Hogle was Longboat’s chief of police since 2002.

Many of the flags at residences and businesses along Gulf of Mexico Drive flew at half-staff on Tuesday, in memory of Longboat key Police Chief Al Hogle, 63, who unexpectedly died in a motorcycle accident on Monday, May 14 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Hogle was vacationing with four friends, driving along the Parkway at about 35 m.p.h. according to park rangers at the scene.

The problem may have been the rain and fog which regularly occur in this part of the mountains, according to park rangers. The portion of the parkway where the accident occurred winds through the mountains at 5,000 feet above sea level and is a narrow, two-lane road. According to Hogle’s fellow riding companions who were behind him and witnessed the accident, Hogle crossed the double-yellow line and basically went straight through the curve. Then he looked as though he had successfully corrected his error, but skidded off the road onto the shoulder, hitting a downed tree which was not visible from the road due to the fog, and was ejected from the Ducati bike he was riding. According to the park rangers who responded to the scene along with the EMS, attempts to revive Hogle were not successful, despite the low speed he was traveling and the fact that he was wearing his helmet and racing leathers that he wore.

His fellow riders say Hogle was a safety conscious rider, always wearing his helmet and full racing leathers.

Hogle moved to the Sarasota area as a child from the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he was born in Biloxi and his Dad was in the U.S. Air Force. Hogle attended school in Venice and went to Sarasota High School and graduated from University of South Florida. He worked for Babcox & Wilcox in St. Petersburg. He then joined the Air Force and became a member of the USAF Security Police after basic training. He also trained as a canine officer at Lackland AFB in Texas. Hogle served from 1970 through 1998 in the Sarasota Police Department, working in SWAT and narcotics suppression and retired as a captain.

Hogle was a veteran of the Air Force, and he, almost alone, supported former Commissioner Peter O’Connor’s efforts to formalize veterans’ benefits for town employees.

Hogle was proud of his Sarasota experience; he served there in every division at every rank. He was a graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico.

Hogle retired, young, from the Sarasota PD. He said that he was fortunate, again, to be first appointed to the Sarasota City Commission (to fill Nora Patterson’s seat). Later he was elected to that body for a three-year term. Then he took his turn as mayor of Sarasota.

Completing that political experience, Hogle was selected for and appointed as the police chief of the City of Bradenton, where he served for two years. He said they needed a problem solver. Opportunity knocked here on Longboat Key in late 2002. Hogle noted the same need for a problem solver here at that time.

For those familiar with Hogle or his work, he was a professional with much experience and proven accomplishments. Our small town was fortunate to have a chief of his caliber. We thank you for your service and our hearts go out to all of his family members.

Hogle leaves behind his wife, Leslie, a recently retired registered nurse, who resides in Sarasota, and his mother, Norma Hogle who lives in Bradenton.

In fact, Hogle lived in his house on Magnolia Street for more than 20 years—a real Floridian. He kept a Hobiecat 12 at the City Island Sailing Squadron. Hogle was very experienced in small sailing crafts.

Hogle’s wife, Leslie, said her husband’s body will arrive at Toale Brothers Funeral Home in Sarasota on Thursday and a private family ceremony is set for Friday. The family is planning a public funeral sometime next week for Hogle, an Air Force veteran who will be buried at Sarasota National Cemetery.

Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock named Capt. Pete Cumming as the interim Longboat Key police chief on Tuesday.

The Longboat Key Police Department received a call last week from Village resident Leslie Jones reporting a suspicious substance in the water at the Broadway beach access.

Jones arrived at the Broadway beach access at approximately 10 a.m., Saturday morning to swim and soak up some sun. After swimming for 30 to 45 minutes Jones retreated to lie on the beach.

“I was reading the latest edition of Sarasota Magazine when I looked up and looked out at the waves crashing and saw a mud-like substance coming to the beach. I saw some kids swimming in the water and I ran over to their father first and told him he might want to get them out of the water, which he did,” said Jones.

Jones further stated that her first reaction was ‘Oh my goodness…it’s oil.’ She went down to the water’s edge and inspected the substance with her hands noting that the substance really had no consistency at all.

“It was like fine grains floating on top of the water,” said Jones.

Jones called the Longboat Key Police Department to report the incident.

