Sisters are doing it for themselves

The Anna Maria Island Sun newspaper reports this week of the restoration work on the Sister Keys.
It says: Volunteers with Sarasota Bay Watch, the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program, Bay Buddies and Audubon of Florida removed crab traps, plastic chairs and other debris from the largest of the Sister Keys last week.
Paradise Pointe LLC completed a $1million restoration project on the key last year in mitigation for environmental damage to mangroves, seagrass beds and oyster beds anticipated during its planned Perico Harbor Marina, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The project has not yet broken ground.
Restoration included removing exotic plant species, planting native trees and creating a two-acre wetland on the north side of the island, said James Linkogle of the town of Longboat Key Public Works Department, who helped supervise the project, now in a five-year maintenance and monitoring period.
The Sister Keys are closed to people, he said, to protect gopher tortoises, birds and other animals on the key.
We love looking at them from afar, though, so thanks for the good work guys.

Bridge closures on the horizon

The Anna Maria Islander newspaper reports this week a Florida Department of Transportation press release which states that AMI Bridge contractor Quinn Construction will close the bridge to vehicular traffic for several brief periods during the week of February 16-20.
The closures are to perform tests on the mechanical and electrical systems on the bridge and each closing is expected to last about as long as a typical bridge closing for a boat passing through the draw. The release advises pedestrians and bicyclists that the south sidewalk remains closed, but the north sidewalk is accessible.
Meanwhile, the $10.2million Anna Maria Island Bridge rehabilitation project is due to finish March 3, according to Florida Department of Transportation District One director of operations Ed Gonzalez.
If contractor Quinn Construction Co. of Palmetto completes the project by March 3, the company earns another $60,000 bonus, Gonzalez added.
And that will push the final price tag for the project toward $11 million, including about $600,000 in bonuses to Quinn, Gonzalez said.

Anna Maria keeps them coming

It seems that Anna Maria Island can still draw in the crowds, despite the global recession hitting home.

Figures released recently by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and covered in The Islander, suggest occupancy was at 41.3 percent for November 2008, up slightly from the 40.5 percent reported for the same month in 2007. The Islander also reports December occupancy also rose when compared with December 2007.

The BACVB reported occupancy of Island accommodation units for December 2008 at 39.6 per cent, a 2.6 per cent gain from the 37 per cent reported in November 2007. For all of 2008, occupancy of Island accommodation units was virtually unchanged from 2007. The BACVB reported a 57.6 per cent occupancy rate for 2008 against a 57.5 for 2007.

However, it also states that while occupancy was going up on the island, the average daily rate was headed in the opposite direction, from $143.23 in December 2008 to $154.02 for the same month in 2007.

Seems like the ideal reason to rent a vacation unit from Anna Maria Vacations, the island's premier source of luxury vacation accommodation.

Check out www.annamaria.com for details of 32 beautiful condos, villas and cottages.

Keep our sea shells on the sea shore

Everyone coming to Anna Maria Island will have their own ideas on how they want to best spend their precious time on the island. Many will simply want to lie on the beach soaking up the sun; some will want to catch as many of the hundreds of fish we have as they can; while others will simply want to wander up and down the beach looking for shells.
For those happy souls there is one important thing to remember, as pointed out by this week's Islander newspaper. It concerns limits being placed on those picking shells, and makes some interesting points for visitors.
It says: Generally, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission requires that residents and non-residents have a recreational saltwater fishing license to harvest a sea shell containing a live organism.
In Manatee County, at the urging of local officials, the state has limited collectors to harvesting or possessing no more than two shells containing live organisms of any single species, except for oysters, hard clams, sunray venus clams and coquinas. The rule applies to mollusks and echinoderms, including tulips, whelks, conchs, olives, augers, scallops, cockles, mussels, starfish, sand dollars, sea urchins and sea biscuits.
Also, the harvest of the Bahama Starfish and just the possession of a live Queen Conch is against the law in Florida.

So, come for all the right, wonderful reasons, but do be careful not to take too much of paradise away with you.

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