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Commission receives hurricane recovery update

Commission receives hurricane recovery update

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

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.

Commission receives hurricane recovery update
This beachfront home at the end of Spring Avenue was damaged during hurricanes Helene and Milton. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“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.

Commission receives hurricane recovery update
Hurricane Milton wiped out a significant portion of the City Pier walkway. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

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.

Commission receives hurricane recovery update
The extended temporary ferry landing is expected to open on Dec. 19. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

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.

Household debris removal ends in Anna Maria

Anna Maria completes household debris removal

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

ANNA MARIA – The city of Anna Maria is done removing hurricane-related household debris and the removal of any remaining household debris is now the responsibility of the property owner.

Thursday, Oct. 31 is the deadline for landscaping debris to be placed streetside for removal by the city.

Mayor Dan Murphy provided a recap of the city’s debris removal efforts during the Anna Maria City Commission’s Oct. 24 meeting. He also addressed the return of mail service and the dewatering of hurricane- impacted swimming pools. Commissioner Chair Mark Short provided an update on the FEMA assessment teams working their way through the city.

Debris removal

Before Murphy provided his update, longtime resident and former city commissioner Doug Copeland said, “I want to commend and thank the commission, the staff and all the private partners who have done an amazing job cleaning up the city under the leadership of Mayor Murphy. It’s a prime example of how city government should work and I thank you.”

Murphy said 1,130 truckloads and 4,798 tons of debris had been taken to the county landfill to date. He said hurricanes Helene and Milton have cost the city an estimated $3 million to date and the city used $1.5 million of its $3 million reserve fund to cover the initial debris removal costs.

“We expect to be reimbursed by the state next week,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he met with Sen. Jim Boyd and Florida Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie earlier in the week and they congratulated the city on its debris removal efforts.

“He (Guthrie) said we were far ahead of anybody else in the county, maybe the rest of the state,” Murphy said. “I know there have been rumors to the contrary coming from another city that we have not done things according to the book. We’ve done things according to the book. It bothers me that you’ve got to take hits for doing what’s right and be ambushed with false reports.”

Household debris removal ends in Anna Maria
Mayor Dan Murphy helped guide the city’s debris removal efforts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Murphy said the debris removal trucks would make one more pass through every city street on Friday or Saturday and that would end the city’s household debris removal efforts.

“Anything after that is going to be the responsibility of the homeowner,” Murphy said.

Any remaining household debris removal issues will be addressed by the city’s code enforcement and public works departments.

“Landscaping debris a different story,” Murphy said. “We have mounds of landscaping debris. It was far greater than we expected, so we’re extending that landscaping debris removal for an extra week. That has to be on the street by midnight on Thursday (Oct. 31). We’ll divide the city into five sectors and pick it up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

Murphy then said, “I want to thank Dean Jones, the rest of the city staff and the contractors we’ve had working for us. People have gone out of their way to get this debris out. I know we still have a way to go, but through your coordination efforts Dean we’ve come a great distance.”

Pool dewatering

Murphy also addressed dewatering swimming pools. He said it didn’t make sense to begin dewatering pools until the household debris was removed and the dewatering allowances would start on Monday, Oct. 28.

“So many pools were destroyed. My own was loaded with mud. My wife found fish in it,” Murphy said. “We’re going to regulate that street-by-street so we don’t have everybody dewatering at one time.”

Regarding Gulf Drive, Pine Avenue, North Shore Drive, North Bay Boulevard and South Bay Boulevard, Murphy said, “The main arteries of the city need to be passable for emergency vehicles and our own traffic. If we had everybody dewatering at once, it would create impassable streets and we can’t have that.”

Mail service

Murphy expressed his gratitude for the assistance U.S. Sen. Rick Scott provided in getting a temporary post office established at City Pier Park. Murphy said he texted Scott on Friday night and told him Anna Maria needed mail service restored. The following day, Murphy received a call from a vice president of the U.S. Postal Service and on Monday three mail trucks were stationed at City Pier Park for mail retrieval.

Household debris removal ends in Anna Maria
A temporary post office was established at City Pier Park. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

FEMA assessments

Commissioner Mark Short said FEMA’s 16-person site assessment team arrived in Anna Maria the previous week and are going door-to-door conducting site assessments. Short said the FEMA teams are filling out forms to be used for informational purposes but they are not telling property owners what percentage of their property is considered to be hurricane damaged.

Short said the FEMA teams will attempt to assess 1,173 properties in Anna Maria. As of the previous day, they had assessed 415 properties. Short said each assessment takes 20 to 30 minutes. The FEMA teams are assessing approximately 80 properties per day and are expected to finish their work on Friday, Nov. 1.