced is violating the noise ordinance.

He expressed concern that officers visiting a rental unit or residence to warn tenants about noise if there was no violation occurring could undermine the effectiveness of the noise ordinance.

"If it's not a violation I'm not sure what we're warning them about," Tokajer said.

While Commissioner Marvin Grossman talked about being empathetic to the plight of residents, Commissioner Pat Morton said he understood the difficult position police officers face when attempting to warn someone without proof of a violation.

"You can't control a property in a residential area with commercial rules," he said.

Resident Renae Ferguson said she feels the noise problem "has escalated in the last few years." She said she likes the idea of officers approaching a residence after a complaint is lodged against it.

"I'm not sure that all of these renters really know the rules," she said.

"If noise is bothering the residents, it's too much," resident Kim Rash said. "Knock on doors; keep it simple."

Resident Margie Motzer also spoke against the use of a decibel noise meter by police. Motzer said she regularly gets high decibel readings using a cell phone application outside of her living room window.

"I am totally opposed to the decibel reader," she said.

With no resolution reached, commissioners opted to continue the discussion at a March work session.

CORTEZ – It's almost time for February's most salty and delicious local event – the 35th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival, set for the weekend of Feb. 18 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Celebrate "Fishing For Our Future" with eight local bands, including a scurvy group of sea shanty singers, Cortez native Eric Von and Cortez fishing Captain Soupy Davis and his band.

Check out nautical and environmental works by more than 50 artists focused on the historic fishing village's maritime heritage. Take the kids to the expanded children's play area and visit the marine life touch tank.

Explore the Cortez Cultural Center, the FISH Boatworks and the Florida Maritime Museum, all free, then head to the commercial fishing docks on Sarasota Bay for dock talks by Florida Sea Grant representatives and demonstrations and interactive displays by Fishing For Freedom.

When you've worked up an appetite, set sail for the food court, featuring locally-caught grouper, stone crab and other selections, with menu items for landlubbers too.

Admission is $4, with kids 12 and under free. Proceeds benefit FISH, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, to restore and expand the 95-acre FISH Preserve east of Cortez village.

To find the festival, head west toward Anna Maria Island on Cortez Road to the entrance at the Florida Maritime Museum, 4415 119th St. W.

Free parking is available east of the village off Cortez Road at the FISH Preserve, a five-minute walk from the gate. Free offsite parking is available at G.T Bray Park, 5502 33rd Ave. Drive W., Bradenton (turn east off 59th Street onto 33rd Avenue Drive) or at Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island, with a shuttle bus to Cortez ($3 round trip).

For more information, visit www.cortez-fish.org or call 941-254-4972.

35th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival music schedule

Saturday, Feb. 18

10-11 a.m. - Shanty Singers

11:15-12:45 p.m. - Manatee River BlueGrass

12:45-1:30 p.m. - Awards and introductions

2-4 p.m. - Eric Von Band

4:30-6 p.m. - Jason Haran

Sunday, Feb. 19

10:30-noon - Soupy Davis and his band

12.30-2 p.m. – Passerine

12:30-4 p.m. - Eric Von (Bratton Store Porch)

2:30-4 p.m. - Karen and Jimmy Band

4:30-6 p.m. - Koko Ray

BRADENTON BEACH – Having been declared the winner of The Sun's 2016 Football Fever contest, Bradenton Beach resident Jon Syre left Island Time Bar & Grill last Thursday afternoon with a bounty of prizes worth more than $2,000.

Syre teaches physical education and health at Martha B. King Middle School in Bradenton, where he also serves as the athletic director. He won the season-long Football Fever contest by most accurately picking the weekly winners of the selected NFL and NCAA football games.

