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Tag: James JT Thomas

Holmes Beach Code Compliance Department honored

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

HOLMES BEACH – The week of June 1 through June 7 has been proclaimed as Code Enforcement Officers’ Appreciation Week in Holmes Beach.

On Tuesday, May 26, Mayor Judy Titsworth read aloud a proclamation provided by Florida Association of Code Enforcement.

When doing so, Titsworth said, “Code Enforcement Officers are vital to the safety, health and welfare of our community, diligently enforcing building, zoning, housing and other codes and ordinances. 

“These officers play a critical role in improving neighborhoods, enhancing quality of life and ensuring property values remain stable. Their work is often behind-the-scenes, yet essential for maintaining a thriving and compliant community,” the proclamation says.

“Whereas, the Florida Association of Code Enforcement has declared the first week of June be set aside by local governments to honor and recognize their code enforcement officers.

“Therefore, I, Judy Titsworth, mayor of the city of Holmes Beach, do hereby recognize the week of June 1 through June 7 as Code Enforcement Officers’ Appreciation Week in the city of Holmes Beach, in accordance with the statewide observance of the same and encourage citizens of Holmes Beach to join in expressing appreciation for the dedication and outstanding service provided by the individuals who serve as our code enforcement officers,” the mayor said.

The Holmes Beach Code Compliance Department is headed by Code Compliance Chief James “JT” Thomas. After accepting the proclamation from the mayor, Thomas introduced each member of the Code Compliance team that includes code compliance officers Nate Brown and Jayson Clayton and code compliance clerks Sandy Olson and Allyson Kalicharan.

Thomas said Clayton works closely with the AMI Turtle Watch organization and serves as one of the city’s drone operators. He said Kalicharan manages the city vacation rental program. He said Olson joined the code compliance team after the 2024 hurricanes. He praised her legal knowledge and noted she’s a Holmes Beach resident. 

Thomas said Brown brings 30 years of law enforcement experience to the code compliance team he’s been a member of for 11 years.

Thomas said the code compliance team works closely with the Holmes Beach Police Department, the city’s public works department and building department the West Manatee Fire Rescue District, Waste Pro and AMI Turtle Watch.

Regarding the department’s current name and its previous name, Thomas said, “That’s why we changed it from code enforcement to code compliance: the number one goal is to get compliance.”

Vacation rental stakeholders share common goals

Vacation rental stakeholders share common goals

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

HOLMES BEACH – Working together and supporting each other’s efforts were two main themes shared during the Vacation Rental Stakehold­ers meeting held at Holmes Beach city hall on Sept. 10.

More than 50 short-term vaca­tion rental owners, managers and employees attended and participated in the two-hour meeting facilitated by Holmes Beach Code Compliance Chief James “JT” Thomas.

The speakers and presenters included Mayor Judy Titsworth, Police Chief Bill Tokajer, Development Ser­vices Director Chad Minor, Building Official Neal Schwartz, Development Services Coordinator Kim Charron, Code Compliance Officers Nate Brown and Sandy Olson, West Manatee Fire & Rescue Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski, Waste Pro District Manager Ben VanderBaan, Code Compliance staff member Allyson Kalicharan, Code Compliance Officer Jason Clayton and Thomas.

Vacation rental stakeholders share common goals
Mayor Judy Titsworth thanked the short-term vacation rental industry representatives for their efforts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Speaking first, Titsworth welcomed the vacation rental owners and repre­sentatives and thanked them for all the cooperation they’ve exhibited in recent years as part of the ongoing efforts to make Holmes Beach a place where people want to live and vacation.

Chief Tokajer said, “You guys are doing a great job,” when praising the vacation rental owners and manag­ers for significantly reducing noise complaints and preventing large house parties. He said guest parking remains a concern and he asked that rental guests be reminded to park between the lines (where lines exist), park in designated areas when applicable, park with the flow of traffic and park with all tires off the pavement.

Vacation rental stakeholders share common goals
The stakeholders meeting was well attended and more stakeholders arrived as the meeting progressed. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

In response to a question posed by an attendee, Tokajer said vacation rental guests must leave the Island when hurricane evacuations are ordered because no one will rescue them once the winds reach 45 mph. He also said rental guests will not be allowed through the post-hurricane re-entry checkpoints after 7 p.m. while those are in effect.

On behalf of the building depart­ment, Schwartz, Charron and Minor stressed the importance of securing the proper permits to make hurricane damage repairs – and to not be afraid to come to the city and work with the city to ensure full compliance with city code and National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA regulations.

“It’s not too late. Please come talk to us. We will work with you. We will issue after-the-fact permits,” Charron said, noting the city doesn’t want to lose the flood insurance discount given to all Holmes Beach property owners, which increases to 25% on Oct. 1.

