514, which governs public swimming and
bathing facilities.
He added that his staff saw photos on the Bob's
Boathouse Facebook page showing people
in the water. (By the time the News Leader
checked that page on May 13, no photos could
be found.) Higginbotham characterized allow-
ing people in the water as having "crossed the
line. It looks like [the restaurant owners are]
offering it to [their] patrons as an interactive
water attraction."
The pool is near part of the dining area and
the bar inside Bob's Boathouse, he noted. It
appears to be no deeper than 2 feet, he added.
Any swimming pool has to be licensed through
the Department of Health, he pointed out.
This facility, he continued, "is not built as a
public swimming pool."
His staff could find no indication of pumps
or a filtration system and no appearance of
equipment to feed chlorine into the water or
to maintain the proper pH.
Further, he explained, the pool would have
to have a 4-foot shoulder around it, and the
depths would have to be marked.
The list of Health Department violations is so
long, Higginbotham said, "it was causing our
computer system a little trouble" when staff
was entering the data.
When he spoke with the News Leader on May
13, Higginbotham was working with a Fort
Myers attorney for the Florida Department
A photo that appeared on the Bob's Boathouse Facebook page in early May showed people in the pool.
Contributed image
Sarasota News Leader May 16, 2014 Page 10