Syre's predicting prowess earned him a bicycle, umbrella, chair, cooler and other prizes from Budweiser; a gift certificate for two to Island Time; a wool heritage banner and team hat from AMI Sports Zone; a two-night stay at the Island Time Inn; free scooter, kayak, bicycle, paddle board, boogie board rentals and a long sleeve surf shirt from Island Scooter Rentals; a one-month membership, two personal training sessions and a gift basket from Island Fitness; a $100 gift certificate to the Bridge Tender Inn & Dockside Bar; a $50 gift certificate to Slim's Place; a $50 gift certificate to the Flippin' Mullet Sports Bar and a $50 gift certificate to the Swordfish Grill. And for that special female in his life, Syre won a custom made Anna Maria Island Destination Bracelet from Bridge Street Jewelers.

After accepting his prizes, Syre, a Chicago Bears fan, said, "I knew I had a chance because I won two of the weekly contests. The secret was this was the first time I bet against my own team, the Bears, and it worked out for me. It's a great contest. I appreciate all the local businesses and I'm a big supporter of local businesses. I know there was great competition and I'm sure it was very close. I enjoyed playing every week and it was my weekly thrill knowing I could pick the games right even though my team was losing."

When congratulating Syre, The Sun's Advertising Director Chantelle Lewin said, "Congratulations Jon. Thank you very much for playing; and thank you to all of our advertisers and participants."

The contest is over, but Syre is picking the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl on Sunday.

"I don't necessarily want them to win again, but I don't think Atlanta's got enough to stop them," he said.

BRADENTON BEACH – On Thursday, Jan. 26, Paradise Boat Tours employee Terri Lanning contacted the Bradenton Beach Police Department about a $10 bill she suspected might be counterfeit.

"One of my employees noticed a weird bill in the drawer. The police department responded, and it was confirmed counterfeit," General Manager Sherman Baldwin said.

As a courtesy, Baldwin sent an e-mail to Mayor Bill Shearon informing him that a counterfeit bill had been discovered.

"These things tend to happen in waves, so getting the word out is important," Baldwin's e-mail noted.

As a precautionary measure, Bridge Street Merchants Executive Director Jack Clarke distributed Baldwin's e-mail to the other business owners on Bridge Street.

On Monday, Police Chief Sam Speciale said he had not received any additional reports of counterfeit bills being passed.

"Now that we're getting into our season, the businesses need to be a little more diligent and vigilant in using those pens to test bills," Speciale said.

"If the bill appears to be fake, the person taking the money has two choices: they can tell the customer they can't accept the bill or they can tell the customer they need to call the police. The customer can then either stick around or take off.

"We are not asking businesses to prevent the customer from leaving, but if they can get a picture we can try to determine if that person knew the bill was bogus. Other than that, there's not much we can do about it. When we called the Secret Service they just wanted to know the serial number of the bill," he explained.

Speciale said the person trying to spend the counterfeit money may not even know it's fake.

"They can't prove the person had knowledge the bill wasn't any good, and it's hard to enforce unless we find the bills on the person," he said, noting that passing counterfeit money is not a common occurrence in Bradenton Beach, but it does happen occasionally.

HOLMES BEACH – Mayor Bob Johnson is seeking to bring more change to the city.

During the Jan. 24 work session, Johnson asked commissioners to consider creating an ad-hoc committee of at least five residents to study the possibility of changing Holmes Beach's type of government.

Currently the city has a council-mayor type of government. Johnson would like to see that change to include a city manager before he leaves office in 2018.

The type of government Johnson proposes would be similar to that of Longboat Key and would include a commission, city manager and mayor. The city manager would be a hired, administrative position, unlike a popularly elected mayor who only serves a two year term with no guarantee of re-election. The city manager would take over the day-to-day management tasks currently associated with the mayor.

Johnson said the current administration has worked to overcome administrative instability in the city. He fears the changes made to help the city move forward will be undone when a new mayor takes the dais at the end of 2018.

Johnson confirmed he will not be seeking a third term as mayor.

He presented commissioners with a report showing a shift in the city's population, with residential population dropping from 4,966 to 3,851 over a 15 year span. His report showed the city's voting population at 2,883 and 31 percent of residential units as rentals.

Johnson said out of 37 similar-sized, beachfront communities in Florida, 26 have the council-manager form of government with 10 of the remaining communities retaining an average population of 1,520 full-time residents. Out of the communities he researched, only Holmes Beach retains the mayor-council form of government with a larger residential population.

