ANNA MARIA ISLAND -- On one hand, there is relief among hotel and restaurant owners on Anna Maria Island.

The twin eyesores of beach restoration -- pipes on the beach and bulldozers pushing sand -- will soon disappear.

But the relief is tempered by the knowledge that contractors will leave without completing the restoration, which was designed to provide a buffer for beachfront properties from hurricanes and storm surge.

Finished or not, the work will stop in the next few weeks, and county officials say as much as 40 percent of the renourishment will be unfinished when the permit expires June 1.

The pipes, tractors and construction fence have blocked the beach in front of Bungalow Beach Resort in Bradenton Beach since mid-April.

Manager Jason Luper said the resort has lost $10,000 to $15,000 as a result. "As far as them leaving right now, in the short run I'd be thrilled," Luper said.

But leaving the job unfinished could make some businesses more vulnerable to hurricane storm surges. The south end of Bradenton Beach will have 30 feet less beach than the rest of the island.

"They're extending the beach for a reason, and not just an aesthetic one," Luper said.

The project's slow pace may mean no renourishment for the beach in front of Gulf Drive Cafe in Bradenton Beach.

"They've been procrastinating and stopping and restarting for months now -- we wish they'd either do or die with it," said Kim Morgan, a waitress at the restaurant who lives on Holmes Beach.

Already, the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce has heard from several hotels and restaurants that are hurting because of the delays that have left huge pipes blocking their beaches.

"If they decide to not renourish out here, we'll be in deep trouble," said Mary Ann Brockman, the chamber president.

Parts of the beach that don't get extra sand will be more vulnerable to storms, but the extended beach wouldn't make a huge difference during a strong hurricane, said Charlie Hunsicker, the county's director of conservation lands management.

"The beaches that didn't get the renourishment are solid but lacking that additional layer," he said.

County commissioners criticized the renourishment contractor Tuesday, saying Goodloe Marine had worked only five days since the program resumed in April after being suspended in November.

The $4.5 million project is being managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Project manager Ron Rutger said the work has been dogged by problems.

"Early in the contract they were hit with five hurricanes," Rutger said.

Renourishment was needed due to severe depletion of the beaches during the 2004 hurricane season. The project was supposed to renourish all of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach.

But Goodloe's flat-bottomed dredging barge cannot be used when wave heights exceed 3.5 feet. In November and December, wave heights were too high for the company to work, said Rutger, who declined to comment on the performance of Goodloe.

Over the long run, ocean currents will level off the width of the beach on the island, but the beaches will always need renourishing because of erosion

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