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VOL 16 No. 11
January 13, 2016
County: Renourishment money at risk Parking ban could affect renourishment funding. BY PAT COPELAND SUN STAFF WRITER | pcopeland@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – City officials received a stern warning from Manatee County regarding implementing any parking restrictions that could jeopardize beach renourishment funding. At press time, the City Commission is slated to vote on an ordinance that would establish a parking program
in a test area where parking on the rights of way would be banned, except for residents with permits. At the last discussion on the ordinance in December, Mayor Bob Johnson vowed to veto it if it is approved. In a unanimous vote, Manatee County Commissioners asked County Administrator Ed Hunzeker to write a letter to city officials. In the Jan. 7 letter to Johnson, Hunzeker said, “While such actions are clearly authorized by your local ordinances, please be aware that any such actions which have the
effect of reducing public access to federal and state funded renourished Gulffront beaches within the city limits may have direct and immediate consequences upon state and federal cost shares provided to Manatee County for the 2014 renourishment project and any future renourishment projects.”
Agreements spell out rules
According to a funding assistance agreement between the county, as the see parking, page 33
sun file photo
Anna Maria Island’s number one tourist attraction – its beaches – must be replenished with new sand to combat erosion, as they were in this 2015 project. County officials say the money to pay for that renourishment could be at risk if Holmes Beach officials enact a parking ban now being considered.
Manatees headed off endangered list BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
Manatees are one step closer to being reclassified from endangered to threatened status, an indication the species is no longer in danger of extinction, according to federal wildlife officials. Protected as endangered since 1967 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the West Indian manatee,
including its subspecies, the Florida manatee, “no longer meets the Act's definition of endangered and should be reclassified as threatened,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The ESA defines an endangered species as being “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” while a threatened species is “likely to be-
come an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” An increased population count and the success of efforts to conserve the marine mammal, also known as the sea cow, were cited at a press conference last week as the primary reasons for the reclassification. see manatees, page 24
8,000
Manatee Counts in Florida
7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
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The county prevails in the Long Bar Pointe development lawsuit. 12
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