LWV Manatee County Commission Notes: 3/25/225 

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 3/25/225 

Link to Agenda and Meeting Video

To view a particular item in the video, click on that item on the agenda and then click on the video that is inset in the agenda.

Commissioners McCanns and Felts attended via Zoom.

Invocation Pastor Andrew Heisler, First Baptist Church of Bradenton

Pledge of Allegiance Scott Allen, U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant (Veteran)

Announcements

Updates to Agenda - March 20, March 21 and March 24, 2025

Proclamations

Adoption and Presentation of Proclamation Designating Court 1 at C.V. Walton Racquet Center as "Bob Davis Court"   

Bob Davis’ daughter accepted the honor on behalf of her father who was well known in the local and national tennis community. He was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame and the Tampa Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.

Adoption and Presentation of Proclamation Designating March 2025 as "Boys & Girls Club Youth and Junior Youth of the Year Recognition Month" in Manatee County

Chandler Davis of the Palmetto Club and Taylor Brice of the Manatee Club were present to receive the proclamation. Taylor, a high school senior, gave a heartfelt speech describing the transformative impact of Boys and Girls Club on her life.

Adoption and Presentation of Proclamation Designating April 2025 as "Child Abuse Prevention Month" in Manatee County   

Jennifer, a parent coach from Manatee Children’s Services (MCS), accepted the proclamation on behalf of the 5300 children impacted in the county by child abuse. The success of MCS is undeniable as 95% of the families that receive care don’t re-enter the system.

Adoption and Presentation of Proclamation Designating March 25, 2025, as “Bealls Day” in Manatee County   

Dan Boyle of Bealls received the proclamation for the iconic business which has grown since it’s founding in 1915 to 660 stores in 22 states with 7,000 Florida employees. 

Approval of Consent Agenda

Motion to approve the Consent Agenda passed 7-0

Select Citizen Comments on Future Agenda Items

• Chad Choate, chair of the Manatee County School Board (MCSB), said that the MCSB voted 5-0 to write a letter to the Commissioners expressing their recommendation that the elimination of school zone cameras be revisited with a view to creating a middle ground in order to protect children.
• Lisa advocated for the safety of puppies, having only recently visited a local pet store and finding the circumstances unacceptable. 
• Rick called for the abolishment of the Tourist Development Council (TDC), saying that there isn’t a need to attract more tourists to our area.

Commissioners’ comments:

• Commissioner Kruse countered that the TDC doesn’t recruit tourists but collects fees. He also said that he had spoken to Chairperson Choate and he is open to reconsideration with an open bid process.

Advertised Public Hearings – Legislative

There were no presentations nor any public comment. See the agenda for details on items 50-54; items 55 and 56 were continued. All items passed 7-0.

Regular Agenda Items

Government Relations

Item 58. Manatee County Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-DR)   

Michele Davis-Farnham, Grant Administrator, said that the county received revised universal notice last week from HUD and now needed to review projects for eligibility.

Motion was made to 1) execute the Manatee County (MC) Administration Plan for submission to HUD (requesting 20% administration funding); 2) execute the MC Computer Matching Agreement for submission to HUD; and 3) execute the MC Small Business Administration Memorandum of Agreement to Federal SBA. 

Passed 7-0.

Item 67. Providing an update on Federal FY2025 appropriations requests and seeking approval for changes to the federal FY2026 appropriations requests   

Stephanie Garrison, Director of Government Relations, described the impact of the recent Congressional Continuing Resolution for federal appropriations which had no funding for county funding projects. Consequently, the county was advised by our congressional representative to adjust appropriation requests with priority to request items in Fiscal Year 25 in FY26. The following projects are included in the 2026 priorities: Gateway Greenway Trails ($2.9 million), Veterans Connections Hub (reduced to $2.8 million), 51st St. Project ($1.5 million), Update FEMA flood maps ($300,000), and update flood plain studies for Bowlees and Pierce Drain watershed ($1 million.)

Motion to approve passed 7-0.

Garrison then introduced a new government relations manager, Brent Anderson (formerly with Mosaic.)

Property Management

Item 59. Authorization to Issue an Emergency Purchase Order for Canal Clearing and Debris Removal at Multiple County Locations; and Adoption of Budget Amendment Resolution B-25-055 

Carmine Demilio, Deputy Director, Property Management, reminded everyone of the impact of three consecutive hurricanes (Debby, Helene and Milton) in 2024. This generated 745 work orders for the team of 55 employees who have worked 6 days a week for 7 months. They have completed 543 of the orders but to complete the work before the start of the hurricane season (June 1) the department requests additional contracted assistance in the amount of approximately $2 million.

The first stage of completion with the $2 million will focus on Gamble Creek, Braden River (Summerfield section), Buffalo Canal, Cabbage Slough and E-153(off County Road 675, end of 63rd Ave E.) Contractor PowerPoint Presentation

Commissioners’ comments:

Commissioner Bearden asked how many in-house staff there are in the department and would extra staff be needed to complete the work. Three times as many staff would be needed.

Public comments:

Six citizens spoke in support of the plan to hire outside contractors to complete clearing canals.

The motion to authorize emergency purchase order and adoption of budget resolution passed 7-0.

