- May 17, 2024
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Longboat Key town commissioners met the Manatee County commissioners on April 30 for a joint meeting to discuss common issues and projects.
The two groups of commissioners discussed projects like the Broadway Roundabout, Whitney Plaza Learning Center and the Gulf Islands Ferry service during the meeting.
Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton said it was also an opportunity to thank Manatee County for its support in some of these projects.
“If we don’t say it right up front, thank you. And if we don’t say it throughout today, we want to say ‘thank you’ to Manatee County. … We’re excited about the future,” Town Manager Howard Tipton said at the start of the meeting.
Longboat Key Public Works Director Isaac Brownman updated Manatee County commissioners on the recent changes to the Broadway Street roundabout design.
As part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s 90% design inspection, the department said the project would no longer be considered because of the existing roadway banking. That meant that the project team had to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to address the elevation of the intersection.
“There was no ability to proceed with the design we had,” Brownman said. “As FDOT indicated, they would not sign a permit for that design.”
The redesign for the roundabout with Kimley-Horn began in October 2023 at a cost of $158,000.
Due to the changes to eliminate the elevation, the project needed to be extended about 900 feet in each direction and added a significant amount of drainage improvements, according to Brownman.
Brownman said the town will submit the redesign plans to FDOT in about a week or two.
“We’re really hopeful for a much more favorable outcome because they explained it will be, provided we do these things,” Brownman said.
The FDOT is currently committed to $1.685 million for construction, but the overall cost for the project is still to be determined, though Brownman said the cost will be higher now with the new design.
Brownman estimated that design would wrap up around fall or winter of 2024 and start construction in early 2025, pending funding. A nine- to 12-month construction timeline is expected due to the complexity of the changes in the roadway elevation.
Property Management Director for Manatee County Cary Knight said that 100% of the construction documents are in hand now for the Whitney Plaza Learning Center project.
Knight said firm pricing would be available in a couple of weeks, but that there was an indication that the original budget would change.
The guaranteed maximum price would then go to the Manatee County BCC for approval in June. Its approval would allow for the construction manager to mobilize on-site in July.
Knight presented some renderings of the rooms within the center, including a reception area, a multipurpose room with a partition wall, an arts center with a kitchenette and a computer lab/library area with a partition wall.
“It seems like the school board and the committee that have reviewed and put together the plans have done a very good job of not only turning them around really quickly — allowing the project to move as fast as it has — but also have created very flexible spaces so the facility can expand and change as the needs of the community change over time,” Knight said.
According to Knight, construction should be completed in the second quarter of 2025.
Once built out, the space will be programmed by the School District of Manatee County.
The ferry service, which started Jan. 12, expanded its service to run Wednesdays through Sundays.
According to Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione, the ridership is at about 300-350 passengers a day. The total number of passengers since the service began has reached about 9,000, he added.
“The challenge we face is we’ve lost 25 days due to the weather,” Falcione said.
Falcione said the two pontoon catamaran boats were the right vessels to buy at first, but the TDC is now looking at purchasing a 90-passenger, enclosed vessel.
In terms of looking for a potential Longboat Key destination, Falcione said the town’s dock on Linley Street was earmarked about a month ago.
“We’re talking, we’re not there yet,” Falcione said. “We want what you want. … All I’ll say is there’s probably not many options.”
From a visitor standpoint, Falcione said the best destination would be the north end where guests could enjoy dinners at Mar Vista or Shore.
Longboat Key District 4 Commissioner Debra Williams said the emphasis for the ferry on Longboat Key should be to transport workers.
“We really suffer with getting people on the island, businesses getting employees and trying to maintain that through season,” Williams said.
Falcione said it would be hard to market the service as workforce only, but understood the ferry would serve multiple purposes.
As a part of an agreement with Manatee County, the Longboat Key Police Department regularly patrols Beer Can Island (Greer Island).
At the joint meeting, Tipton mentioned to the Manatee County Commission that an increase in fees would be coming across their agenda in the near future.
Due to an increase in staffing costs — an increase of about 40% in police salaries — Tipton said the town is asking for an increase of $20,000, from $60,000 to $80,000 a year.