Officer Kendric Walls responded to the scene at 11:54 a.m.

“When I arrived, I observed a brown substance floating in the water. The substance went in and out with the tide and it did not stick to the sand. It did not have an odor, and it did not appear to be oil,” Walls said in his report.

The brown substance stretched for about a quarter mile north and south from the Broadway beach access, according to the report. Walls collected a sample of the substance in a water bottle, reporting that it looked like a small grain or algae like substance.

Jones said that approximately 30 minutes after touching the substance she had an allergic reaction on her hands. She left Broadway Beach and headed north to have lunch at the BeachHouse Restaurant where she reported there was no sign of the brown mud-like substance.

After leaving the BeachHouse and returning to Longboat, Jones stopped by the Broadway beach access to go for another swim, however conditions had worsened and there was more algae bloom crashing through the waves. She skipped the swim.

Jones returned Monday and was happy to report there was no sign of the algae-like bloom.

What is the brown substance?

According to officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Research Institute, samples taken Sunday, May 6 indicate red drift algae (Gracilaria) and blooms of a microscopic algae known as Trichodesmium, also called sea sawdust.

FWC officials state that neither is harmful, however the sludge-like appearance can be off-putting to tourists and beachgoers.

According to Manatee County Information Outreach Coordinator Nick Azzara, Manatee County’s Natural Resources Department received numerous phone calls from the public, including photo texts, with concerns about a murky and slick substance in the Gulf waters off Manatee County’s beaches.

“Automatically everyone assumed it was related to the BP oil spill from two years ago. I confirmed with Charlie Hunsicker, our Natural Resource Department’s director, that this is a seasonal algae resulting from rising water temperatures,” said Azzara.

Hunsicker confirmed with Azzara that this happens almost every year and typically lasts a few days to a few weeks, and once balance returns to the changing water everything returns to normal.

Azzara was happy to note that local media outlets have worked to allay the concerns of residents.

“I went out to [Anna Maria] island Tuesday to do interview with ABC 7 and we didn’t see it along the island, and when I was there it was crystal clear. The news team made their way south and found a small patch near Mote Marine. It seems like it’s already pretty sporadic and dissipating.”

Azzara noted that according to county officials the substances are not harmful to skin, and though they are not great to smell, they are not harmful to inhale.

What the experts say

Florida Wildlife Research Institute Scientist Alina Corcoran says that her department received samples of the bottled water from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Sarasota County Department of Health early in the week. Corcoran and a team of scientists came to Sarasota County early this week to gather their own samples.

The team from FWC’s Research Institute confirmed the samples contained Gracilaria, a macro algae and a genus of red algae, and Trichodesmium (commonly called Tricho) a micro algae, also known as sea sawdust. Tricho is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria. They are found in nutrient-poor tropical and subtropical ocean waters.

Of particular interest to Corcoran’s group is the latter, Trichodesmium, as their particular field of study is micro algae.

From the coast of Africa

An algal bloom is a rapid increase in the population of algae (typically microscopic) in an aquatic system.

Trichodesmium fixes atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium, usable also for other organisms. While far from the only nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they are among the most important of the marine varieties and are being extensively studied for their role in nutrient cycling in the ocean.

All very scientific to the layman, but their unique ability to take up nitrogen from water has their beginning in Africa. According to Corcoran, when dust storms start in Africa and the dust blows across the ocean, iron is deposited. It is Tricho’s unique ability to use the iron from that dust to take up nitrogen.

The analysis

Corcoran and her team were happy to report that neither the red algae bloom nor the Tricho bloom is harmful, and they are both naturally occurring and both can be found together in the same sample. They vary in color based on the their stage in their lifecycle: brown indicates a healthy growing cycle, green indicates a declining cycle, red or pink is a stressed cycle and white indicates the end of a lifecycle.

The team at FWC’s Research Institute is also tracking the blooms via satellite. The Institute is in a cooperative venture with the University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science’s Center for Prediction of Red Tides. They use forecast models to track and predict harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the southeastern United States and report current conditions.

Log on before you head out

Corcoran says a good tool for Sarasota residents and/or visitors to use when they want to check the status of their destination beach or favorite beach hang out before packing up and heading out is Mote Marine Laboratory’s Beach Conditions Report.

