Notices

Manatee County Area Transit Route Changes Coming in December

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (November 27, 2023) – Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) will make several changes to its fixed-route bus service beginning Saturday, December 2, 2023. The changes are designed to enhance transit service along several important corridors and provide more appealing transportation options for commuters in Manatee County.

MCAT Route 99The area’s main route, Route 99, between downtown Sarasota and downtown Bradenton on US 41, will now run more frequently—every 20 minutes—all day. The route will continue to be served cooperatively by both Sarasota County Breeze Transit and MCAT. This major service improvement is funded by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Route 3, which serves Manatee Avenue and State Road 64, will resume service every 30 minutes all day, Monday through Saturday. However, between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Route 3 will terminate on Manatee Avenue West near Village Green Parkway and 75th St W. To get to the beach, passengers will transfer to the new Route 304.

A new route, Route 304, will serve Manatee Avenue West between Village Green Parkway/75th St W and Manatee Public Beach every 30 minutes. The transfers from the Route 3 will occur in the parking lot next to the Wawa.

Route 16, which serves 15th Street East between DeSoto Station and Tallevast Road will NOT go to Sarasota Bradenton Airport. Passengers heading to the airport will transfer at US 41 and Tallevast Road. Trip times will remain consistent with the existing schedule departing DeSoto Station at 0:05 past the hour and offering hourly service.

Route 75 (Beach ConneXion Shuttle) travels from 75th St West to Manatee Public Beach. This shuttle will operate 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ONLY on Sundays and holidays to help address beach parking issues and—like all MCAT services—is free of charge.

All changes to MCAT route schedules will be available for pick-up at Downtown Station and DeSoto Station on each bus and online at mymanatee.org/MCAT. Passengers also can call the MCAT Rider Information Line at (941) 749-7116 for more information.

For more information about Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ManateeGov.

###

Bill Logan

Information Outreach Manager

Office: (941) 742-5866

Cell: (941) 274-0930

bill.logan@mymanatee.org

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “It is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we are expanding an important program to help survivors feel more secure at home. Starting today, our Project Protect is available in Manatee and Hardee counties, and survivors of domestic violence in these counties can now access free doorbell cameras to watch over their residences. Through this program, we can help survivors feel more secure and build a Stronger, Safer Florida

Release Date

Oct 12, 2023

Contact

Kylie Mason

Phone

(850) 245-0150

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (October 10, 2023) – The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has announced the installation of additional leaders to help guide the county through a promising and prosperous future.

Andrew (Andy) Butterfield is joining the county as Chief of Staff. A finalist in the recent nationwide search for Manatee County Administrator, he has been the Operations Manager for City of St. Pete Beach, FL, since 2019. Previously, Butterfield served as the Director of Veteran Affairs at Brown University in Providence, RI. Prior to that, he had a 36-year career in the U.S. Navy, serving most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff at U.S. Special Operations Command and Joint Base Deputy Commander/Naval Support Activity Commander at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ.

Butterfield has a bachelor’s degree in Naval Science and Political Science from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval Post-Graduate School and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

“I just want to thank you for your confidence in me,” said Butterfield. “It’s an honor to have the opportunity to serve the good people of this county.”

Evan Pilachowski, P.E., has been promoted to Deputy County Administrator. He had been the Director of Manatee County Utilities since last October. With a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in civil engineering, Pilachowski brought decades of professional experience to Manatee County following his recent role as the Director of Business Enterprise Systems for the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

“The last year—serving as the Utility Director—has been simply the greatest honor of my career,” said Pilachowski. “I am looking forward to additional challenges and being able to do even more for the residents of Manatee County.”

Molly White has been promoted to Director of the Sports and Leisure Services Department. She has been the Deputy Director of the department since December 2022 and was previously a Fitness and Wellness Coordinator with Manatee County since October 2018. Molly has a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and a master’s degree in Recreation and Tourism from Bowling Green State University.

“I am honored to be given the opportunity to continue leading this very talented, supportive and experienced team,” said White. “I look forward to working towards increased quality of services and innovative ways to meet the needs of our growth with new facilities and forward thinking.”

The BOCC passed all three staff additions unanimously.

For more information about Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ManateeGov.

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (October 10, 2023) – The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has voted unanimously to convey a County-owned piece of property to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation to develop the property as affordable housing for veterans.

“We as a society have—for far too long—not taken care of our veterans,” said Commissioner Mike Rahn. “Today we have the opportunity to fix that.”

The property, located at 4410 66th Street West, has been used by the County to house some of its Utilities administration. Under the agreement, it will be developed by the Tunnels to Towers Organization with the inclusion of wrap-around services and other programs for veterans.

“I expect that the level of care that our veterans get in Manatee County will be used as a model for the rest of this state and the rest of this nation,” said Commissioner Jason Bearden.

For more information about Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ManateeGov.

Low Income Household Water Assistance Program

Promise for Florida LIHWAP:

Through the federally funded Low Income Household Water

Assistance Program (LIHWAP)!

