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Tag: Manatee County Board of County Commissioners

County staff inspects Annie's Bait and Tackle

County staff inspects Annie’s Bait and Tackle

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Community News, Cortez, Featured.

CORTEZ – Just one day after the Manatee County Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 28 vote to direct staff to explore ways to bring the hurricane-damaged Annie’s Bait and Tackle up to code, a contingent of county staff met Commissioner Tal Siddique to inspect the building.

Annie’s is part of the Seafood Shack parcel that the county recently purchased to create a public boating facility.

“Commissioner Bearden made a motion, within 30 days to present all options for a feasible rebuild to keep Annie’s here was the directive,” Siddique said. “We’re doing our due diligence.”

The inspections will be repeated six more times. In accordance with Sunshine Law, each commissioner will meet with county staff and tour the building separately.

“We’re here to tour the facility,” Siddique said. “We have our natural resources, our building official, our county administrator, all of our county leadership here, plus me as district commissioner. The fire marshal will be out here.”

Siddique said he met with Annie’s co-owner Bruce Shearer during the inspection.

“I feel for him. Just looking at these reports, looking at what the experts are telling me, the building officials and more, this isn’t just a matter of replacing some two-by-fours,” he said.

Shearer has said he would be able to repair the building at a cost of around $5,000 and is hoping to be allowed to do so.

“We have a responsibility to make sure we’re protecting the neighboring communities and we’re upholding all the progress we made in the Community Rating System and we’re not putting that at risk,” Siddique said. “This has to be FEMA compliant. If we break the law, everybody in Manatee County loses their flood insurance.”

He said Annie’s will not be fenced off, allowing Shearer to access the building.

“I ran on preserving our small town feel here and I’m trying to do what we can to keep Annie’s here, but these old school style of buildings, we know they’re not going to last with the way these hurricanes are going,” Siddique said.

Siddique said the dock repairs would require an emergency Army Corps of Engineers permit.

“I don’t want to pre-suppose the board,” Siddique said. “I think what you’re going to see is county come forward with all the pros and cons the proffers we’re making to Bruce (Shearer).”

Commission receives Seafood Shack purchase update

Commission receives Seafood Shack purchase update

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Business, Featured, Real estate | Development.

CORTEZ – The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) will receive an update at its Jan. 8 meeting on the stalled Seafood Shack and Marina acquisition.

Property Acquisition Division Manager Charles Meador and Senior Real Property Specialist Tim Cristello are scheduled to update the commission at the regular meeting.

TIMELINE

On Sept. 5, 2024, the then-members of the BCC executed a contract for the purchase of the property for $13 million with seller Vandyk 1st Gulf Coast-Marina, LLC.

The anticipated use of the property is as a public boating access facility with a boat ramp, dry storage and marina.

The property consists of seven upland parcels of approximately 5.9 acres and two submerged land leases of 2.9 acres. It was appraised at $12.55 million, assuming the two expired submerged land leases will be renewed.

According to the sales contract, the closing of this transaction was to occur on or before Oct. 7, 2024.

“Property Acquisition and American Government Services, the county’s closing agent, worked on closing this transaction per terms and conditions of the contract,” according to the Jan. 8 BCC meeting agenda. “Property Acquisition completed a site visit on Sept. 10, 2024, to walk the property and talk with seller’s representatives in charge of all operations as part of the due diligence of the contract.”

At the time of the site visit the Seafood Shack property was occupied with businesses and boat slip tenants. On behalf of the seller, a Notice of Termination of Tenancy letters were sent to the tenants ordering the premises to be vacated by Sept. 30.

Hurricane Helene struck on Sept. 26 and on Sept. 30, representatives from county administration, construction services, property management, property acquisition, and sports and leisure departments, conducted a walk-thru and confirmed the Seafood Shack had sustained major hurricane damage.

“Administration directed property acquisition to move forward and close this transaction on or before Oct. 7 per the contract,” the agenda states. “On Oct. 9, Hurricane Milton made landfall and caused more damage to the Seafood Shack property.”

A closing was then rescheduled for Dec. 23, but also did not take place. According to the BCC agenda, the seller and lender were unable to close due to a financial/internal dispute.

“The seller and lender cannot mutually agree on a settlement statement amount owed to close this real estate transaction. As is, the county is not able to obtain clear title,” the BCC agenda states.

The BCC meeting begins at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Avenue W., Bradenton.

The meeting can be viewed live on www.mymanatee.org/mga and on Manatee Government Access (MGA) Spectrum Channel 644, Frontier Channel 30 and Comcast Channel 20 (within Manatee County).

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Taxes, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA – The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) again discussed raising the tourist tax at its June 10 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island.

