AMOB on the city pier in Bradenton Beach is being asked to shutter its operation for two weeks in September while the city replaces the restaurant’s air conditioning system on the Historic Bridge Street Pier, leaving the city to negotiate with AMOB for its costs due to the closure.
During a May 18 city commission meeting, AMOB owner John Horne presented the commission with his estimate of costs.
Horne said, according to his calculations, the city will need to pay $5,000 in employee compensation, $4,000 in advertising fees and $1,750 for rent abatement and “whatever the override is.”
Additionally, he suggested a $3,000-per-day penalty if construction extends beyond the projected two-week closure period.
City attorney Ricinda Perry said the contract with Southern Cross Contracting Inc., which is in negotiation, specifies a $250-per-day penalty, although staff recommended increasing the daily penalty to $500.
Horne said there is a difference between the city’s damages and the consequences for AMOB. “You incur no damage by the pier not being complete,” Horne said May 18. “I do by not being open.”
The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency approved a $73,536.89 bid in April for engineering and construction to install new air conditioners and a new rooftop deck to support the units at the restaurant on the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
The project is located within CRA boundaries, so it was funded through the CRA. However, AMOB leases the facility from the city and the money from AMOB’s lease goes to the city pier account, which currently holds more than $400,000.
Horne said May 18 that his main concern is losing staff. He said some employees have earned two-week vacations and he can rotate managers to his other restaurant locations, but he is worried about losing hourly rate employees.
“We just want to get as far away from the pier as possible during that time, so the contractor can get in, get their remodel done and get out,” Horne said May 18.
Additionally, Horne said he needs an “advertising blitz” to let people know the restaurant will be closed, followed by advertising for a “grand reopening.”
“We need to let people know so they don’t come out here and think, ‘Uh oh, another one has gone away,’” Horne said.
Perry said the city pier team — Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale, chairman, building official Steve Gilbert, public works director Tom Woodard and Horne — is supposed to be negotiating with AMOB on the funding agreement that will be presented to the commission.
The city commissioners reached consensus that the pier team and Perry will negotiate with AMOB, then bring it back for discussion at their next meeting, which will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 1, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.