BRADENTON — The League of Women Voters of Manatee County Government Committee observes Manatee County Commission meetings for items of interest to citizens and the League and notes adherence, or lack of adherence, to good governance procedures and the Sunshine Law. The following are the major points from the board’s regular meeting on 1/9/24, observed by Maureen Dardinski.
Link to Agenda and Meeting Video
Invocation led by Pastor Randy Wilkins, Gulf Coast Church
Presentations/Awards/
Selected Citizen Comments- Future Agenda Items
Commissioner Responses/Comments on Citizen Comments – Future Agenda Items:
Kruse reminded commissioners that he did not vote for the change to reduce the wetland buffers to the state minimums. He said, “We were told there would be a minimum buffer; this is proof right here—the very first application proposing to use that vote does not propose any buffer, zero.” He said, let’s discuss this more before making a mistake.
Selected Citizen Comments – Consent Agenda
Glen Gibelina commented on Item 51, Speed Bumps on Riverview Boulevard, saying residents were not asked about this, and the necessary signatures were not gathered. Regarding Item 57, The Paddocks Manatee, he said the project should contain 10% Affordable Housing, and by his count, the number of affordable housing units does not add up to 10%.
Item 16 (Execution of Agreement No. 23-R081706CD for Investment Grade Energy Performance Audit for Guaranteed Energy, Water, and Wastewater Performance Savings Contract for Lena Road Landfill Methane Gas)
Consent Agenda Passed 7-0
After a recess, the Chair stated that there would be a discussion of Item #44, which he stated Van Ostenbridge had asked to be pulled from the consent agenda - Execution of Interlocal Agreement regarding The Community Policing Initiative. This agreement would raise the pay for off-duty officers from $40 to $60 per hour. After a brief discussion, Van Ostenbridge made a motion to continue the discussion on this item after input from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Passed 7-0.
Item #63 - Appointment of Patrick Shea as Director of Utilities
Evan Pilachowski, Deputy County Administrator, recognized Jim Ryberg for his service as Interim Director of Utilities with an award. Patrick O’Shea was presented to the BoCC for confirmation as Director of Utilities.
Approved, 7-0
Item #64 Approval of an Amendment to the 2024 State Legislative Priorities and the County's 2024 Metropolitan Planning Organization Project Priorities – (Details in link)
Actions Requested:
1. Approval of an amendment to Manatee County's 2024 State Legislative Priorities to add 51st Street West from El Conquistador Parkway to 53rd Avenue West and to add S.R. 64 from east of Lorraine Road to Verna Bethany Road; and 2. Authorization for the Chairman to execute the Manatee County's 2024 Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Project Priorities and for staff to transmit said priorities.
Approved 7-0
Item #65 - Adoption of Resolution R-24-018, establishing the County’s Roadway Lighting Policy; and Update on the ‘Light Up Manatee’ Program
Presentation of an update to the “Light Up Manatee” Project by Aaron Burkett, Public Works. Approval Requested of Roadway Lighting Policy. Approved with 7-0
Commissioner Agenda Items
Kruse:
Item #66 - Discussion of County support of Manatee County Search & Rescue
The Manatee County Search & Rescue is an all-volunteer nonprofit supporting critical emergency needs within the county at no cost to the taxpayers. They are presently being displaced from one facility and need a permanent home base for equipment and volunteers. Deputy Administrator DePol said staff is working on this and will return to the Board with Search and Rescue needs.
Item #67- Expansion of Citizen Advisory Boards
Kruse mentioned he had been asked at his Town Halls to add Advisory Boards to deal with Animal Rescue, Rural Communities, Waterways, and Disabled Persons. Manatee County has 18 Boards and Sarasota has 33. He asked, why not use our intelligent citizens to research best practices and find solutions to problems then give the County free advice?
Other Commissioners noted that staff time is needed to assist citizen boards, and maybe some items could be given to existing Boards to work on. Ballard mentioned there were empty positions on existing Boards. County Administrator Bishop said staff are doing an audit of existing Boards now and will bring it to the BoCC when complete.
Public Comment on Item #67
Item #68- Manatee County Citizens Academy
Manatee County’s Academy is being reinstated. It will be an 8-week hybrid educational program, once a week for 1-1/2 hours, starting August 7, 2024.
Satcher:
Item #69- American Library Association (ALA) ties with County Libraries
Satcher suggested that Manatee County separate its connection with the ALA and contended the current president is a Marxist and does not align with Manatee County taxpayers or this board. He read statements made by the current ALA president and said County could review membership if the ALA made a “U-Turn” with its policies, and he did not like the ALA pushing Woke ideology under the guise of something else.
Tammy Parrot, Library Services Manager, answered questions about the benefits of the membership and its costs. She stated that the ALA provides printing discounts, professional publications, professional discounts, and specialized professional development.
Ballard noted that ALA does not have a lot of influence on Manatee County Library’s day-to-day operations, and she noted they are still members of the Florida Library Association. She has concerns about the leadership but noted the reaction to ALA’s current president’s comments was making a “mountain out of a molehill.”
Kruse noted that the membership is inexpensive and that we are losing benefits that will cost us more to replace than staying a member. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to withdraw because of one person’s comments?
Van Ostenbridge said that library staff have made decisions that needed to be corrected and we don’t need staff going to conferences to be “indoctrinated”.
Citizen Comment:
Satcher’s motion was approved 6-0 (Bearden absent)
Link to Good Governance Guidelines
The agenda was not posted until Thursday evening January 4, with updates after 8pm on Monday January 8. An apparent impact was that Chair Rahn did not have the most current agenda during the meeting causing confusion.
There were excellent citizen comments on many items.
Both Commissioners Ballard and Kruse made convincing points that membership in the American Library Association significantly benefited our library system and that the current objections to membership were "making a mountain out of a molehill." They voted to withdraw from ALA membership rather than ask for the review suggested by Kruse.
The meeting was respectful. Chair Mike Rahn is learning his new role and its procedures with guidance from County Attorney Clague on quasi-judicial items. He did not follow BoCC Rules and Procedures on Item #44. No one asked for any consent agenda item to be pulled; the consent agenda was approved, and then Commissioner Rahn reopened Item #44 after the Consent Agenda was approved.
The Aqua By The Bay Project’s request to SWFMWD to put in Gabion walls and have no buffer was correctly pointed out, which can have major environmental and irreparable damage, yet there was no move to ask staff for further study or schedule a workshop before approval.