HOLMES BEACH – The remaining hurricane-related vegetative yard debris stored at City Field is expected to be fully removed by Saturday, Jan. 11.
On Dec. 27, City Commissioner Carol Whitmore emailed Mayor Judy Titsworth and Public Works Superintendent Sage Kamiya inquiring when the accumulated vegetative yard debris would be removed from the city-owned City Field area. In her email, Whitmore noted several people asked her about the remaining debris.
In the email response she sent to Whitmore that day, Titsworth wrote, “The debris field is being chipped and moved. They have been working on it for over a week now.”
Titsworth’s email noted that Holmes Beach is not the only city with debris removal efforts still taking place.
On Dec. 30, Kamiya sent Titsworth and Whitmore an email that said, “We are estimating that grinding will be fully complete this week. Haul out starts on January 2nd and the contractor is expecting this be done by 1/11.”
On Jan. 2, Kamiya provided The Sun with some additional information about the vegetative yard debris collected from Holmes Beach residences and stockpiled at City Field to be ground down to a more manageable and transportable size.
“This step has now been completed. The next step is to haul it off the field to an approved location for final disposition. The city’s portion is complete once it is hauled off-Island. This is expected to start soon with an expected completion of 1/11,” Kamiya stated in his email.
On Jan. 3, Kamiya provided photos of the City Field debris area, taken that day by Digital and Media Strategist Matt McDonough.
HOLMES BEACH – There were holiday songs, free food, prizes galore, a 100-foot-long bounce house, police, fire trucks and much more at the Sleigh Bell Social on Dec. 14 at City Field.
Previously, the event was known as National Night Out, a collaboration between the city’s police and code compliance departments to foster relations between the community and local law enforcement. The event ended after the 2019 gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everybody from the city is involved, all the different departments were involved and everybody helped out,” Police Chief Bill Tokajer said. “None of this was paid for by the city, there were no tax dollars whatsoever. This was all made possible by donations from our local businesses. We’ve had a huge response from city businesses that have been great for us.”
Tokajer said they were able to give away more than 70 bicycles at the event thanks to donations from the community. There were hundreds of toys given out, along with food from local restaurants, making this an event that brightened the holidays for a number of families. The Sun was one of the event sponsors.
Tokajer also said the event will continue for years to come and he expects it to get bigger and better every year.
HOLMES BEACH – Arts and crafts lovers made their way to City Field over the weekend for the annual Invitational Fine Art and Craft Show, which offered everything from custom furniture to hand-crafted jewelry.
“We’re down here for the month of March from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and just came across this,” said Nora Young. “My husband and I are decorating our sunroom back home with art from the Island. We have picked up some great stuff here already and still have some money left. The prices are really fair and the quality is great.”
Other than some love bugs, which also seem to have a great appreciation of fine arts and crafts, it was the perfect weekend as the sun shone over an entire field of artistic treasures. While many vendors are regulars at shows and events on the Island, some were here for the first time.
“I create custom pet portraits,” said Jeanelle Demers, a Maine resident who is now spending the winter months here in Florida in hopes of growing her business. “They’re acrylic on canvas. My goal is to capture the personality of the pet and make them come to life on the canvas. Animals are very special, and I like to bring them to life with colors and turn them into a work of art.”
Jeanelle Demers with her pet art at the Invitational Fine Art and Craft Show in Holmes Beach. – Jason Schaffer | Sun
This is one of many events that will be held at City Field throughout the year. Keep an eye on The Sun’s weekly events calendar for more to come.
HOLMES BEACH – Two events are scheduled to take place at Holmes Beach city field but there are going to be some changes from events past.
Commissioners heard pleas from representatives of the Anna Maria Island Art League and TNT Events, Inc. to allow them to host events in February and March at the city field park. TNT Events, Inc. is hosting an arts and crafts fair on Feb. 13 and 14 benefitting the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra. The Art League plans to hold Springfest on March 13 and 14 on the field.
