VOLUME 31, NO. 49
SEPT. 27, 2023 FREE
the Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992 Astheworldterns 6
Q&A 092723 3
Leading the way to peace
2 join district 3 race v. Van Ostenbridge. 4
Meetings 5 County called out over dog attacks. 5
Opinions 6
10-20 YEARS AGO
Looking back. 7
Anna Maria finalizes budget. 8 Anna Maria faces commission vacancies. 9
Save the date. 10
AMI Happenings What’s up on AMI? 11
AMe news. 12-13
Gathering. 14
GoodDeeds. 15
Where’s Tuna Street?
16-17
Clean water advocates plan ahead. 18
NYT puzzle. 18 Get in the game. 19 HBPD seeks to build fleet. 20
Streetlife. 21 BB committee cycles into 2023-24 work. 22 Crashes, casualties stir MPO conversations. 23 Soccer played at center pitch. 24 Look for shorebirds to find fish. 25
NESTING NOTES 26 Resident flamingos? 27
CLASSIFIEDS. 28-29
Isl Biz: 30
Find the Islander archive dating to 1992 online at the University of Florida Digital Newspaper Collection at ufdc.ufl.edu.
islander.org
Anna Maria, county (finally) reach ferry agreement By Ryan Paice Islander Reporter
The Anna Maria City Pier is set to be the first island stop for Manatee County’s Gulf Islands Ferry program. City commissioners unanimously voted Sept. 21 to approve an interlocal agreement and improvement plan to allow the county’s ferry to use the city pier as a ferry station. The county had already inked interlocal agreements with the cities of Bradenton and Bradenton Beach, so Anna Maria’s signoff wraps up about a year of negotiations. Over that time, the two sides have whittled down Murphy terms and revisions for an agreement that Mayor Dan Murphy endorsed in August. The endorsed agreement has six terms, which include: • Requiring any water ferry route to include the city pier for both departure and arrival from downtown Bradenton. EliminatHolmes Beach Police Lt. Brian Hall and Officer Christine ing that route would constitute grounds for LaBranche, AMe’s resource officer, lead a procession of terminating the agreement; students Sept. 21 to AMe’s International Peace Day cel• Requiring the county to ensure accessiebration. More, page 13. Islander Photo: Brook Morrison bility under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act, which guarantees access to public resources for disabled people, by paying for and constructing necessary improvements to By Robert Anderson preparation work is completed, the trail will the city pier dock; Islander Reporter be rehabilitated.” tURN tO WATER FERRY, PAGe 3 People who frequent a multiuse trail at The county’s sports and leisure departCoquina Beach will experience less shade. ment is steering the project since it oversees Manatee County is remodeling the path, the park. beginning with the removal of 96 Australian He said another area of concern was the pine trees. beach marketplace zone, as the market is due Manatee County information outreach tURN tO COQUINA TREES, PAGe 2 manager Bill Logan told The Islander a tree removal company working under Woodruff By Ryan Paice & Sons would be removing the trees in late Islander Reporter September. October’s Manatee County Legislative “A few weeks of work on that, then they Delegation meeting could be a look into a will move to installing a root barrier along crystal ball for Anna Maria Island. the path,” Logan said. It could foretell a “That work should take them well into reshaping of the island, October. It sounds like paving would likely and the lines of communibe completed after the holidays,” he contincation between island and ued. state representatives are In August, Manatee County commissionopening as the meeting date ers approved the $1,305,432.93 project. approaches. County strategic planning manager titsworth Anna Maria Mayor Dan Ogden Clark told The Islander Sept. 21 that Murphy told The Islander Sept. 22 that he’d removing the trees is a necessary first step spoken via phone the week before with state in remodeling the trail. Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Will “The proposed work is the removal of Robinson Jr., R-Bradenton, about a potenthe existing trail, repaving in the same locatial state study into consolidating the island tion at the same width with root barriers, municipalities. required tree trimming and removal and tree The study by the Florida Office of replacements as required — from Longboat Program Policy Analysis and Government Pass to Fifth Street South,” Clark said. Accountability, a research arm of the LegRoot intrusion that created an undulaislature that provides data and analysis that tion in the trail’s surface necessitated the assists budget and policy deliberations, was remodel. Clark said the county is only removing A cyclist pedals Sept. 18 along a multipur- requested last January. Robinson first proposed the study when pose path at Coquina Beach in Bradenton trees closest to the trail’s edge. “Trees to be removed are within 3 1/2 Beach. trail users will see less shade after he motioned the delegation to commission an OPPAGA study into the island’s governfeet of the existing trail,” Clark said. “A root the county removes 96 Australian pine ing structure. barrier will also be installed where trees are trees along the trail before repaving it. tURN tO CONSOLIDATION, PAGe 4 within 10 feet of the sidewalk. Once this Island Photo: Robert Anderson
Coquina trail pine trees getting axed
Island, state reps to meet on consolidation