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Stories this week on Anna Maria Island: Wednesday, Sept. 01, 2010
High and not dry
A high tide and heavy rainfall left some of Anna Maria Island’s beaches under water Aug. 24. Water reached the beach access at the end of Sycamore Avenue in Anna Maria, and, in parts of Bradenton Beach, water flooded beach-access points. Islander Photos: Lisa Neff
Anna Maria Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus will have another day in court at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 3, when Judge Edward Nicholas hears his motion for a stay of the court-ordered Sept. 7 recall election.
Stoltzfus filed an emergency motion Monday with Manatee County Circuit Court asking for an expedited hearing to stay the special election that will both give Anna Maria voters an option to recall or retain him as commissioner, and to elect him or Gene Aubry to fill the remainder of the term if the recall passes.
A record rainfall was recorded in Manatee County for Aug. 23.
Rain began early and continued into the next day, sometimes falling in heavy downpours and moving slowly across the Manatee-Sarasota county area.
The National Weather Service in Ruskin reported that 4.61 inches of rain fell at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport Aug. 23, making it the wettest Aug. 23 in recorded history for the county.
Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas ruled Aug. 24 that the petition to recall Anna Maria Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus was “legally sufficient.” The recall vote would, therefore, proceed.
Stoltzfus quickly appealed Nicholas’s decision, although no hearing has been scheduled by the appeal court.
Anna Maria Commission Chair John Quam pulled the plug on his own parking plan at an Aug. 26 meeting
The agenda had called for a discussion of a draft ordinance for parking that would incorporate some of Plan North, a proposal brought forward by Quam in May.
But Quam said he’s revised his opinion after studying vacant lots on Pine Avenue that would be subject to new parking regulations. He could only find 13 lots for development or redevelopment.
The Holmes Beach Planning Commission Aug. 26 decided that the city commission’s proposed land-development code changes were consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan.
But the planning commission expressed some concerns during the discussion meeting at Holmes Beach City Hall.
The changes the city commission discussed at its meeting included the possibility that an incoming business owner wanting to add parking spaces would not be required to submit a site plan to commissioners.
Manatee County Health Department officials on Aug. 27 issued a water quality advisory warning for the waters at the north portion of Bayfront Park in Anna Maria.
The advisory was issued after tests revealed the level of bacteria in the water is above the minimum level set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
After six hours of hail, rain and lighting pounded the small airplane, Scott Elliott returned to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport Aug 21 without the boat he had been hoping to spot from the air.
Elliott had been combing the Gulf of Mexico waters south of Anna Maria Island, looking for his 50-foot Viking cruiser that was stolen Aug. 13 or Aug. 14 from behind his home on Key Royale Drive in Holmes Beach.
Penny Frick of Bradenton won the grand prize in The Islander’s annual Top Notch contest for this photo of a white pelican landing in Cortez. Frick won $100 from the newspaper, plus a bevy of gifts from Islander advertisers and placement in professional photographer Jack Elka’s 2011 calendar. Look for The Islander’s honorable mentions in the Top Notch contest.
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