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Month: June 2024

Sea turtle release attracts crowds Monday

Sea turtle release attracts crowds Monday

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Featured, Outdoors, Sea turtles.

BRADENTON BEACH – To the delight of hundreds of spectators at Coquina Beach this morning for a publicized turtle release, loggerhead sea turtle Henrietta stopped several times as she made her way down the sand toward the water.

Once she hit the Gulf of Mexico, cheers erupted among onlookers as she took off swimming.

Commenting on the turtle’s slow walk to the water, one spectator said, “She’s tired because she just had babies.”

Henrietta was chosen for the release after having laid a nest on the beach on Saturday night.

The turtle release was sponsored by the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and Hurricane Hanks.

Henrietta’s name (the female version of Henry) was chosen by Hurricane Hank’s owner, Brian Mathae.

She was outfitted with a satellite monitor and will be tracked by the Sea Turtle Conservancy in the annual Tour de Turtles race. Scheduled to begin on Aug. 1, Tour de Turtles will track individual sea turtles for approximately three months as they leave their respective nesting beaches and race to complete a “marathon.”

The competitors will swim with the goal of being the turtle to swim the furthest distance during the migration marathon.

“Research into the behavior and life cycle of marine turtles has taught us that these creatures do not generally nest and feed in the same area. We now know that sea turtles are highly migratory, often traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles between the beaches where they lay their eggs and the foraging (feeding) grounds where they spend much of their time at sea,” according to the Tour de Turtles website. “Since most research conducted on marine turtles has been carried out on nesting beaches and well over 90% of a sea turtle’s life is spent in the water, feeding, mating, migrating and doing whatever else a sea turtle does when no one is watching, we are missing important information that can help us better protect sea turtles.”

The results of the Tour de Turtles race will be posted at: https://tourdeturtles.org/

The Sun will be monitoring Henrietta’s progress and her results will be posted weekly on The Sun Facebook page.

Manatee gallery

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Photo Galleries.

- Cindy Lane | Sun

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Manatees, or sea cows – actually relatives of the elephant – frequent waters around Anna Maria Island. They are a federally threatened species.

Nesting loggerhead sea turtle struck, killed by vehicle

Sea turtle struck, killed by vehicle

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Featured, Outdoors, Sea turtles.

BRADENTON BEACH – Likely disoriented by streetlights on Gulf Drive, a loggerhead sea turtle that had just nested wandered onto the road and was struck and killed by a vehicle in the early morning of June 19.

The turtle had nested in nearby sand dunes and was likely disoriented by streetlights illuminating a crosswalk, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella.

Sea turtles use light to find their way back to the water after nesting, heading away from dark shadows and towards the brightest horizon, which is usually the light of the night sky over the water. Disorientations occur when sea turtles fail to orient towards the water and travel towards artificial light instead.

Mazzarella told The Sun that the turtle was struck near the Coquina North Boat Ramp at around 5:30 a.m.

“Nesting turtles are 25 years or older, so she was definitely an adult sea turtle,” she said. “Sea turtles produce eggs until they die, so there were many future nests she could have laid.”

The turtle died at the scene and will be taken for necropsy (an animal autopsy) by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“The good news is that she laid eggs before heading towards the road, so her legacy will continue,” Mazzarella said.

Sea turtles are federally protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and by state laws. In addition, local ordinances protect sea turtles by prohibiting lights that can be seen from the beach. Lights can be turned off, have red or amber (turtle-friendly) LED bulbs, or can be shielded from the beach to prevent them from disorienting sea turtles.

“The nest this turtle laid will be in danger of disorienting if the lights are not modified before the nest hatches. Last year, 105 of 404 nests disoriented on Anna Maria Island,” Mazzarella wrote in a press release, adding that Turtle Watch works with local municipalities, Florida Power and Light, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to identify lighting problems and turtle-friendly solutions.

That area of Gulf Drive is a state road and is managed by FDOT, which did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

It is unclear whether the lights that illuminate the crosswalk are manually operated or remain lit all night.