Item 60. Execution of Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Addendum 1 to Agreement No. 24-TA005639LP for Bishop Animal Shelter Expansion Phase 1   

This agreement covers kennels, play yard, parking and a temporary trailer to be added to the original amendment. 

Motion to execute approved 5-0, Rahn and Felts absent.

Public Safety

Item 64. FY 25 & FY 26 Opioid Settlement Funding Priorities and Funding Allocations    

Background:

During January 28, 2025, Opioid Response Update to the BOCC, staff presented an overview of ACT (Addiction Crisis Taskforce), its recommended funding allocations and the details of the Community Investment application process. The BOCC raised further questions regarding funding priorities and allocations, leading to a motion for a work session to discuss these aspects in greater detail before approval.

Andrew Kunkel, Opioid Response and Policy Coordinator, presented a PowerPoint to further clarify the plans for use of opioid settlement funds. Manatee County has been a Qualified County for funding purposes because it has a designated task force, Drug Free Manatee County. However, the County is currently in the process of dissolving the task force. Alternatives are under consideration. The County Attorney recommended not to join in the class action lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers.

Kunkel delivered a detailed presentation on the funding allocations for the $40 million to be distributed over 18 years. PowerPoint Presentation

Commissioners’ comments:

• Commissioner Ballard commented that the report was timely, given that today the Manatee County sheriff’s office announced the largest fentanyl bust. 
• Commissioner Siddique asked about sustainability of using the funding for housing once the funding is complete. 

Motion made to adopt Addiction Crisis Task Force priorities; approve the application of the Opioid Impact Grant; allocate funding to upcoming shelter projects; approve County Administration’s and County Attorney office’s recommendation to not pursue Pharmacy Benefit Managers as defendants in the lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

Motion approved 6-0, Rahn absent.

Public Works

Item 65. Development and Adoption of Dust Control Standards

Scott May, County engineer, outlined that despite the new dust control standards, there are multiple owners of construction sites that the contractors refuse to stop construction activities that are generating excessive dust when told to do so. This demonstrates that enforcement fines aren’t considered a problem for the builders. Contractors also state they can’t get workers to do dust control on the weekends.

Public works asked the Board to approve three immediate additions to the dust control standards: placement of cameras on any construction site of more than 100 acres; require weekly reports of dust control measures; and require contractors to have designated haul path for equipment. There are other solutions used by other communities (such as limits on phases for grading) which they would like to explore and bring back to the Board for approval.

Commissioners’ comments:

Siddique said that he has had many constituent complaints, and he thinks the county needs to send a message to developers that it won’t be run over by them. Can the county name and shame the non-compliant builders?

Public comments:

• Liz said that the recent dust storm in March didn’t surprise anyone. She claimed that there are over 300 acres in a Neal subdivision project with no trucks for water.
• Two citizens commented that developers have decided that fines are less of a financial burden than compliance.

Motion to approve the three measures passed 6-0 with Felts absent.

Commissioner Agenda Items

Item 62. Discussion on Selection of Planning Commission Members

Kruse stated the Planning Commission (PC) is representative of all the districts and that many other counties have each commissioner selecting one PC member.

Siddique and Ballard agreed that the planning commission should reflect a broad perspective but were concerned about low attendance. They felt offering compensation could help bring in better candidates.

Bearden describes the Planning Commission as a “recruitment tool” for developers to identify potential BoCC candidates. Commissioner McCann agreed but was concerned that the one seat per district would eliminate some highly qualified candidates and suggested adding two at-large members.

Ballard expressed that they were moving too fast and preferred to let the current commissioners’ terms expire rather than “blow up” the current Commission.

Kruse stated that his motion was only to authorize staff to come back with a plan to begin the process of re-advertising and replacing existing Planning Commission members.

Staff would come back to the Board with recommendations.

Motion to passed 4-3 (Ballard, Siddique and Rahn opposed)

Item 63. Grant Request for the 2025 Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration  (Ballard)

Ballard requested a grant of $5,000 for a local non-profit in her district, Rosalyn Walton Education and Enrichment Services, which provides tutoring to children and adults. It was denied a grant for their annual event and the $5,000 grant would free up their funds for their regular services. 

Motion to approve request passed 6-0, Rahn absent.

Commissioner Comments

• Siddique announced that the ceremony to officially announce the Bob Davis court would be Wednesday at 10 AM.
• Kruse said he would be holding a regular town hall meeting at the Palmetto library on Wednesday at 6 PM.

GOVERNANCE

Link to Good Governance Guidelines

Kruse’s “discussion” on the Planning Commission turned into a motion. On March 4, an item was on the agenda to refund school camera fines, and this turned into a vote to eliminate the school district camera program altogether. That the School Board Chairman must come before the County Commission to request that there be an alternative to elimination of school zone cameras shows the importance of properly noticing any non-emergency item. Citizens and school board members never had a chance to comment on this motion because it wasn’t properly posted on the agenda. It is the responsibility of the chair, the county attorney and every member of the Commission to assure that established procedures are followed.

Bearden’s comment “I don’t have faith in government either” is indicative of a continuing string of disparaging remarks about government. The commissioners and county administration are the government.

Although it is recognized that housing is important in a recovery from addiction, the funding from the opioid settlement's purpose is to ameliorate the harm done from use of opioid products. Funds for homeless families is an admirable goal, but not the intended purpose of the settlement funds