Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Manatee County Government leaders are planning to create an emergency homeless shelter to connect people with social services and comply with a new Florida law.
The Fresh Start Manatee proposal would offer a supportive path for those who want to get off the streets. The 90-day shelter would include services that connect them with job opportunities, educational courses and financial guidance, a county official said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a law banning people from sleeping on streets, sidewalks and parks. The law, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, requires local governments to move them into shelters or camps.
“We believe in giving people a hand up,” said Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
“We can’t force them to take the hand up,” he added. “But we want to at least be able to sleep at night, knowing that if there’s a person who’s down on their luck, there’s somewhere in this county where they can go.”
According to Van Ostenbridge, Fresh Start Manatee would be modeled off of a similar homeless outreach program in Pinellas County that connects unhoused residents with community resources in an effort to put them back in a home.
Further information about Fresh Start Manatee was not immediately available. Key details about the project, such as the location and the exact resources it will offer, are subject to approval by the Manatee Board of County Commissioners at a later date.
Manatee plans new homeless shelter
One local resident without a home, Kelly Teel, has slept behind a pizza restaurant in Bradenton. Sometimes the restaurant workers offered him a blanket and a slice of pizza. He felt safer there than anywhere else.
“I got so used to being outside,” said Teel, 66, who got divorced and went to live on the streets in 1998. “I thought it was romantic. It’s not.”
Teel, like others without a home to call their own, hoped to find a spot at a shelter.
“I would be the first one there,” Teel said.
There were 567 homeless people last year in Manatee County, according to the latest available data . Of those, 339 lived in parks, cars or abandoned buildings.
Will Florida law end homelessness?
Homeless advocates have criticized the new law and pushed for more affordable housing options in Manatee County.
“We also believe our neighbors should not be sleeping on the street, but this law does not solve homelessness in our community,” said Katie Ross, CEO of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness .
Kathleen Cramer, executive director of Turning Points , also said the new law creates a problem for the local unhoused population because there are not enough shelter beds to house them all.
“There’s going to be a lot of unknowns until decisions are made,” Cramer said.
As county leaders plan to build the 90-day shelter, homeless advocates pointed out that there are many older people and families without the means to pay for rent.
“We think everyone experiencing homelessness is a middle-aged man. That is not at all the face of homelessness in our community,” Cramer said. “Many people have just had a bad situation that snowballed and ended up being evicted.”
Resources strained in Manatee County
As more homeless people search for a place to go, pressure will fall on the Salvation Army in Bradenton, the only shelter in the county.
“We’re going to be turning people away,” said Paul Fowler, director of social services for the Salvation Army of Manatee County . “That’s all we can do.”
A new problem outside of the Salvation Army property highlights Manatee County’s struggle with homelessness. Tents have popped up on the sidewalk because the shelter doesn’t have space to accept everyone.
“It breaks my heart because they’re out there in a tent, but it’s not a campground,” said Maj. Thomas Richmond, corps officer for the Salvation Army of Manatee County.
BayCare Health System will break ground on BayCare Hospital Manatee in October 2024, eyeing a 2027 opening date for the facility. This $548 million project will feature 154 beds in private patient rooms and a 45,000-square-foot medical arts building.
Located on the Robinson Gateway Property on Moccasin Wallow Road, just a mile north of the Interstate 75 and I-275 intersection, the new hospital will provide access to healthcare for the residents of Manatee County.
Stephanie Conners, president and CEO of BayCare, said the newest hospital is proof of the organization’s commitment to Manatee County.
BayCare Hospital Manatee will offer general, orthopedic, and specialty surgery services, urology, gastroenterology, cardiology, diagnostic and interventional imaging, emergency care, obstetrics, and neonatology services. The hospital’s design anticipates expanding to 207 beds when needed, with additional capacity possible as the community grows.
BayCare Co-Chief Operating Officer Kimberly Guy spoke on the importance of keeping up with Manatee County’s growth over the past few years and the county’s continued expected growth.
Recently a small plane crashed on I-75 in Collier County and another one crashed in a neighborhood in Cape Coral. Meanwhile on larger planes parts are falling off mid-flight (mostly Boeing). However traveling by plane is still the safest way to go.
Florida pilots address passenger safety concerns amidst recent plane accidents
A pilot died after a plane crashed at a Lakeland airport Tuesday morning, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a single-engine airplane crashed at the South Lakeland Airport at about 10:40 a.m.
Sheriff Grady Judd said pilot Arthur Canning, 76, of Lakeland was beginning to take off at the airstrip when the engine began to sputter.