The daily report provides up-to-date information about the effects of red tide on Florida Gulf coast beaches, including reports of dead fish, respiratory irritation among beachgoers, water color and wind direction. The site also provides information on red drift algae and rip currents.

The report covers 25 beaches along Florida’s Gulf Coast from the Panhandle south to Lee County. Reports, provided by specially trained observers, are updated twice daily at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., 365 days a year. Each report is time stamped so that the public knows when it was last updated. It can be accessed at http://coolgate.mote.org/beachconditions/.

Click here to download a printer-friendly version.

Last weekend was the 40th annual meeting of the Dakota Golf and Battlefield Group. In short, it is, and has been, a gathering of congressional employees, defenders of the First Amendment right to petition the legislature — or as Lyndon Johnson called them, horney-handed lobbyists — some corporate hacks, an occasional congressman or governor, a territorial judge, and friends of any or all of the above. No one ever mistook the group as being important. As one Minnesota member once described us, “we’re just a few of the 40 thousand chickens pickin’ s*%t in the Capital Hill farm yard.”

Originally it was 15 or 20 people from North Dakota or folks working for North Dakota, members of congress who wanted an excuse to get away for a weekend of golf. It quickly expanded with being ambulatory the only qualification, although that was waived in several cases. Those of us who didn’t golf wanted to be there to avail ourselves of the night-long poker games so we occupied ourselves during the day exploring the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields.

Most of the attendees are inside-the-beltway types and have never much agreed with each other about anything, but idol conversation highlighted some of the events of the past two weeks and even, in a few cases, gave a new perspective to current events.

The advance work done by the Secret Service in Cartagena, Colombia, came in for a good deal of conversation. You remember, some of the boys were holding after-hour summits with prostitutes when one of the lads jumped ugly with a lady about her fee: He wanted to pay her $30, not $3,000. The general consensus was this was not polite, not gentlemanly and not smart. Most agreed that there are three debts that must be paid, as they are debts of honor; that is, there are no legal means that can be used to force you to pay. These are: your bar bill, your bookie and your madam. One Secret Service member violated the “debt of honor” rule, and he and others are paying the price.

There is, a friend suggested, another way of looking at this. The agent who tried to bargain for a reduced price was the only member of the government anyone knows of who has tried to cut spending, and they fired him.

The group is a pretty healthy mix of Republicans and Democrats so a consensus on anything is rare. It’s not surprising that the group was unanimous in the view that John Edwards is possibly the most loathsome individual to grace the political scene since…no one could think of when. It wasn’t just having a staffer claim the illegitimate child he fathered, no, that wasn’t the worst. Edwards’ worst offense was that he was a self-obsessed, moralizing fraud. He even stooped so low as to have his long-suffering campaign aid sew American labels in his designer Italian suits as he was a big “Buy American” advocate.

But, it’s instructive that everyone also agreed it is wrong to prosecute him under campaign-finance laws. Of course he tried to hide his affair because of his candidacy but he no doubt would have done the same even if he had not been a candidate at the moment. This is a real stretch of the law and really stretching congressional acts in order to prosecute people for doing things that no one knew was a crime at the time has become the trademark of too many U.S. Attorneys. Since incumbents have the power to dictate what is or what isn’t permissible in political campaigns, enforcement should be narrow, judicious and rare.

When it became apparent that Richard Mourdock, the Tea Party-backed candidate, would defeat Sen. Dick Lugar in the Indiana Republican primary, disagreement raised its ugly head once again. The conservative element hailed it as an advance for the conservative cause; Democrats called it more evidence of the Republican’s lurch to the right. This, of course, was answered with, what about the Democrats attempt to purge moderates like Joe Lieberman of Connecticut? Well, came the assured answer: Lugar was bipartisan and worked with Democrats while Lieberman was a traitorous son-of-a-bitch. I guess it only goes to show that one man’s moderate hero is another man’s treacherous traitor. It all depends on how you look at it.

Meanwhile, back in Washington the dysfunctional government continues to dysfunction. Even the most simple, the most obvious, the most reasonable solutions to government overspending seem beyond the ability of the president or Congress to comprehend or implement.

