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VOL 15 No. 21
March 18, 2015
Get your green on
MAGGIE FIELD | SUN
Blue skies and warm breezes greeted hundreds of spectators and participants on Anna Maria Island Sunday afternoon in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Above, Sally Sale, Glenda Hansen and Jim Madison enjoy the ride as they drive their green golf cart machine through Holmes Beach. More photos of all the festivities appear on Page 8.
Community Center fitness facility plan takes heat Commissioners are concerned about the adverse impact on two gyms in the city. BY PAT COPELAND SUN STAFF WRITER | pcopeland@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – City commissioners had harsh words for the Island Community Center’s plan to build a state of the art fitness center on the second floor of the Center. “I was very sorry to hear the way the Community Center is going, by using the whole second floor as a gym,” Commissioner Jean Peelen said
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at last week’s city commission meeting. “We have two gyms on this Island that are struggling to exist. Why in the world we would encourage a Community Center to go into competition with them? “And it troubles me, particularly in light of a companion movement I hear is happening there, to allow the rental houses to use the Community Center for an annual fee. The direction is toward it becoming a spa for the resort houses, and that’s very concerning. I don’t understand why the board see center, page 44
Pending finalization, the mayor’s global settlement will end multiple lawsuits and ongoing city debates. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – Friday the 13th was a day of grand compromise inside city hall. During a special commission meeting that began at 9 a.m., residents, attorneys, and elected officials spent three hours hammering out the details of the global settlement introduced by Mayor Bill Shearon and attorney Chuck Johnson on March 5.
Barring unforeseen complications, the settlement, when finalized, will end four lawsuits; end the forfeiture of office proceedings against Shearon; end a long-running parking dispute involving the BeachHouse restaurant and an adjacent city property; and end a public records lawsuit. After two hours of public negotiations, Johnson, City Attorney Ricinda Perry, and Ed Chiles’ attorney, Robert Lincoln, requested a 20 minute recess to craft the basic framework of the settlement agreement. “We are not going to dot every i, cross every t, nor recite every element that will be see settlement, page 47
AMI Beaches, FULL OF
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Get a peek at the houses on this year’s Tour of Homes. 18-22
Anna Maria Island, Florida
Commission closes in on global settlement
TOURISTS, RATED NO. 5 IN WORLD 4
Brides, grooms never looked better than in the Wedding Section 14
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