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Anna Maria City Pier

Anna Maria City Pier to remain closed

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News.

Updated Sept. 26, 2017

ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria City Pier will be closed for at least a year due to damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma.

On Sept. 20, Mayor Dan Murphy received a structural assessment and damage report from the Ayers Associates engineering firm in Tampa. The report was based on the firm’s Sept. 15 inspection of the pier.

“We recommend immediate closure of the facility until appropriate repairs are made to the pier and buildings,” the report concludes.

The report estimates it will take 12 or more months to design, permit and reconstruct the pier originally built in 1911.

“Until those repairs are complete, the public should not be permitted on the pier,” the report says.

The inspection revealed broken, compromised and deteriorated support bents throughout the length of the pier, some of which were in that condition before Hurricane Irma.

Walkway planks adjacent to the bait shop were lifted, scattered and compromised. The missing bait shop roof is covered with tarp. The ceiling near the bar on the south end of the City Pier Restaurant had plywood falling through it and the roof was leaking.

Moving forward

On Monday, Sept. 25, Murphy and the City Commission held an emergency meeting regarding the pier. The commission authorized Murphy begin contract negotiations with Ayers to serve as the city’s second contracted engineering firm. If hired, Ayres will focus primarily on the design, permitting and management of now expedited $2 million pier reconstruction.

The reconstruction of the aging pier was already in the works, albeit on a slower path, before the hurricane damage occurred.

Murphy sent copies of the Ayres assessment to County Administrator Ed Hunzeker and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione. The county officials had already made a tentative commitment to provide up to $1 million in matching funds for the previously planned pier project, and Murphy plans to meet with Hunzeker this week.

Tenant-employee impacts

Murphy sent a copy of the Ayres assessment to pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder, and he met with Schoenfelder’s general manager, David Sork, who oversees the City Pier Restaurant and bait shop operations at the end of the pier.

“I told Mr. Sork to notify all his employees immediately to not hang around waiting. They are going to be out of work long-term,” Murphy said last week.

Schoenfelder’s current lease with the city is scheduled to expire in December 2020 but those terms may need to be renegotiated now that Murphy has declared the pier damage cannot be repaired within 120 days.

“We need to come up with a mutually agreeable plan,” Murphy said.

Murphy also sent Schoenfelder an e-mail containing a list of action items that need to be done.

“The city pier is at the top of my work load. I don’t know when you are returning to the U.S., but it would be helpful if you and I and Mr. Sork meet face-to-face to discuss your role and expectations going forward,” Murphy wrote.

Sork attended Monday’s emergency meeting. Afterwards, he said the pier closure has put approximately 35 employees out of work. The Bridge Tender Inn in Bradenton Beach has offered to hire some of the displaced restaurant workers, and after the meeting, City Commissioner Brian Seymour told Sork he could use another cook at his Anna Maria General Store.

“I’m physically, emotionally and financially drained, but we’ll come back, somewhere, somehow,” Sork said after the meeting.

Anna Maria City Pier post-Irma

Landmark City Pier shredded

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Business, Restaurants | Bars.

ANNA MARIA – The historic Anna Maria City Pier and its restaurant will remain closed until further notice due to significant damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma.

In addition to the roof being torn off the bait shop, there is extensive damage to the wooden planking on the northwest side of the pier’s T-end that faces Tampa Bay.

The bait shop roof has been given a temporary protective covering. A water line that leads to the pier end was damaged and replaced Friday. The damaged fire suppression system was repaired Friday.

The wooden planking along the northwest edge of the Anna Maria City Pier also sustained heavy damage. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

A missing support bent consisting of two pilings and a crossbeam located near the pier’s midway point was also replaced Friday.

The Tampa-based Ayres Associates engineering firm conducted a structural assessment of the pier damage on Friday and Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy is expected to have the report by Tuesday, Sept. 19.

The Ayres report will help determine if the pier can be repaired and reopened. If Ayres deems the pier structurally unsound or not financially feasible to repair, the previously planned $2 million pier rehabilitation project will be accelerated to get a new pier in its place.

Commission discussion

Last week, Murphy took each of the five city commissioners on separate tours of the pier. Murphy and Commissioner Dale Woodland spent about 20 minutes at the pier end Thursday afternoon examining the damage. Murphy said he thought the plank damage was caused by waves and the roof damage by high winds.