Mazzarella said that Turtle Watch is working with the City of Bradenton Beach and FDOT to find a solution to lighting that disorients sea turtles.

“I hope this brings awareness to the problem,” she said. “I understand lights for public safety, but they can be shielded or have a change in color.”

Two days after the turtle died, Mazzarella reported that progress was made with FDOT regarding the lights in the area.

“We had a tragic loss of a nesting turtle that was hit by a car on 6/19,” Mazzarella wrote in a June 21 email. “The good news is she became an ambassador identifying lighting problems on the Island and educated the public about the issue. FDOT notified us yesterday that they are turning off the new streetlights that illuminate the crosswalks until a turtle-friendly solution can be installed. Hopefully, this will prevent any future incidents and keep the turtles safe in these areas.”

Turtle Watch officials thanked Manatee County, Mote Marine Laboratory, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bradenton Beach Police Department for assisting in the response to the turtle.

The public can report lighting violations to local code enforcement officials. If you see a sea turtle in distress on Anna Maria Island, call Turtle Watch at 941-301-8434 or the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. For more information, visit www.islandturtlewatch.com.

Progressive Cabinetry takes championship

Progressive Cabinetry takes championship

Written by Monica Simpson on . Posted in Soccer, Sports.

ANNA MARIA – The spring adult co-ed soccer season on the Island started with 10 full teams of players young and not so young, traveling from Sarasota, Palmetto and beyond to hit the pitch for the last three months.

Last Thursday night, two teams faced off for the final game of the season and bragging rights as Island soccer champions.

After two halves of play, the exciting game ended in a tie. Tim Holly scored the first and only goal for the Ross Built Custom Home team in the first half of the big game. Leo Gonzalez scored the tying goal for Progressive Cabinetry after halftime.

The strong defensive efforts by both teams kept the scoring low and goalkeepers busy. Each team is known for their shooting and Progressive’s Tyler Bekkerus made eight saves in the team’s win.

On his side of the field, Ross Built’s main keeper, Max Gazzo, worked hard with a recorded 14 stops of his opponents’ strikes. Taking Gazzo’s place at the net, Eliza Faillace made two saves in the game.

The title of champion for the season came down to overtime play. Using Golden Goal overtime play, Progressive’s team captain, Keith Mahoney, was the first to strike and first to score in overtime, giving his team the big 2-1 win and championship title at The Center, and ending another great season of soccer on Anna Maria Island.

Roofs: Need I say more?

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

It’s Florida, it’s hurricane season and your insurer is taking a good look at the most important thing over your head, and it’s not your favorite baseball cap.

It used to be that a roof needed to be replaced every 20 to 30 years, sometimes even 40 years depending on where you live and the material of your roof. Well, we live in Florida and it’s probably the worst environment for roofs in the country if you’re not including states north of Massachusetts where purchasing a snow broom and a variety of snow shovels are the norm.

To complicate the weather issues, we also have insurance issues which thankfully are starting to work themselves out. After a rising number of homeowners had their insurance policies canceled or their insurers refused to offer them coverage simply due to the age of their roofs, the Florida Legislature implemented new roof requirements for homeowners’ insurance in Florida in May of 2022. It’s not perfect, but the legislation has helped many homeowners.

According to the Tampa Bay Times: “Companies would be blocked from denying coverage because of a roof’s age if the roof is less than 15 years old. And for roofs that are older than 15 years, insurers would have to allow an insurance agent or homeowner to have an inspection on the roof’s condition before refusing coverage. If the inspections show the roof has five or more years of useful life left, the insurance company could not reject coverage simply because of age.”

Essentially, the legislation aimed to improve conditions for both homeowners and insurers. While insurers could no longer drop homeowners simply because of the age of their roof, they also received financial protection to cover their own losses. This reduced the likelihood of unnecessary roof replacements when repairs would be sufficient, lowering homeowner premiums and costs to insurers.

In addition, insurance companies can now offer policies that pay out the actual cash value for roofs over 10 years old rather than the cost of a full replacement. Homeowners can now opt to buy a policy with a stated value limit for roof coverage and lower payments based on a schedule for roofs over 10 years old subject to an inspection.