Wednesday morning’s Wall Street Journal editorialized about “The Job Training Mess.” Seems there are 49 job-training programs that cost the taxpayers $14.5 billion in 2010. The General Accountability Office’s performance audit found only five of the 47 had any measurable success. It was virtually the same in 2000 and 2003 except Congress, instead of cutting programs, added two more programs in the 2000 to 2010 time frame.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Reid ought to be ashamed, but they are not alone. Republicans might also blush a bit when they recall they did nothing to stem such abuse even though they controlled the Congress for the first six years of this century.

Maybe my friend was right, maybe we should hire the Secret Service agent who tried to bargain for a lower price with the Colombian prostitute. He at least understands controlling spending, and that’s more than you can say for the current government.

As the summer approaches we are about to begin the political season again. That’s the real big-time politics, not our amateur version just completed. Last year about this time the primary candidates started their stops in Sarasota. Most of them came to our city; I covered them all. It was both interesting and informative.

This year the first event again was the 2012 Lincoln Day Dinner at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium April 27. The keynote speaker that evening was John Bolton, former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

I’m sure that there will be Democrat visitors to Sarasota as well this year, as the presidential campaigns begin. We’ll cover those as well.

Following Friday’s (April 12, 2012) failed missile launch by North Korea, former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton charged in an exclusive interview with Newsmax that the United States has to have a better plan than counting on the other side’s missiles “blowing up in flight.”

The isolated north, using a long-range rocket launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of dead founding president, Kim Il-sung, and to mark the rise to power of his grandson, Kim Jong Un, is now widely expected to press ahead with a third nuclear test to show its military might. The North Korean rocket crashed into the sea after traveling a much shorter distance than a previous launch.

This from the Republican Party of Sarasota County’s publicity release for Bolton’s appearance:

“Bolton – the son of a Baltimore firefighter, who graduated from Yale and went on to Yale Law School where he studied under Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork — believes that the North Korean situation is further evidence that the United States needs to take a tough stance against rogue nations. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for 16 months under former President George W. Bush.”

The crowd of some 550-plus gathered early. I noted LBK’s own Phyllis and Jack Black at the LBK Republican Club’s table with eight others. Jack Brill was also in attendance. I’m always on the lookout for evidence of our own participation in area events and national politics. There were some younger folks in evidence amongst the usual older over-coiffed, valet parking set. The venue was nice; the food poor; my tablemates friendly.

The festivities began with a benediction, Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem. Those are good signs. As the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, these affairs degenerate to the usual politician self-praise event. This one did too. We heard from and about the usual local pols from congressman to legislators. That’s OK. The crowd seemed to love it. It did seem that the wait for the keynoter was a bit long. No coffee either.

The principal speaker was introduced by Sen. Lisa Carlton, herself an eighth-generation Floridian and Sarasota native. She noted the ease in introducing one who needs no introduction. The welcome for Bolton was warm and enthusiastic.

He noted his love for Florida, if not for the 30 days or so he spent in West Palm in the year 2000 looking at ballots with chads during Bush v. Gore. He starts right off saying that “the president transforms America into a country we don’t recognize.”

Bolton says that the president seeks a second term unconstrained. He says, “We need to elect Gov. Romney, we need a Republican Senate, we need to keep a Republican House.” He goes on, “There is absolutely no room for complacency — it will not be pleasant. Protect the country from four more years of Obama. This is to be a high stakes campaign”

Bolton supports Romney, who understands the need for stability in the world. The United States provides this stability. “Obama does not understand this,” he says.

Bolton distinguished the current president from Reagan:

Most importantly, he said, Ronald Reagan was proud of America. We need pride in America.

Reagan believed in American sovereignty. Obama moves decision-making into the international arena. The Left/Obama is using stealth approach, he says, which will move ahead in a second term.

Reagan also understood that national security is different from what happens in other areas of U.S. government like Agriculture, Bolton says. Obama by huge expenditures has put at risk future defense spending. Defense is the only department required to cut before new expenditures, for example missile defense.

“The president believes missile defense is destabilizing,” says Bolton. “To abandon missile defense capability is destabilizing,” adds Bolton.

John notes that there are 285 ships at sea in the U.S. Navy now, the lowest number since 1916.

He goes on, Reagan believed in defense through strength. “Obama believes strength is provocative, but American weakness is provocative,” says John.

