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VOL 24 No. 37
May 8, 2024
Hundreds braved the heat on May 4 to come to the Save Florida Home Rule rally at Holmes Beach City Field. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
Hundreds rally against consolidation, garage KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN
Hundreds of residents, visitors, property owners and others gathered at Holmes Beach City Field on May 4 to hear from local residents and Island elected officials on the potential for city consolidation and a parking garage at Manatee Beach.
City may charge commercial boats to use dock
Commissioners will hold a work meeting in June for further discussion. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – The free dockage for commercial vessels at city docks may soon come at a cost. A discussion of the $5,000 cost to replace several floats lost on the floating docks during high surf in April turned to the city’s overall cost of dock maintenance and the possibility of charging a fee for businesses using the docks. “Five thousand dollars every time that happens, that’s a lot of money,” Commissioner Deborah Scaccianoce said at the May 2 city commission meeting. “This is happening more than once, and it seems like it’s going
to be a problem and we’re going to be chasing these floats constantly every time there’s a storm or a lot of wave action on that pier.” Mayor John Chappie said he had received an update from Duncan Seawall General Manager Steve Porter that the replacement floats were on order. “It’s a tough area to have the floating dock structure in there because it does get a lot of wave action,” Chappie said. “It’s totally exposed to the northern part of Sarasota Bay. I’ll try to get an update on cost and maintenance, what we need to do to prevent some of this damage that’s been happening and try to mitigate the maintenance costs.” City Attorney Ricinda Perry said she agreed with Scaccianoce and said there should be an established maintenance program, then suggested
SEE DOCK, PAGE 14
SEE RALLY, PAGE 27
Ferry service to Longboat Key discussed Future ferry service to Longboat Key likely would be limited to the northern key. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
LONGBOAT KEY – Gulf Islands Ferry service may one day be expanded to the north end of Longboat Key, but that isn’t expected to happen in the immediate future. Future ferry service was one of the topics discussed during the joint meeting that Manatee County and Longboat Key officials participated in on April 30 at the county administration building in downtown Bradenton. Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said the county and
MAKE PAELLA for Mother's Day - learn how in Food and Wine. 25 Page 27 Anna Maria Island, Florida
HOLMES BEACH – The Florida heat didn’t stop a crowd from gathering at City Field on Saturday to express their opposition to the Manatee County Commission and Florida Legislature consolidating or eliminating the three Anna Maria Island cities and building a parking garage at Manatee Beach. The rally, held on May 4 by the Save Florida Home Rule grassroots activist group, brought hundreds of people to the pavilion, including residents, visitors, property owners and other interested community members. Even Manatee County political satirical figure Kevin-Kyle Kaczynski Von Oswald made an appearance to cheer the group on, carrying a sign that said, “Save Home Rule.” It was a sentiment echoed by all in attendance as Island elected officials, residents, city staff and a county commission candidate took the stage to share facts with the community on both issues and speak out
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the Town of Longboat Key have and will continue to discuss if, when and how the county’s Gulf Islands Ferry service might one day be expanded to Longboat Key. Town Manager Howard Tipton said there have been preliminary discussions about using the town dock near the Mar Vista restaurant, which is also within walking distance of the Shore restaurant. Tipton plans to survey potentially impacted Longboat Key residents to gauge how they feel about a ferry stop there. Falcione said the canal behind the Whitney Plaza along Gulf of Mexico Drive at the north end of the key is too shallow to accommodate the ferries and he doesn’t envision the ferries traveling to the residential and resort areas further south.
SEE FERRY, PAGE 17
CRIME TAKES a holiday in Bradenton
Beach. 23
HUNTERS POINT wins dock battle in
appeals court. 3
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