A revised Manatee County ordinance would include a measure to increase the 5% tourist tax, often referred to as the bed tax, to 6% on the general election ballot in November to be considered by voters.

The increase was unanimously approved by the TDC at its April 15 meeting. The TDC is a recommending board to the Manatee County Commission.

County commissioners were set to vote on increasing the tax at their April 23 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda due to a recent change in state law that requires voters to approve the increase.

“So, what happened was we met the revenue criteria for calendar year 2023,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “The short-term rental tax has to generate $30 million and we generated $30,091,000, making us eligible to increase the tax from 5% to 6%, which is the maximum allowed in Florida.”

Falcione said after meeting the criteria, they sent a request through the county’s Office of Financial Management to the Florida Department of Revenue, which had to issue a letter certifying that the county had met the required criteria. The letter was issued and the county attorney’s office staff drew up a new ordinance at 6%.

“On the Friday before the Tuesday, April 23 BCC meeting, the Department of Revenue notified the county that the Florida Statute on tourism changed in 2023,” Falcione said. “It now requires any additional bed tax levy to go through a referendum process and can no longer be voted on by the BCC. It took the vote out of the hands of the BCC and now requires the residents to make the decision by a vote.”

Once the county was made aware of this change, the vote was removed from the commissioners’ April 23 agenda.

Falcione said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subject to this new law, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made. He said he believes had another county hit this roadblock before Manatee, word would have reached his office and the TDC would not have moved forward with a recommendation to the commission.

Discussions continued and a plan was formed at the June 10 TDC meeting.

“Since we were notified about the changes, the county attorney’s office revised the ordinance to apply the new state law,” Falcione said. “That extra 1% will generate $7-8 million dollars for the community. It’s important that me, as your director, continues to educate the residents about the value of tourists and the value of the tax. I need a recommendation today so we can present this to the board of county commissioners and hopefully, they can vote on it by late July. They would then be able to put this on the general election ballot in November.”

Falcione told the TDC that they would then need to register with the Supervisor of Elections by Monday, Aug. 19 to be on the ballot. He also said that if they did not meet the deadlines, or it made the ballot and failed, it would have to wait two years, because the increase is required to be on a general election ballot.

TDC member Jiten Patel brought up concerns about how they would educate the voters on the increase.

“When voters see a tax on the ballot, they don’t want to see an increase,” Patel said. “When we educate them on the ballot, that might impact their decision.

TDC Chair Ray Turner responded to Patel, explaining that he and Falcione had discussed that concern.

“Elliott and I have talked about this, and Elliott has a plan for that,” Turner said. “If a regular resident that’s not up on all these details sees an increase in taxes, they will automatically assume it’s at a cost to them. In this particular case, it’s a real benefit to residents.”

Falcione said he’s statutorily handcuffed and can’t place ads to “sell” the tax increase, but the TDC, county commission, chambers of commerce, local businesses and others with influence in the community can help educate the community. Falcione also doubled down on a statement he made at the April 15 TDC meeting, as well as when he spoke to The Sun about the issue in May.

“There are no plans to market the destination harder with this additional money,” Falcione said. “Shame on me if I ever did that, but you won’t have to worry about that because it won’t happen.”

Falcione said the additional money from the tax would go to community improvements, not bringing more people to the area, especially to AMI, which he admits at certain times of year is at capacity.

Falcione explained where the money goes and how it benefits both visitors and residents by offering maintenance, upgrades and marketing for the following and more:

• Coquina Beach parking lot

• Bridge Street Pier and Anna Maria City Pier

• Grassy Point Preserve

• Anna Maria Bayfront Park

• Beach renourishment (currently 1% out of the total 5%)

• Cortez Village Historical Society

• Myakka History Center

• Bradenton Area Convention Center

• Bishop Museum

• Manatee Performing Arts Center

• Premier Sports Campus

• The Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ) partnership

• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi)

The TDC approved the recommendation unanimously and it will be sent to the county commission for a vote.

TDC supports Holmes Beach path funding

TDC supports Holmes Beach path funding

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

Superintendent of Public Works Sage Kamiya was back in front of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) at its June 10 meeting. He was there to answer questions and concerns previously brought up by TDC members after his initial presentation requesting tourist tax funding for a city-long multimodal path at an Aug. 21, 2023 meeting.

Kamiya noted that there is a path for walkers and bicyclists that runs along a portion of Marina Drive, but it needs improvement. The proposed new path would begin around the 2800 block of Gulf Drive and continue almost the entire length of the city to where Gulf Drive and Marina Drive merge in the 8000 block. The proposal calls for the path to be separated from the road by a grassy buffer area to keep people using the path separated from the road, improving safety.