“When the engine sputtered, he apparently stalled and crashed directly into the ground, and he immediately died as a result of horrific traumatic injuries from the crash,” Judd said.
“He was up and into the ground in seconds,” he later added.
According to sheriff, the plane was an experimental amateur build.
“That’s when you build it yourself so you’re now the manufacturer even though it came in a kit but you’re the manufacturer and you have to put together at least 51% of it,” said Wayne Beyer.
Beyer lives alongside the airstrip and witnessed the crash.
“I’ve seen [crashes] at air races and stuff but not like that,” he said.
Before the crash, Canning had only flown it once last Saturday, but he was said to be an experienced pilot who spent 10 years flying ultra-light planes.
April is Global Volunteer Month! SRQCounty would like to extend our gratitude and celebrate all of the amazing people that volunteer their time, talent and effort to help us serve our citizens with excellence! Our volunteers are a branch of our success!
If you'd like to make a difference in your community, visit:
More than 60 people spoke for over three hours at Tuesday's Sarasota School Board meeting as the board convened to vote on 21 revised district policies.
As has become a theme at meetings since December, speakers continued to urge board member Bridget Ziegler to resign amid a sexual assault scandal involving her husband'and another woman. Ziegler was not accused of any wrongdoing, but her involvement in a sexual relationship with a woman has caused a vocal group of the public to call Ziegler a "hypocrite" amid her support for legislation such as the Parental Rights in Education Act, or "Don't Say Gay" bill.
Speakers also vocally opposed the reduction of public comment time, a proposition raised at a previous board workshop amid several consecutive hours-long meetings running to 10 pm.
"Thank you for letting me speak — at least for now," said Louis Grossman at Tuesday's Sarasota School Board meeting.
Speakers are given three minutes to speak, and the majority of meetings since the December Ziegler report has seen upward of 50 speakers each — who all speak before the board conducts a single vote.
At March 19's board workshop, the board discussed the potential changes to the public comment time and appeared to move forward with an option that would limit public comment time to 90 minutes total and divide the time among the speakers with no one speaking more than three minutes.
"I'm at the point as chair where I asked for this based on tremendous community input on me to do something different," Rose said at the workshop. "I'm perfectly fine with my colleagues not agreeing with me and will respect that. I am under the onus that I'm expected to present something different. We're looking at that right now."
Board attorney Pat Duggan said with the need to publicly notice the policy change and further workshop it, any changes could not be implemented for at least two months.
Several board members expressed hesitation in restricting public comment time. However, Ziegler and Robyn Marinelli both said they would support the proposed option. Tom Edwards said he would not support reducing public comment time to 90 minutes.
Rose said the board rooms feel "off task" and that she bears some responsibility as chair, which is why she brought forward the suggestion to change the structure.
Flush with $931.5 million in available cash to spend, Manatee County commissioners are looking for ways to spend reserves as budget planning begins.
Manatee County injected $52.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds into its general fund last year, and commissioners met on Tuesday for their first budget workshop of the year to size up the impact of that maneuver and analyze the county's financial standing headed into the 2024-25 budget planning season.
CFO Sheila McClean delivered a presentation indicating that the county is in a strong financial position and that as of Feb. 30, it carries an adjusted cash balance of $2.14 billion based on unaudited numbers headed into the fiscal year 2024-25 budget season.
Much of those funds have already been committed as a part of the county's previous budget and capital improvement plan, but McClean said the county has about $931.54 million still available.
That is largely because the county was able to leverage $52.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover the cost of payroll as a part of a strategy to meet federal deadlines to spend ARAP funds. The county also collected $6.2 million in property taxes above projections and spent about 7% less than expected on capital improvement projects.
Tom Edwards, an incumbent Sarasota School Board member who sits as the only registered Democrat on the board, qualified for the August election by petition, his campaign announced in a statement Wednesday.
Edwards, who was first elected in 2020 and represents District 3, is the lone dissenting voice on a 4-1 conservative-leaning majority on the Sarasota School Board. He's called himself a "woke" school board member, a word used by Gov. Ron DeSantis and some conservatives to target progressive activism. While more progressive than the conservative school board majority, Edwards has previously said he would describe himself as a moderate rather than a liberal.
To qualify, Edwards collected 3,566 signatures from Sarasota County residents.
"I am deeply grateful for the overwhelming support shown by the residents of Sarasota County," he said in a statement. "This milestone is a testament to the shared commitment we have toward championing a safe, high-achieving, academic environment for all Sarasota County students."
