ANNA MARIA – A signed contract is now in place for the installation of brick paver sidewalks along Pine Avenue, between Gulf Drive and North Shore Drive, where no paved sidewalks currently exist.
Where applicable, the brick paver sidewalks will follow the same unpaved meandering paths that veer away from Pine Avenue and closer to the business entrances. New crosswalks will also be installed in the initial phase of the multi-phase sidewalk installation project. The existing concrete sidewalks in that area will remain in place for now and be replaced later in a future phase of the Reimagining Pine Avenue safety improvement project.
On Aug. 22, the Anna Maria City Commission authorized Mayor Dan Murphy to sign a contract with Eason Builders Group owner Scott Eason for the initial phase of the multi-phase project.
In reference to the city’s long-protracted efforts to secure a suitable and affordable sidewalk installer, Murphy paraphrased a famous World War II statement made by United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill and said, “It’s the end of the beginning on Pine Avenue.”
For the first one-block portion of the sidewalk and crosswalk installation project, Eason Builders Group bid $233,704, Mali Construction bid $272,796 and C-Squared construction bid $665,290. On July 25, the city commission authorized Murphy to meet with Eason as the mayor and commission’s first choice to do the initial phase of the project. After some additional fact-finding and contract negotiations, Murphy, on Aug. 22, sought city commission authorization to sign the contract with the Eason Builders Group that had already been reviewed and approved by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as the state agency overseeing the city’s expenditure of the state appropriations that will fund the majority of the Reimagining Pine Avenue project. Murphy said the signed contract would be sent to FDOT so the state agency can issue a notice to commence.
“I expect to get all that done quickly so Scott can begin work and we have this come to fruition,” Murphy told the commission.
Eason’s wife and young son accompanied him to the meeting.
When introducing himself to the commission, Eason, a Holmes Beach resident, said, “I’ve got a seven-month-old boy and what I realized in the past seven months is I’m walking a lot more than I ever have in my entire life. I’m pushing a stroller.”
Eason applauded the mayor for working so hard on the Reimagining Pine Avenue project and not accepting the single bids received from C-Squared that were rejected by the city commission on four previous occasions.
“I’m an Island resident. I want to do this project. I very much care about this city and I think a walkable Pine Avenue is what we all want. We’d love this opportunity to do this work. I won’t let you down,” Eason told the commission.
In response to Eason’s stroller comments, Murphy said he watched his own daughters struggle to push his grandchildren’s strollers down Pine Avenue while headed to the beach at the end of the street.
“I didn’t understand why we had sand sidewalks out here. I’m looking forward to Scott doing a bang-up job and bringing this project home for us. I hope we can get it done quickly, efficiently and to everybody’s satisfaction,” Murphy said.
The commission then voted 4-0 in favor of authorizing the contract with Eason Builders Group, with Commissioner Charlie Salem recusing himself because he and his husband own two commercial properties along Pine Avenue.
The city is approaching the sidewalk installation project in four separate stages, with each stage covering a block or so of Pine Avenue. Bid proposals will soon be reviewed for the next stage that will extend from North Shore Drive to Crescent Drive, followed by another phase from Crescent Drive to Tarpon Street and another phase from Tarpon Street to Bay Boulevard.
