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Tag: FEMA funds

FEMA obligates $3.59 million for City Pier project 

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Featured.

ANNA MARIA – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has officially obligated $3.59 million in federal funds for the reconstruction and repair of the hurricane-damaged Anna Maria City Pier.

Mayor Mark Short announced the long-anticipated FEMA obligation during the Thursday, Feb. 12, city commission meeting.

During the meeting, the mayor and commissioners had a separate discussion about the future use of the City Pier building vacated by Mote Marine and how to accommodate the county’s desire to install and operate a Gulf Islands Ferry landing alongside or near the City Pier when it reopens. 

PIER FUNDS

During the Feb. 12 meeting, Short said the city received an official obligation from FEMA the previous week for a $3.59 million reimbursement in response to the damage the City Pier sustained when Hurricane Milton destroyed most of the pier walkway in October 2024. Short said FEMA’s financial obligation required the approval of the United States Congress.

The $3.59 million in FEMA funds, a previously approved $1.25 million state appropriation and a $2 million funding agreement approved by county commissioners on Feb. 10 will provide the city with $6.84 million for the pier construction and repair project that Short estimates will cost between $7.1 million and $7.8 million. 

Short said the city must pay the pier-related expenses as they’re incurred and then seek the promised reimbursement from FEMA and the county. The city is also responsible for any project costs that exceed what’s been pledged by the federal, state and county funding sources. 

Short said he felt good about the city receiving nearly $5.6 million worth of pier-related financial commitments within the past week.

PIER USE

On Jan. 27, Short and the city commission hosted a town hall meeting to solicit ideas and community input regarding the future use of the City Pier building that will no longer be used by Mote Marine.

During the Feb. 12 meeting, Short said he sought city commission feedback on what they heard during the town hall meeting, but he wasn’t seeking pier-related commission decision-making that day. He said a city commission workshop will be scheduled as the next step in the commission’s ongoing decision-making process.

Commissioner Chris Arendt said the commission needs to decide if the Gulf Islands Ferry landing sought by Manatee County officials will be built alongside the City Pier or as a separate stand-alone structure located between the pier and the Lake La Vista jetty, as previously discussed with county officials last May. 

County staff presented these potential ferry landing concepts to city commissioners in May 2025. – Manatee County | Submitted

During the town hall meeting, Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board member Jeff Rodencal encouraged the mayor and commissioners to reconsider the stand-alone ferry landing option.

Commissioner Gary McMullen said he thought the commission decided last year to discard the option for a stand-alone ferry landing near the jetty. 

“But we had all the strife at that town hall about the overcrowding on the pier, especially if the general consensus seems to lean towards a restaurant,” Arendt said. “And there was concern about safety and having way too many people on that pier at one time.”

When discussing the future use of the vacant pier building, the mayor and commissioners are factoring in the county’s desire to utilize the City Pier area as a landing spot for the county’s new $3 million enclosed ferry boat that will carry approximately 96 passengers. The new boat offers twice the capacity of the 49-passenger pontoon ferry boats that began landing at the City Pier’s public boat landing in January 2024.

The future use of the pier building vacated by Mote Marine remains an ongoing topic of discussion. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Arendt said the commission also needs to decide if the building formerly occupied by Mote Marine will remain an enclosed structure or be transformed into an open-air structure that provides more open space and possibly more seating for ferry passengers and other pier users.

McMullen said he prefers an open-air restaurant/tiki bar that serves seafood and provides additional seating space for ferry passengers. 

Arndt said an open-air restaurant would be more weather-dependent than a fully enclosed structure. McMullen said other Island restaurants use drop-down curtains and space heaters to offset weather conditions.

Business partners Brian Seymour, Vic Mattay and Nick Graham operated their City Pier Grill & Bait Shop in the smaller pier building from December 2020 until Hurricane Milton rendered that pier space unreachable and unusable in October 2024. The grill operations featured window service for food and beverages and provided no indoor seating. 

During the town hall meeting, Seymour expressed interest in leasing the larger pier building too. He said it may not make financial sense to resume the City Pier Grill operations in the smaller building only – for which they have 15 months remaining on their original and temporarily suspended five-year lease.

On Feb. 12, Commissioner Charlie Salem said he doesn’t expect the city to have more clarity on the county’s ferry landing plans before the commission decides the future use of the vacant pier building. 

“We’re going to have to move forward with what we think is the best use for the pier and take into account as many variables as we can,” he said. 

“First and foremost, we have to decide what we do with our pier, irregardless of what the county wants in the ferry landing,” McMullen said. “It’s up to us if they have a big ferry on our pier and how we accommodate that.”

Participating by phone, Commissioner John Lynch said the first priority is to determine what’s best for the city regarding the use of the vacant pier building. He said the second priority is to determine how the city can accommodate a ferry landing

When providing public input, construction company owner Frank Agnelli asked if the new pier walkway is being built to accommodate a larger ferry boat that weighs approximately 100,000 pounds.

