There will be no deal for the city pier.
Anna Maria city commissioners rejected May 26 a funding proposal from its tenant and owner of the City Pier Restaurant Mario Schoenfelder.
And they declined to negotiate.
Mayor Dan Murphy brought Schoenfelder’s proposal to commissioners for consideration. He gave them three options: “You can accept the proposal as it is, or you can reject it and give me authority to negotiate with Mr. Schoenfelder, or reject it and refuse to negotiate.”
The offer to pay up to $500,000 for the upcoming rehabilitation on the Anna Maria City Pier with an extended 10-year lease and modified monthly payments was rejected without much discussion.
Commissioner Chuck Webb said based on the numbers Schoenfelder presented, the city would lose money by accepting the proposal.
Schoenfelder has leased the city pier since 2000, including the restaurant, bait shop and parking spaces, and is responsible for upkeep and maintenance. The monthly rent increases on average by10 percent every few years. In 2000, the rent was $5,000 a month.
Schoenfelder’s current payments are $9,240 a month through Dec. 16, 2018, when the payments will rise to $10,080 a month.
The current lease will expire Dec. 15, 2020.
In Schoenfelder’s May 9 proposal, on top of offering $500,000 toward rehab costs and extending the lease, he requests two rent-free years plus compensation for the time the pier would be closed for rehab and the payments set at $12,000 a month for five years, and then $13,000 a month for the final three years.
Webb said Schoenfelder was including the rising consumer price index in his rent proposal. “With his proposal we’re going backwards. We’re getting less money,” Webb said.
The commission voted 3-2 against giving Murphy authority to negotiate further with Schoenfelder.
Chair Doug Copeland and Commissioner Dale Woodland voted to continue negotiations, saying talking couldn’t hurt.
Commissioners Nancy Yetter, Carol Carter and Webb said they were tired of going back and forth with Schoenfelder over the pier.
“It’s an embarrassment,” Webb said, referring to the pier. “To me a good tenant is one you don’t have to force to live up to their responsibility.”
Yetter suggested cutting ties completely. “If he didn’t fulfill his obligations the first time around, he’s probably not going to.”
Anna Maria City Pier Restaurant general manager Dave Sork attended the May 26 meeting. Sork said he wasn’t surprised by the commission’s decision.
Murphy said he would return to the commission June 9 with options for their consideration on how the city can proceed.
Rehabilitating the pier and extending its life 20-25 year is estimated to cost $1,400,000-$1,700,000. Repairs could close the pier for up to a year.
A date for work to start hasn’t been set, but it’s estimated that permitting could take up to a year and cost an additional $250,000.
Manatee County is expected to cover half the cost with a matching grant, possibly from funds collected for the tourist development tax, but the city would need to fund the remainder or find other grants.
A similar tourist development council funding plan helped Bradenton Beach with $1 million to rebuild its city pier in 2014. It reopened January 2015. The city relied on its community redevelopment agency funds for its share of the rebuild.
Little kings in their kingdom.
Ridiculous how those people could be elected to represent the public interest. Not even aware about the difference between upkeep and rehab.
At the end, the tenant will leave (he owns the R&R pier) and that one will close for years, due to more Stupidity @ work within the commission and the building department! $250k permit fees. Wow.
He will make a fortune with R&R while this one is closed for our famous politicians making one wrong decision after the other during rehab. Let’s bet!
BTW: All at taxpayers expense.
I think the city is being totally ridiculous. The restaurant does not own the pier. He is leasing it. He must maintain it. Rebuilding it is not maintainence. I wouldn’t want to lease a house from these people.