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NEWS
THE SUN ISLAND NEWS
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NOVEMBER 18, 2020
IN BRIEF
Pier, floating dock damaged, boats sunk by TS Eta
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN The City Pier Grill is now expected to open in the space to the left on Monday. Nov. 30.
City Pier Grill delayed slightly
The new restaurant on the Anna Maria City Pier could be open by the end of this month or the first week of December, according to owner Brian Seymour and his partners, Vic Mattay and Nick Graham. Seymour said they had hoped to open the City Pier Grill and bait shop on Friday, Nov. 20. “The storm set us back a few days into Thanksgiving,” Seymour said on Sunday.
AME reports no additional COVID cases
No new COVID-19 cases had been reported at Anna Maria Elementary School as of Friday, Nov. 13, according to the School District of Manatee County’s COVID-19 online dashboard.
On Thursday, Nov. 5, AME Principal Jackie Featherston learned one of her students had tested positive for COVID-19. As of Sunday, that student remained the first and only person affiliated with Anna Maria Elementary to test positive for COVID-19. As of Friday, the school district dashboard reported nine new COVID-19 cases throughout the district. As of Friday, a total of 232 school district students, teachers and staffers had tested positive for COVID-19 since the school year began on Aug. 17. That total includes 14 positive tests attributed to students and/or staff at Manatee High School in Bradenton.
Florida Press Club names Sun staffers for awards
Four Anna Maria Island Sun staff members have been named finalists in the Florida Press Club’s 2019 Excellence in Journalism Competition. Awards are expected to be announced later this month for Steve Borggren (Editorial Cartooning); Rusty Chinnis (Environmental News, Light Features); Cindy Lane (Online Multimedia Package, Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting, That is So ... Florida); and Kristin Swain (Community News, Light Features).
WCIND is going to fund the removal of five sunken or grounded sailboats near the Bridge Street Pier.
BY JOE HENDRICKS
SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – Most of the property damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Eta last week was to sunken or grounded sailboats near the Bridge Street Pier and the adjacent floating dock.
The floating dock and the east end of the Bridge Street Pier, including the T-end, were closed Thursday morning and will remain closed until the needed repairs and boat removals occur.
During the tropical storm that arrived Wednesday, Nov. 11, three sailboats sank next to the Bridge Street Pier and/or the adjacent floating day dock. Two of those sailboats sank at the east end of the floating dock and at least one of those vessels struck the pier.
This resulted in damage to the side of the pier and a small section of the pier’s TREX decking. A dinghy also became lodged in one of the roller brackets that allow the east end of the floating dock to move up and down with the waves and tides.
One sailboat sank near the west end of the floating dock, near the police department boat lift and police boat, which were not damaged.
A large catamaran sank in place about 50-75 yards south of the pier. Another large sailboat ran aground near the city-owned dinghy dock by the Bridge Tender Inn; and the end section of the dinghy dock is now missing. A sixth sailboat sank beside and below the Cortez Bridge, near the Bradenton Beach Marina.
All five sailboats that sank or ran aground near the pier are believed to have broken free while anchored just south of the pier in water occupied by several liveaboard boaters.
As of late last week, it was not known whether the sailboat that sank by the Cortez Bridge came from Bradenton Beach or Cortez, both of which are on the Intracoastal Waterway.
REMOVAL REQUIRED
As a member of the Bradenton Beach Police Department, Lt. John Cosby also serves as the city’s emergency operations manager.
At 7 a.m. Thursday, Cosby, Mayor John Chappie and Officer Eric Hill were assessing the sunken boats and the damage to the pier and floating dock.
“The floating dock held up well. The boat lift held up well, too,” Cosby said.
At that time, the dock damage appeared to be limited to a gouge in the east end of the dock and a single dock float that broke free from the underside and now floated beside it.
During an emergency city commission meeting held Friday morning, Cosby and the commission discussed a $75,000 estimate received from N.E. Taylor Boatworks’ owner John Banyas for the removal and destruction of the five sailboats in the vicinity of the pier and floating dock. That estimate did not include the sunken sailboat near the Cortez Bridge.
