BRADENTON – Manatee County Commissioners have agreed to provide the city of Anna Maria with up to $2 million for the reconstruction of the hurricane-damaged City Pier walkway.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, county commissioners voted 6-1 in support of the city’s funding request, with Commissioner Amanda Ballard casting the only opposition vote.
The county commission pledged the county’s financial support without a written agreement in place that ensures the county can install and operate a Gulf Islands Ferry stop alongside or near the rebuilt City Pier after it reopens later this year.
Minus such an agreement, county commissioners George Kruse and Tal Siddique cautioned there would be repercussions if Mayor Mark Short and the Anna Maria City Commission ultimately reject a county-funded City Pier ferry stop.
Accompanied by state and federal funds, the county’s contribution will help offset the anticipated $7.1 million to $7.8 million cost to replace the City Pier walkway that Hurricane Milton destroyed in October 2024. The estimated costs also include repairs and remediation for the still-standing pier buildings that survived the back-to-back hurricanes but experienced flooding, mold formation and other hurricane impacts that require attention.
Before the hurricanes struck, the public boat landing at the T-end of the City Pier served as a ferry landing for the two, open-air, 49-passenger Gulf Islands Ferry pontoon boats the county and its contracted ferry operator put in service in January 2024.
Still using the pontoon boats that travel on the Manatee River and the Intracoastal Waterway, the Gulf Islands Ferry service currently operates as a two-point system between the Bradenton Riverwalk Pier in downtown Bradenton and the Bradenton Beach Pier in Bradenton Beach.
COUNTY FUNDS
The county’s contribution to the City Pier reconstruction project will be funded by the 6% tourist development tax the county levies on hotel, motel, resort and vacation rental stays of six months or less.
Last year, Manatee County invested $3 million in tourist tax revenues to purchase a new and larger ferry boat that features an enclosed passenger area and is expected to begin service soon.
When presenting the city’s funding request to county commissioners on Feb. 10, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione noted the request was previously reviewed by the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) in June and the TDC members recommended county commission approval.
“If this is approved by the board, it would be 100% tourist tax proceeds that would pay for this,” Falcione said.
District 3 County Commissioner Tal Siddique said the county’s $2 million contribution would help address the frequent complaint that the three Island cities that generate a significant percentage of the county’s tourist development tax revenues don’t receive an equitable share of those county-controlled revenues.
The $2 million interlocal funding agreement between the county and the city is not contingent on an Anna Maria ferry stop.
“The mayor has acknowledged that the city will cooperate and work with the county to find a landing spot in that geographic area for the water ferry,” Falcione said. “We’re probably looking beyond 2027 to get that done because we’ve got to get that City Pier done first.”
Falcione said the Anna Maria ferry landing is not yet in the design phase, but he’s confident the city and the county will come to an agreement that allows that to happen. Falcione estimated the county-funded ferry landing will cost the county at least another $1 million.
Ballard, who also chairs the TDC, questioned the county committing $2 million to the City Pier replacement project without having a firm commitment from the city for a ferry stop.
“What I hear you saying is not a very strong statement that the ferry will be able to land at the new pier as it did in the past,” Ballard said.
When addressing that concern, County Commissioner George Kruse said, “Here’s the reality. We never have any assurance of anything. However, we have relationships with our municipalities. Relationships are fragile. We’ve spent a lot of money in good faith on these boats because we had some assurance of a landing where these boats need to go. They’re not day cruises that we go out to the Gulf and come back after catching a few fish. They’re supposed to take people someplace and they’re alleviating the traffic on the Island more than they’re alleviating traffic for unincorporated Manatee County.
“And if by chance we do not have that after we put $2 million into that pier, used our political capital up in Tallahassee to advocate for an appropriation and spent money on a larger, enclosed boat to get there, then that’s going to have a significant impact in terms of the trust factor between the municipalities. We’re spending this money in good faith that we’re going to have a place put this boat when it gets there. We have a great relationship with all three of those Island cities right now, but those relationships only last when they’re reciprocal in both ways. So, I would anticipate this not being an issue going forward,” Kruse said.
Echoing Kruse’s sentiments, Siddique said, “At the end of the day, trust is a two-way street. We’re willing to work with you if you’re willing to work with us. But after the investment we’ve made into this pier, if you’re not going to work with us, and you’re just going to spit in our faces, I am not going to work with any city in this county that does this to us.”
Kruse made the motion to approve the execution of the up to $2 million interlocal agreement between the city and the county and Siddique seconded the motion.
Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short addressed the commissioners before they cast their votes. He said the city and the county have a good working relationship and he agrees that it’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain that relationship as the pier and ferry landing projects move forward.
“I understand the concerns about that water ferry landing. We have been working with the county on different options and that will continue,” Short said.
Short noted the pier replacement permits the city received from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection require the new pier walkway to be built in the exact same footprint as the previous pier walkway. Short said those permits don’t allow the county’s ferry landing to be included as part of the walkway replacement project and the ferry landing must be pursued as a separate future project.
THIRD FERRY
When speaking to The Sun on Friday, Feb. 13, Falcione said the new ferry boat is expected to begin service soon between the Bradenton Riverwalk Pier and the Bradenton Beach Pier. He said the floating dock next to the Bradenton Beach Pier that currently accommodates the 30,000-pound pontoon ferry boats can also accommodate the new boat that weighs approximately 100,000 pounds.
“The city of Bradenton Beach, led by Mayor Chappie, have been great partners. We are getting really close to putting the third ferry into operation – close as in this month. It’s paramount that we get this new boat in service. During the last couple weekends, the winds prohibited us from using the pontoon catamarans. If we had the third ferry running, it would have cut through those winds and chop. The number one priority is getting that third ferry into service,” Falcione said.
Related coverage: FEMA obligates $3.59 million for City Pier project