Commissioners did not share the mayor's urgency to examine the possibility.

"I'm not for it at this time," Chair Judy Titsworth said. "We have so much on our plate right now, and this is a huge change."

Rather than spending money to hire a city manager, she suggested using the money to add any needed personnel to existing departments.

Commissioners Marvin Grossman, Pat Morton and Carol Soustek also spoke against convening a committee at this point.

"Right now the staff is slightly sinking," Soustek said, concerned about the added responsibility a committee could put on city staff. She suggested reconsidering the mayor's proposal over the summer.

Commissioner Jean Peelen, however, shared some of Johnson's concerns.

"A mayor can change every two years," she said. "There's no consistency in the charger positions. When a new person comes in, everything changes. Your worst nightmare can come in as a city mayor."

"We've survived 70 years so far," Titsworth said.

"And we've been to hell in a hand basket," Peelen said.

"I think you guys are grossly underestimating what is really necessary here," Johnson said. "Every two years is the wrong way to put a part-time, uneducated, unknowledgeable person in the mayor's seat who's supposed to administering the city. You can't get the cooperation you need from other municipalities with a novice sitting here like me. This needs to change for the betterment of this city."

"Well, we can all agree to disagree," Titsworth said. "I see other areas in our admin that could use higher positions."

Commissioners agreed to continue the discussion at a future work session.

To slow rising flood insurance premiums, owners of residential, rental and business properties should consider getting elevation certificates, FEMA advises.

Letters are on their way to local mailboxes notifying property owners that hiring a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect to obtain an elevation certificate could lower premiums, said Janice Mitchell, a FEMA regional insurance specialist in Atlanta.

Even if the certificate does not result in lower premiums, it would not trigger an increase higher than the existing rate increase schedule, she said.

For some policyholders who own property in high-risk flood areas like Anna Maria Island, annual flood insurance premiums are increasing from 5 to 18 percent for primary residences and up to 25 percent for non-primary residences insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increases are mandated by the federal Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act to phase out discounted rates on such properties, gradually increasing their premiums up to their full risk, or actuarial, rates.

Among the affected policyholders are owners of pre-FIRM properties, those which were built or substantially improved on or before Dec. 31, 1974, when Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) were adopted, or before the effective date of the initial Flood Insurance Rate Map for the community in which the property is located. Anna Maria's flood insurance rate map is dated Feb. 1, 1984, while Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach maps are both dated June 11, 1971, according to FEMA records.

Whether or not you get an elevation certificate, be careful not to let your flood insurance policy lapse, Mitchell said, because if it is discounted, it will be reissued at the full risk premium.

For more information, visit www.FEMA.gov/cost-of-flood.

Bridge Street Merchants' Mermaids public art project, art show and online auction that serves as an extension of the recent artsHOP festival can now be viewed at the Bradenton Beach locations listed below. Online bids can be submitted at www.visitbridgestreeet.com, under the Public Art menu option and then clicking on the arrow next to the green box that says "view items." The online bidding closes at midnight on Sunday, Feb. 26. The creations were unveiled during an artists' reception at the Bridge Tender Inn on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Locations

• BeachHouse restaurant, 200 Gulf Dr. N.

• Bridge Street Bistro, 111 Gulf Dr. S.

• Adventure Away, 102 Bridge St.

• Island Time Inn, 105 Bridge St.

• BridgeWalk Resort (Mira Mar Room windows), 100 Bridge St.

• Broken Beauty (behind the BridgeWalk), 109 1st St. S.

• The Uptown Lot, 110 Bridge St.

• Sea-renity Beach Spa & Eco Boutique, 112 Bridge St.

• Mermaid Haven/Bridge Street Interiors, 114 Bridge St.

• Bridge Street Bazaar, 115 Bridge St.

• Bridge Tender Inn & Dockside Grill, 135 Bridge St.

• Paradise Boat Tours, 200 Bridge St.

• Tide & Moon Jewelry/Room with a Hue, 200 Bridge St.

• A.M.O.B. restaurant, 200 Bridge St.