Sarasota News Leader

05/16/2014

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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

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