And while we’re talking inspections, any roof inspection should be performed by a certified roof inspector, not by a contractor who may have an interest in installing a new roof. Inspectors can be found on certification organizations’ websites such as the National Roof Certification & Inspection Association.

A homeowner’s situation with their insurer is one problem facing them today. The other issue is buyers who want to know that they’re buying a secure and preferably new roof so they don’t have any insurance issues. It frequently comes up in negotiations, especially if a potential buyer hires a roof inspector. If you have an older roof, even if you haven’t experienced any leaks, be prepared to get pushback from buyers.

Finally, the type of roof you have is key to longevity. Metal roofs can last for 50 years. Concrete or clay tiles also last up to 50 years. Wood is more vulnerable and even the old standby asphalt shingles are also vulnerable to Florida’s weather. How insurance companies treat roofs that have a long life even if they are over 15 years old is going to be on a case-by-case basis.

Do what you can to keep the most important thing over your head in good shape by keeping up with repairs and adding roof straps or clips. At least you’ll be safer in a storm even if your insurance company isn’t happy.

Volunteers clean up Bowlees Creek

Volunteers clean up Bowlees Creek

Written by Rusty Chinnis on . Posted in Outdoors, Reel Time.

This past Saturday, I attended Suncoast Aqua Venture’s large-scale cleanup of Bowlees Creek, a 4.8-mile stream in Manatee County just north of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

This body of water is located within the Sarasota Bay watershed and drains a large area of Sarasota and Manatee counties.

The event, in partnership with Keep Manatee Beautiful and the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, was headquartered at the Bahia Mar West Marina and hosted by owners Willy and Aubry Petrat. Other partners included Suncoast Waterkeeper, Sarasota Bay Watch and Oyster River Ecology.

The marina is a unique location on Sarasota Bay that has private and public slips (first come, first served), a large tiki hut and many other amenities. The area of the cleanup included upstream within U.S. Highway 301 and State Road 70 boundaries, and downstream to the mouth of Sarasota Bay, including Bowlees Island.

Cheryl Huntsinger, vice president of Suncoast Aqua Ventures, said, “A major goal of today’s event was to get trash from upstream areas before it made it to the creek flowing downstream into Sarasota Bay.”

During the event, over 70 volunteers used pontoon boats, kayaks, paddleboards and small jon boats and collected over 1,600 pounds of debris The event was well-timed after recent rains. Following the cleanup, Suncoast Aqua Ventures and Bahia Mar West Marina held a cookout at the marina’s tiki hut.

Suncoast Aqua Ventures was created by a handful of friends in 2016 who were concerned about trash and debris in our waterways. They created a one-of-a-kind competitive event called The Reef & Beach Cleanup and gave cash and prizes in numerous categories to teams who competed. They structure all activities to be fun, family-friendly events. To date, their events have collected over 100,000 pounds of marine debris from our waterways. Their volunteers come from all ages and all walks of life and include water enthusiasts, kayakers, fishermen, scuba divers and anyone who has a passion for our beautiful aquatic ecosystem.

Their next event will be a cleanup of Perico Bayou and northern Palma Sola Bay, one of my favorite locations and close to Anna Maria Island. I encourage readers to sign up and participate in one of these events. You’ll make new friends, be surrounded by like-minded volunteers and go away knowing you left our local waters better than you found them.

For information on the upcoming Perico Bayou cleanup, visit the Suncoast Aqua Ventures website. Watch the video here.

Sarasota brunch restaurant to take place of local favorite

Sarasota brunch restaurant to take place of local favorite

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Business, Restaurants | Bars.

HOLMES BEACH – The community said goodbye last week to Peach’s Restaurant, a long-time Anna Maria Island staple for breakfast and lunch on East Bay Drive.

The restaurant’s doors officially closed at the end of service on Sunday after landlord Benderson Development opted to not renew the lease on the space in the Anna Maria Island Center in May as well as the lease on the Peach’s location in Ellenton.

