Work on the T-end building for the new Anna Maria City Pier finally is underway.

Holmes Beach-based Mason Martin Builders began framing the restaurant and bait shop Oct. 7 after completion of repairs to the damaged walkway.

Mayor Dan Murphy and public works manager Dean Jones visited the pier Oct. 10 to inspect

the work. Murphy told commissioners the same day that the structure is sound — a “monument to stability.”

Mason Martin Builders is expected to complete work on the T-end buildings by April 2020, according to Murphy.

“I think the way things are progressing that we will finish earlier than that,” Murphy wrote in an Oct. 11 email to The Islander.

The original 1911-built pier was removed due to damages sustained during Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The pier was deemed destroyed based on terms of the city’s insurance.

The city contracted i+iconSOUTHEAST in November 2018 to build the new pier.

Murphy said i+icon would return in November to finish decking, including a portion of the walkway damaged when a work barge rammed the structure.

In the meantime, Murphy said bird feces on the walkway has become an issue.

City employees power-washed the pier several times, but the stains proved difficult to remove. Murphy said the walkway would be pressure-washed Oct. 11 and Oct. 14. Then protective plywood will be placed over the decking.

To handle such issues, Murphy suggested commissioners create a pier oversight committee of residents and experts when the pier is complete. The committee would advise the commission on how to manage and care for the pier.

Lease negotiations

Murphy said he recently met with Mario Schoenfelder, the pier tenant since 2000, and he expects Schoenfelder’s proposal for lease payments by Oct. 18.

He will call for an emergency commission meeting when he receives the proposal.

“We’re at a critical point,” Murphy said. “I think it would be good to consider that as quickly as possible.”

Schoenfelder has two base payment options to consider.

One option includes a $21,600 monthly base payment, along with either a 3% annual increase — to begin after the first year — or an annual adjustment based on the consumer price index.

The other option includes an $18,900 monthly base payment, subject to the same options for annual increases as the first option. However, this option requires that Schoenfelder pay $250,000 at the signing.

Schoenfelder, who splits his time between Holmes Beach and Germany, originally signed a lease for 10 years, with two five-year options and a $5,000 monthly lease payment, which was subject to periodic increases of $500.

The monthly payments, which escalated to $11,900, were discontinued after the city closed the pier in September 2017.

In September, Murphy and Schoenfelder tentatively agreed to a 10-year lease length, with two five-year extensions — the same length of the current lease.