Short said the county was told from day one that the ferry landing must be a separate structure that’s connected to the City Pier by a walkway or gangway.

“The (county) commission did approve the $2 million to assist the city with respect to rebuilding the pier. The county commission was not happy that we have not given them an absolute commitment that the water ferry landing will end up somewhere at our pier. They expressed some concern about that being a scenario that may not happen, but we have to do what we believe is the right thing for our pier. A water ferry landing has to accommodate our pier, not the other way around.” 

Salem said county officials should be encouraged to attend the city commission workshop to get a better understanding of the city’s ferry landing concerns and considerations.

Related coverage: County commission approves $2 million for City Pier project

Did FEMA leave a gift under the tree?

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

It’s Christmas, and I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying some peace of the season after the harrowing few months we all have experienced. Unfortunately, for many, we’re not done with the restoration and/or rebuilding and understanding Manatee County’s procedures and FEMA’S 50% rule is confusing, to say the least.

Manatee County defines “substantial damage” as “damage of any origin sustained by a building or structure where the cost of restoring the building or structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50%.”

They go on to say that if a building is substantially damaged or improved it must be brought into compliance with flood damage prevention regulations. This includes elevating the building to Flood Protection Elevation or Design Flood Elevation. Likewise, all electrical and mechanical equipment, bathrooms and laundry rooms must be elevated as well or removed.

They also indicate that the county, following the National Flood Insurance Program requirements, has the responsibility to determine “substantial damage” and “substantial Improvement.” If it is determined that the FEMA 50% rule applies, then the county will estimate market value by using the tax assessment value of your structure, excluding land and features.

This is a good time to point out that on the Manatee County Property Appraiser website (ManateePAO.gov) there is a new addition in red that will tell you what the FEMA value for your property is. These values are as of Jan. 1, 2024, so they are within a year old, but I can’t guarantee that this is the exact number that the county will consider.

I am no expert on FEMA’S 50% rule and a close reading of Manatee’s post-storm guidance can make your eyes glaze over. This is meant to be a guideline and hopefully I hit on some of the major points in an otherwise complex program. Do yourself a favor and don’t read it on Christmas Day.

We do have the November sales statistics available to report on from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee: Manatee County closed 15.5% more single family homes compared to last November. The median sale price was $430,000, down 11.5% from last year and the average sale price was $559,764, down 9.4%. The median time to contract was 45 days compared to 24 last November. New listings were up 14% and the month’s supply of available properties was 3.9 months, up 14.7%.

Manatee County condos closed 17.7% fewer properties compared to last November. The median sale price was $309,900, down 11.8% and the average sale price was $345,065, down 12.3%. The median time to contract was 53 days compared to 31 days last year, new listings were up 17.5% and the month’s supply of available properties was 6.6 months, up 50%.

Next week I’ll do a deeper dive into these numbers and what the realtor association’s opinion is. However, as you can see, with the exception of single family homes, all other segments are negatively impacted.

A few weeks ago, I went to the Manatee River holiday boat parade and was so happy and proud that this community has pulled itself together and chose to celebrate rather than dwell on the negative. It was a great turnout and the boat owners should be congratulated for lifting all of our spirits.

As a friend of mine perfectly said, “Let’s not allow the circumstances to steal our joy during this beautiful time of the year.” Have a merry Christmas!

FEMA funds may be available to elevate homes

FEMA funds may be available to elevate homes

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

ANNA MARIA – FEMA financial assistance may be available to Anna Maria Island homeowners who wish to elevate their ground-level homes to avoid future flooding.

Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short made this an­nouncement during the city commission’s Dec. 12 meeting. He told commissioners he invited the city’s FEMA consultant, Del Schwalls, to address the commission and the public on Thursday, Jan. 9. Schwalls assists the city with its flood insurance-related Community Rating System compliance efforts that help provide Anna Maria property owners with reduced flood insurance rates.

Short said it’s been brought to the city’s attention that there are FEMA programs that may benefit Anna Maria and Anna Maria Island residents, including a program that may possibly help fund a significant percentage of the cost associated with elevating a ground-level home for flood prevention purposes.

Short said he asked Schwalls to make a presenta­tion about the elevation assistance program, what it entails, what would be required of the city and what it would mean for residents and property owners interested in pursuing FEMA assistance.

“This all came out in the flood of information we’ve received since the hurricanes. I do think it could be of interest to some of our property owners,” Short said.

Commission Chair Charlie Salem suggested promoting the Jan. 9 presentation on the city’s Facebook page so residents and property owners are aware of it. The meeting is scheduled at 2 p.m. at city hall.

“I know this would be of interest to a number of people in our community,” Salem said.

Anna Maria General Manager Dean Jones agreed and said the presentation might also be of interest to property owners elsewhere on Anna Maria Island.