Lobbying Tallahassee. 15
Heron watch. 22
On deck. 4
Happy Valentine’s Day
VOLUME 28, NO. 16
FEB. 12, 2020 FRee
astheworldterns wish y’all a happy V-day. 6 Presidents day closings. 3 HB outlines stormwater plan. 4
Meetings. 4 HB parks committee plans projects. 5
Opinions. 6 10-20 YEARS AGO Looking back. 7
BB hopes to grow ‘living shoreline.’
Happenings announcements.
Save the date.
Streetlife. Bridge Street utility project grinds forward. eyes on the road.
Gathering.
Obituaries. take 5:00:
GoodDeeds.
about fair-weather guests. BB adopts new boating regs. Sports roundup. unpredictable weather results in variety.
ISL BIZ about flights, fests.
PropertyWatch. CLASSIFIEDS.
NYTimes puzzle.
the Best news on anna maria island Since 1992
City pushes pier opening to March
islander.org
Kids take off in 13th annual AMe Dolphin Dash
By Phil colpas islander reporter
Let the celebration begin. Well, nearly, almost, but not yet. Not in February, as planned, but soon. The Anna Maria City Pier, closed since it was damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and demolished in 2018, will open March 10 for strolling and fishing. But, BYOB — bring your own bait. Due to a gridlock in negotiations between the mayor, commissioners and Mario Schoenfelder, the pier tenant since 2000 and operator or the restaurant, the buildings at the T-end of the pier, save the restrooms, will be vacant for the coming months. Schoenfelder’s lease runs through December 2020. The city launched a request for proposals for a tenant Jan. 22 date. “The RFP is posted and no responses as of yet,” Mayor Dan Murphy wrote in a Feb. 8 email to The Islander. The final date to submit written questions on the RFP is Feb. 19, with a pre-meeting for Q&A set for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26 at city hall. Meanwhile, Murphy announced the pier will open to the public — minus a bait shop — at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 10. He said details were “to follow.” In other city news, Murphy filled The Islander in on his trip to the state capital to defend municipal rule. PLeaSe, See PieR, Page 2
Kids take their marks at anna maria elementary in the start of the dolphin dash 1-mile fun run Feb. 8 through Holmes Beach and back. For more, see page 21. islander Photo: Brook morrison
Workers on the new anna maria city Pier Feb. 4 prepare for a limited — fishers, sightseers and strollers only — march 10 opening. islander Photo: Phil colpas
Cortez celebrates ‘steady’ roots with annual fishing festival By Sandy ambrogi islander reporter
Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. And many lifetimes have been spent fishing in Cortez. The commercial fishing industry will be celebrated Feb. 15-16 during the 38th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival in the village. Jane van Hahmann, vice-president of the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage and a key organizer for the event, told The Islander Jan. 29 the group expects more than 15,000 visitors to the two-day festival on the waterfront in the 4000 block of 119th Street West between the Florida Maritime Museum
EatHereFlorida.com (941) 778-0411 5315 Gulf Drive • Holmes Beach
and the bayfront. Hours will run 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the fishing festival is $5, with proceeds to FISH and its mission to preserve the fishing way of life. With a skeleton crew of planners and help from Florida Sea Grant and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, van Hahmann said 54 artists will display their wares, food and drink vendors will be present and two full days of music is slated to entertain festivalgoers. More than 20 food vendors will offer shrimp tacos, soft shell crabs, lobster rolls, grouper, fish chowder, mullet, gumbo and PLeaSe, See Festival, Page 2
For the 2020 poster and t-shirt, organizers looked back to 2010 and found: “cortez is Still White Boot ready.” islander courtesy Photo