March 4, 2026 THE ISLANDER | islander.org Page 1 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Volume 34, No. 19
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HB commission opposes port By ryan Paice Islander reporter
The Holmes Beach City Commission joined the those challenging a proposal to build a cruise ship port in Manatee County. City commissioners voted 4-0 Feb. 24 to adopt a resolution opposing the establishment of a cruise ship terminal on the 328-acre Knott-Cowen tract southwest of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Commission Chair Carol Whitmore was absent with excuse. Landowner Slip Knott LLC and global terminal operator SSA Marine have outlined a multi-berth facility designed to serve cruise ships too tall Schaefer to pass beneath the Skyway’s 180-foot vertical clearance. The project would require rezoning and a largescale comprehensive plan amendment on the county Librarian Stephanie Katz, center, speaks with city staff and guests during the Feb. 24 reopening celebralevel. tion at the Tingley Memorial Library in Bradenton Beach. The library, shut down by the 2024 hurricanes, The proposal has been met with widespread opporeopened in a limited capacity in early 2025. Islander Photo: robert anderson sition, including from anglers, conservationists, local officials and Terra Ceia residents concerned about the port’s potential impact on the environment. By robert anderson City Commissioner Terry Schaefer proposed the Islander reporter a portrait resolution to join the wave of opposition at a Feb. 10 The Tingley Memorial Library celebrated a grand of Beulah commission meeting and the board reached consensus reopening Feb. 24 following a year of financial strain Tingley, a to draft it. and storm-related damage that had raised questions champion The resolution states that development of the proabout its long-term viability. of women’s posed terminal would “likely require extensive dredgThe library began in 1959 as the Bradenton Beach rights, reading in a sensitive coastal estuary ecosystem.” Public Library, a private nonprofit organization staffed ing and public It also voices opposition to the proposal and urges by volunteers and housed in the Harvey Memorial libraries. the county to “carefully consider the environmental Community Church on Church Street. The library has Islander File and infrastructural impacts” in the event a formal since been housed in a storefront on Bridge Street, then PLEaSE, SEE OPPOSE PORT, PaGE 3 Photo a room at city hall, a beach cottage owned by the city and eventually the elevated building at 111 Second St. N. Founded through a bequest from Beulah Tingley, the Tingley Memorial Library traces its origins to the That legacy faced strain in 2024 when hurricanes By ryan Paice political activist and champion of women’s rights who became the first woman to address a Democratic Helene and Milton damaged the building and intensi- Islander reporter West Manatee Fire Rescue District voters have a National Convention when she seconded the nomina- fied concerns about mounting repair and operational costs. After the storms, the library didn’t reopen to the ballot to cast in less than a week. tion of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. Voters can cast ballots Tuesday, March 10, in a Tingley later became a Bradenton Beach resident public until January 2025. In May 2025, city officials cited needed structural special election for a referendum question authorizing and a member of the city’s library board. An avid reader, she observed that the city lacked a dedicated repairs and rising costs at the library, with expenses WMFR to levy annual ad valorem taxes not to exceed 1 mill beginning in fiscal 2026-27. public library space and left more than $600,000 in her exceeding $100,000 after a roof replacement. The district currently levies non-ad valorem assessDuring that same report, city treasurer Shayne estate for the construction and operation of a permanent library when she died in 1986. The current build- Thompson said annual operating costs for the library ment fees that consist of a residential or commercial PLEaSE, SEE TINGLEY, PaGE 10 base rate plus additional charges for square footage. ing opened in 1994 using funds from her bequest. It has pushed for decades to gain the authority to levy ad valorem taxes in an effort to increase revenues, but all previous attempts have failed. Mary Jo Morton, left, and her The referendum will require a simple majority to husband, Mark, point to a pass. photograph Feb. 24 during the If it is approved, WMFR will be able to levy up reopening celebration at the to 1 mill in ad valorem taxes for each property in the Tingley Memorial Library. The district. photo of Beulah Tingley was The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of taken at the city docks in the property value used to calculate property taxes, so 1950s. Tingley bequeathed the owner of a property with the assessed value of the funds to establish the $500,000 would pay $500 in annual ad valorem taxes library. “She was very strong to the district at the 1 mill maximum rate. and very opinionated,” Morton However, the potential millage rate has yet to be said of Tingley. Islander Photo: determined — it would be set by a WMFR commission robert anderson vote if the referendum passes — and the district does not have a set plan for how the new revenue would be used. Proponents argue the increased revenues could be used to:
Tingley Library celebrates reopening, renewal
Voters to decide WMFR tax question March 10
PLEaSE, SEE WMFR VOTE, PaGE 4