The path may not be cleared, but the vision down the road is improved.
Developer Shawn Kaleta remains banned from any future building projects in the city of Anna Maria, but the negotiations to clear the path for permits is underway.
Mayor Dan Murphy updated the Anna Maria City Commission Sept. 24, saying he and city attorney Becky Vose met with Kaleta and his attorneys Sept. 22 and Sept. 24, but the initial talk was counterproductive.
“The first meeting was filled with threats against me and the city,” Murphy said. “Vose and I met with them and were both warned that we didn’t know who we were dealing with.”
Murphy said the city officials were threatened with lawsuits and that Kaleta was angry at both the city and the mayor.
The mayor said he told Kaleta’s attorneys they should hear the anger in the voices of the people of Anna Maria.
After the meeting, feeling it had gone nowhere, Murphy had building official Jimmy Strickland file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation against Kaleta and his businesses.
Kaleta owns Beach to Bay Construction LLC and AMI Breeze LLC, both at 5702 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach. He has renovated and built numerous homes on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key.
In the DBPR complaint, Strickland wrote that Kaleta did construction work at 101 Willow Ave. and 9802 Gulf Drive without the proper permits and stop work orders were issued.
The order at 101 Willow was issued May 11 for work done on an exterior deck and the order at 9802 Gulf was issued July 31 for electrical work without a permit.
Kaleta said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection permitted the work at 101 Willow Ave. — his residence. He also shared an email from the DEP apologizing for the misunderstanding.
The Gulf Drive property is owned by Kaleta’s company, Beach to Bay, and is leased to an employee of Beach to Bay, Emily Wettstein.
The permit ban against Kaleta was brought on by unpermitted work and for damages done to public property on Magnolia Avenue, where Beach to Bay workers had damaged the sidewalk, drainage ditches and sections of an alley while building five homes in the 200 block.
On March 3, Kaleta sent a letter to the city accepting responsibility.
On Sept. 10, Murphy told the commission he believed Kaleta was trying to back out of his agreement and wouldn’t pay for damages.
Kaleta claims he repaired the damages and improved the infrastructure on Magnolia Avenue.
Meanwhile, the stop work order had been torn down and workers were observed Sept. 11 at 9802 Gulf Drive. The discovery, coupled with Murphy’s suspicions about Kaleta’s responsibility for Magnolia Avenue, led to the mayor’s decision to place the ban.
“He’s presented unsafe issues to the city. I just want the city to be safe,” Murphy said. “The city isn’t at war with Kaleta. We just want to be safe.”
Efforts to reach Kaleta’s attorney Aaron Thomas, by phone were unsuccessful.
Negotiations began to move forward at the Sept. 24 meeting between the mayor and Kaleta.
Murphy said no threats were made and everyone was able to work through the issues one-by-one and address the concerns for both sides.
“It was a good exchange of concerns and ideas,” Murphy said about the meeting. He told commissioners that Kaleta said he feels he’s following the rules and wants to do right by the city.
At the commission meeting, Commissioner Dale Woodland stopped the mayor and asked him to repeat a statement he made.
“Kaleta said he feels like he’s following the rules and wants to do the right thing,” Murphy repeated back to Woodland.
“I thought that’s what you said,” Woodland said, which brought some laughter to the chambers.