Tag: Anna Maria City Pier

Updated Feb. 15, 2018

ANNA MARIA – The new Anna Maria City Pier will be built with concrete pilings.

In March, the Anna Maria City Commission will decide if the pier will be feature hardwood decking or composite decking.

The decision to go with concrete pilings was by a 3-1 vote at the commission’s special pier meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Commissioner Dale Woodland did not support either of the piling options that Ayres Associates Vice President Jay Saxena presented. Even though it is no longer an option, Woodland still supports the wooden pilings the design firm said last month would only provide for a pier with an estimated 25-year service life.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Woodland said he made a mistake in October when he joined the other commissioners in unanimously voting in favor of building a pier with non-wood pilings in order to build a pier designed to last 75 to 100 years. Woodland withdrew his support for that initial pier construction decision and said he would probably continue to oppose the commission’s pier material choices as the process continues.

Pier pilings

Saxena told the commission a combination of 230 10-inch and 12-inch diameter, 50-foot long composite pilings, which could be color-tinted, would cost an estimated $250,000. The hollow composite pilings could also be filled with concrete to provide additional load bearing support for an additional $99,440, bringing the total estimated cost to $349,440.

Saxena said 240 10-inch diameter, 50-foot long, gray, concrete spun pilings would cost an estimated $180,000.

In response to a question from Commissioner Carol Carter, Saxena said an individual piling could be replaced if it failed in the future. The failing piling could also be left in place if the surrounding pilings were sufficiently bearing the additional weight.

After further discussion, Carter made the motion the go with the less-costly concrete pilings. Commissioner Doug Copeland said he preferred the aesthetics of the composite pilings but he supported the concrete option for its cost benefits. Commissioner Brian Seymour also supported concrete pilings.

Decking options

After the piling decision was made, Saxena presented Mayor Dan Murphy and the commission with two potential hardwood decking options: Epay and Kebony.

Woodland asked why wood timbers and Trex decking were not included in those options.

“I don’t think pressure-treated pine meets our criteria.”
Doug Copeland, City Commissioner

Saxena said Ayres could provide cost estimates on the additional decking materials if that was the commission’s desire.

Copeland said the existing pier was essentially re-decked prior to the pier centennial in 2011 and less than 10 years later many of those pine planks were already failing.

“I don’t think pressure-treated pine meets our criteria. I don’t know if it’s worth the time for Jay to investigate it,” he said.

Referencing the wooden planks on the privately owned Rod & Reel Pier, Carter said, “Those planks are newer than the City Pier planks and they have weathered terribly.”

Saxena said wood decking would not perform to the commission’s desired service life standards.

Saxena did not provide estimated costs on the hardwood decking materials. The commission directed him to provide a cost and performance analysis for the Epay, Kebony and Trex decking options at the commission’s next pier meeting in March.

Regarding permitting, Saxena said the Army Corps of Engineers was gathering additional permitting insight from the National Marine Fisheries Service and other agencies. He expects to have a better idea on the permitting status in mid-March. He said the current lack of permitting was not impeding the design process.

Saxena said the commission would be provided with preliminary renderings of the proposed pier at the March meeting. He also said Ayres expected to complete the design process and enter into the construction phase by late summer, and 50 percent design drawings would be provided before then.

During public input, Anna Maria resident Dennis Ellsworth asked if the pier design includes dockage for a water taxi. Mayor Dan Murphy said it does not currently, but that could be an add-on item later.

Holmes Beach resident Mike Deal asked why the commission and design team were discussing the potential replacement of a piling when discussing a pier that is supposed to last 75 to 100 years.

Updated Feb. 15, 2018

ANNA MARIA – The city’s request for $750,000 in state funds to help build a new pier has cleared another hurdle.

According to Mayor Dan Murphy, the bills containing the monetary request are moving through the Florida House and Senate.

“Commissioners: Some very good news! Our $750,000 appropriation bill for the city pier restoration has been approved and is included in both the House and the Senate final budgets,” Murphy wrote in a Feb. 9 email to city commissioners. “The next stop should be Gov. Scott’s office if all goes as planned.

“We owe a big thank you to Sen. Bill Galvano and Rep. Jim Boyd for making this a priority in their budget submissions. Also, both Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore and our lobbyist, Chip Case, played a big role behind the scenes in getting this funding through in record time. Keep your fingers crossed, your seat belts fastened and hope we make that final hurdle.”

The appropriations request originally filed by Boyd as House Bill 3107 is included on page 335 of the 431-page Senate appropriations bill, SB 2500.

