NEWS

4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS

IN BRIEF

KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN Two children play in the bowl of the newly-reopened skate park.

HOLMES BEACH PARKS REOPEN TO PUBLIC

The city’s parks are now open to both residents and visitors alike.

Mayor Judy Titsworth made the announcement during the May 12 city commission meeting, held via teleconference, that all of the city’s parks were reopened to the public as long as groups in each area were kept to no more than 10 people at one time and everyone practices social distancing. If crowds at city parks become a problem, she added that she would consider closing them again.

In addition to the skate park, large dog park, basketball courts and tennis/pickleball courts, Titsworth said the new playground is finished and open for children to play. Commissioner Kim Rash is helping public works employees install a fence around the playground in the coming weeks.

Also newly completed are the shuffleboard courts, though Titsworth said they still need to have benches and a scoreboard installed.

“They are beautiful,” Titsworth said.

The remodeled small dog park is scheduled to open by the end of May. While the rest of the city’s park facilities are open to the public, the multi-use field at the city field complex remains temporarily closed due to re-sodding.

TRASH COLLECTION DELAYED FOR MEMORIAL DAY

Waste Pro and Waste Management customers on Anna Maria Island will experience a delay in trash, recycling and yard debris collection due to the May 25 Memorial Day holiday. Customers with regularly scheduled collections on Mondays will have their items picked up on Tuesday. The rest of the week will follow the regular schedule with no collections scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.

KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN Barricades block the right of way along Second Avenue in Holmes Beach to prevent beachgoers from parking in front of homes.

Parking still a problem in Holmes Beach

Even with beaches open, parking problems continue to plague Holmes Beach city leaders.

BY KRISTIN SWAIN

SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com

HOLMES BEACH – Beachgoers beware. Right of way, street and beach access parking are still closed in Holmes Beach with most parking spaces planned to remain closed to drivers once the COVID-19 threat is over.

During a May 12 commission meeting, Police Chief Bill Tokajer updated commissioners on a plan to eliminate right of way and street parking on all streets in the city west of the Gulf, East Bay, Marina and Palm Drive main thoroughfare. Tokajer said that “no parking” signs and poles had been ordered and were expected to arrive within the next few weeks with additional time needed for sign installation. With the current plan, he said it would be the end of the month before any street parking spaces are open to the public, including visitors and residents.

Until those signs are installed, all street, right of way and beach access parking remains closed to the public. Violators may receive parking tickets or have their car towed at their own expense. Banners proclaiming the parking regulations are on display throughout the city.

Once the new “no parking” signs are installed, only the beach access parking spaces and street parking on the east side of the city will reopen, eliminating about 2,000 parking spaces. If beach parking becomes a problem on the east side of the city, Tokajer said he would review the situation and come back to the mayor and city commission with a new plan.

CHURCH, BUSINESS LOT ISSUES

One problem that’s already made itself apparent now that Manatee Beach is reopened at full capacity to visitors is local churches lending their parking lots to beachgoers. Because the parking lots are privately owned, the city can’t regulate parking in them, however, Mayor Judy Titsworth expressed concern that not only are the lots being used for beach parking, pushing beachgoers through neighborhoods to beach access points, there’s also no way to enforce social distancing. With the public beach parking lot also now opened to full capacity, Tokajer said enforcing social distancing in that lot is also a problem.

For owners of private lots, including parking lots at commercial businesses and shopping plazas, if no parking signs are present, business owners can call HBPD officers to ticket violators who are parking in the lots to go to the beach. However, while HBPD officers will have cars towed if they are parked at beach access points, on city streets and in the right of way, it’s up to the parking lot owners to have vehicles towed out of their spaces.

Titsworth said she would reach out to the churches and other private lot owners to follow up on how the lots are being used and let them know what services HBPD officers can offer for parking violators.

Currently, Tokajer said there are no plans to up the city’s parking violation fine from $50 though he added that the issue would be revisited if necessary in the future.

HBPD officers are taking over the enforcement of parking at the Manatee Beach lot, along with social distancing and monitoring of beachgoers. If police enforcement at the beach becomes an issue, Tokajer said he’d ask Manatee County leaders to step in and bring staff back to the beach to deal with issues. On the weekends, Friday through Monday when beach traffic is typically at its highest, Tokajer said his officers would have reinforcements from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

FROM PAGE 1 Bob Carter and Holmes Beach resident Mike Deal also expressed support for the Ugly Grouper.

Rose said he considered submitting a bid to put a restaurant on the pier but decided to focus on another project instead.

Rose said he would not respond to the RFP if issued again and he didn’t think many others would either – in part due to the additional challenges associated with operating a restaurant elevated above water.

Rose said he thought Ross would do a great job.

“We need our gathering place back – our locals that used to go out there daily and enjoy fellowship and enjoy a beer. Please negotiate with the Ugly Grouper,” Deal said.

“If you put out an RFP in good faith and you get responses in good faith those who are left standing deserve to be negotiated with,” Bob Carter said.

COMMISSION DECISION

“I was impressed by the outpouring of support from the people on the call today,” Crane said of the commission meeting conducted by conference call. “I think we’ve got somebody we ought to be talking to.”

Short said he was impressed with Ross’ comments and the public support offered by others, and the commission unanimously supported Muscatello’s motion to move forward with Ross’ group.

Because of ongoing COVID-19 concerns, an opening date for the fishing pier has not yet been announced. Once opened, the pier and restrooms will remain open while the interior buildouts of the restaurant and bait shop are completed.

Long-time pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder’s current lease expires in mid-December.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA – As city officials negotiate with a potential new lessee for the City Pier, current leaseholder Mario Schoenfelder’s lawyer reminded them this week that his lease remains in effect through mid-December.

Schoenfelder entered into his lease for the old City Pier in 2000 and occupied the cityowned pier and operated the restaurant and bait shop until the pier was closed in September 2017 due to hurricane damage that further magnified existing structural concerns.

In early January, the city commission rejected Schoenfelder’s offer to lease the new pier for an initial base rent of $8,000

per month. Schoenfelder was paying approximately $12,000 per month when the old pier closed. He told the commission his $8,000 offer took into account the $865,000 he expected to spend to complete the interior buildouts of the new city-owned buildings.

Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy is currently negotiating a new pier lease with Ugly Grouper co-owner Mike Ross.

On March 27, attorney Lori Dorman sent Murphy and City Attorney Becky Vose a letter regarding Schoenfelder’s lease.

“I am writing on behalf of my client, T.C.P.R. Inc. and its principal, Mr. Mario Schoenfelder. As you know, TCPR is the current tenant of the pier pursuant to the Anna Maria City Pier agreement. Under the lease, TCPR’s tenancy ends on Dec. 15, 2020,” Dorman’s letter says.

“In entering into the lease with TCPR, the city retained specific duties regarding the pier and undertook additional duties to maintain insurance and to restore the leased premises in the event of a casualty.

“Therefore, without waiving any of the TCPR’s rights to obtain recourse for the city’s breach of the lease, we would remind you that the city must restore the lease premises, including all of the improvements, to the condition they were in immediately prior to Hurricane Irma,” Dorman’s letter says.

“We hope that the city would like to resolve these issues now and avoid any future conflict regarding the pier. TCPR is amenable to exploring options with the city, including an early termination, provided it is compensated for its losses,” Dorman’s letter concludes.

When contacted recently via email, Schoenfelder said the city had not yet responded to Dorman’s letter.

When contacted last week, Murphy acknowledged receipt of the letter but declined further comment.