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Tag: Bradenton Beach

Bradenton Beach undergound utilities

CRA discussing underground utility lines

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News, Featured.

BRADENTON BEACH – The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is ramping up its conversations on putting utility lines along Bridge Street underground.

CRA chair Ralph Cole has been advocating for underground utility lines since 2016. During the Feb. 7 CRA meeting, he said it would cost $160,000 for Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) portion of an undergrounding project on Bridge Street. There would be additional work and costs associated with the cable TV and internet providers and underground boring services. Cole said there would also be some cost to Bridge Street business owners, but he thinks they would support the project.

“You have to start somewhere. It might be time to lay the foundation to start undergrounding the power. My goal is get everything underground eventually and get rid of all the wires,” Cole said, noting that underground utility lines were included in the original CRA plan in 1992.

Cole said FPL’s work would cost $1.7 million if undergrounding the entire CRA district from Fifth Street South to the Cortez Bridge. He said the project could be done citywide as funds become available or the city could borrow the money and charge property owners a special assessment fee.

Public Works Director Tom Woodard estimated the total cost to underground utility lines on Bridge Street alone to be slightly less than $1 million.

“The $160,000 is basically FPL’s small part of it. That’s for the cable and the conduit. That does not include Bright House, Spectrum, Frontier or whomever. There are a lot of other factors,” he said.

Woodard and City Engineer Lynn Burnett met with Longboat Key representatives to learn more about that town’s undergrounding efforts. Burnett said the town hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study and help coordinate the parties involved.

In 2015, Longboat Key voters approved the town borrowing $25.25 million to underground all electric, phone and cable lines and install fiber optic cables along Gulf of Mexico Drive. The town website says the project is in the early stages of implementation. This includes establishing special assessment fees for each parcel of land. The fees range from $2,400 to more than $5,500 and full construction of the underground network will take several years.

Board response

“We’re about this beautiful setting and power lines suck. It’s certainly safer because we are really susceptible to power going down in storms,” CRA member Ed Chiles said. “What’s the negative to putting power underground, besides a property owner changing his lead?”

Member Jake Spooner said underground lines are harder to maintain, and it can be more difficult to locate breaks and trouble spots.

“If we’re going to do it, let’s look at the whole thing. What’s it gonna cost? Is it feasible?” member John Horne said.

“I think it is something we should look at for the entire city,” member John Chappie said.

Extending the project beyond the CRA district would require City Commission approval and CRA funds could not be used outside the district boundaries.

City Treasurer Shayne Thompson said the current CRA fund balance is slightly more than $1.9 million including $347,000 in tax revenues received this year. He estimated the CRA would receive $400,000 next year.

Member Randy White asked how deep the power lines would be buried.

Burnett said the depth varies depending on several factors. She said some lines in Longboat Key would be buried to 25 feet and others would be shallower.

“I’m thinking of Avenue C and what a mess that is. Would that not happen on Bridge Street?” White said when asking about the amount of digging required.

Burnett said bore pits would be needed where the underground boring begins and where the conduit and lines are pulled to the surface.

“It’s not a trench dig,” she said, noting the work on Avenue C is a combination of boring and an open-cut trench dig.

The board directed Burnett and Woodward to gather more information for its March meeting.

John Metz

Metz defense challenges Sunshine Law

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – Lawsuit defendant John Metz and his attorney, Thomas Shults, claim the Florida Sunshine Law is unconstitutional.

“Mr. Metz feels the entire Sunshine Law is unconstitutional. He wants to say the Florida Legislature has gotten it wrong,” City Attorney Ricinda Perry told city commissioners on Nov. 2.

Enacted in 1995, Florida Statutes Section 286.011 is a series of laws enacted to ensure government meetings are conducted in a public setting and that the public has access to public records.

The claims of unconstitutionality are contained in the answer and affirmative defense of John Metz that Shults filed with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Bradenton on Oct. 30.

“F.S. 286.011 impermissibly infringes upon speech, assembly, association and petition rights under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the defense claims.

The defense claims the Sunshine Law violates the rights to peaceably assemble, associate, instruct representatives and petition for redress of grievances under the Florida Constitution: “Chapter 286 targets speech based upon its communicative content and imposes civil and criminal sanctions as a result of speaking and listening to words. The statute is therefore presumptively unconstitutional.”

Metz is one of six defendants accused of violating the Sunshine Law by discussing a parking garage prohibition and other land use issues outside of a city meeting. Metz was a member of the city’s planning and zoning board when a recorded discussion took place at the July 25 Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach (CNOBB) meeting. At the time, four of the future defendants served on the planning board and two served on the Scenic Waves Committee. All six have since resigned. Attorney Jim Dye is representing the other defendants.

On Aug. 11, attorney Robert Watrous, with assistance from paralegal Michael Barfield, filed a civil lawsuit on the city’s behalf seeking a ruling on the alleged violations.

“The Sunshine Law requires advance notice to the public and opportunity for public comment at any meeting or discussion on issues that are reasonably foreseeable to come before any board or collegial body. Because the P&Z Board acts as the local planning agency, it is reasonably foreseeable that its duties will include future consideration of whether a parking garage should be constructed within the city,” the lawsuit complaint states.