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN This large catamaran known as “The Ghost” sank in the waters south of the Bridge Street Pier. Left, this sailboat ran ashore near the city-owned dinghy dock next to the Bridge Tender Inn.
During Friday’s meeting, Cosby and the commission discussed but took no action on a $98,000 estimate received from Duncan Seawall, Dock & Boat Lift to repair the damaged floating dock and pier.
Cosby said one of the sunken boats is resting beneath the floating dock and both N.E. Taylor and Duncan recommend getting the vessels removed as soon as possible to avoid further damage to the dock or pier.
Chappie said he already spoke with Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker and West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND) Director Justin McBride about possibly obtaining WCIND funds to assist with the boat removal costs.
Cosby said he doesn’t expect FEMA assistance because the boats were private property.
The commission approved the $75,000 boat removal expenditure in hope that at least some of those costs would be covered by WCIND.
Banyas was informed of the commission’s decision but was asked to hold off on removing the boats because the discussions with WCIND remained ongoing.
When contacted Sunday, Perry said, “WCIND is taking over and we gave them the quote from John Banyas. WCIND will notify us Monday who the contractor is,” Perry said.
FROM PAGE 3
“The next of kin was on scene,” Rigney said.
“They had an electrocution. It came in at approximately 5:35 today. Our responders went there. When they first walked in they felt a little tingle so they had to back away until they got FPL out there,” Rigney said.
“They were unable to access the patient due to the power still being on. They had to wait for FPL to secure power to the area before going in to check on the patient and he was confirmed DOA (dead on arrival),” Rigney said.
Rigney said this was the first time he was aware of a significant portion of the power grid being turned off in response to an emergency call.
Several years ago, Mixon took over operations of Jim Mixon Insurance Inc., the family-operated, Holmes Beach-based insurance agency founded by his father, Jim. After the agency was sold, it was renamed Waller-Mixon Insurance.
Holmes Beach resident and County Commissioner Carol Whitmore knew Mixon well.
“I’ve known Mark since the 70s or 80s. He grew up in Holmes Beach. He used to be my neighbor on 84th Street for many years before he moved to Bradenton Beach. Mark was a very quiet man and he helped his parents with Mixon Insurance. He was a very hard worker. He took pride in succeeding his parents in the family business and carrying on the family legacy. I know more people than I can count in Manatee County and on the Island who got their insurance from Mark. After they sold the business, I heard he stayed busy repairing and remodeling houses,” Whitmore said.
Patrick Shomo owns the property at 209 Bay Drive N., next door to the scene of the accident. He also spoke kindly of Mixon.
“Nobody lived there. Mark told me it was his personal project house and he’d been working on it mostly alone,” Shomo said.
“Mark was good people and has been nice to my family since we became neighbors in October. He hit it off with my wife and kids and talked to my 9-year-old son about fishing, always letting him chase a lost lure onto his property. We are all sorry to see him gone. He was also my insurance agent for years. The Island lost a good man,” Shomo said.
Holmes Beach resident Margie Motzer said, “We were so sad to hear about Mark. He was such a nice guy and he will be sorely missed.”
FROM PAGE 4
Perry said WCIND will pay for the boat removals and the city remains responsible for the costs to repair the floating dock and pier.
PIER AND DOCK DAMAGE
“We did sustain some damage to the pier and the floating dock due to vessels coming loose and ramming into the structure. Honestly, I don’t think there’s that much damage to the pier,” Cosby said.
Cosby said some of the boats that crashed into the floating dock were occupied at the time and he helped the occupants onto the dock during the storm.
Cosby learned later that about eight to 10 dock floats are missing. Cosby said he didn’t think wave action dislodged the dock floats. He attributed that damage to several dinghies that passed underneath the floating dock during the storm.
“We had a bunch of dinghies that broke loose. We watched them. They went right underneath the floating dock, right underneath the pier and kept going,” Cosby said.
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh asked Cosby if the owners of the sunken boats had been located. Cosby said they had.