“You can always improve relations with an adversary by giving them what they want.” This might be the take away quote from John Bolton.

North Korea exploded its second nuclear device. They are on their way to a third. North Korea is cooperating with Iran on nuclear weapons. “Obama believes that he can deal with a Nuclear Iran. That is delusional,” says Bolton. He goes on to say that there could be half-dozen nuclear states in the Middle East in a short time. There is the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program. “Obama fears an Israeli strike more than he fears a nuclear Iran,” says Bolton further.

Bolton finishes with these statements.

“President is comfortable with American decline.”

“We need to find the president a new job come November.”

“President Obama, you are no Ronald Reagan.”

There were many strong words in this presentation to an obviously partisan crowd.

While I liked much of what I heard, I have to rate this a soft presentation.

We are again in the big time; pay attention.

What to do at the north end to solve the failed commercial blight that has been becoming increasingly worse over the past 20 years? The time has come for the town to work with the taxpayers to create a solution that will allow the surrounding 500 residences to coalesce as a neighborhood, free of the specter of an abandoned Whitney Beach Plaza, gas station and bank building.

The taxpaying north end residents are not able to support retail at the north end for many reasons. Longboat Key residents need to realize that there is three times more commercial property on Longboat Key than the 3,000-plus-year-round residents can support. Some of this land needs to be converted to residential or public use. The north end, with its concentration of 500-plus residences within a few minutes walk from Whitney Beach Plaza, is the most advantageous place to create a community park that will have high usage by the surrounding homes while raising property values and hopefully attracting more families.

A community park at Whitney Beach Plaza and the adjacent properties would not require parking since 1,000-plus residents own property within a few minutes walk of the park facility. There is existing public parking across GMD if needed. The park could provide social activities such as pickle ball, bocce ball and shaded areas for socializing. Tables and chairs tastefully located beside the bayou would provide a beautiful ambiance while respecting the fragile ecology of the waterway and adjacent residences.

Visitors to our island would be greeted by an attractively landscaped natural setting as they come onto Longboat Key from the north. A community park would have zero impact on traffic congestion. If the town reduces the speed limit to 35 MPH along the northern part of GMD, as has been done quite effectively by Bradenton Beach, residents would be able to traverse the highway in relative safety.

Whatever efforts the town might make to encourage commercial development at the north end, two things would remain unresolved and prolong the present decay brought on by the inability of the business community to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. The first is the predictable resistance by the 500-plus residence owners surrounding Whitney Beach Plaza to tourism, as it threatens their way of life. The second is the town’s inability to guarantee that any developer will be willing to invest millions at a location with very low drive-by numbers, as has been pointed out by the current owners of Whitney Beach Plaza. No one has been able to attract a successful business there in the past 20 years.

There is a fix for the commercial property blight that has existed at the north end for too many years. It is a solution that would increase the value of the surrounding 500-plus homes and condominiums while not increasing density or congestion — a community park.

Given the fiscal obligations the town currently faces, such as resolution of pension funding and the much larger and ongoing beach maintenance program, finding a way to purchase the commercial properties at the north end would be no small challenge. An ad valorem bond could be one mechanism. Another might be a privately offered tax-free instrument to the current property owners, somewhat like an owner-financed mortgage. But the projected tax base differential between the current decaying commercial land at the north end and a beautiful community park, which would augment the island’s bucolic ambiance, would probably be more than enough to off-set the cost of a low interest mortgage on $6 million in land acquisition costs. Please do not take issue with these estimates — they are just that, estimates. This is a discussion and open to constructive input.

There are so many pluses attached to turning the empty, decaying commercial property at the north end of Longboat into a beautiful community park, surrounded by 500-plus residential properties, that a park almost looks too good to pass up. The aggregate value of residential real estate directly surrounding Whitney Beach Plaza exceeds $200 million. Only a modest increase in assessed property values, as a result of added community amenities, would more than pay for the $6 million long-term low interest loans used to acquire the approximately eight acres of commercial land to be included in the community park.

The choice between taking a chance that some commercial development will occur at the north end after 25 years of nothing as the result of some sort of commercial overlay, or the assured increase in property values resulting from transforming deteriorating and non-performing commercial property into a highly desirable community park, is clear. In the long run, the taxpayers of Longboat Key would profit most from investing in their own community. All ships rise on the tide, it is said. Actually, the county should buy all the commercial property, as they will profit most from increased ad valorem taxes.

