HOLMES BEACH – With dozens of beachgoers soaking up the sun at Manatee Beach as the backdrop to a Manatee County press conference, county officials announced the progress in reopening all of Anna Maria Island’s beaches.
The conference on Oct. 25 was held to discuss the timeline and progress in beach clean-up and featured speakers were Manatee County District Three Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Manatee County Director of Natural Resources Charlie Hunsicker, Manatee County Deputy Director of Parks and County Grounds Carmine DeMilio, State Rep. Will Robinson, State Sen. Jim Boyd and businessman Shawn Kaleta.
“It’s so important that everybody knows the great strides that we are making in our recovery efforts. Our island and surrounding communities continue to exemplify what it is to be real, authentic and resilient in the face of adversity,” Van Ostenbridge said.
Manatee Beach is open and part of Coquina Beach will reopen next week, according to Van Ostenbridge.
“The sand is safe, the water is safe,” he said. “In about 30 days time we believe the entire seven miles of Anna Maria Island beaches will be open. The beaches will be safe and that includes dragging the sand multiple times with smaller nets to catch all the debris that we can and magnets for pulling any metal we can out of the beach.”
He said the website www.bradentongulfislands.com/recovery will list businesses that are open.
“It’s so important we get the message out that these restaurants and these businesses are back open for business so people will come back out to their favorite places,” he said.
Hunsicker talked about the efforts being made to restore the all the Island beaches.
“This was a significant event and that’s a huge understatement,” he said. “When hurricane Helene came in, that’s when we had an overwash of the Island and we now have sand throughout the Island.”
He said crews have been working to move sand to appropriate locations.
“We have a lot of sand out here that came right from the beaches, but we also have areas that were taken from parking lots and private homes and it’s a dark color,” Hunsicker said. “We’re going to be sorting and sifting beach sand at the county reception site at the end of Coquina Beach.”
He said the dark sand, which is not suitable for the beach, will be brought to an inland location in Manatee County and will be used for road building materials.
DeMilio said many county staff members have been working 29 straight days, 10-12 hours a day to clean up the beaches.
“We have removed 4 feet of sand from the rest rooms, the sidewalks and the parking lots,” he said. “We have removed truckloads of debris from these beautiful beaches. We have cut up and removed over 80 trees and two to three beach rakes daily to keep the beaches clean.”
He said safety is at the forefront of their efforts.
“Manatee Beach is clean, clear and safe and we invite all of you to come out and enjoy our beautiful beaches,” DeMilio said.
Before introducing State Sen. Jim Boyd and State Rep. Will Robinson, Van Ostenbridge said, “Remarkable help from the state level has helped us to rebound as quickly as we have.”
“It’s nothing short of remarkable to see what we see in front of us here today. Four weeks ago, this place was destroyed,” Boyd said. “Do we still have work to do? Yes we do. One thing I think is important is not to take our foot off the gas.”
“It’s truly remarkable to be standing here when four weeks ago water was over my head,” Robinson said. “Two weeks ago a Category 3 hit our area, and the pure devastation that we saw was not just on the Island but inland as well.”
He said the work is ongoing.
“I’m proud of the county and the state and our federal partners to get us where we are right now. To see folks bring out beach umbrellas and chairs is one step, we have many steps to take over the next few years,” Robinson said. “We will be there with you. It warms my heart to see the great beautiful sand is returned to our shores and we will always be here for our community as we recover the right way.”
In introducing Kaleta, Van Ostenbridge said a heavy responsibility is to get hospitality workers back to work.
“We employ directly hundreds of people, indirectly thousands of people,” Kaleta said. “We’ve kept all our employees and staff, maybe their job titles have changed a little bit in the short term, and we’re doing whatever we can do keep our employees with jobs.”
Kaleta said he works with an organization called amistrong.org.
“That’s a community organization led by community business owners that is a great resource,” Kaleta said. “Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been keeping our heads high with all of our staff and making sure we maintain all of our employees. They’re a vital part of our community and the tourism business as a whole.”
Kaleta said many businesses have been working around the clock to open their doors.
“We have natural resources here that we’re very fortunate to have – probably some of the best on earth. It’s impressive to see what has been done in the matter of less than 30 days,” Kaleta said. “We’re here and we’re offering tourists to come back as quickly as possible.”