In February 2023, DeSantis named Edwards as a target in the 2024 election. Edwards, who is gay, has been a vocal opponent of legislation pushed by the governor and other conservatives such as the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by its critics. During his tenure on the board, he was targeted for his sexual orientation; called an "LGBT groomer" and "a threat to the innocence of our children" because he was gay.
As of Wednesday, two candidates — Gregory Wood and Thomas Andrew Babicz — had filed to run against Edwards.
Edwards had raised $75,278 as of Wednesday, the most of any candidate for School Board this cycle. His opponents had both filed within the first quarter of 2024, so campaign fundraising numbers weren't available at the time of publishing. First quarter campaign finance records publish on the 10th of April, according to the supervisor of elections website.
The District 3 seat on the Sarasota School is one of two seats up for election in August. Incumbent District 2 board member Karen Rose also seeks reelection against challenger Liz Barker.
The review process for a new 355-unit apartment complex along U.S. 301 is being fast-tracked by Manatee County Government.
The development is planned just south of the Amazon distribution center at 2200 Tallevast Road, east of 21st Street East. At least 10%, or 36, of the apartment units would be classified as affordable, Bill Logan, the county's information outreach director, said in response to questions from the Bradenton Herald.
The application for the project, identified as "Greystar Introduction — SRQ Residential," is for a combined preliminary site plan, final site plan and construction plan approval.
Affordable housing should cost no more than 30% of a resident's income for rent or mortgage payments. Due to the shortage of affordable housing in the Bradenton area, Manatee County Government prioritizes the processing of affordable housing developments.
Greystar, based in Charleston, South Carolina, already has a significant presence in Manatee County. Some of its apartment complexes include Summerhouse Lakewood Ranch, 11716 18th Place E., Lakewood Ranch, The Point at Bella Grove, 8310 Bella Grove Circle, Sarasota, and The Pointe at Lakewood Ranch, 8925 77th Terrace E., Lakewood Ranch.
Greystar Introduction — SRQ Residential is planned on a portion of a 131-acre parcel owned by SRQ 300 LLC of Tampa.
Peak Development Partners, LLC is listed as the registered agent for SRQ 300 LLC.
Peak Development has been involved with much of the recent development in the Tallevast area.
Those projects include the Amazon facility and United Natural Foods, Inc., which announced in August that it was breaking ground on a new distribution center within the SRQ Logistics Center, a 300-acre master-planned business park south of Tallevast Road.
Other affordable housing projects
Other affordable housing projects in the works, as previously reported by the Bradenton Herald, include:
Manatee County unveiled a new way locals and tourists can explore the Robinson Preserve, on wheels!
Located in northwest Bradenton, the 682-acre preserve is a mix of 100-year-old mangroves, tidal marsh, and former agricultural lands. On the guided tram tour, visitors can get a firsthand look at osprey nests, blueways, trails, and more.
Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge says the tram us for residents of all ages, and especially for those who want to experience the preserve but can’t do it on their own.
“The Robinson Preserve has built up a tremendous following, and those folks are starting to age and get to a point where they can’t walk one or two miles throughout the preserve,” said Commissioner Ostenbridge. “We also have a disabled population that we want to enjoy our preserves as well. We wanted to make sure this was accessible to everyone in the community,” he added.
The commissioner also says they plan on adding the transportation to other locations in the community.
For more information on the preserve, click here: Home
The LECOM Suncoast Classic will return to Lakewood National Golf Club later this month.
It's the sixth time the Korn Ferry tournament is making a stop in Manatee County. The tournament is slated for April 18-21.
The $1 million purse tournament is contested on Lakewood National Golf Club's Commander course, which is an Arnold Palmer Design Company track.
Ticket and parking information
General admission and hospitality tickets are available at different prices. For single-day admission at the general admission tier, the cost is $20 per ticket and $60 per ticket for a weekly pass.
Champions Club tickets feature an all-inclusive hospitality experience at $175 per ticket per day or $650 per ticket for a weekly pass. Pier 22 and The Grove Restaurant cater food for VIP Champions Club hospitality ticket holders with food, beer, soft drinks, wine and liquor included with premium tables and seating under a shared tent that offers views of the 18th green.
But if you're a child 17 and younger, entry into the tournament is free. It's also free for active military, veterans, first responders and teachers plus one guest with a valid I.D.
Parking for the tournament is free and located at the Premier Sports Campus, 5895 Post Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch. A free, 5-minute trolley service takes patrons to and from the course. The last shuttle leaves the course 30 minutes after play ends each day.
Staff and directional signage will be present to assist with parking.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