Whitney Beach Plaza owner Richard Juliani told Longboat key News that despite a recent Town Commission decision not to support an overlay district, he and property manager Brian Kenney will in the next four weeks submit plans to entirely renovate the Whitney Beach Plaza and the 4-acre site.

“This plaza is something I want to hold onto for the rest of my life, I see myself retiring and living near this plaza,” said Juliani on Friday, May 11.

Juliani said the entire 36,000 square-foot complex will be gutted and everything redone. The Cedar shake roofing will be stripped and replaced with metal. All pillars will be replaced, the siding and outdoors electrical will be redone, sidewalks will all be redone and the parking lot repaved.

Juliani said they have already met with the Town Manager and new building inspector. He said he wants to have all the renovations complete by next season.

Juliani said he has letters of intent amounting to over 90% occupancy once the renovations are completed.

Juliani said, “It was bizarre watching reactions to something that is not possible,” when asked about last Monday night when residents and the Commission did not support the overlay plan.

And the discussion turned from civil to Jerry Springeresque at the May 7 Commission meeting when the topic of allowing an overlay district at Whitney Beach on north Longboat Key was considered by the Town Commission.

And while the vote ended 6-1 to approve changes to the Towns land-use policies and Comprehensive Plan, the Commission spent about two hours arriving at the decision not to include any overlay district language regarding Whitney Beach.

An overlay would allow a developer/applicant flexibility in developing the site and could include other uses such as residential or allow departures for such things as height and setbacks.

And like The Perfect Storm, the Commission and audience prior to consideration of the overlay concept heard the Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force give its presentation and idea book to the Commission of some creative concepts that could get the development and revitalization ball rolling, or that was the idea.

Longboat resident George Spoll opened the discussion that showed visual representations of ideas gathered and developed by volunteers and community stakeholders over the past months.

The ideas were presented as just that — ideas — without the limitations of land-use and zoning and cost.

But one of the ideas — the concept of a “boutique” hotel at Whitney Beach Plaza — had residents approach the Commission en masse and speak out against what some referred to as the Disneyfication and overcommercialization of the North end.

And the language become terse and sharp. Some residents accused the overlay plan as being a behind-the-scenes process that did not include the neighbors.

Others spoke of the serene walkable neighborhoods and shuddered to think of the Village being turned into a Bridge Street of activity with a hotel out of scale with the surrounding homes.

And in that context, the overlay district was next presented by Town Planner Ric Hartman. And initially the Commission did not even second the motion to discuss the matter. It literally was going to die on the floor.

But finally the Commission did discuss and adopt the Comprehensive Plan changes minus the overly district. Juliani was bothered that the Hotel idea became a spoiler of sorts since he has no plans for any type of hotel in the first place.

“We are ok with the current height restriction. Nothing we would do is over two stories over parking. We could have added residential to the property. If we wanted to down the road we might have been able to do an integrated residential over or next to it o a piece of land under contract. That is what an overlay might have allowed,” said Juliani.

Boston-based Juliani Kenney Investment Capital LLC purchased the plaza in December 2010.  Juliani outlined the first major false start as Walgreens.

“We had Walgreens; they shook hand said they were coming. But for reasons (economy mainly) and an in-house structural change, nothing happened.

“We spent hundreds of thousands for architecturals. This was to be the anchor tenant. It was a deal breaker. Just the approval process takes months and months. We didn’t get an answer for nine months,” said Juliani.

The redevelopment of Longboat Key’s Colony Beach & Tennis Resort is in the midst of yet another setback with the Association of unit owners and the chosen developer — Club Holdings, LLC — ready to part ways.

Club holdings expressed a desire to either walk away from the redevelopment project or negotiate another contract, but the arrangement appears to not be working for either party.

Association President Jay Yablon spoke with Longboat Key News on Friday.

“Every single person on Longboat Key has spewed out poison towards these guys (Club Holdings). Club Holdings cannot subsequently get this thing (The Colony) sold to investors. I can not give an investor a clear path.”