F.S. 286.011 states: “Any public officer who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by fine not exceeding $500. Any person who knowingly violates the provisions of this section by attending a meeting not held in accordance with the provisions hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s website says telephone conversations and e-mails between board and committee members may also qualify as “meetings” under the Sunshine Law. The investigation conducted by Watrous and Barfield produced e-mail exchanges between board and committee members pertaining to parking garages, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the city’s comprehensive plan and future land use map.

“Because Chapter 286 sanctions those who attend ‘meetings,’ it impermissibly infringes not only upon the speech and petition rights of the people and the defendant under the United States and Florida constitutions, but also their right to peaceably assemble and associate under both constitutions,” Shults claimed on Metz’s behalf. “The language of the statute is so vague that it fails to provide persons of common intelligence and understanding adequate notice of the proscribed conduct. In the addition, the statute is impermissibly overbroad and penalizes or, at a minimum, chills the exercise of the fundamental rights of the people and the defendant.”

The defense also claims the attempt to recoup legal fees from the defendants was filed in bad faith and/or is frivolous; that Metz is entitled to recoup his legal fees from the city; and that Metz cannot be sued by the city because he no longer serves on the planning board.

Perry told commissioners the city has thus far incurred approximately $16,500 in legal fees and those costs were increased by the defendants’ initial reluctance to comply with public record requests. She also said the proceedings are being delayed.

“Mr. Shults has put a damper on progress by stating that on behalf of Mr. Metz he’s unavailable until January,” Perry said.

ferry service permit

Commission conditionally approves water ferry service

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – The Sarasota City Commission has unanimously approved a conditional city-issued water taxi permit that will allow Sherman Baldwin and Tevatan LLC to operate a water ferry service between Sarasota and the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.

The conditional elements of the permit approved Tuesday, Feb. 21, include a requirement that Baldwin acquire sublease rights for a city of Sarasota-owned dock building near Centennial Park and the 10th Street boat ramp. The dock and adjacent city-owned building are leased to the all-volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla. Baldwin also plans to inquire about subleasing and sharing the sparingly used auxiliary building for use as a lobby area.

Baldwin was scheduled to meet with Sarasota Parking General Manager Mark Lyons this week to discuss the sublease and to further clarify the parking situation. Depending on the outcome of these discussions, Baldwin hopes to begin his ferry service as early as next month. He originally hoped to begin service in mid-February until he encountered unanticipated delays in the permitting process.

“We’re glad to see the permit is underway. There’s still some work that needs to be done, but I’m convinced that it can be handled.”
– Mark Lyons, Sarasota parking general manager

Sarasota’s water taxi permit ordinance was adopted in 2003 but it was never fully implemented until Baldwin submitted his application. This process revealed the need for future refinement of the ordinance and the commission agreed that would be undertaken as a separate and future commission matter.

In accordance with the existing ordinance, further clarification is still needed in regard to parking. The city-owned dock is located next to the Centennial Park public boat ramps and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in an area that contains approximately 900 parking spaces.

ferry permit meeting
Capt. Sherman Baldwin and Parking General Manager Mark Lyons present Baldwin’s ferry taxi plan to Sarasota City Commissioners. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

There is ample room for parking, but the arrival and department point is not within easy walking distance of Main Street and the downtown business and entertainment district.

Baldwin originally hoped to set up shop in the city-owned waterfront complex that includes the Marina Jacks and O’Leary’s Tiki Bar, but that was not to be.

“I wish it was closer to downtown. I would prefer that it be in the heart of the downtown, but there’s challenges trying to get that done,” Lyons said after last week’s meeting.

This means folks who travel to Sarasota from Bradenton Beach and elsewhere on Anna Maria Island will need to utilize the city’s new Gem Car electrical shuttle service, Uber drivers, taxis and other means of alternative transportation to reach their destinations. Lyons said there is also enough space in that location to accommodate larger shuttle buses.

Sarasota commissioners also expressed interest in Uber-like water taxis transporting folks around the waterfront and across the bay to Longboat Key; and Sherman mentioned this as an anticipated second phase of his ferry operations.

When asked about a ferry stop in Longboat Key, Baldwin told the commission this would not be feasible due to the lack of public docking facilities. He said Uber-like water taxis would be a more practical means of accomplishing that goal.

Lyons said he appreciated the fact that Baldwin came to the city with a plan that did not seek financial subsidies.

“Sherman came forward with a full plan. We’re proud to partner with him and help him out where we can. We’re glad to see the permit is underway. There’s still some work that needs to be done, but I’m convinced that it can be handled,” Lyons said.

The Sarasota commissioners touted the ferry service’s potential to create jobs and economic opportunities in addition to serving as an alternative means of travel between Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Sherman said he was happy that his permit was conditionally granted and he expressed no displeasure about the delays incurred. His future plans include expanding the ferry service to include downtown Bradenton as well, which he hopes to do later this year or in 2018.