The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 17 No. 31 - May 17, 2017

FEATURE

Crystal Lagoon joins Aqua concerns

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

www.crystal-lagoons.com | Submitted

Former County Commissioner Joe McClash included this image of a
Crystal Lagoon in Chile in an e-mail he sent to county commissioners.

 

MANATEE COUNTY – The May 4 County Commission land use meeting featured much talk about mangrove destruction, an estuary enhancement area, dredging and high-rise buildings, but there was another design element introduced that concerns former County Commissioner Joe McClash: a Crystal Lagoon.

The intent to build a man-made lagoon surfaced when Aqua by the Bay developer Carlos Beruff's attorney, Ed Vogler, was addressing concerns expressed about the developers' previously unstated plans to build as many as 24 145-foot tall high-rise buildings. Vogler was trying to make the point that even with the high-rises, Aqua by the Bay would be a unique and special development, in part because of a water feature that until that point had not been mentioned by the developers, the commissioners, county staff or the Planning Commission.

"This project is going to have constructed a Crystal Lagoon. Have you ever heard of that before? I think there's only two or three in the whole world right now. What it is, essentially, is an incredibly open, blue water facility that has sand beach, and it's chlorinated in some way. You're talking about a world-class commitment for Manatee County. The cost to start the design of this has been funded, and it will be built as part of the early parts of this project," Vogler said.

The lagoon came up again during public comment. Barbara Walker, from the Audubon Society, said, "It's like a fake beach, and we could put a fake beach almost anywhere."

Charter captain Kathe Fannon said, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this pool that you've designed would look great in Orlando. You are less than five miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We don't need that here. This is not Aqua by the Bay, this is awkward by the bay."

McClash is actively involved with the Suncoast Waterkeeper organization and he later sent county commissioners an e-mail about the proposed lagoon.

"This new concept of a crystal lagoon was never brought up before. 'Wow' is all I have to say; and yes, 'Awkward by the Bay' is the appropriate name. This is not Manatee County. The comp plan and land development code don't allow for what was presented or this new crystal lagoon concept," he wrote.

His e-mail included a link to the Crystal Lagoons website and an image of a beachside lagoon in Chile that is described as operational.

"They are a giant swimming pool for a lack of any other description," McClash wrote.

During that May meeting, Vogler told county commissioners there were only a few such lagoons in the world, but the Crystal Lagoons' website mentions more than 600 projects in different stages of planning, design, construction or operation in 60 countries, with Florida locations include Hillsborough County, Venice, St. Cloud and Jacksonville.

The website also says Crystal Lagoon technology uses up to 100 times less chemicals than conventional swimming pool technologies and consumes only 2 percent of the energy needed by conventional swimming pool filtration systems.

The entire Aqua by the Bay project has been remitted back to the Planning Commission for further review based on additional details to be provided by the developers, but no meeting date has been set.

Warm coats

Bartenders are listeners.

You sit at the bar. You drink. The bartender listens.

The topics can be tricky.

The patron's ex-wife.

This one is real tricky.

The bartender has to try to kill this conversation because the person to the left is somebody's ex-wife and the guy to the right is going out with an ex-wife.

The patron talking about his ex-wife is not a happy guy. He gets a couple of drinks in, and he will get morose and then the bar will get morose and morose people tip poorly.

Politics. Not good right now. Republicans are morose.

Religion. Fire and damnation. Morose.

The Floridian's favorite warm coat. This is one of my favorites.

Every Floridian has one warm coat he wears during those coupla weeks in December when the Canadians slip us a couple of those too-dam-cold Canadian cold fronts.

This week that one warm coat is heading to hibernation in the back of the closet, but next October it will be back again.

By October, we will be sick of the heat and overjoyed to welcome that first, refreshing cool front.

People will laugh and drink and dance naked in the streets.

By December some of those cold fronts will get fiercer and colder and more belligerent.

There will be bitterly cold Canadian cold fronts. Damn Canadians.

Those warm coats will climb back out of their closets, and the locals and their warm coats will march into the bar like critters marching into the ark – arm in arm – two by two.

On those cold nights, it is as if every bar stool has two guests – the patron and their coat.

The coats are introduced to the bartender and the other patrons in the bar.

"I got this coat from my sister's ex-husband – he played football at Notre Dame. SOB is still behind in alimony, and I'm keeping the goddam coat"
"I got this coat from the mayor of Buffalo – we got raided in a poker game, and he had to rush out without it."

"I got this coat in Failene's basement for a dollar in '72."

There is always a lady in a great big fur – testimony to acres of forest denuded of small animals.

The lady with the fur loves her coat – as martinis slide down, she begins to slide deeper into the fur and the warm, romantic memories of her lost youth.

"Ralph gave me this coat after he got back from Vegas."

A guilty fur coat.

I'll miss the winter coat talk. Memories of winter coat convesations will keep me cooler in the hot days from now until the next "big chill" in October.

One dog day in September, when the heat is cruel and relentles and crushing, I will dig around in the trunk at the back of the closet for my special warm coat.

I will slide into it like an old boot and go sit by the pool in the white hot sun, and I will dream of cold fronts and all my friends around the bar in their special coats – shiny suede, broken zippers, mismatched buttons and matted sheepskin collars.

I will look forward to cooler days again, and I will wonder what Ralph did in Vegas that was so bad he had to buy that fur.


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