After some discussion, commissioners agreed that both events can go forward and be held at city field with some stipulations.
The first is that all booths have to be spaced at least 10 feet apart. All participants and vendors are required to wear a mask while on the city’s property and the event sponsors are required to hire an off-duty police officer to enforce mask-wearing during both days of each event. The number of people allowed in each booth at one time will be limited to two patrons and each booth must have hand sanitizer available. Hand sanitizing stations also will be located throughout the festival grounds.
Commissioners voted 4-1 in each instance to allow the events to take place. Commissioner Jim Kihm voted against allowing the events, stating that with the threat of COVID-19 still looming over the Island’s residents, he feels it’s too early to allow large gatherings to take place, even with safety precautions in place. Commissioner Kim Rash said he was in favor of allowing the two events to take place with safety precautions to bring back a sense of normalcy to the community.
These will be the first events to take place at Holmes Beach city field since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020. Mayor Judy Titsworth said that while she wanted commissioners to weigh in on these two events, she had already rejected an application to hold an event at the city field space proposed for January.
HOLMES BEACH – Projects at the city field complex are underway and showing signs of significant progress, however, some residents are concerned about what the finished product will look like.
City Engineer Lynn Burnett presented plans for the expanded large dog park, multi-use field, walking track and skate park during the Nov. 19 city commission meeting.
Work is already underway in both the skate park and the dog park with drainage work completed in the dog park and elements already being installed at the site of the new skate park. The dog park is currently planned for a December or January grand opening while the skate park is planned to open to the public shortly after. Other openings, including for the multi-use field and tot lot playground are expected later in the new year. Rather than having a single grand opening for the park complex, each area is now expected to have its own public opening.
Workers break up the concrete pad that once housed the city’s tot lot playground equipment in preparation for the installation of the new skate park. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Though the construction is visibly moving forward now, there are some residents who are still concerned about what final product will be unveiled to the public, particularly in the dog park.
Though Burnett presented plans for the dog park, including the fencing, two double gates, a water fountain, seating area for patrons and a fire hydrant-style splash pad for dogs, several dog park users present at the meeting still had questions about what will be included in the park.
Resident Mary Miller said that she feels the overall message coming from city hall concerning the dog park is fear for users that decisions will be made without public knowledge. She said she doesn’t mind seating being moved from the old pavilion, which Development Services Director Eran Wasserman says is in no condition to be moved from the current dog park location, but that she wants to know about the alignment of the benches before they’re installed.
“We just want input,” she said.
Parks and beautification committee member Carol Hatz said she feels that using the old dugout area as seating is too far removed from the majority of the dog park and fears that people will not use it. Wasserman said that the intention is to put in U-shaped seating areas where park patrons can visit and can still have a good view of their pets.
Mayor Judy Titsworth said that her door is always open to residents concerned about the dog park or any other elements of city field. She invited the community to reach out and call either herself or Wasserman with any questions.
Drainage work is completed at the site of the new large Holmes Beach dog park. – Kristin Swain | Sun
For the majority of the elements of the dog park, including ground cover, Titsworth said that Burnett and her team are deferring to suggestions made previously by members of the city’s parks and beautification committee. The suggestions were formed over a period of a year with input from dog park users. She said that fencing in the dog park is expected to go up within the first 10 days of December with construction on the dugouts, turning them into welcoming pavilions for patrons, beginning soon as well.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said that while the plans for what will be taking place in the dog park are done for now, it doesn’t mean that they’re set in stone. She said she envisions the dog park as an evolving element of the city field complex and that changes and additional upgrades will be made as needed over time.
“I think the parks and beautification committee did a tremendous job,” she said.
Titsworth reemphasized how important she feels the dog park is to the city as a whole.
“It’s an important feature for our community and I want the dogs to love it,” she said.
HOLMES BEACH – Dog park users are feeling a bit better about the future of their pooches’ beloved outdoor space after hearing plans for the park from City Engineer Lynn Burnett.
