ANNA MARIA – Mayor Mark Short and General Manager Dean Jones recently provided city commissioners with a hurricane recovery update.
Given during the Dec. 12 Anna Maria City Commission meeting, the update addressed damage assessments, the hurricane-damaged City Pier, a beach replanting project and more.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS
Short noted the FEMA field team completed their site assessments a few weeks ago and this week the city will be sending letters to all Anna Maria property owners who appeared to have suffered at least some hurricane damage.
The letters will include information about the hurricane repair permitting process. Short said the city will then use the submitted repair-related permit applications to help determine whether a specific structure has been substantially damaged to the point that it warrants potential condemnation by the city.
“We have the FEMA evaluations but we are going to rely on the property owner and the permitting process. We are not going to just go out and make our own decisions on whether or not a property has been substantially damaged. While this is going on, we’re also inputting the FEMA information. We’re using that as a data point,” Short said.
“At this point, we have yet to come across a property that has been deemed totally damaged or substantially damaged to the point that it needs to be condemned. We have not condemned a single property and we have not had a property yet that’s hit that 50% threshold, based on the formula provided to us,” he said.
PIER INSPECTIONS
Short noted the city recently contracted the George F. Young engineering firm to conduct above-water and underwater structural inspections and underwater geo-technical inspections of the City Pier walkway that was heavily damaged and partially eliminated by Hurricane Milton.
The engineering firm is submitting the needed permit applications to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and will design and engineer the pier repairs to be carried out by a yet-to-be-selected contractor.
Short said the Army Corps permits have been submitted and the structural inspections were scheduled to begin on Dec. 13, weather permitting. He said the pier debris piled in the pier parking lot by the humpback bridge will also be inspected in attempt to determine what caused the pier walkway to fail during the hurricane. The inspection process is expected to take about two weeks and will coincide with the geo-technical inspection of the submerged lands the pier pilings are driven into.
Short said a second 30-foot spud barge has been added to the previously installed and temporary Gulf Islands Ferry landing located between the damaged pier and the Lake La Vista jetty. The additional barge extends the ferry landing into deeper water and ferry service to Anna Maria is expected to resume on Thursday, Dec. 19, weather permitting.
BEACH REPLANTING
Short also provided an update on the Stimart family’s “Build Back the Beach” beach replanting project. Short said he received an email from Cindy Stimart stating that all potentially impacted property owners in the project area from Sycamore Avenue to Bean Point have received certified letters and most of those property owners will allow the free beachfront plantings to take place on their property in late January. Short said more information on this project (including volunteer registration and financial donations) can be found at the Good Guardians Collective website.
ADDITIONAL MATTERS
Jones said the city has completed its hurricane debris collection efforts but there are still some debris piles visible throughout the city. He said the city’s code enforcement department is contacting those property owners, who are now responsible for the debris removal. In response to a question posed by Commissioner Gary McMullen, Jones said the city rights of way where debris was placed are being restored.
Jones said hurricane debris has also been removed from three drainage swales and those debris piles would soon be removed. He also said FEMA is accessing the city’s stormwater infiltration system to determine what additional steps might be taken to improve the performance of the city’s stormwater and drainage systems during heavy rains.
Jones said hurricane-related road repairs will begin on Jan. 4 for the city streets that sustained erosion and significant deterioration during the hurricanes.
He said six or seven parking spaces will be created in the City Pier parking lot for those using the temporary post office across the street in City Pier Park.
He said most of the beach access points have been restored but work continues on a couple of beach access points along North Shore Drive.
Jones said the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has surveyed residential canals in search of debris and derelict vessels and one derelict vessel has already been tagged for removal.