The announcement came on Peach’s social media pages on May 21 with management at the Holmes Beach location stating that Benderson said they were moving in a different direction for the shopping plaza.

That direction is The Toasted Mango Café, a breakfast and lunch restaurant similar to Peach’s business model, with two locations in Sarasota and Siesta Key. While Benderson has not responded to requests for comment, the news of the new tenant was confirmed when a woman who said she was an owner of The Toasted Mango approached diners and servers at Peach’s in Holmes Beach on June 5. Customers flocked to social media to state that she offered diners coupons to use when The Toasted Mango opens in Holmes Beach and offered to recruit servers.

“Well, that guarantees that Toasted Mango will never get my business,” Angela Pollock said on the Peach’s Holmes Beach Facebook page.

“I was quite turned off that a lady stating she was an owner of Toasted Mango in Sarasota was in my favorite restaurant attempting to hand out business cards or coupons to all the guests as well as asking the servers if they wanted to stay in this location and work for her,” Jenna Baird said. “Myself and several other guests were all just stunned that she would come into a fellow business – same breakfast and lunch – and do this, especially given the unfortunate circumstances of Peach’s being pushed out of the center by Benderson. Peach’s has been here in our communities far longer than The Toasted Mango and this is a terrible way for her to ‘attempt to promote’ taking over the location.”

“We don’t understand,” Peach’s Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hester said. “What we were told was that they were moving in a different direction, however, putting the exact same type of restaurant in our place doesn’t seem to be a different direction. It is sad finding out who was coming in behind us this way.”

Peach’s held a thank you party for the community last Friday.

Though two locations are now closed, Peach’s still has four locations with the closest to Holmes Beach located at 5240 State Road 64 E. in Bradenton.

The company’s management said they’re still looking for a new location for the Holmes Beach restaurant, which opened in 2001, and are meanwhile committed to moving staff from the two closed restaurants to one of the four open locations.

No opening date has been given for The Toasted Mango Holmes Beach location. Peach’s lease in the space officially ends on June 30.

School zone changes approved

School zone changes approved

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners have approved changes for the school zone in front of Anna Maria Elementary School, but drivers won’t notice them until school begins on Aug. 12.

A new ordinance will expand the school zone by 300 yards – 200 to the south and 100 to the north. The area will be restriped and flashing signs will be moved to alert drivers of the lowered speed limit during school hours in the mornings and afternoons.

A no-cost camera system also will be installed by Blue Line Solutions to catch speeders through the school zone during the same hours before and after school when children are likely to be crossing the street. At a previous public hearing, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said the camera system would only be used to catch and issue tickets to speeders during times when the flashing beacons are in use to indicate an active school zone.

In the agreement with Blue Line, the city could choose to either pay a service fee to the company of $25 per ticket, taken out of the ticket cost to a speeding driver, or lease the camera system. In messages to The Sun, Tokajer said the city had chosen the service fee agreement.

Once the system is active, he said speeding tickets during school zone hours will cost drivers $100 with $25 of that going to Blue Line, $40 to the city, $20 to the state of Florida, $12 to a school fund and $3 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s criminal justice training program. A nominal processing fee of $4-5 may also be charged by Blue Line for processing credit card payments.

Loggerhead, least tern nests weather heavy rains

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Birds, Outdoors.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Both loggerhead sea turtle and least tern nests fared well during last week’s heavy rains, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.

“The storm was pretty harsh but most of our sea turtle nests survived and are still incubating for a good hatch,” according to a June 14 email from Turtle Watch.

Turtle eggs in nests that are washed over by the Gulf of Mexico for long periods can drown.

Loggerhead sea turtles are a federally threatened species. Least terns are a threatened species in Florida.

A colony of nesting least terns on Bradenton Beach is thriving, with the first chick hatching on June 14.

Turtle Watch officials offer the following reminders to beachgoers:

• Keep your distance. If birds become agitated or leave their nests, you are too close. A general rule is to stay at least 300 feet away from a nest. When birds are chased or disturbed they use energy they need to nest and care for their young.

