- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 17 No. 50
September 27, 2017
Peace flourishes at AME TOM VAUGHT | SUN
A colorful array of flags from countries around the world highlighted Peace Day at Anna Marie Elementary School last Friday. Students read essays and sang songs of peace as they were instructed to find peaceful solutions to problems. More on Page 4.
City Pier will remain closed City officials are moving forward with expedited plans reconstruct a replacement pier in Anna Maria. JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria City Pier will be closed for at least a year due to damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma. On Sept. 20, Mayor Dan Murphy received a structural assessment and damage report from the Ayers Associates engineering firm in Tampa. The report was based on the firm’s Sept. 15 inspection of the pier. “We recommend immediate closure of the facility until appropriate repairs are made to the pier and buildings,” the report concludes.
INSIDE NEWS OPINION Sun survey OUTDOORS RESTAURANTS REAL ESTATE SPORTS classifieds
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The report estimates it will take 12 or more months to design, permit and reconstruct the pier originally built in 1911. “Until those repairs are complete, the public should not be permitted on the pier,” the report says. The inspection revealed broken, compromised and deteriorated support bents throughout the length of the pier, some of which were in that condition before Hurricane Irma. Walkway planks adjacent to the bait shop were lifted, scattered and compromised. The missing bait shop roof is covered with tarp. The ceiling near the bar on the south end of the City Pier Restaurant had plywood falling through it and the roof was leaking.
Local couple
survives Hurricane Irma’s worst in St. John. 11
Anna Maria Island, Florida
see pier, page 13
The tree house still stands tall in Holmes Beach The tree house in Holmes Beach is still standing despite the wrath of a hurricane and demolition orders from the city. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH — The two-story tree house at Angelinos Sea Lodge remains in its beachfront perch, for now. Despite worries that a hurricane would bring down the structure, the tree house suffered no damage from Hurricane Irma, according to owner Lynn Tran. The tree house has been a bone of contention for more than five years between city leaders and owners Tran and Richard Hazen. It
is nestled in a large Australian pine tree located partially beyond the erosion control line seaward of the lodge. Built without permits due primarily to a communication error between Tran-Hazen and the city’s building department and not up to current building codes according to Holmes Beach Building Official Jim McGuinness, the location of the tree house left some wondering if it would weather the wrath of the storm. “We are happy the tree house is still here, at least for a little while longer,” Tran said. Prior to Hurricane Irma sweeping through the area Sept. 10, Tran said the lodge had several visitors taking what was thought could be the last photos of the see tree house, page 8
Island BUSINESS OWNER PROTESTS ANTHEM PROTESTERS.
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SEASONal favorites at Hurricane
Hank’s, in Food & Wine. 25 The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper
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