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Madeira Beach news
By Michael Steele
MADEIRA BEACH — In the future, when the Super Bowl comes to Tampa, the Madeira Beach Board of Commissioners wants local merchants to get in on the fun.
Officials met Sept. 10 for a regular meeting and modified an ordinance prohibiting the outside sale of goods to
include an exception for football’s Super Bowl and baseball’s World Series when in the Tampa Bay area. The move lengthens a list of events excluded from the law in order to allow city businesses to profit from sporting event merchandising.
Although the amendment received strong support from the board and it passed unanimously upon the first
reading, concerned citizen Dick Lewis objected to the alteration. “Ordinarily, exemption requests pertain to a business who has a special event going. These events have nothing to do with the city of Madeira Beach and I think unduly compromise the intent of the code to the point of worthlessness.”
Mayor Patricia Shontz responded that she too remembered the ordinance is meant to clean up John’s Pass Village but added this is just a nice thing they can do for the city’s businesses. “It’s nice if the commission sometimes takes a look at the people and businesses in our community who create a lot of sales tax and things for our municipality,” she said.
Lewis acknowledged the mayor’s concerns but reiterated his point. “The original concept of the ordinance related to the appearance of the city overall. We wanted the city to look its best when we had a lot of visitors, because we have a lot of visitors . . .these (the exceptions) are the times when you have visitors, so the whole precept goes down the tubes.”
Commissioner Terry Lister disagreed with Lewis’ point that the exception destroyed the integrity. He said the
ordinance is in full effect most of the time and added that there are other considerations. “We’re trying to show a broader partnership here. The business in the city is a great partnership but Tampa Bay as a region needs to be a partnership, too. We need to reach out and touch Tampa.”
Ultimately, the amendment passed with the support of all officials but Vice Mayor Steve Kochick commented that Lewis had a point. Specifically, the Vice Mayor cautioned that the city should not “forget everything and go back to the way it was.”
Resolution opposing offshore oil drilling fails upon first reading
Officials considered a resolution paralleling one ratified by the Barrier Islands Governmental Council (BIG-C) condemning the practice of drilling for oil off the coast of Florida.
Congress placed a ban on drilling in much of the Gulf of Mexico but the ban has come under fire recently amid rising energy costs and pressure from President George Bush and Governor Charlie Crist.
Commissioner Sarah Nichols gave some of the reasons she opposes the ban. In particular, she cited the distance from shore and the need to diversify sources of oil as justification. She concluded, that “given this information . . . I see no problem with drilling there.”
Commissioner Kochick expressed strong concerns with the potential of renewed drilling and Commissioner
Lister said he worried new oil production may discourage investment in alternative sources of energy. However, Commissioner Lister also suggested Florida should bear some of the weight of energy production.
The officials voted to reject the proposal. Commissioners Nancy T. Oakley and Nichols strongly opposed the resolution. Mayor Shontz and Vice Mayor Kochick strongly favored the resolution. Commissioner Lister cast the deciding vote against.
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