• Respect and avoid posted areas.

• Pets are not allowed on Anna Maria Island beaches.

• Keep the beach clean and do not feed wildlife as food scraps attract predators such as raccoons and crows.

• If you see people disturbing nesting birds, gently remind them how their actions may hurt birds’ survival. If they continue to disturb nesting birds, please call and report their activities to FWC’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

Sea Turtle Conservancy to release turtle

Sea Turtle Conservancy to release turtle

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Outdoors, Sea turtles.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The Sea Turtle Conservancy plans to release a satellite-tagged loggerhead sea turtle after it nests on Anna Maria Island as part of the annual Tour de Turtles event.

The release is scheduled on Monday, June 24 at 8:30 a.m. with a backup date of Tuesday, June 25, depending on when a turtle nests. The location will be announced on the morning of the release on the Sea Turtle Conservancy Facebook page and its website at https://conserveturtles.org/.

Attendees are encouraged to come early to see the nesting turtle and talk to the turtle team. In previous years, the release has taken place on Coquina Beach.

The Conservancy is partnering with Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and Hurricane Hanks for the release.

The Tour de Turtles follows the migration of sea turtles from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds from the time of their release until the end of October, the end of turtle nesting season.

The launch of the Tour de Turtles corresponds with World Sea Turtle Day on June 16, the birthdate of Conservancy founder Dr. Archie Carr.

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Taxes, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA – The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) again discussed raising the tourist tax at its June 10 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island.

A revised Manatee County ordinance would include a measure to increase the 5% tourist tax, often referred to as the bed tax, to 6% on the general election ballot in November to be considered by voters.

The increase was unanimously approved by the TDC at its April 15 meeting. The TDC is a recommending board to the Manatee County Commission.

County commissioners were set to vote on increasing the tax at their April 23 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda due to a recent change in state law that requires voters to approve the increase.

“So, what happened was we met the revenue criteria for calendar year 2023,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “The short-term rental tax has to generate $30 million and we generated $30,091,000, making us eligible to increase the tax from 5% to 6%, which is the maximum allowed in Florida.”

Falcione said after meeting the criteria, they sent a request through the county’s Office of Financial Management to the Florida Department of Revenue, which had to issue a letter certifying that the county had met the required criteria. The letter was issued and the county attorney’s office staff drew up a new ordinance at 6%.

“On the Friday before the Tuesday, April 23 BCC meeting, the Department of Revenue notified the county that the Florida Statute on tourism changed in 2023,” Falcione said. “It now requires any additional bed tax levy to go through a referendum process and can no longer be voted on by the BCC. It took the vote out of the hands of the BCC and now requires the residents to make the decision by a vote.”

Once the county was made aware of this change, the vote was removed from the commissioners’ April 23 agenda.

Falcione said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subject to this new law, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made. He said he believes had another county hit this roadblock before Manatee, word would have reached his office and the TDC would not have moved forward with a recommendation to the commission.

Discussions continued and a plan was formed at the June 10 TDC meeting.

“Since we were notified about the changes, the county attorney’s office revised the ordinance to apply the new state law,” Falcione said. “That extra 1% will generate $7-8 million dollars for the community. It’s important that me, as your director, continues to educate the residents about the value of tourists and the value of the tax. I need a recommendation today so we can present this to the board of county commissioners and hopefully, they can vote on it by late July. They would then be able to put this on the general election ballot in November.”

Falcione told the TDC that they would then need to register with the Supervisor of Elections by Monday, Aug. 19 to be on the ballot. He also said that if they did not meet the deadlines, or it made the ballot and failed, it would have to wait two years, because the increase is required to be on a general election ballot.

TDC member Jiten Patel brought up concerns about how they would educate the voters on the increase.

“When voters see a tax on the ballot, they don’t want to see an increase,” Patel said. “When we educate them on the ballot, that might impact their decision.

TDC Chair Ray Turner responded to Patel, explaining that he and Falcione had discussed that concern.