“None of these people have any type of insurance. We’re getting them to sign their vessels over to the city and we’re going to remove them and destroy them,” Cosby said.
“There’s no way we could go after them?” Vosburgh asked.
“We could file a claim against them. We can go to civil court and we can file a judgment,” Cosby said, noting that would result in the city incurring attorney’s fees.
“They have no money and they’re never going to pay. They can’t give you what they don’t have,” Cosby said of the liveaboard boaters.
Cosby said he didn’t feel the need to act yet on the Duncan dock and pier repair estimate. He said he and City Clerk Terri Sanclemente had already been in contact with the city’s claim adjustor regarding a possible insurance claim.
“Someone will probably be out next week to look at it. I don’t think the floating dock will be covered, but the pier, that’s a possibility,” Cosby said.
THE SUN OPINION 3909 East Bay Drive, Suite 210, Holmes Beach, FL, 34217 Phone: (941) 778-3986 email: news@amisun.com | ads@amisun.com | classifieds@amisun.com Like us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AnnaMariaIslandSun NOVEMBER 18, 2020
ON THE AGENDA
ANNA MARIA 10005 GULF DRIVE FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-7086130 City hall is open to the public with limited capacity and safety protocols in place. Please visit www. cityofannamaria.com or contact city hall for more information. Nov. 26, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 27, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving
BRADENTON BEACH 107 GULF DRIVE N. FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-7781005 City hall is open to the public with limited capacity and safety protocols in place. Please visit www. cityofbradentonbeach.com or contact city hall for more information. Nov. 18, 1 p.m. – Planning and Zoning board meeting Nov. 19, 9:15 a.m. – City Commission emergency meeting Nov. 19, noon – City Commission meeting Nov. 25, 9:15 a.m. – City Commission emergency meeting Nov. 26, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 27, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving
HOLMES BEACH 5801 MARINA DRIVE FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-7085800 City hall is open to the public with limited capacity and safety protocols in place. Please visit www. holmesbeachfl.org or contact city hall for more information. Nov. 18, 10 a.m. – Code Compliance special magistrate hearing Nov. 26, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 27, all day – City offices closed for Thanksgiving
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
THURSDAY NOV. 19 AMI Chamber Business Card Exchange, The Beach House Restaurant, Sunset Deck, 200 Gulf Drive, Bradenton Beach, 5 to 7 p.m., $5 for members or $10 for prospective members. Masks required, space is limited and payment must be made before the event. Reserve to 941-778-1541 or laura@amichamber.org. Thursdays in Paradise Stroll featuring local art, music and food, Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach, 5 to 8 p.m.
SATURDAY Nov. 21 Saturday mornings at the NEST, Robinson Preserve Mosaic Nest, 840 Ninth Ave. N.W., Bradenton, 9 a.m. to noon. Face masks required. SUNDAY NOV. 22 Beach market, Coquina Beach, 2650 Gulf Drive S., Bradenton Beach, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rise and Shine Power Flow Yoga, Robinson Preserve Mosaic Nest, 840 Ninth Ave. N.W., Bradenton 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., $10 fee payable online or by cash at the door. Bring your own yoga mat. Register at https:// parks.mymanatee.org/ wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/search. html?primarycode=110006 or call 941-742-5923 ext. 6042 for more information.
TUESDAY NOV. 24 Farmer’s Market, City Pier Park, 101 N. Bay Blvd., Anna Maria, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Celebrating Tommy T
Our family would like to thank everyone for the heartwarming support and love that was so abundantly evident at the celebration of life for Tommy T. (Tyrrell.) Special thanks to Rev. Neil Crowell, Chris Culhane at The Center, and P.J. at Slim’s for donating all the food. Thanks also to Kaesy Wagner, Jason Sato, Charles Buky, Jake and Mellisa and all of his (Tommy’s) friends for helping to coordinate the gathering to honor the memory of Tommy T. A scholarship fund in Tommy's name has been established at The Center. The Tommy T Scholarship Fund will help support youth sports participants at the family's discretion. If others wish to donate to the fund, please make checks out to The Center with "Tommy T" in the notation.