The state appropriations request is part of Murphy and the city commission’s overall efforts to fund an estimated $4.5 million pier project that will also include a new restaurant space and bait shop at the pier’s end. Their goal is to build the new pier using as little ad valorem tax money from city residents as possible.

Manatee County commissioners have approved $1.5 million in county resort tax funds for the pier, and are considering the city’s request for $330,000 in county surplus beach concession revenues.

Potential contributions by pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder, additional corporate sponsorships and a grassroots online GoFundMe fundraising effort being led by city resident Sissy Quinn could help fill the remaining $1.92 million funding gap.

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ANNA MARIA – The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) voted unanimously on Monday, Dec. 4 to recommend that the county reimburse the city up to $1.5 million of the $3.2 million cost of the Anna Maria City Pier platform renovation.

If the County Commission approves the plan, the county will match the city’s expense dollar for dollar up to $1.5 million, reimbursing the city for its expenditures beginning Oct. 1, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Elliott Falcione told the TDC.

The county’s share would come from tourist tax proceeds, paid by owners of accommodations rented for six months or less who charge the tax to their renters, in most cases, tourists. By state law, piers are an approved use for the funds.

An iconic symbol of Anna Maria Island and a community gathering place, the pier was substantially damaged by Hurricane Irma in September and closed.

Local businesses near the pier have been suffering ever since, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said.

“Thank you for the recommendation. It means an awful lot to us,” he told the TDC. “It’s the focal point of our city, but it’s also a focal point of the county.”

“This partnership not only benefits tourists, but also benefits our local residents, and that’s the perfect partnership,” Falcione said, adding that renovations would allow water taxis to dock at the pier, which was not possible due to the pier’s “rickety” state.

The $3.2 million will pay for the gangway, T-end and the replacement of 50-year-old plumbing under the pier, Murphy said, adding that the renovation of the restaurant and bait shop at the end of the pier would bring the total needed to $4.5 million.

The city also has requested FEMA funds, which could reduce the tourist tax contribution, according to the contract.

“There was significant damage to all of it because of Hurricane Irma,” Murphy said. “It cannot just be patched back together.”

The material to be selected for the pier – wood or a manufactured composite – will be discussed at a city meeting this week, he said.

Doug Copeland, an Anna Maria commissioner and the TDC member who made the motion to approve the expenditure, thanked the TDC for supporting the city on the pier project.

TDC member Ed Chiles pointed out that despite criticism that not enough tourist tax funds are allocated to the Island that attracts tourists, the TDC “unanimously approved support for a project that has needed renovation for a long time.”

“It will be a home run,” he said.

Holiday special Sunday

A one-hour special, “Sand, Sun and Holiday Fun,” by Chad Crawford, of the “How To Do Florida” television series, will be broadcast on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. on local CBS affiliates. Crawford produced an episode of his series in Bradenton a year ago, which aired only in Florida, according to Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Elliott Falcione, adding that the holiday special will air in markets nationwide, including Pittsburgh, which has a new non-stop flight to the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Tourism report

In other business, the TDC learned that September brought a flurry of visitors to Manatee County, but they were mostly Hurricane Irma refugees or rescue workers, according to  Walter Klages, of Research Data Services, the county’s tourism consultant.

Statistics for September, typically the slowest month of the year, showed that visitation was up 8 percent, room nights were up 8.3 percent, the average daily rate was up 8 percent to $154.80 and economic impact was up 14.7 percent, he said.

Much of the increase did not apply to Anna Maria Island, which was evacuated prior to the storm, he said, adding that some of the increase is due to post-storm visitors who attended the World Rowing Championships at Benderson Park.

The average length of stay increased from 4.9 to 5 days from the previous year, with more families and single visitors and fewer couples. September occupancy was up 2.9 percent to 61.2 percent.

Visitors who arrived at Tampa International Airport increased while those from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport decreased, also due to Irma, Klages said.

The median income of visitors was $107,000. The CVB is “targeting north of $125,000,” Falcione said. “We’re getting better visitors coming in to the destination.”

For the county’s fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, visitation was up 4 percent, with almost 713,000 visitors, translating to an increased economic impact of 6.4 percent, or nearly $1 billion for the year.

Inventory – short-term rentals in hotels, motels and condominiums – grew by 5.5 percent, Klages said, not counting Air BnB and similar sites that do not necessarily report rentals to the tax collector.

Occupancy was down one-tenth of 1 percent to 70 percent while the average daily rate was up 3.4 percent to $172.80.

