RESTAURANTS

BEACH BEAT

BRADENTON BEACH

3/16, 3 p.m., drug violation, 2653 Gulf Drive S. The officer responded to a call for assistance from the Coast Guard at the Coquina boat ramp after a subject was observed driving his Jet Ski at a high rate of speed in a no-wake zone. When the officer arrived, the Coast Guard had the man stopped as he was trying to get into a black Mercedes. The Coast Guard issued the subject a ticket for speeding on his Jet Ski, but as the Bradenton Beach officer approached the vehicle, he observed a passenger slide something under his seat, and also smelled the strong odor of burnt marijuana. Both men had no marijuana on their person, but a search of the vehicle turned up 19 grams of marijuana. Both subjects were issued a notice to appear for the possession charges.

HOLMES BEACH

3/9, 2:20 p.m., grand theft, 105 34th St. The officer responded to a report of a package stolen from the complainant’s mailbox. The complainant stated he was in New Jersey and had a neighbor checking his mail for a package from Amazon, but after receiving a message from Amazon that the package was delivered, he discovered it was not there. The man’s security camera showed a package being delivered but also showed a Chrysler sedan pull up to the mailbox and remove several items before driving off. The video evidence was given to police and uploaded to the HBPD server. The case remains open and no suspects have been identified at this time.

3/11, 1:17 a.m., DUI, 4100 Gulf Drive. While on patrol, the officer observed a silver car traveling at a high rate of speed approaching the curve in the 4100 block of Gulf Drive. The vehicle spun out and lost control, ending up facing north in the southbound lane. The officer stopped the driver and advised her she was showing signs of impairment. The driver refused to take field sobriety exercises and demonstrated erratic behavior, ranging from laughing to crying. According to the report, the driver almost fell getting out of the vehicle, and after a female officer came to search her, she was eventually arrested for driving under the influence. The subject was taken to the Manatee County Jail and booked; no further action was taken.

3/14, 11:57 p.m., battery, 4307 Gulf Drive. Upon arrival at the listed location, the officer met with a woman in distress who admitted to being slightly intoxicated but was involved in an incident with another female staying at the residence after she tried to stop the woman from driving by taking her keys. During the altercation, the second woman grabbed and smashed the complainant’s mobile phone on the ground, making it unusable. The woman who smashed the phone was arrested for battery, tampering with a victim by hindering communication with law enforcement and criminal mischief.

PINEY POINT: Questions, repairs continue

FROM PAGE 1 3105 Buckeye Road and is expected to be completed by next spring.

FDEP officials issued a permit in December for Manatee County to build the well despite objections from five environmental groups that sued Piney Point owner HRK Holdings LLC, Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Manatee County Port Authority and FDEP, citing the potential for contaminating underground drinking water in the Floridan aquifer. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. The case is pending as the judge considers FDEP’s motion to dismiss the case.

Meanwhile, work continues to stop a new leak discovered in January in one of the gyp stacks on the site. The source of the leak has been identified, according to FDEP, which reports that workers plan to deploy a larger box structure over the existing box structure they are using to filter the water and increase visibility so repairs can continue.

There is no indication of any concern with the integrity or stability of the stack system, according to last week’s FDEP report.

SUBMITTED Ponds containing contaminated wastewater from phosphate processing operations at Piney Point are stored on gypsum stacks, another byproduct of the manufacturing process.

PINE AVENUE: Bidding opens for improvements

FROM PAGE 1 commission with diagrams that showed several areas where there is enough space to install 6-foot-wide sidewalks.

Commissioner Mark Short said installing 6-foot-wide sidewalks would eliminate about 50 parallel parking spaces along Pine Avenue. Short noted each space must be at least 8 feet wide and there isn’t enough city-owned space to accommodate wider sidewalks and the existing spaces.

“By putting these 6-foot sidewalks in, we’ve taken off the table the ability to parallel park on Pine Avenue,” Short said.

“That would be a fair assessment,” Traverso replied.

Commissioner Robert Kingan previously expressed support for 6-foot-wide sidewalks, but he changed his mind after learning about the consequent elimination of the parallel parking spaces.

“That is a huge change,” he said.

Kingan said he recently counted 39 vehicles parked along Pine Avenue.

“That’s a lot of cars, and suddenly saying we’re eliminating that is a problem, so I’ve changed my tune,” he told the commission.

Kingan said the Pine Avenue business owners would be upset if those spaces are eliminated.

Traverso said due to sightline and visibility concerns, the installation of 5-foot-wide sidewalks will still require the elimination of a small number of spaces.

Short noted the new sidewalks will not eliminate any privatelyowned perpendicular parking spaces associated with the Pine Avenue businesses. Where applicable, the new sidewalks will maintain the current meandering path configurations that lead to nearby businesses.

Commissioner Deanie Sebring noted that previous Reimagining Pine Avenue discussions included the potential removal of the parallel parking spaces in order to accommodate new sidewalks and bike paths.

Sebring said eliminating the parallel parking spaces would encourage people to use alternative modes of transportation to get to Pine Avenue. Commission Chair Carol Carter said eliminating the street-side parking spaces would result in more people parking in the surrounding residential areas.

The commission voted 4-1 in favor of 5-foot-wide sidewalks along the length of both sides of Pine Avenue, from Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, with Sebring casting the only opposition vote. That vote preserved, for now at least, the majority of the parallel parking spaces along Pine Avenue.

Bike paths are not included in the RFP being issued for sidewalks, crosswalks and lights. Bike paths could be pursued later as a subsequent phase of the Reimagining Pine Avenue project, but there is not enough available space to install bike paths and preserve the existing street-side parking spaces. A commission decision on installing bike paths or preserving the existing parking spaces is not expected until after the new sidewalks, crosswalks and lights are installed and evaluated.

CROSSWALKS

The commission voted 5-0 in favor of three raised crosswalks with embedded flashers being installed across Pine Avenue. The crosswalks will be equipped with control buttons that allow pedestrians to activate the flashers.

Traverso recommended a raised crosswalk near Roser Memorial Community Church and another at the other end of the street near city hall, The Donut Experiment and Poppo’s Taqueria.

Short suggested, and the commission supported, the installation of a third raised crosswalk across Gulf Drive at the Los Cedros Drive intersection. Existing non-raised crosswalks will be enhanced with additional lighting, safety striping and new signage.

“I go up and down Pine every day and the problem I hoped we were going to solve is people walking in the street," Commissioner Jon Crane said. "My biggest concern is getting people out of the street.”

Crane is concerned that even with the new sidewalks and crosswalks many pedestrians will continue to walk in the road and cross where there are no crosswalks.

“Rarely do I ever see a pedestrian use a crosswalk,” Crane said.

Mayor Dan Murphy said shrubs or other landscaping elements could possibly be used to create natural barriers that guide pedestrians to the designated crossing areas. He also said the commission could consider adopting a jaywalking ordinance that would result in violators being subjected to citations and fines. No formal actions were taken on either of those actions.

LIGHTING

The commission voted 5-0 in favor of installing up to 27 new solar lights along Pine Avenue. The new lights and poles will replace the existing ones previously installed by Florida Power & Light. The commission reviewed some lighting options provided by Traverso, but the appearance and aesthetics of the new lights and poles will be determined during or after the RFP review and selection process.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN Pine Avenue is heavily used by motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, golf carts and more.