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After County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh affirmed that, Barbetta replied, "Well, that ties our hands; that doesn't make a lot of sense." PUBLIC VIEWS WANTED Following some discussion of the legalities regarding the concession contract, Patterson announced, "If I were to go for this, it would be after some delay, because this has come up pretty fast." The public needs to be allowed to address it, she said. Referencing a comment Brown had mentioned earlier, Patterson reminded her colleagues that the Siesta Key Association had emailed all of them a letter stating opposition to the use of paddleboards in the swim zone. Sent at 9 a.m. on March 4, the email says, "We've had a close and very positive work- ing relationship with Parks and Recreation County Staff and EMT Lifeguards [and] Sheriff's Deputies who provide service to our Siesta Beach Park. We've not had the oppor- tunity to discuss this issue fully with them and feel this issue has merit for public input. We do have substantive concerns … Our request is for no action by the BCC … until we have an opportunity for discussion with County Staff and public input on this matter." Patterson added that even with direction to stay out of the swim zone, she suspected pad- dleboarders would stray into it, just as users of those jet skis on Lido did. Hines agreed that one option was to explore the matter further. "I think it's a good amenity to have," he added. "We can control it … but I don't think we have all the logistics figured out yet." "I would like to see how it can be worked through as well," Commissioner Carolyn Mason said. "I would like to see it vetted a little more with the Siesta Key folks." "I understand vetting it with the Siesta Key folks," Vice Chairwoman Christine Robinson responded, "but I don't think they're the only stakeholders in this." She added that she felt county staff should con- tact the Sports Commission at Visit Sarasota County (VSC) — the county's tourism office. VSC President Virginia Haley and the Sports Commission staff could check into best prac- tices on paddleboarding use at other beaches. "I know this is offered in a lot of places in the state of Florida," Robinson said. "There seems to be harmony in other places on this. I'm not for it or against it at this point." Patterson suggested staff also work through the Siesta Key Condominium Council, which represents residents of about half the con- dominium complexes on Siesta Key, to learn how its members view the paddleboard- ing proposal. Further, Patterson pointed out that it was not clear from the staff memo whether the county's lifeguards would approve use of paddleboards at Siesta Public Beach if the commission did not make any changes to the swim zone rules. After Hines made sure he had consensus for staff to explore the issue further, Barbetta said he wanted to stress to the public "that people can walk down with a paddleboard any time they want on the beach, just they can't go in the swim zone area. … We can't prohibit it. What we're trying to do is maybe control it a little better. That's all." % Sarasota News Leader March 7, 2014 Page 65