5 minute read
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
from The Ensign Fall 2025
by theensign
Florida squadron identifies missing waterway markers
BY JOE HENDRICKS
► In the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton, Anna Maria Island Sail & Power Squadron/22 member David Haddox helped the city of Anna Maria, Florida, determine which buoys and waterway markers remain in place, which markers are missing and who is responsible for replacing them.
As past commander of Anna Maria Island Sail & Power Squadron and current rear commander of the Basic Public Education Committee for America’s Boating Club | United States Power Squadrons, Haddox also chairs the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.
When presenting his findings to the Anna Maria City Commission in April, Haddox said, “The mayor asked me, based on my power squadron experience, to assist him with a program to try to identify waterway markers surrounding the city of Anna Maria that are missing or off-station.”
Identifying waterway markers
Haddox used the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s interactive online Uniform Waterway Marker Map to identify the locations of the buoys and waterway markers on record. Clicking on the icon for each waterway marker identifies its permitted latitude and longitude, the message displayed on the marker, the permit number and more.
Along with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, squadron educational officer Jay Winters and city general manager Dean Jones, Haddox went out by boat and visually identified the remaining and missing markers.
They also identified some markers not shown on the FWC map, including markers in Bimini Bay that mark the channel for safe navigation in and out of Anna Maria’s residential canals and five nautical dayboard markers at the entrance to Bimini Bay permitted to the West Coast Inland Navigation District. The WCIND markers remain in place, but a couple are damaged.
Using PowerPoint and the FWC map, Haddox created a map that indicates which waterway markers remain and which are missing; all but two of the 21 markers that should surround the city of Anna Maria are missing. Using the permit numbers listed on the FWC map, Haddox contacted the FWC and the U.S. Coast Guard to identify the permit holder for each marker in the “string of pearls” that is supposed to surround the city.
The missing markers include four Vessel Exclusion Zone markers previously located offshore of Bayfront Park. As the marker permit holder, the city is responsible for replacing those markers, which prohibit motorized vessels from entering that offshore area often used by swimmers.
“It is a crime to bring a vessel between those markers and shore because we don’t want people and propellers in the same water at the same time,” Haddox said. “The sheriff’s office will be enforcing that once we get those markers put back.”
Haddox said a portion of the Vessel Exclusion Zone created by the initial positioning of the four waterway markers overlaps the channel leading in and out of Lake La Vista. This resulted in boaters unknowingly passing through the Vessel Exclusion Zone. According to Haddox, FWC approved repositioning the replacement markers in a manner that will remedy this concern.
Most of the other markers displayed on the FWC map list Manatee County as the permit holder, and Haddox said the city would notify the county about the missing markers the county is responsible for replacing. Haddox also contacted Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer and the Holmes Beach city planner regarding missing markers in that city’s waters.
Pier debris
The Anna Maria City Pier sustained significant damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton, with the latter taking out a portion of the pier walkway. At Mayor Mark Short’s request, Haddox also helped the city obtain FWC approval to temporarily place four “Danger” waterway markers on each side of missing City Pier walkway, where concrete pilings and other debris are submerged or partially submerged where the pier walkway previously stood.
Haddox said unlike the legally enforceable Vessel Exclusion Zones, the “Danger” buoys placed near the pier will be informational only and not subject to sheriff’s office enforcement.
“They might see someone doing it and suggest that’s a bad idea, but it is violating the marked Vessel Exclusion Zone that you can actually get a ticket for,” Haddox said.
Short said, “I want to thank [Haddox] and the power squadron for stepping in and helping us with this project. I don’t think we have anybody on staff that even remotely would qualify to do what you guys do, and we really appreciate it.”
Short asked Haddox to share information he obtained on the city’s behalf regarding a WCIND grant program for placing or replacing waterway markers.
“We are applying for reimbursement. The grant, if it’s awarded, will be awarded on Oct. 1,” Haddox said. “It’s entirely likely this entire project will be paid for by WCIND and not cost the city a thing.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joe Hendricks is a newspaper reporter and photographer on Anna Maria Island, a three-city island community in southwest Florida. This story previously appeared in the Anna Maria Island Sun newspaper.