“The doors are always open here,” Minor added.

In response to a question about bringing damaged and repaired vacation rental homes back online – including those recently purchased by new owners – Thomas said the city can assist with the research needed to obtain a city-issued vacation rental certificate.

Kwiatkowski stressed the point that the fire district’s now-mandatory annual inspections of short-term vaca­tion rentals (Transient Public Lodging Establishments) are conducted to save lives and ensure public safety and the fire district has no desire to slow or impede vacation rental activities.

Representing Waste Pro, Vander­Baan thanked the rental owners and managers for their cooperation and encouraged them to contact Waste Pro regarding any service issues. He asked them to remind guests to leave a clear path to and from the trash and recy­cling receptacles along the side of the house because Waste Pro employees will not attempt to retrieve or return the receptacles at the risk of damaging vehicles parked in the way. He also asked the rental owners and managers to remind their cleaning staffs not to bring to the street receptacles that require side-door service.

Vacation rental stakeholders share common goals
Meeting facilitator and Code Compliance Chief James “JT” Thomas guided the discussion with humor and inclusion. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

During the following day’s city commission meeting, Titsworth and commissioners Steve Oelfke and Carol Soustek praised Thomas for the congenial and engaging manner in which he conducted the annual stakeholders meeting.

The city’s presentations can be found here.
The WMFR presentation can be found here.

City staff praised for recovery efforts, flood insurance discounts

City staff praised for recovery efforts, flood insurance discounts

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

HOLMES BEACH – The city’s hurricane recovery efforts earned praise from FEMA representatives, and property owners will soon be eligible for 25% flood insurance discounts.

Director of Development Services Chad Minor made these announcements during the March 11 city commission meeting. He said as of that day the building department had issued 1,900 building permits since Hurricane Helene struck in late September. The city also conducted 4,344 building permit inspections to date, with Joe Payne Inc. assisting with those efforts.

Minor said permit revenues are only down about $6,600 dollars from last year even though the permit fees have been waived for hurricane-related repairs. Minor said the city’s fee waiver program will remain in effect at least until June 1.

“The building department’s doing an incredible job. There’s a lot of people that still have work to do and the mayor agrees we need to extend the fee waiver program,” Minor said.

He then noted FEMA representatives visited the building department the previ­ous week as part of their post-hurricane auditing process and focused on building permits and the city’s permitting policies and procedures.

Minor said Building Official Neal Schwartz and Building Department Office Manager and Emergency Operations Coordinator Kim Charron did a fantastic job preparing for the FEMA meeting, which he noted can be a daunting task.

“At the end of the meeting, FEMA said, ‘You guys have done everything right,’ ” Minor said.

According to Minor, the FEMA reps said they’d be sharing some of Holmes Beach’s applications and policies with other communities as an example of how to respond and proceed the proper way.

“It was my first experience with FEMA and I was a little nervous going into it, but the way we prepared – our staff, our policies and procedures – made for quite an easy meeting. We had nothing to hide and we received tremendous accolades,” Minor said, which prompted a round of applause from the commissioners and other meeting attendees.

“Don’t forget about the code compliance department as well,” Mayor Judy Titsworth added.

Minor then asked Code Compliance Chief James “JT” Thomas to join Schwartz and Charron at the podium with him.

Schwartz said FEMA was impressed with the code compli­ance department’s efforts and the many violation notices and stop work orders they issued while tracking the repair work to ensure that it was done in compliance with city, state and federal regulations.

Schwartz said the building department is still assisting homeowners and property owners with their permitting processes.

“Come on into city hall and talk to us,” he said. “We’re here for you.”

Flood insurance discounts

Minor then addressed the city’s Community Rating Service (CRS) rating that provides flood insur­ance discounts to any Holmes Beach property owner who carries a flood insurance policy issued through, or in conjunction with, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.

Minor announced that on Oct. 1, the city’s current class 6 CRS rating that provides a 20% flood insurance discount is improving to a class 5 CRS rating that provides a 25% discount. This prompted another round of applause.

“The city has acquired enough points to be classified as a class 4 but we have to meet a prerequi­site of a watershed master plan. We are underway on that. Once that is complete, we will submit for reclassification, which, if approved, will result in class 4 (rating) and a 30% discount,” Minor said of the additional CRS rating improvement to be sought next year.

Minor thanked all the city staff members, including the public works department, who helped prepare the reports that led to the improved CRS rating.

“It shows the hard work pays off. This is a huge one for the city and it really should be celebrated,” Minor said, prompt­ing a third round of applause.

“You guys did great,” Titsworth said.

Commissioner Carol Soustek expressed her appreciation for the staff efforts that will provide ad­ditional flood insurance discounts to Holmes Beach property owners and Commissioner Dan Diggins said, “Thank you guys. This is wonderful news.”