Florida set another tourism record by welcoming the most visitors of any nine months in the state’s history with 88.2 million visitors during the first three quarters of the year, according to Visit Florida.

The record represents a 3.3 percent increase over the 85.4 million visitors from the same period in 2016, and includes 77.6 million domestic visitors, 7.9 million overseas visitors and 2.7 million Canadian visitors.

ANNA MARIA – The former employees of the restaurant and adjoining bait shop on the Anna Maria City Pier gathered Thanksgiving morning at the nearby Bayfront Park.

The group of about 40 people also included friends, family members and former customers. Last week’s gathering was the first time many had seen each other since the pier was closed in early September due to damage sustained during Hurricane Irma. For safety reasons, the pier will remain closed until a new pier is built, which could take two years.

Built in 1911, the city-owned pier and pier buildings leased to longtime tenant Mario Schoenfelder were already slated for future replacement when Hurricane Irma ripped the roof off the bait shop, damaged the T-end decking and created leaks in the roof of the City Pier Restaurant.

Pier personalities

Brian Blaine, 44, spent the past six years tending bar at the bait shop. Before that, he was an executive recruiter and corporate head hunter.

“I’d look at resumes, then go out to the pier and drink a beer or two with the old-timers,” he said of his pre-pier employment.

“The pier was not your typical restaurant. The pier is a magical place for us. It was my favorite place in the world. It’s the worst I’ve been paid, but the best corner office I ever had; and it’s a misconception that we are transients,” he said, before passing out lottery tickets as holiday gifts.

Alan Wirshborn, 64, was a bait shop bartender for the past three and half years. He now works part-time at the Bridge Tender Inn in Bradenton Beach.

“It’s been rough. I don’t think many of us have recovered from this,” he said.

Dwayne Martin, 69, worked at the bait shop for six years. He, too, was a regular customer before he was an employee.

“The customers became friends. For me, it was a little bit of money, but it was the center of our social life. The side bar at the bait shop was a memorial to the old guys who used to be pier regulars. They passed away, and we’ve got their names engraved in there. We need that saved,” he said.

“We’re like lost souls roaming around the Island looking for a place to go. We’ve been going to the Rod & Reel a couple days a week, but it’s not the same. There’s no replacement,” he said of the pier regulars.

Former general manager David Sork disputed the notion that displaced restaurant workers can easily move from job to job. He found a job off-Island after the pier closed, but that was short-lived.

“In terms of manpower, we’ve had one of the most stable organizations that I’ve ever seen around here,” Sork said. “We have mortgages, leases, day care, kids in schools and all that stuff. I don’t know anybody that’s upgraded since they left the pier.”

“We all knew at some point this place would close down – probably at the end of its lease – but we closed on a Thursday night, and that’s the last night we were there. I didn’t realize the emotional attachment I had to all these people and that pile of lumber out there,” he said.

Changing places

Waitress Cindy Graeff started working on the pier in 1997 when John Horne and his original Anna Maria Oyster Bar were the pier tenants.

She later went to work with Sork at the Rod & Reel Pier and joined him at the city pier after Schoenfelder secured the lease in 2000.

“I also worked for Bill Arthur, who had the jewelry table,” she said of the pier-based retail operation that was later expanded to include the Anna Maria Rocks store near Bortell’s Lounge.

“I personally believe the city has neglected that pier for 20 years. I would like to know the percentage of our rent that ever went back into that pier,” she said.

When reminded that the lease states Schoenfelder must maintain the pier, Graeff said, “But the city still has a responsibility. It should be a partnership.”

Graeff is working for Horne again, this time at the Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Bradenton Beach.

“I went from one pier to another. I went full circle,” she said.

Nadine Kollar waited tables on the pier for six years.

“I’m trying to paint some houses but it’s kind of slow. I’ve applied at quite a few restaurants and really have not gotten any calls. My savings are almost gone,” she said, noting that she’s also collecting unemployment.

Rockey Corby was pier manager for nine years. He’s now at the Rod & Reel Pier owned by Schoenfelder.

“They’re taking care of me, but I miss my home,” he said.

Traci Kearton worked as a pier server for 15 years. She pointed to Andre Bazile, who worked as a pier cook for 17 years, and said, “He’s the one Andre’s Famous Gumbo is named after.”

Bazile now works at Hurricane Hank’s in Holmes Beach. He’s glad to be employed, but said, “It’s never going to be the same as the pier. That pier is my house.”