After prayer, members of his family and friends spoke with tender hearts honoring the life of Tommy T. This was followed by food, drink and memories shared by all. We want to sincerely thank everyone for coming. We love all of you. Michael, Rosemary, Todd, Tiffany, Natalie and Beau
Express yourself
Got an opinion, a complaint or a compliment? Send us a letter to the editor and have your say. Email The Sun at news@amisun.com and remember to put Letter to the Editor in the subject field. Or mail a letter to The Anna Maria Island Sun, P.O. Box 1189, Anna Maria, FL 34216. Letters should be kept to 300 words or less and must contain your name and your city of residence. Personal attacks and obscene language will not be printed. The Sun reserves the right to edit letters for length and/or content.
Parking tram pilot program takes flight
The electric trams are free to ride, but tipping the driver is much appreciated.
BY JOE HENDRICKS
SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency’s Historic Old Town Tram program is in operation.
According to City Attorney and CRA liaison Ricinda Perry, the parking tram shuttle service launched with a soft opening on Friday and continued through the weekend. Perry said she and Sarasota-based Easy Parking Group owner Joshua LaRose planned to meet Monday or Tuesday to finalize the initial tram schedule and tram route. The trams are expected to be in service seven days a week if the demand is there.
The long-discussed goal for the one-year pilot program is to encourage those visiting the greater Bridge Street area to park at Cortez Beach – a few blocks south of the Gulf Drive/Bridge Street roundabout – or elsewhere and ride the free trams to and from their desired destinations.
The trams are expected to run in a continuous loop between Cortez Beach, Bridge Street and the city parking lot next to Bradenton Beach Marina, near the Cortez Bridge – with the ability to park and get on and off the trams at various points along the route that will remain a flexible work in progress.
Earlier this year, the CRA members budgeted up to $133,000 for the one-year pilot program that will determine whether the tram service becomes a permanent component of Bradenton Beach’s ongoing efforts to provide more parking and better mobility for residents and visitors. Advertising panels are expected to help offset the pilot program costs.
Ridership data will be collected and compiled to help determine the success of the pilot program that can be terminated at any time during the one-year trial period if need be.
The Old Town Tram began making its rounds on Friday and service continued throughout the weekend.
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FROM PAGE 1
The loss of beach renourishment sand was also discussed Thursday morning during the county’s postTropical Storm Eta virtual press conference, when Hunsicker was asked what losses were sustained in terms of beach sand.
“They were significant. But I want everyone to remember that the beach we build is titled the
‘Anna Maria Island Shore Protection Project’ by the (Army) Corps of Engineers. The primary purpose of our beaches is for coastal protection, to dissipate the energy of the storms. We also have very real recreation benefits and habitat benefits as well for nesting shorebirds and marine turtles,” Hunsicker said.
“If a sandy beach washes away, it’s done its intended job. Without the beach, we’d be looking at Gulf-facing roads, utilities and ultimately homes that would absorb the brunt of the storm and be washed away. In this circumstance, we are quite pleased. The erosional losses we saw were the measured benefit of having the beach in place for storms just like this one,” Hunsicker said.
“We lost depth and width of beach to a near-shore and offshore sand bar. It did not wash away to the middle of the Gulf or Texas. It’s nestled below sea level about 50-60 yards offshore. It will stay that way over the winter, and in the summer, the gentler waves will slowly move it back on shore. Not all of it. We lost sand, and even under normal conditions, Anna Maria Island loses about 10 feet of width every single year,” Hunsicker said.
“We fully expect the beach to respond the way it did. It’s the breaking tide that does most of the damage. When high tide rolls up over the beach it moves sand around, but it doesn’t drag it out like grabbing hold of a bedsheet and pulling it off a bed. Actually, high tides and flooding on the beach is a good thing. We lose the back berms and dunes, but that sand is pulled from the dunes and distributed across the beaches,” Hunsicker said.
