Paradise Boat Tours may not have much longer to use the South Coquina Boat Ramp in Bradenton Beach to refuel vessels.
City commissioners reached a consensus Jan. 21, expressing opposition to commercial operations such as Paradise Boat Tours refueling at the public dock.
The boat ramp is owned and maintained by Manatee County. However, Bradenton Beach has an interlocal agreement with the county, allowing the ramp as a staging area and a launch point for marine construction projects.
City attorney Ricinda Perry began the discussion by saying she received correspondence from county environmental program manager Alan Lai Hipp asking about the city’s stance on commercial vessels refueling at the dock.
Allowing the boat ramp to be used for such operations could impact the city’s ability to use the location, Perry said.
“The more people you have using the facility equals a greater chance of interference with our ability to use it,” she said.
Mayor John Chappie expressed concerns about the legality and safety of refueling at the public dock.
“Just to give a blanket statement here, I would say we need to say ‘No,’” Chappie said. “I can just envision all kinds of boats lining up with trucks full of 5-gallon cans in this public recreation area. …So I’m not in favor of it.”
Commissioner Ralph Cole said allowing commercial vessels to refuel at the public dock would be “opening a can of worms.”
“I just don’t think it’s appropriate,” Cole said. “There are plenty of other places to fuel a boat around here.”
Paradise Boat Tour’s owner Sherman Baldwin previously told The Islander his company uses a modified pickup truck to transport and dispense into tour vessels up to 80 gallons of gas at the dock because it is cheaper than refueling at a marina.
Baldwin said his company had been refueling at the dock for seven years, with no issue until the county crackdown last October.
There currently is no regulation prohibiting people from refueling vessels at the county-owned dock, but county commissioners unanimously signaled their opposition to the practice at a Dec. 15, 2020, meeting. The board asked county attorney Mickey Palmer to draft prohibitions against the fueling operations.
Lai Hipp told The Islander Jan. 21 that county staff was addressing the issue but could not comment on the next step or when proposed regulations might go before county commissioners.
Baldwin told The Islander Jan. 21 that he is frustrated the item was discussed by the city without notice on the meeting agenda.
Florida law requires municipalities to give “reasonable notice” for public meetings so people can attend and participate in discussions.
Many cities, including Anna Maria and Holmes Beach, release agendas up to a week before a meeting and restrict changes.
On the other hand, Bradenton Beach meetings feature an “adoption of agenda” after each roll call for attendance that allows last-second changes to any agenda.
The meeting was noticed, but the discussion item was not included on the agenda or in the notice.
Chappie proposed adding the discussion item to the agenda during its adoption at the Jan. 21 meeting and the commission unanimously voted to approve the amended agenda.
Baldwin said he decided not to attend the meeting because the discussion item wasn’t listed on the published agenda.
“I’m a little concerned that something that is so important to me popped up,” Baldwin said. “I wish I had a chance to address the commission to provide them a little more details instead of just an email from Alan Lai Hipp.”
“I think it needs to be a formal agenda item and thoroughly discussed,” he added. “My next step is to write the city commission and ask to get this on an agenda.”