Anna Maria Pier post-Irma
Temporary covering has been placed atop the roofless bait shop at the Anna Maria City Pier. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

He also said he believed the restaurant’s smashed glass door was an act of vandalism associated with the theft of beer.

Woodland suggested it might be a long time before the pier reopens, and he expressed concerns about the impact a prolonged closing would have on the restaurant and bait shop employees who work for the city’s longtime pier tenant, Mario Schoenfelder.

The pier damage was discussed at the Thursday, Sept. 14, commission meeting.

Murphy said he already spoke with Schoenfelder, who’s in Germany, and his on site manager, Dave Sork. Murphy said City Attorney Becky Vose is researching the city’s lease options, but it was premature to discuss any lease-related actions.

“The cost of all this is the city’s responsibility. The city’s in charge. We’re the ones that have to make the decisions on what’s going to happen,” Murphy said.

“The critical thing at this point is the structural engineering report. Included in that will be an estimate of the closing time, how long it’s going to take to repair it and the correct way to repair it,” he added.

A contractor who assessed the roof damage told Murphy he didn’t recommend simply replacing the missing roof materials. He said there are no hurricane straps holding the roof in place and the roof supports are held in place only by rusted nails.

“When I was out there, there were new nails in old boards that hadn’t held in the stringers, which says to me the stringers are rotten,” Commissioner Doug Copeland added.

“At this point I can’t give you an estimate as to how long the pier’s going to be closed. This is pretty significant damage and it’s going to take some time. We will get it done as quickly as possible, but it going to have to be done right and according to code,” Murphy said.

He suggested the commission have an emergency meeting this week to discuss the Ayres’ report findings.

“I don’t want the bureaucracy to slow this down. We’re in charge; we can get it done,” Murphy said.

The commission authorized Murphy to spend up to $35,000 on the Ayres assessment.

Anna Maria City Pier

Second pier firm dismissed

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – During an emergency meeting called by Mayor Dan Murphy, the City Commission decided Monday morning not to enter into negotiations with Taylor Engineering to design and permit the rehabilitation of the Anna Maria City Pier.

The sudden turn of events came as somewhat of a surprise because Murphy and City Planner Robin Meyer had been complimentary of the Sarasota-based engineering firm when recently updating the commission on the preliminary discussions with Taylor representatives.

In the end, it came down to cost. On Monday morning, Murphy told the commission that Taylor’s estimated price came in at a maximum of $526,348, not including construction administration or design and permitting of a water taxi berth, which he felt was too expensive for this initial phase of the project.

Murphy said while the Taylor quote offered more details concerning deliverables of the project, the cost of services was consistently high in all areas.

“Half a million dollars is not within the scope of what we can do,” he said. “The city can’t afford it.”

The selection process is guided by the state statute known as the Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act. Taylor Engineering, as the city’s second highest ranked firm, was the second firm to engage in preliminary discussions without advancing into formal contract negotiations. In May, the commission unanimously supported Murphy’s request to terminate discussions with the West Palm Beach based WGI engineering firm that was ranked highest of the three firms that submitted proposals in February.

The decision to jettison WGI was based on Murphy and Meyer’s shared belief that the firm failed to provide the requested project timelines and other deliverables in a timely manner, and the estimated cost climbed from the low to mid-$200,000s to more than $310,000.

What next?

Monday’s decision means Murphy will now engage in preliminary discussions with the third-ranked firm, the New York based McLaren Engineering Group.

When WGI was dismissed in May, Commission chair Doug Copeland asked if the city would have to negotiate with McLaren if Taylor Engineering didn’t work out. City Attorney Becky Vose said the city would, but those negotiations could be short if not initially satisfactory.

“The third vendor was pretty much unacceptable to the city planner and myself. They really didn’t have experience in this area,” Murphy told the commission at that May meeting.

If the mayor and commission decide McLaren isn’t a good fit, the city has at least three options to pursue:

  • Issue a new, but similar, request for proposals (RFP) in hopes of attracting additional bidders for the design and permitting processes only:
  • Issue a new RFP that requests design/build proposals, which would likely generate more interest from large construction firms that use in-house or outsourced design partners;
  • The city could refurbish the pier itself, serving as the lead entity and outsourcing the needed design, permitting and construction services.

The pier rehabilitation is expected to cost approximately $2 million and county officials have tentatively pledged $1 million in matching funds.