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VOL 19 No. 29
May 1, 2019
LITTLE BOOTS, BIG HEARTS MONICA SIMPSON | SUN
Boys and girls train together during the soccer clinic, sponsored by Beach Bums. See the related story and more photos from the soccer clinic on Page 34.
Fish house owner in Catch-22 BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
CORTEZ – As the Florida Legislative session winds down this week, Karen Bell, of A.P. Bell Fish Co., is caught in a “Catch-22” – she says she’s not allowed to talk to her state elected official about resolving an issue in his district because she is a party in litigation on the issue. Bell said she has tried to set up an appointment with Florida Senate President Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton) to discuss sponsoring legislation to allow Raymond Guthrie Jr.’s stilt structure to remain standing in Sarasota Bay just south of her fish house. Guthrie built the structure in 2018 on the location of several former Guthrie family net camps, which were used by commercial fishermen to clean, dry and store nets, Bell said.
INSIDE NEWS 4 OPINION 6 CALENDAR 7 ENTERTAINMENT 24 COPS, OBITS 25 RESTAURANTS 26-27 REAL ESTATE 28-32 CLASSIFIEDS 37-39
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says it owns the submerged land under the net camp and has ordered Guthrie to demolish the structure, but Bell says her company owns the submerged land pursuant to the 1921 Butler Act, which awarded submerged lands to upland property owners who made improvements, such as building structures, to the submerged lands. She is trying to prove ownership in court. But because of her pending suit against the DEP, Bell said she was told by Galvano’s assistant that he can’t speak to her. “It was suggested by DEP staff who came to Cortez and met with us that we talk with our local delegation about submitting special legislation to allow
NEW plan, new
hope for a cleaner Spring Lake. 3
Anna Maria Island, Florida
SEE FISH HOUSE, PAGE 35
Commissioner proposes unique solution to noise Commissioner Kim Rash has some ideas for how to help control noise in residential neighborhoods, but his fellow city leaders aren’t so sure it’s what’s best for the city. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – Commissioner Kim Rash wants city leaders to follow the letter of the law, particularly where it involves the enforcement of the city’s noise ordinance. Rash brought up noise in residential areas during the April 23 regular meeting. He said that the noise from vacation rentals in residential
areas remains a large problem for residents. With some rentals being occupied for less than the required seven days and other over posted capacity, Rash said he wants to make sure that no one is exempted from the city’s noise ordinance, including children. His argument is that the noise ordinance governing the levels of acceptable noise during day and nighttime hours does not single out an age group to apply to, so it should be applied to everyone equally. “I don’t see anything where any age group is exempted from our code. We have the decimal reader and that covers everybody,” he said. “I’ve heard different people say we’re not going SEE NOISE, PAGE 35
FIRST WEEK of turtle season is here. 9 EXPLORING the Ten
Thousand Islands. 22 The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper www.amisun.com