At their last presentation to the TDC, city officials estimated the budget for the entire project was $2,436,727 with half of the money going to the Gulf Drive path improvements ($1,293,238) and the remainder designated for Marina Drive path improvements, engineering design, flashing crosswalks and educational signage. Kamiya told the TDC that the path improvement plan would be implemented in phases, with the first phase focusing on the city center area on both Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. The phase 1 estimate is $1,133,401, with $399,460 coming from the city of Holmes Beach and the remaining $733,948 being requested from the TDC.

Rather than approve or deny the funding at the Aug. 21 meeting, the TDC unanimously chose to have the matter brought to a future meeting in hopes of getting answers to questions multiple board members had, such as whether or not the path would eliminate public parking spots, which side of the street the path would be built on and a more specific timeline, among other concerns and questions. The TDC discussed the request at both the Oct. 16, 2023 and Dec. 4, 2023 meetings, but still had questions.

According to Kamiya, because of the delay, Holmes Beach decided to use funds set aside for phase one of the project for other city projects, so the numbers have changed since it was last discussed. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has recently started the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Barrier Islands Complete Streets Improvements Study. This study includes the evaluation of multimodal alternatives for State Road 789, County Road 789, Marina Drive and Palm Drive in Holmes Beach.

Kamiya told the TDC that his hope is the PD&E study will provide funding that will take some of the financial weight off the amount the city is requesting from the county’s tourist tax dollars.

“We did get an FDOT letter to support the project,” Kamiya said. “This makes sense from their perspective because they do want to improve safety. There’s been several fatalities along the roadway, so that’s been our push for this.”

Kamiya went on to ask the council if they would back a portion of the proposal that would not be funded by the PD&E study. He said that amount would be around $500,000. Kamiya also noted that the study doesn’t initially carry construction money with it. The funds would be for design and planning, and when it is time for construction, funding through the study as well as the county would have to be discussed further.

TDC member and Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown had concerns about this project at each of the previous two meetings in which this was discussed and was the first to speak up with more questions this time around.

“I’ve been one that’s said all along that it’s important to do the whole Island if we’re going to do anything,” Brown said. “I do have a question; you’ve asked Rep. Buchanan for $2.24 million dollars for a multimodal path along Gulf Drive and Marina Drive. What is that money to be slated for?”

Kamiya responded saying the actual amount requested was $2.9 million and, because the PD&E study does not include construction money, those funds requested would be used for just the multimodal path along Gulf Drive. He added that the $2.9 million would only pay for part of the project and further funds would have to be found to complete the entire project. Kamiya also made it clear that the study funds would only be for the Gulf Drive portion of the project, not Marina Drive or any remaining portions.

Mayor Brown countered, saying he still did not support the request because too many questions remained and he thought the proposal was confusing and incomplete without solid details. Brown also said he was not pleased that Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth was not in attendance for what he saw as a very important meeting. He believed it was not in the best interest of the city to request such a large sum of money without a mayor or vice-mayor in attendance.

Minutes before the TDC took a vote on the request, the discussion took a turn toward the Gulf Island Ferry having a docking place in Holmes Beach. TDC members discussed whether an existing docking location could be improved to support the ferry or the possibility of a new dock being built somewhere in the city. With the stipulation that the possibility of the ferry landing in Holmes Beach be added to the request, the TDC voted unanimously to send the recommendation for $500,000 to Manatee County commissioners.

TDC recommends $75,000 for ferry marketing

TDC recommends $75,000 for ferry marketing

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – During the Manatee County Tourist Development Council’s (TDC) June 10 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island, TDC members supported more marketing efforts for the Gulf Island Ferry.

The service runs from downtown Bradenton to the Anna Maria City Pier and the Bradenton Beach Pier. TDC member and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione gave the TDC an update on how the ferry service is progressing.

“It’s been exciting. I think our communications manager rode out to the Island yesterday and the ferry was full,” Falcione said. “We’re doing really well with the water ferry running Wednesday through Sunday, and we’ll continue that through the month of June. The goal is to run it 12 months a year. We’ll see how that goes.”

Falcione said that Research Data Services, which provides the TDC with tourism data and statistics, said that a Memorial Day survey of beachgoers showed 60% were aware of the ferry. He said they are still learning month-by-month through surveys. He told his staff that they should be in the public’s face in the region with tourists, then requested an additional $75,000 from tourist tax funds for marketing the water ferry. Falcione said some of that money would be for a local survey and a brand awareness campaign that would give the ferry a push through the end of summer into fall.

“My wife and I live at the end of the dock in Bradenton, and we sit and look out the window and wait for the water ferry to come back,” Bradenton Mayor and TDC member Gene Brown said. “It is unbelievable to us because it’s a 49-seat boat, and we see 49 people get off and 49 people get on.”

