Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby updated commissioners Nov. 17 on storm damage and repairs underway at the police station.
The roof was damaged during Ian and the front office experienced water infiltration, Cosby said.
ServPro, hired by the city to help assess the situation, determined the damage was not as severe as initially thought.
Still, Cosby said, “At the PD, we are definitely over our deductible. We have a 10% deductible of the value of the building, it’s somewhere between $16,000 and $17,500 that will be the city’s portion,” said Cosby. “Anything over that, we will pay for and submit to FEMA for the replacement of the deductible.”
The chief said the city also might experience a wait for FEMA reimbursement.
“During Irma, I don’t think we got our first check for about 12-14 months,” Cosby said. “It’s a long process.”
The commission approved two requests for funds to repair the police station.
Commissioner Ralph Cole motioned to accept ServePro’s quote, of $6,096.45 to remediate water damage to the police station interior and Commissioner Marylin Maro seconded.
The motion passed unanimously.
Cole also motioned to approve a quote from Roofs for Life Inc. for roof and soffit repairs not to exceed $20,000, which was seconded by Commissioner Jan Vosburgh.
The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Cosby said he and public works director Tom Woodard were meeting with FEMA the next day.
“Right now, we are estimating that the total damage loss to the city is about $120,000 for this event,” Cosby said. In addition to damage at the police station, Ian damaged the BBPD boat lift and caused major tree damage and debris cleanup throughout the city.
In other matters …
- Commissioner Jake Spooner spoke about concerns over setbacks for corner lots.
“It was brought to my attention that the setback for corner lots were changed from 10 feet to 15 feet,” Spooner said.
Spooner said developers could purchase two lots and build larger houses with higher density and smaller green spaces if they combined corner lots.
Building official Steve Gilbert said regardless of lot size, current zoning allows a builder to only utilize 35% of the lot for the building footprint.
Gilbert said the setbacks were changed for ingress and egress from driveways along Gulf Drive when the city learned traffic laws made backing onto Gulf Drive illegal. So setbacks were enlarged to deter backing out.
Gilbert also said south of Bridge Street, where lots typically are smaller, the setback increase allows for the placement of driveways on side streets rather than on Gulf Drive.
The commission reached a consensus to schedule a joint workshop with the planning and zoning board to discuss setbacks for corner lots.
- Commissioners heard the final reading of an ordinance for a 90-day moratorium on any authorization or franchise for golf carts and low-speed vehicles.
The moratorium allows the city to develop regulations for such uses.
The commission agreed a draft ordinance would be workshopped in 2023.
Vosburgh motioned to enact the moratorium and it was seconded by Spooner. It passed unanimously.
The next commission meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.