After a misstep the week before, Burnett and Eron Wasserman from LTA Engineers met with more than a dozen interested community members during an emergency Parks and Beautification Committee meeting held at Holmes Beach City Hall. Burnett assured attendees that while some projects in the city field complex, such as the skate park, seem to be moving forward more quickly than others, there is no priority for these other projects over the planned dog park improvements.
City Engineer Lynn Burnett and Eron Wasserman make adjustments to a map of the dog park to help meet the needs of the park’s users. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Currently, she said demolition of the former tot lot and the skate park is in progress, followed by the relocation of the construction area in the parking area on the northeast side of the complex to the site of the former skate park near public works. The next step forward for the city field complex is to begin grading, drainage and resloping work to improve drainage in the area. During this phase, Burnett said the clay will be removed from the current baseball diamond and, once drainage work is complete, the new surfaces for the dog park will be installed. While some of the drainage and resurfacing is done, she added that the new and current dog parks will be closed due to the fencing having to be removed for a period of about 45 days. The dates that the dog park will be closed have yet to be determined though drainage and resurfacing work is expected to take place beginning in June and continue through August.
In the last 30 days of construction, currently planned for late August and September, Burnett said community members will really see the dog park begin to take shape as the ground cover is laid, fencing is put back up, shade structures are constructed, benches placed, trees planted and other elements are placed in the new park. A soft opening for the new and improved dog park is currently planned for some time in October.
Dog park users seemed pleased with the plan, with some offering suggestions including where to place the four access points planned to the park, one on each side of the fencing, how to place pathways for easy access by handicapped visitors and extending the fence between the small and large dog parks by about eight feet into the planned large dog park to give the small dogs a little more play area. The proposed expansion of the small dog park also would give Burnett the opportunity to relocate the shade structure in the small dog park to allow pet parents to view their dogs playing along the common fence line. Burnett said the shade structure in the large dog park will likely be replaced rather than moved to the new park location because she said moving it would cost more money and would damage the structure.
She recommended using both grass and a shell and sand mixture recommended by the parks and beautification committee for ground cover in the large dog park. Attendees agreed to the idea, but some were concerned that grass in some areas would be worn away by frequent use even with irrigation in the park.
In the future, Burnett said that more public meetings would be held for updates on improvements as the project progresses, beginning with the capital improvement plan update planned to be presented during a future city commission budget work session.
HOLMES BEACH – A new large dog park is on the way, but construction isn’t scheduled to begin any time soon.
City Engineer Lynn Burnett gave commissioners an update during their Feb. 12 meeting on the status of the city field complex, including the dog park. She said improvements are scheduled for the park, including relocating the large dog park, but that improvements in the area are taking place in stages. The first stage, she said, was to relocate the tot park.
Public works employees began the task of dismantling the playground equipment and removing it from its previous Marina Drive facing location in January. Due to necessary improvements needed, the equipment is still at the public works facility awaiting installation at its new location near the pavilion at city field.
The second stage is already underway, to demolish the existing skate park and relocate the construction staging area from beside the existing dog park to the former skate park site near public works. Burnett said the demo on the old skate park is taking longer than expected because city workers are having to consult with Manatee County Utilities before the concrete pad can be demolished, due to the site having once been a house.
Timing with dog park renovations also is an issue, Burnett said. Though the existing park is planned to remain open during construction, she recommended not beginning construction on the new park until after the Island’s peak tourism season passes.
During public comment, dog park user and Holmes Beach resident Renee Ferguson asked commissioners to remove the two large umbrella shade structures placed in the north end of the large dog park in 2018. She said the umbrellas are not useful, people do not use them, and they’re taking up space that could be used to allow dogs to run freely. She also asked that construction on the new dog park be programmed to begin as quickly as possible.
“It’s booming in that park right now,” Ferguson said. “If we could get it moved quickly, I think it would benefit everyone.”
Burnett said she would come back before commissioners at their first meeting in March with a more detailed update on the dog park.