Florida Commerce is partnering with Manatee County Utility Department to ensure this credit is provided directly to your account.

The credit will be applied to your account within 90 days.

For more information about LIHWAP

Please call (850) 820-8218 for questions

https://www.floridajobs.org/community-planning-and-development/community-services/find-your-local-community-action-agency

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (October 9, 2023) – Manatee County has ten (10) openings for a citizens advisory committee that makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners on Affordable Housing Incentives.

The Housing Advisory Board will review the established policies and procedures, ordinances, land development regulations and adopted local government comprehensive plan of Manatee County and shall recommend specific actions or initiatives to encourage or facilitate affordable housing while protecting the ability of the property to appreciate in value.

Online applications are due by November 3, 2023, and can be found online at mymanatee.org/advisoryboards by choosing “Affordable Housing Advisory” Committee from the drop-down menu for the following positions:

Seat No. 1: Citizen actively engaged in the residential home building industry in connection with affordable housing

Seat No. 2: Citizen actively engaged in banking or mortgage banking industry in connection with affordable housing

Seat No. 3: Citizen who is a representative of those areas of labor actively engaged in home building in connection with affordable housing

Seat No. 4: Citizen actively engaged as an advocate for low-income persons in connection with affordable housing

Seat No. 5: Citizen actively engaged as a for-profit provider of affordable housing

Seat No. 7: Citizen actively engaged as a real estate professional in connection with affordable housing

Seat No. 8: Citizen actively serving on the local planning agency pursuant to s. 163.3174.

Seat No. 9: Citizen who resides in Unincorporated Manatee County

Seat No. 10: Citizen who represents employers within Manatee County

Seat No. 11: Citizen who represents essential services personnel, as defined in the local housing assistance plan

All meetings will be held on select Mondays throughout the year from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at 1112 Manatee Avenue West, Manatee Room, 5th Floor, Bradenton, FL, 34205. Meetings will begin January 2024.

For more information, contact Advisory Board Liaison Deborah Ash, at (941) 749-3029, ext. 3478, or deborah.ash@mymanatee.org.

For more information about Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ManateeGov.

PHONE SCAM - CALLER ID SPOOFING 🚩:

We continue to hear reports of scammers claiming to be a Manatee County Sheriff's Office deputy and requesting payment in the form of credit, debit, or gift cards due to an outstanding warrant.

They are using a strategy known as "Caller ID Spoofing" to make it appear as though the call is coming from the actual MCSO phone number - (941) 747-3011.

The most important RED FLAG to recognize in these cases is that deputies will NEVER ask you to provide payment to get out of a warrant. This is a scam!

If you receive a call like this, hang up and contact the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at

(941) 747-3011 to report the call.

#PhoneScam #CallerIDSpoofing

In preparation of the transition to the 8th Edition 2023 Florida Building Code that will go in effect January 1, 2024, Building and Development Services will require the following:

• All building record applications to fall under the 7th Edition 2020 Florida Building Code, will need to be submitted and paid by December 29, 2023, 3:00pm.

• Online Services will be unavailable December 29, 2023, after 3:00pm through January 1, 2024, at noon for scheduled maintenance. (Please note that you will still be able to lookup status of permits already submitted and schedule inspections).

• Any record that has been submitted and has unpaid fees on December 29, 2023, at 3:00pm, will be removed from the system and will require to be reapplied for under the new 8th Edition 2023 Florida Building Code.

• All applications that are in a temporary status, not yet submitted in your Online Services Account will be deleted and a new application will need to be created under the 8th Edition 2023 Florida Building Code.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause however it is necessary to transition into the new code and Online Services scheduled maintenance.

Manatee County will be commencing an intersection improvement project at 9th Ave NW and 78th St NW, starting October 2nd.

This work is expected to take until Mid-January ’24 until ultimate completion of the new roundabout configuration.

During that time, 9th Ave NW and 78th St NW will be fully closed and a detour required per the attachments above.

The detour specific routing will be as follows:

Traffic needing to go westbound on 9th Ave NW will have to go north on 75th St W to west 17th Ave NW, and back south on 99th St NW.

Traffic needing to go eastbound on 9th Ave NW will have to go north on 99th St NW to east 17th Ave NW, and back south on 75th St NW.

Please note that accommodations will be made for the intersection to be re-opened over Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year Holiday.

Thank you for your patience while we make these improvements.

Sincerely,

Matt Merucci

Right of Way Supervisor and Zoning/MOT Inspections

Manatee County Public Works

1022 26th Ave E

Bradenton FL 34208

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (September 11, 2023) – Manatee County has been approved for Individual Assistance and Small Business Assistance through FEMA following Hurricane Idalia, which allows individuals and households in affected areas of Manatee County to apply for financial and direct services.

For more information on FEMA disaster assistance, visit DisasterAssistance.gov or call 800-621-3362. As more information on the application process is available, it will be shared on social media and here on the county website at mymanatee.org/FEMA.

For more information about Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ManateeGov.