“If I touch it, we own it,” Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale said at an April 13 department head meeting, referring to an unclaimed boat tied to the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
The city’s ordinance prohibits boats from overnight mooring to the pier, but the city has no mechanism in place to enforce the measure.
According to Speciale, the boat is secured to the pier’s dolphin pilings until its registered owner claims it or the city pays to remove the vessel.
Speciale said the city sent a return receipt letter to the registered owner, so officials will know when he receives the document, if he signs for it or not.
If the owner does not respond, the city will start the abandonment process, which could take time.
The boat is registered to Jarette Beebe and the registration is current.
The name of the boat has faded, but the letters “COQUI” and a graphic of a frog smoking a cigar and holding a bottle, are visible on the boat’s stern.
Additionally, the registration number is “FL 4828 RZ.”
Speciale said if the boat was not registered, it could be declared derelict and removed with Manatee County funding.
Since the boat has a registered owner, the city can’t have it removed, or it would become city property and would have to be kept in dry storage, according to Speciale.
“This isn’t like towing a car,” Speciale said. “If we have to put it in dry storage it would really cost the city.”
Mayor Bill Shearon said the city’s lack of fines for the violation provides no incentive for the owner to claim the boat.
“He’s got a nice secure place, its rent free,” Shearon said.
Speciale said the area is within the city’s submerged land lease and the city can regulate activity in there, it just doesn’t have established fees for a violation.
Vice Mayor John Chappie said city attorney Ricinda Perry is working on a pier-use ordinance. He suggested she be directed to look into incorporating fines for mooring violations into the draft ordinance.
The group agreed with Chappie and Speciale said he would approach Perry with the issue.