Yablon went on to say that while more than half of the Association’s nearly 250 members were happy with Club Holdings, he was not able to get the 75% agreement needed to enter in to a complete redevelopment contract.

The Association’s agreement with Club Holdings has a 45-day evaluation period where either party can assess and walk away from the whole relationship. Yablon said that date is May 15 and that is why the Board will meet on Monday, May 14 to either terminate the Club Holdings contract completely or renegotiate.

Yablon said Club Holdings simply couldn’t justify its direct involvement to investors anymore, but that the firm is willing “to stay on the sidelines and see what happens.”

For Colony Founder and former President Murf Klauber, the entire exercise has been costly and futile.

“The Association has spent well over $500K in the past year and they are nowhere. How can they spend money on Club Holdings without permission?” asked Klauber.

A divided house

Yablon said much of the difficulty is that various unit owners have strongly divergent attitudes as to what should be done with the property at this point. Yablon said there are some who do not want a new project but want to rehab the existing structures and keep the project as inexpensive as possible.

Others, said Yablon, merely want to sell the property — “but you cannot get everyone in the Association to sell their interest.” Yablon added. Yablon said he personally would like to see the Association move forward with a new partner.

Convoluted Colony

To add to the already poignant drama, the fact that an Appeals Court judge sided with Klauber and instructed a lower court to award either $25,000,000 in total damages or return control of the property and the resort to Klauber along with $7,500,000 to the managing partnership and the responsibility for all deferred maintenance.

And that case is currently underway in U.S. Bankruptcy Court where U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Rodney May will hold three hearings on July 13.

One scenario is if a judgment was awarded to Klauber and the total liability placed on the unit owners exceeds the total value of those units, Klauber could place a lien on the various properties.

Yablon said, “That is clearly Klauber’s dream scenario.”

But Yablon added that if the judge were to move the case out of Chapter 7 back into Chapter 11 and award Klauber, the matter would be appealed instantly and it would take years to be resolved.

“So is Murf gonna take control and rehab the units?” asked Yablon rhetorically.

“Only thing that would do is make things even more toxic between the unit owners and Klauber,” he noted.

Meanwhile, longtime Colony unit owner Andy Adams has been busy buying up units. Yablon says Adams has acquired more than a 10% interest in the Colony through those units. He says that interest gives him 10% of the vote to determine any outcome and that Adams “almost has a veto over whatever we do.”

Sooner than later…

An issue the Town of Longboat Key has and will face is whether to continue grandfathering the zoning of the colony as a resort, which allows 252 units on property that would allow less than half that number today.

The Town, by law, allows a grandfathered use to continue only one year after that use has been abandoned. Last March, the Commission extended the grandfathering of the resort zoning of the Colony until the end of 2012. The only way it can continue past that date is if the Commission grants another extension, or the resort itself reopens.

The Commission made clear in March it would not grant an extension if the property disputes are not resolved. But some Colony unit owners’ are making a direct initiative to reopen and rehab themselves in an effort to preserve their rights.

Town Manager Dave Bullock told unit owners in a May 8 memo that numerous building code, fire code and other issues would need to be resolved before occupancy can be achieved.

Bullock also held a meeting April 25 with representatives from all of the concerned Town Departments as well as the Association to go over the various concerns and what corrective actions would need to be taken. Some of the issues include a 2008 report that states, “the buildings are in an extreme state of disrepair and some of the conditions may be a possible life/safety risk with regard to structural failure.”

Bullock wrote in his memo that he was advised by the Association’s property management firm that none of the issues noticed had been corrected yet. Bullock said all of the issues would have to be addressed and the units would have to pass a Town inspection before anything could open.

Many Town staff as well as some unit owners are concerned that a unit by unit rehab approach could lead to an even more disorganized mess than exists now and that any renovation or reconstruction must be achieved in a planned and integrated fashion.

The Colony has been closed since 2010 after a lengthy dispute between the Klauber family and the owner’s association. The Klauber family previously managed the 18-acre site for more than 40 years.

Club Holdings’ proposal to redevelop the Colony offered unit owners the option of whole ownership, one-eight fractional ownership or selling the unit.

Klauber laments that about five years ago he was only asking $45,000 to $50,000 per owner to perform a complete renovation of each unit. The cost now is going to be closer to $150K said Klauber.