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Siddique discusses future of Cortez Marina at town hall meeting

Siddique discusses future of Cortez Marina at town hall meeting

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

MANATEE COUNTY – Com­missioners are floating the idea of charging for ramp access at the yet-to-be constructed Cortez Marina.

Manatee County purchased the Seafood Shack property in December for $13 million with the intent of creating a public boat access facility that will include boat ramps.

Plans for the marina were discussed at a Feb. 13 town hall meeting conducted by District 3 Commissioner Tal Siddique.

Capt. Scott Moore asked about possible fees for use of the boat ramps

“How do you not charge and apply a discount for residents and com­mercial fishermen?” Moore asked.

“That is the conversation we’re having around the marina property,” Siddique said. “One, we don’t have a plan, and two, I’m very careful when discussing fees. The marina property gives us an opportunity to have an Annie’s-like amenity (Annie’s Bait and Tackle, which is severely hurricane dam­aged). We’re not ready to propose it, but that’s where the thought is.”

Siddique said he asked staff to prepare a business model to ensure that any funds collected at boat ramps will stay at the boat ramps.

Moore noted that many other counties charge for boat ramp usage.

“Tampa, people pay to use the boat ramps,” Moore said. “We’ve been very fortunate here.”

Traffic and public input

“We had no notification, we had no idea the county was going to buy the Seafood Shack. There was no planning, there was no discussion,” said one Cortez resident, who did not give her name. “To get to Seafood Shack, that’s the access to our homes back there. There will be trucks going back and forth to pick up their boats. I’m here to ask if there is a plan and who is planning this? How do I find out what’s going on?”

“As far as a plan goes, it was bought with the intent to have boat ramps and a marina,” Siddique said. “My plan is this; add sufficient parking so we can relieve traffic on the new bridge, have a ferry service to Bridge Street, we already have the boats to do it, and the ferry to take you from downtown Bradenton to Anna Maria. We’ll take the two that we have and run them north-south just on the Island. For Seafood Shack, my challenge is this, to get cars off the road.”

Attendees asked Siddique what the specific plans for the parcel are.

“Is that normal to buy something for millions of dollars with no plan?” one attendee asked.

“We’re working on it,” Siddique said. “If Manatee County were to buy the property and not tell you what the plan is and not have any public input… I’m working now on having public workshops.”

He said he visualizes a trolley service to help alleviate traffic.

“My vision is we get a trolley just for Cortez that takes you from Seaflower (on 75th and Cortez Road), loops through Cortez and stops at the marina, people get off there and they can take the ferry. I want to make sure we’re giving people options.”

Siddique said a priority for the property now is to try to clear some 15 boats that are sunk at the former Seafood Shack marina.

He said he would like to expand the historic designation that the village has to the boat ramp area across Cortez Road.

“I want to be sure we preserve a significant part of that for charter boat captains and for fishermen,” he said.

Siddique said the final plans for the boat ramp will be a product of public input.

“There will be workshops in the near future,” Siddique told The Sun on Feb. 14. “I’d like to see those happen as soon as possible.”

The town hall meeting video can be viewed on YouTube at “Tal Siddique Town Hall @ Island Branch Library.”

Related coverage: Seafood Shack parcel sale closes

 

County commissioner addresses building permit delays

County commissioner addresses building permit delays

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Manatee County.

HOLMES BEACH – The Manatee County Development Services department has received more than 11,000 building permit applications in recent months, many of them hurricane-related.

The ongoing delays in obtaining county-issued building permits were discussed during District 3 Manatee County Commissioner Tal Siddique’s town hall meeting held on Feb. 13 at the Island Branch Library in Holmes Beach. During his opening remarks, Siddique briefly addressed the county’s struggle to keep up with the current permitting demands.

“We are very behind. Permits have been a big topic for me,” he said. “We can’t hire enough people. I keep telling the board (of county commissioners) to find some solu­tions. We need to get people back in their homes, get their roofs fixed, get their houses fixed and get back on track.”

According to the FEMA website, “Every part of a building – from roofs, walls and siding to plumbing, septic systems and heating/air conditioning systems – may require a permit before you start to rebuild. A permit may also be needed for demolition.”

