The suit doesn’t fit for Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Manatee County Commissioners Van Ostenbridge, Carol Whitmore and Chair Vanessa Baugh took part in the discussion on the Cortez Bridge replacement during a May 4 work session.
Van Ostenbridge and Whitmore expressed doubts that the legal challenge facing the Florida Department of Transportation’s plan to replace the Cortez drawbridge with a 65-foot-clearance fixed-span bridge would succeed.
The board has not taken an official position on the bridge.
Whitmore, one of two at-large members of the board, said in an April 28 email to The Islander that she would raise the issue with the board and followed through at a May 4 meeting.
Before turning discussion over to Van Ostenbridge, Whitmore expressed her opposition to the megabridge and confirmed that neither the board nor the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization has taken a vote on the replacement for the Cortez Bridge.
Van Ostenbridge, representing Anna Maria Island and Cortez in District 3, doubled down on statements previously made to The Islander that although he prefers a mid-level drawbridge replacement, the board should not take an anti-megabridge position because the lawsuit opposing the high bridge is doomed to fail.
The DOT is “pushing forward with the fixed-span 65-foot bridge, despite the lawsuit that’s been filed,” he said. “I think the city of Bradenton Beach made a poor choice in joining the lawsuit; I think it’s just going to be ultimately a waste of taxpayer money. I don’t support this board pursuing a frivolous lawsuit.”
The suit, lodged in federal court in 2019, has four complainants: former County Commissioners Joe McClash and Jane von Hahmann, a resident of Cortez, along with Linda Molto and Joe Kane, also of Cortez.
The complainants are seeking compromise with the DOT on a 35-foot-clearance drawbridge replacement.
Bradenton Beach city commissioners unanimously voted to join the suit March 18, but have since backpedaled. The city attorney has been exploring separate settlement options with the DOT.
Van Ostenbridge said the county commission should focus its efforts on ensuring the Cortez drawbridge is in service as much as possible during the construction of the megabridge and that commissioners have maximum input into the aesthetics of the high bridge.
The Cortez Bridge Aesthetics Committee, an 11-member group of local resident-volunteers, has been selecting ornamental features for the megabridge since August 2020. Committee meetings are open to the public, and, according to DOT design project manager Roxann Lake, the final meeting will be in June.
Following Van Ostenbridge’s commentary, Whitmore again stated her support for a mid-level drawbridge but seemed to agree that a smaller replacement structure was not in the cards for the communities of Bradenton Beach and Cortez.
“I understand what you’re saying. And (DOT District 1 Secretary LK Nandam) calls me and warns me every time that it’s not going to happen, but I still support a 45-foot replacement bridge, but that’s not going to happen,” she said.
“Bottom line, we need a bridge,” Baugh said, wrapping up discussion.
Von Hahmann, a Cortez resident who served on the county board of commissioners 2000-08, has been reviewing records that detail the way in which the DOT came to its decision to build the high bridge, including surveys that asked respondents to indicate whether or not they favored Cortez Bridge replacement and their preference for the height of a replacement structure.
She told the Bradenton Beach Commission May 6 that 70% of respondents expressed support for rehabilitating the existing bridge or building a 35-foot bridge.
“If I were commissioner now, and I had 70% of my constituency opposed to the bridge, I would be very comfortable with saying we probably should have a conversation about what really better fits the community and the needs of District 3,” she said May 12.
“(Van Ostenbridge) doesn’t do us a lot of good by saying he’s personally against it,” she added. “I’m sorry, that doesn’t help at all, really.”
Von Hahmann also said she doesn’t believe the lawsuit is doomed to fail.
“To say that without knowing it is just counterintuitive to me; it doesn’t make sense,” she said. “(The DOT study) was supposed to take into consideration what the citizens would like to see, and it just simply didn’t.”