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VOL 24 No. 5
September 27, 2023
WMFR begins inspecting vacation rentals Former firefighter Michael Wilcox offered his vacation rental as the first to be inspected by WMFR. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Clockwise top, Michael and Jennifer Wilcox’s Casa Coconut AMI vacation rental was the first to be inspected by WMFR. Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski inspected one of Michael Wilcox’s smoke detectors. Josh Adkins, Nick Riffe, Michael Wilcox and Rodney Kwiatkowski were present during the follow-up inspection.
Ferry will stop at Anna Maria The ferry service will initially operate three days a week. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – The city commission has approved an interlocal agreement that allows Manatee County to use the City Pier as a Gulf Island Ferry stop. The unanimous approval granted on Aug. 21 ends a lengthy negotiation process that included the mayor and city commissioners recently rejecting the county’s request to make $300,000 in modifications to the
City Pier. The rejected modifications included a floating perpendicular dock and a gated, exclusive ferry landing area at the existing boat landing at the T-end of the pier. The county previously entered into an interlocal agreement with the city of Bradenton Beach to use the Bradenton Beach Pier as a ferry stop. The county also entered into an interlocal agreement with the city of Bradenton to use the Riverwalk Day Dock as a ferry stop. On Thursday, the Anna Maria City Commission approved the county’s
SEE FERRY, PAGE 21
SEE WMFR, PAGE 16
Turtle season slows to a crawl Some sea turtle nests were lost during Hurricane Idalia. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The 2023 turtle nesting season is coming to an early end, partly due to Hurricane Idalia. “No changes in nest numbers,” Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella said. “That’s not surprising as this is usually the hatching time of year.” The last nest on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Island hatched on Sept.
A STONE, A BEAR,
a girl and a heart of gold. 11
19 and volunteers continue to check three remaining nests on the bay side. “We are still hoping to see a hatch,” she said. Sea turtle season officially begins on May 1 and ends on Oct. 31. Volunteers did not conduct patrols on Aug. 30 due to Idalia, but they were out on the beach assessing the status of the nests the following day. “We had 76 unhatched nests left on the beach when Hurricane Idalia came through. Stakes were lost from all but 12 of them,” Mazzarella said.
SEE TURTLES, PAGE 14
TWO CANDIDATES oppose Kevin Van
Ostenbridge in county race. 4
AMOB approved to sell alcohol on
Bradenton Beach Pier. 9
Page 23 Anna Maria Island, Florida
HOLMES BEACH – On Oct. 1, West Manatee Fire Rescue (WMFR) will begin mandatory annual inspections of all short-term vacation rentals in the fire district that includes Anna Maria Island, Cortez and portions of west Bradenton. The WMFR inspections are separate from the vacation rental inspections conducted by the cities of Anna Maria and Holmes Beach. Bradenton resident and Holmes Beach vacation rental owner Michael Wilcox volunteered his three-unit Casa Coconut AMI vacation rental as the first to be inspected and reinspected. Wilcox is a retired fire lieutenant from the Miami Valley Fire District in Miamisburg, Ohio and still holds an active Ohio fire safety inspector certificate. The former firefighter offered his vacation rental units as a trial run for WMFR and he conducted his own inspection before the WMFR inspection took place. “I came up with what I think are 19 violations in my three units and some of them are repetitive. I didn’t fix anything before the WMFR inspection,” he said.
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