After Siddique’s opening remarks, Flamingo Cay resident Darren Horesh initiated a longer discus­sion about the county’s permitting challenges.

“Those of us who had our homes affected are being tortured by the insurance companies, by the mort­gage companies and then by the county who won’t give us permits. They won’t let us fix our homes,” Horesh said.

County commissioner addresses building permit delays
More than 30 people attended the town hall meeting. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

The Flamingo Cay community is located along Manatee Avenue in unincorporated Manatee County, near Anna Maria Island. Unincor­porated areas are those located outside the city limits of one of the six Manatee County municipalities. Hurricane repairs made to proper­ties located in unincorporated areas are permitted and inspected by county staff. The properties in Cortez, Sunny Shores and along Cortez Road west of 75th Street West are all in unincorporated Manatee County.

“We’re all sitting pretending like we’re all fine and we’re building back and we’re not,” Horesh said.

He said the county only has two employees working on permit applications. He later clarified that he was referring specifically to permits needed for hurricane-related repairs, including flood damage – a claim the county later addressed.

“It just goes on day after day. Nothing’s happening. No permits are being issued, so what are we going to do?” Horesh said.

“It’s getting hot out. All these homes you’re not letting us fix are going to fill with mold in the next few months. Is the county go to pay to remediate that? The citizens of the county are suffering and noth­ing’s happened,” he said.

Siddique said he doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day opera­tions of the building department but he has been contacted by a dozen county residents regarding their permitting delays. He said he asked the department directors to submit proposed budget amendments seek­ing funds for additional staffing. He noted Manatee County is currently competing with several other coun­ties, from Sarasota to Naples, in its efforts to hire more staff. Siddique, who was elected in November, said the county lost 1,100 employees during the past four years.

Horesh asked why Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state aren’t providing more assistance.

“This is a national disaster. This is an emergency. We’re not some third-world country. We deserve to get back in our homes. We deserve to not be worried about having our homes red-tagged and us being penalized for fixing our own home. Do something and stop acting like everything’s fine. It’s not,” Horesh said.

After noting that hurricanes are not new to this area, Susanne Arbanas said, “Why weren’t we prepared for something like this? We were not ready. You don’t get ready after it happens, you get ready before it occurs. It wasn’t done appropriately beforehand and now we’re suffering. I’m a renter, but I lost everything I own. Why weren’t people in place to take care of a situation like this? Who was responsible? Who can we talk to about that?”

Siddique said the blame ultimately falls on himself and the other county commissioners.

“I’m putting real public pressure on staff to get after that problem,” Siddique said, noting he’s also reached out to State Sen. Jim Boyd and State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. for assistance.

County response

On Feb. 14, The Sun emailed Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan, County Administrator Charlie Bishop and County Com­mission Chair George Kruse seeking clarification on some of the state­ments and assertions made at the town hall meeting.

In his email response, Logan wrote, “We have approximately 11,000 properties that received sub­stantial damage and this is directly contributing to the increased levels in permit applications we receive. In October and November, we saw a 50% increase in permit applications compared to pre-storms – approxi­mately 6,200 compared to 4,000. In January, we saw another increase with over 6,500 applications.”

According to Logan, the county currently has approximately 12 permitting technicians, ap­proximately four floodplain review specialists, 20 additional permitting employees contracted from the Florida Department of Emergency Management, approximately five plan review officers and the contractual services of two private companies assisting the county with plan reviews and floodplain reviews and approximately 29 building inspection officers.

According to state law, only one person per county or city can be designated as the building official. Logan said Matthew Rush is currently serving as the county’s interim building official.

When asked when and why former Manatee County Building Official Bill Palmer recently vacated that position, Logan referred The Sun to the county’s human resource department. Kruse confirmed Palmer’s recent departure, but he didn’t know Palmer’s departure date or the reason for his departure.

On Feb. 14, Bradenton Beach Commissioners approved hiring Palmer to serve as the city’s new city-employed building official and former county employee Sandy Tudor to serve as the city’s flood­plain manager.

Palmer will replace former third-party-contracted building official Darin Cushing, who was suspended in late January and later terminated.

The town hall meeting video can be viewed on YouTube at “Tal Siddique Town Hall @ Island Branch Library.” The county permitting discussion began early in the meeting.