The city has a color scheme and bench styles for the Anna Maria City Pier.
The only thing missing is a tenant to build out and operate the bait shop and restaurant.
Since the city commission voted Jan. 10 to decline the offer from Mario Schoenfelder, pier tenant since 2000, for a continued lease, a request for proposals was launched.
Schoenfelder’s lease expires in December.
At the Jan. 23 meeting, Anna Maria public works manager Dean Jones presented commissioners with options for benches and reminded them of the color scheme they selected a year ago.
Present at the meeting were Commissioners Mark Short, Jonathan Crane, Joe Muscatello, Amy Tripp and chair Carol Carter. Mayor Dan Murphy was out of town.
Jones recommended the commission initially order four benches to conceal electrical, lighting and junction materials in waterproof plastic boxes at various locations on the pier.
Jones said he had ordered a dozen waterproof boxes to allow for replacements.
Each bench would be 6 feet long and seat two to three people.
“These benches will be in the worst environmental conditions possible,” Jones said, noting that any of the selections would weather quite nicely but all faced a finite lifespan.
“Keep in mind they will need to be replaced when considering cost,” Jones said. The options include Ipe at $699 per bench, teak at $545 and cypress at $399.
Muscatello asked if the color scheme of the building and pier had been taken into consideration during the bench selection process or if it was piecemeal.
“The mayor tasked me to find benches that would be comparable to the Ipe wood of the pier,” said Jones, adding that sealing the benches should present minimal difficulty and finding replacement benches in the future shouldn’t be an issue.
Benches will be secured to the pier with L-brackets, Jones said, and their placement designated by the electrical boxes they’re meant to cover.
Crane liked the Ipe benches, and said that they “seemed more historically accurate.”
Tripp urged for more time, but Carter suggested a quick decision on the matter, given all the delays endured and time given to the project.
“Given the length of the pier, wouldn’t more benches be better?” asked Short.
“Since we’re not placing guardrails, more benches gives less of a chance of falling in the water,” agreed Crane, motioning for six Ipe benches.
Without a second, Crane’s motion died.
Short then motioned to approve the purchase of four Ipe benches to start, which was seconded by Crane and passed unanimously.
“Now, we have a paint color?” asked Carter.
“Yes,” responded Jones. “I’m your interior and exterior decorator tonight.”
Selections were “Mindful Grey,” a pale gray for columns and beams, and “Aquitaine,” a light shade of blue for accent walls, railings, soffits, trusses, bracing, columns, fascia and the bait shop counter.
“The colors were chosen about a year ago,” Jones said. “This is purely informational.”
Carter encouraged the commissioners to think about what should be included for the pier opening celebration, “hopefully at the end of February.”
“Just so you know,” Jones said of the pier reopening, “it’s simply beautiful out there and nice to see it opening back up again.”
The next meeting of the city commission will be 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria.
Ipe is quite rare and only grows in low densities. FSC certified ipe is available but it isn’t overly common. The Wood Database states that mature trees only occur once every 3 to 10 hectares (300,000 to 1,000,000 square feet). In order to reach those mature trees, hectares of rainforest trees have to be cleared, resulting in tremendous deforestation and timber waste. The cleared trees often have little to no commercial value and most often go unused. Moreover, ipe is sometimes mistaken for cumaru, another South American timber, and that error can lead to even more waste.
Unfortunately, since ipe has been in use for decades, there is little left. The Rainforest Alliance reports that ipe is already overharvested due to its widespread use in construction projects.
Please do not consider using ipe.