Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/285258
At one point, Wittmer asked Yantorno if one of the purposes in issuing a TCO is to allow a business to operate through an entire high season to enable it to raise sufficient funds to pay any impact or capacity fees it owes. "I don't take that into consideration," he told her. "Usually, some outstanding issues, usu- ally related to the site … or sometimes the building" remain to be completed before a business can earn its CO, he continued. In such cases, a TCO will be issued, "to allow the business to operate while those last few details are being addressed." The Akers have contended in a lawsuit they filed against the county in late December that the business' payment to the county of $77,063.44 in water and sewer capacity fees has hindered the completion of items on the punch list. County staff has countered that the money should have been paid before Bob's Boathouse received its first TCO on Oct. 31, 2013. However, confusion among county staff members about the ownership of Bob's Boathouse — resulting from multiple entities submitting paperwork for the development of the new business — led to the issuance of the TCO without that payment, Tom Polk, direc- tor of the Planning and Development Services Department, told the County Commission in December. A sign at the rear fencing of the Bob's Boathouse property, with a home beyond the fence, says, 'We are here to kiss your keel! Please come again.' Photo by Norman Schimmel Sarasota News Leader March 28, 2014 Page 13