Anna Maria Commissioner Jo Ann Mattick said city commissioners want “as much public input as possible” on what the city can do with the six lots it now owns at the northwest corner of Pine Avenue and Bay Boulevard.
“We definitely want public suggestions,” Mattick said.
The next commission meeting is Oct. 31, and Mattick said she hopes the public will provide a number of suggestions for usage.
Originally, commissioners planned to form a committee to discuss and short-list ideas, but decided at their Sept. 22 meeting to skip the idea and begin discussing uses Oct. 31.
Mattick had said then that if the city had a public use for the property, she could use that to apply for grants and funding to offset some costs of the $2.8 million.
Commissioner Dale Woodland, however, said he didn’t want the Florida Department of Transportation telling the city how to build something and the committee idea was dropped in favor of public input.
Mattick said anyone with a suggestion should write it down and deliver it to Anna Maria City Hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, or e-mail suggestions to amadmin@cityofannamaria.com.
My self and my family are from Michigan and have been coming down to the island for over 10 years now. My parents bought a vacation home there and them, my family, and my 2 sisters families have been enjoying the many things the island has to offer. One thing I always thought the island could use is an observation tower/deck. I pictured something not too tall that people could walk up stairs to get too (maybe 5 or 6 stories high) but tall enough to see the surrounding areas. The city could offer coin opperated viewers to help off set the maintainance costs. I would go visit, especially to see the sunsets.