Anna Maria mayor seeks county, TDC help to rebuild city pier; TDC recommends up to $2 million

Mayor Short, City of Anna Maria, told the Manatee County Tourist Development Council on the council's June meeting that the city needs local assistance to rebuild the Anna Maria City Pier and to preserve the possibility of attaching the county's planned water ferry landing to the pier.

Short said current estimates to rebuild and renovate the pier are "between 7 and $9,000,000," and that the city has completed inspections and soil testing with demolition of the submerged walkway planned to start the week after the meeting. He said the city has spent $223,000 "related to this project" to date and also told the TDC that the municipality has about $3,700,000 of costs outstanding with FEMA, for which it has advanced $1,500,000 from reserves.

"The rebuild of the City pier has to be its own standalone project," Short said, adding that Army Corps emergency permits require work to remain within the existing pier footprint. He said his commission prefers a ferry landing attached to the existing pier rather than building a separate second pier.

Manatee County tourism director Elliot Falcone reviewed timing and funding options and urged the TDC to make a near-term recommendation to the county commission so design and debris-removal work can continue while FEMA and the state review the city's claims. Falcone told the council he would recommend an "up to" amount be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners to allow cleanup and continued design work to proceed.

After discussion of funding sources and cash-flow constraints — including the fact that FEMA typically reimburses only after expenditures are made and documented — the TDC voted to forward a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for up to $2,000,000 to keep the project moving. Mayor Jean Brown of Bradenton made the motion; the vote was unanimous among members present.

Council members and public participants emphasized cash-flow risk if local money is spent before FEMA and state appropriations are received, and asked that any intergovernmental agreement clarify how future reimbursements will be handled. Short acknowledged the uncertainty: the city has a $1,250,000 state appropriation request in the state budget process but does not know whether that line item will survive the governor's line-item veto. He said FEMA's early figure for the pier is "around $4,000,000," but that FEMA's review and reimbursement process and final award remain unresolved.

TDC members discussed alternatives — building a separate ferry pier versus amending the city pier for ferry service — and noted an engineer's estimate that a new separate pier could be roughly three times more expensive than adding a ferry landing to a rebuilt city pier. Elliott Falcone and others said county staff and local officials would meet to build a capital stack that could include TDC recommendation, county funds, state appropriation (if approved), FEMA reimbursement, and other grants.

The TDC motion recommended an "up to $2,000,000" contribution be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners as an initial commitment to allow design and demolition work to continue; the council said it would return in August with an update.

Implementation and next steps noted in the meeting: the city plans demolition to begin soon on underwater walkway sections; short-term work through September is estimated by the city to cost roughly $1.1 million more (design, demo, remediation) with another roughly $2.0 million estimated for October'December, and remainder in calendar 2026 depending on final scope. Officials stressed that any county or TDC assistance should protect the city's right to receive FEMA reimbursements directly to the city when awarded.