County gives feedback to beach concession hopefuls
By Nick Walter
Islander Reporter
A Manatee County recommendation committee reviewed March 2 the various proposals submitted to operate the concessions at Manatee and Coquina beaches. The present contract to run the beach restaurant and concessions winds down in July after an extension was granted for a period when county work at the beach slowed the operations.
Committee members told representatives of the companies vying for the contracts that they were mostly impressed with the proposals. And all four submitters were asked to return to the county administration center in Bradenton March 23 to make oral presentations to the committee.
The committee is comprised of Melissa Assha from the county’s purchasing department, Elliott Falicone of the area convention and visitors bureau and Cindy Turner of the county parks and recreation department.
They are expected to recommend to the county board of commissioners which company should operate concessions at one or both of the county-run beaches for the next five years.
The committee was particularly concerned that the proposals for Coquina Beach were not as ambitious as those for the Manatee Public Beach.
Turner said that since a gang-related shooting on Easter almost three years ago at Coquina, the county reconfigured the parking lot so that gangs no longer cruise the area, nor hang out on the beach.
“Coquina Beach is much larger than Manatee and has shade from trees,” Turner said. “I certainly think Coquina can do everything that Manatee has been doing and then some. I’d like to see more of that here. So I have a lot of questions, and I must say I didn’t see as much on the proposal side for Coquina as I did Manatee.”
Peder Jansson, president of Blue Wave, a division of Sunrise Sunset Concessions in Nokomis, made proposals for both beaches.
Assha wanted clarification on various beach rentals, while Turner said she had questions regarding potential capital improvements at Coquina.
Dee and Gene Schaefer, owners of P.S. Beach Associates, which presently holds the contract for both beaches, limited their proposal to the Manatee Public Beach concession and the restaurant they operate, Cafe on the Beach.
Assha said they had a well thought-out proposal that addressed everything that was asked for in RFP documents.
Loggerhead’s Beach Cafe, owned by Robert and Sarah Kline, submitted bids on both beaches. Robert Kline has been the president of Dogology Inc. in Bradenton, a food-concession company since 1999 with operations from Tampa to Key West.
Assha said Loggerhead’s may have submitted the most creative proposal, which included a loggerhead turtle theme and recommended special events. But the committee had questions regarding projected revenue.
United Park Services Inc. out of Tampa bid on both beach concessions. President Alan Kahana established United as a Florida corporation in 2006 to provide food and beverage sales and rental services at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg and other venues.
Ashha said its experience, coupled with its proposed compensation package for Cafe on the Beach, is “very intriguing.”
For United’s Coquina proposal, Assha liked the idea of a youth marine-science program, and the variety of rental options, including ecolodges and ferry rentals. But she wanted to make sure the projected revenue for those rentals is realistic.
To conclude the meeting, Falicone said the county wants the beaches to retain their natural appeal.
“We market low-rise, low-key, natural Florida,” he said. “And how we maintain that and at the same time add amenities like merchandise and surf bars, that’s going to be a really hot topic for us.”
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