“Elliott and I have talked about this, and Elliott has a plan for that,” Turner said. “If a regular resident that’s not up on all these details sees an increase in taxes, they will automatically assume it’s at a cost to them. In this particular case, it’s a real benefit to residents.”

Falcione said he’s statutorily handcuffed and can’t place ads to “sell” the tax increase, but the TDC, county commission, chambers of commerce, local businesses and others with influence in the community can help educate the community. Falcione also doubled down on a statement he made at the April 15 TDC meeting, as well as when he spoke to The Sun about the issue in May.

“There are no plans to market the destination harder with this additional money,” Falcione said. “Shame on me if I ever did that, but you won’t have to worry about that because it won’t happen.”

Falcione said the additional money from the tax would go to community improvements, not bringing more people to the area, especially to AMI, which he admits at certain times of year is at capacity.

Falcione explained where the money goes and how it benefits both visitors and residents by offering maintenance, upgrades and marketing for the following and more:

• Coquina Beach parking lot

• Bridge Street Pier and Anna Maria City Pier

• Grassy Point Preserve

• Anna Maria Bayfront Park

• Beach renourishment (currently 1% out of the total 5%)

• Cortez Village Historical Society

• Myakka History Center

• Bradenton Area Convention Center

• Bishop Museum

• Manatee Performing Arts Center

• Premier Sports Campus

• The Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ) partnership

• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi)

The TDC approved the recommendation unanimously and it will be sent to the county commission for a vote.

Data shows tourism drop after spring break

Data shows tourism drop after spring break

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA – Tampa-based Research Data Services (RDS) consultant Ann Wittine presented her state of tourism update to the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) on June 10, pointing out the latest available statistics related to the tourism industry in Manatee County from April 2024.

Total visitors and economic impact were down compared to April 2023, as well as room nights spent, with 91,500 visitors (-6.4%), 203,300 room nights (-7.9%) and $134,036,500 in economic impact (-6.9%).

“I want to peel back the onion a little bit,” Wittine said. “Partly, these numbers are down because last year Easter was April 9 and this year it was March 31, and that does impact April business. Having that early Easter compresses business into March and we saw a very good March this year.”

Wittine added that if these numbers are compared to pre-COVID 2019, there is a 43% increase in visitors, a 37% increase in room nights and a 65% increase in economic impact.

Room occupancy for April was down slightly (-3.4%). The average daily room rate was also down from $265.70 per day in April 2023 compared to $260.62 in April 2024.

RDS also keeps track of where visitors are coming from when they visit the area. The largest increase in any visitor origin domestically is Florida, which is up only .5% over the same period in 2023. All other regions of the U.S. are down, with the Northeast being the largest drop at -14.6%. The only visitor origin with an increase was Europe, which was up 12.3% from April 2023.

Wittine says she forecasts a summer where the numbers go down slightly. RDS does extensive surveys with people who have shown interest in visiting Manatee County, many of whom will be coming to AMI, and she is beginning to see a trend of people concerned about rising prices for travel to the area.

RDS’s fiscal year-to-date (October-April) numbers are close to their projections. At 625,600, total visitors are down 3.3% and, at $1,140027,800, economic impact is up 0.3% from the same period a year ago. Wittine has said many times that a great deal of the large increases in visitors and economic impact since pre-COVID 2019 are directly related to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) adding dozens of new direct flights from all regions of the country.

TDC supports Holmes Beach path funding

TDC supports Holmes Beach path funding

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

Superintendent of Public Works Sage Kamiya was back in front of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) at its June 10 meeting. He was there to answer questions and concerns previously brought up by TDC members after his initial presentation requesting tourist tax funding for a city-long multimodal path at an Aug. 21, 2023 meeting.

Kamiya noted that there is a path for walkers and bicyclists that runs along a portion of Marina Drive, but it needs improvement. The proposed new path would begin around the 2800 block of Gulf Drive and continue almost the entire length of the city to where Gulf Drive and Marina Drive merge in the 8000 block. The proposal calls for the path to be separated from the road by a grassy buffer area to keep people using the path separated from the road, improving safety.