“We’ve been asked to assess damages like any other tropical storm or hurricane, and to rough estimate the volume lost. If there is a congressional add to the budget to address damages from this hurricane season, our beaches there will be eligible for the Corps to return with a new contractor and put that sand back on the beach. That isn’t very often, but that’s how, after Hurricane Sandy (in 2012), we got relief. If you remember Hurricane Irma (also in 2012), that is why the Corps is here now, to return the whole beach back to its starting elevations and widths that were there before the storm,” Hunsicker said.
“We may go through yet another episode if congressional money is available. We won’t be able to afford paying for it ourselves – or the state of Florida for that matter. But we’re always optimistic. Certainly, there were damages up and down the southwest coast of Florida and on the east coast – Miami and Key West. So, if there’s a hurricane relief bill coming to Congress, the Army Corps will make efforts to apply that funding to restore the lost sand we just suffered in the last three days,” Hunsicker said.
PROJECT STALLED
Due to swells from Hurricane Eta, Anna Maria Island’s beach renourishment project is delayed until Nov. 20. The $17 million project, which began July 8 at 78th Street in Holmes Beach, was previously extended from the original completion date of Oct. 31 to Nov. 10 by Hurricane Zeta. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ contractor, Marinex Construction, deems it safe, the dredge will be moved from its safe harbor to the sand source offshore and beach con-
TROY MORGAN/ PHOTOS FROM THE AIR |SUBMITTED This aerial photo, above, shows the renourished Bradenton Beach coastline after Tropical Storm Eta arrived. Storms stalled the project at the main lifeguard station, left, at Coquina Beach.
CINDY LANE | THE SUN
struction will resume south of the main lifeguard station at Coquina Beach, moving to Longboat Pass. Pipes have been removed from the beach north of approximately 12th Street North, but will remain south of there for the remainder of the project. After the beach fill is completed, Marinex will build dunes in some areas, which will take 7-10 days and require no dredging or pipelines on the beach.
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Find holiday recipes in Cortez cookbook
Looking for holiday recipes? The Cortez Cultural Center, 11655 Cortez Road W., will have the local cookbook, “What’s Cooking in Cortez,” available for sale for holiday cooking and gift giving priced at $15, or two for $25 on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 1-3 p.m.
The 235-page book features 700 recipes from local residents with photographs by local artist Linda Molto, and is hardbound with three rings, making it easy to insert favorite recipes.
The cookbook from the last working fishing village in Florida features appetizers, beverages, breads, soups, salads, meats, seafood and desserts. Fish recipes abound, as appetizer and main dish cooked in every way imaginable - smoked, stuffed, fried and sautéed - along with tasty salsas and local fruits and vegetables, most predominantly, the mango.
Holiday recipes include Molto's curried turkey salad with mango and lime dressing, and shrimp stuffing by Cortezian Dr. Mary Fulford Green, who recently received the Manatee High School Distinguished Alumna award for her efforts in preserving the fishing village and founding the Cortez Village Historical Society, which first published the cookbook in 2007.
Enjoy new Passage Key video
Manatee County has produced a new video celebrating Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge and urging boaters to observe the law preserving the island for wildlife only.
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, at the request of the National Audubon Society, established the refuge in 1905 as a sanctuary for seabirds and shorebirds. It remains one of the only undeveloped barrier islands in Tampa Bay. More than 50 species of birds roost and nest on the key.
Since 1991, Passage Key has been closed to the public, although photography and fishing are allowed outside the boundaries of the refuge, much of which is underwater.
See the video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFx-IXKwYAs&feature=youtu.be
COVID: 100 cases on AMI
FROM PAGE 1
On Saturday, Nov. 14, 202 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Manatee County, according to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) COVID-19 dashboard. As of Monday morning, 14,593 Manatee County residents and 179 nonresidents tested positive for COVID-19 since March.
According to the Nov. 14 Manatee County COVID-19 update shared by County Commissioner Misty Servia, 34 patients were currently hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Saturday, with 945 total COVID-19 hospitalizations to date, and 346 COVID-19 related deaths to date.
The most recent daily percent positive rate for those tested in Manatee County in one day was 7.81%.