The motion to approve the recommendation for the $75,000 was passed unanimously and will be forwarded to the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners for final approval.

Bed tax increase to be decided by voters

Voters to decide tourist tax increase

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Featured, Taxes.

MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners were set to vote on whether to increase the county’s tourist tax, also known as the bed tax, from 5% to 6% at their April 23 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda due to a recent change in state law.

The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) unanimously recommended that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) increase the tax at its April 15 meeting, but neither body was aware of 2023 legislation that gave voters the power to levy an increase in the tax.

“So, what happened was we met the revenue criteria for calendar year 2023” to increase the tax, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director (CVB) and TDC member Elliott Falcione said. “The short-term rental tax has to generate $30 million and we generated $30,091,000, making us eligible to increase the tax from 5% to 6%, which is the maximum allowed in Florida.”

Falcione said after meeting the criteria, a request was sent through the county’s Office of Financial Management to the Florida Department of Revenue, which issued a letter certifying that the county had met the required criteria. The county attorney’s office then drew up a new ordinance to reflect the increase to 6%.

“On the Friday before the Tuesday, April 23 BCC meeting, the Department of Revenue notified the county that the Florida statute on tourism changed in 2023,” Falcione said. “It now requires any additional bed tax levy to go through a referendum process and can no longer be voted on by the BCC. It took the vote out of the hands of the BCC and now requires the residents to make the decision by a vote.”

Once the county was made aware of this change, the vote was removed from the BCC’s April 23 agenda. Falcione said without being notified of the change, it would be difficult to find it without reading every section and subsection of Florida Statute 125.01.04, which is more than 8,000 words long.

“I really wish the state would have notified at least the tourism director, the BCC, or the county administrator when this law passed in 2023,” Falcione said. “Unless I missed an email, this was the first we were made aware of the change, so therefore the county administrator made a prudent move to remove the vote from the agenda until we sort things out.”

Falcione also said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subjected to the new law, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made. He believes had another county hit this roadblock before Manatee, word would have reached his office and the TDC would not have moved forward with a recommendation to the BCC.

How and when the voter referendum will take place has not yet been decided.

“We’re still trying to sort through everything,” Falcione said. “The attorney’s office is gathering information and we’re going through our protocol. When we get with the county commissioners, we want to make sure we are 100% accurate with the steps required and the options they have to consider this.”

Currently, neighboring counties of Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas are all at the 6% maximum tourist tax. Falcione stresses that none of this tax is paid by residents of the county, but residents benefit from the tax, which goes to maintaining, upgrading and marketing attractions such as city piers, the new water taxi, beach parking lots and Anna Maria Bayfront Park, with a large portion going to beach renourishment.

Falcione says the TDC will not spend tax proceeds to promote the area during the busy spring season.

School zone speed cameras could be coming to AME

School zone speed cameras could be coming to AME

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Excessive speed in school zones is a serious safety issue that can be addressed by cameras, according to a recent Manatee County Commission vote.

Cameras will be installed at some Manatee County schools, possibly including Anna Maria Elementary School (AME).

The vote was unanimous to move forward with installation and monitoring of the speed zones. A 6-1 majority approved an agreement with the vendor, RedSpeed, to furnish, install and maintain the speed detection system, comply with FDOT placement and installation specifications and assist Manatee County Public Safety in the public announcement and awareness campaign according to a press release from Manatee County Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan.

The lone dissenting vote came from Commissioner George Kruse.

“There will be warning signs up for about two weeks prior to them being turned on, so drivers will have ample opportunity to be notified the cameras will be in effect,” District 3 Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said. “And even once the cameras are in place and active, there will still be warning signs that they are active.”

Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that his department supports the installation of the cameras if the county includes AME in the project.

“We had a speed study done two weeks ago from a different vendor than the county uses to see what it would be in our area,” Tokajer said. “During the five-day period, there were almost 1,300 violations.”

Tokajer said they are waiting to see if the county is doing this in the entirety of the county, or if the cities are going to make their own decisions. He said he has not yet been informed by the county about the issue, and his department has not been included in the conversation.

Tokajer said that while his department supports the installation of the cameras, saying it will increase driver awareness of the seriousness of speeding in school zones, it will not affect his placement of officers on Gulf Drive in front of the school during morning arrival and afternoon dismissal times.

The move comes after the Florida Legislature passed Florida House Bill 657 last April, which authorizes counties to enforce speed limits in school zones using speed detection systems. Drivers traveling more than 10 mph over the posted school zone speed limit during designated hours would receive a $100 ticket in the mail. The speed camera zones would be active only at times when kids are heading to and from school.