At their last presentation to the TDC, city officials estimated the budget for the entire project was $2,436,727 with half of the money going to the Gulf Drive path improvements ($1,293,238) and the remainder designated for Marina Drive path improvements, engineering design, flashing crosswalks and educational signage. Kamiya told the TDC that the path improvement plan would be implemented in phases, with the first phase focusing on the city center area on both Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. The phase 1 estimate is $1,133,401, with $399,460 coming from the city of Holmes Beach and the remaining $733,948 being requested from the TDC.

Rather than approve or deny the funding at the Aug. 21 meeting, the TDC unanimously chose to have the matter brought to a future meeting in hopes of getting answers to questions multiple board members had, such as whether or not the path would eliminate public parking spots, which side of the street the path would be built on and a more specific timeline, among other concerns and questions. The TDC discussed the request at both the Oct. 16, 2023 and Dec. 4, 2023 meetings, but still had questions.

According to Kamiya, because of the delay, Holmes Beach decided to use funds set aside for phase one of the project for other city projects, so the numbers have changed since it was last discussed. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has recently started the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Barrier Islands Complete Streets Improvements Study. This study includes the evaluation of multimodal alternatives for State Road 789, County Road 789, Marina Drive and Palm Drive in Holmes Beach.

Kamiya told the TDC that his hope is the PD&E study will provide funding that will take some of the financial weight off the amount the city is requesting from the county’s tourist tax dollars.

“We did get an FDOT letter to support the project,” Kamiya said. “This makes sense from their perspective because they do want to improve safety. There’s been several fatalities along the roadway, so that’s been our push for this.”

Kamiya went on to ask the council if they would back a portion of the proposal that would not be funded by the PD&E study. He said that amount would be around $500,000. Kamiya also noted that the study doesn’t initially carry construction money with it. The funds would be for design and planning, and when it is time for construction, funding through the study as well as the county would have to be discussed further.

TDC member and Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown had concerns about this project at each of the previous two meetings in which this was discussed and was the first to speak up with more questions this time around.

“I’ve been one that’s said all along that it’s important to do the whole Island if we’re going to do anything,” Brown said. “I do have a question; you’ve asked Rep. Buchanan for $2.24 million dollars for a multimodal path along Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. What is that money to be slated for?”

Kamiya responded saying the actual amount requested was $2.9 million and, because the PD&E study does not include construction money, those funds requested would be used for just the multimodal path along Gulf Drive. He added that the $2.9 million would only pay for part of the project and further funds would have to be found to complete the entire project. Kamiya also made it clear that the study funds would only be for the Gulf Drive portion of the project, not Marina Drive or any remaining portions.

Mayor Brown countered, saying he still did not support the request because too many questions remained and he thought the proposal was confusing and incomplete without solid details. Brown also said he was not pleased that Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth was not in attendance for what he saw as a very important meeting. He believed it was not in the best interest of the city to request such a large sum of money without a mayor or vice-mayor in attendance.

Minutes before the TDC took a vote on the request, the discussion took a turn toward the Gulf Island Ferry having a docking place in Holmes Beach. TDC members discussed whether an existing docking location could be improved to support the ferry or the possibility of a new dock being built somewhere in the city. With the stipulation that the possibility of the ferry landing in Holmes Beach be added to the request, the TDC voted unanimously to send the recommendation for $500,000 to Manatee County commissioners.

TDC recommends $75,000 for ferry marketing

TDC recommends $75,000 for ferry marketing

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – During the Manatee County Tourist Development Council’s (TDC) June 10 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island, TDC members supported more marketing efforts for the Gulf Island Ferry.

The service runs from downtown Bradenton to the Anna Maria City Pier and the Bradenton Beach Pier. TDC member and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione gave the TDC an update on how the ferry service is progressing.

“It’s been exciting. I think our communications manager rode out to the Island yesterday and the ferry was full,” Falcione said. “We’re doing really well with the water ferry running Wednesday through Sunday, and we’ll continue that through the month of June. The goal is to run it 12 months a year. We’ll see how that goes.”

Falcione said that Research Data Services, which provides the TDC with tourism data and statistics, said that a Memorial Day survey of beachgoers showed 60% were aware of the ferry. He said they are still learning month-by-month through surveys. He told his staff that they should be in the public’s face in the region with tourists, then requested an additional $75,000 from tourist tax funds for marketing the water ferry. Falcione said some of that money would be for a local survey and a brand awareness campaign that would give the ferry a push through the end of summer into fall.

“My wife and I live at the end of the dock in Bradenton, and we sit and look out the window and wait for the water ferry to come back,” Bradenton Mayor and TDC member Gene Brown said. “It is unbelievable to us because it’s a 49-seat boat, and we see 49 people get off and 49 people get on.”

The motion to approve the recommendation for the $75,000 was passed unanimously and will be forwarded to the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners for final approval.

County Commission approves third ferry

Commission approves third Gulf Island Ferry boat

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners have approved a $3 million budget amendment to fund the purchase of a third Gulf Island Ferry boat.

On June 11, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione presented the funding request to commissioners for the purchase of a 60-foot, partially enclosed, 93-passenger boat to expand the Gulf Island Ferry fleet to three boats.

The budget amendment also provides additional funds for the current ferry service operations between the Riverwalk Day Dock in downtown Bradenton, the Anna Maria City Pier and the Bradenton Beach Pier.

County Commission approves third ferry
BACVB Executive Director Elliott Falcione presented the funding request on June 11. – Manatee County | Submitted

Falcione hopes to present a purchase order for commission approval in late June before the commission takes its annual summer recess.

Falcione noted the Gulf Island Ferry service began on Jan. 12 with two 49-passenger, open-air pontoon boats and is now operating Wednesday through Sunday, at least through June. The county and the contracted ferry operators will take a month-by-month approach to scheduling during the slower summer months.

Falcione said the pontoon ferries are currently carrying more than 200 passengers a day and carried 14,000 passengers between the initial launch and the end of May.

Regarding the initial purchase of the two pontoon boats, Falcione said, “We had to figure out if the mainland to the Island (route) would work. We always knew the hopper service up and down the Island would work. If the mainland to the Island didn’t work, we would still use those pontoon catamarans out on the Island.”

When addressing the need for a larger boat to handle the river run between downtown Bradenton and the City Pier, Falcione said, “We have suspended 41 days due to wind chop on the Manatee River going out to the mouth of the river. That 41 days is a loss of about 11,000 passengers.”

He noted ferry service at the City Pier has been suspended 10 times due to water currents and other factors.

When presenting a diagram of the proposed vessel, Falcione said 67 seats will be enclosed with air conditioning and heat, two wheelchair spaces, an ADA-compliant restroom and 24 additional open-air seats.

County Commission approves third ferry
This diagram illustrates what the county desires as a third ferry boat. – Manatee County | Submitted

“It’ll be heavier. It’ll be a little bit faster. It should mitigate 60-70% of the weather that we’re dealing with today. The frustrating thing is, if you approve this today, it’s going to take a year to build,” he said.

The larger enclosed ferry will operate between downtown Bradenton and the Anna Maria City Pier – or the Bradenton Beach Pier if conditions require doing so. The two pontoon boats will then operate between the two Island piers and eventually to one of the county boat ramps near Coquina Beach.

The county plans to apply for a federal transportation grant that would cover 80-85% of the funds needed to purchase a second enclosed ferry boat a year or so after the first enclosed ferry boat arrives. County staff has also been directed to eventually implement a ferry stop near the convention center and new Marriott hotel in Palmetto.

Regarding the ferry service becoming a plausible transportation option for Island employees who live on the mainland, Falcione said the long-term goal is to have an express ferry service that leaves for the Island at 7 a.m. and returns around 5 or 6 p.m. with regular ferry service and MCAT buses augmenting the express service.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to not charge the employees to incentivize them to ride the service. We’ll get there and we might be able to find a sponsor,” he said.

For tickets, schedules and other information, please visit the Gulf Island Ferry website.