At the City Council meeting on 10-26-22 a presentation was made by Councilman Patrick Roff surrounding the relocation of City Hall to 1404 14th Street. This presentation was the only item on the agenda. This project includes building a new police department at 6th Ave W and 1st St W. Then a developer could possibly put a high-rise (20 stories) on the city property downtown.
There was one public comment by a Bradenton Citizen regarding the sell of the City Hall and the relocation of both the Police Department and City Hall.
The City Council commented that no one has come forward to speak about the sale of City Hall or whether or not this should even be pursued. They all said they would welcome public input.
They spoke about the lack of public participation at the council meetings surrounding the sale. The time is NOW to let the City Council know your thoughts.
This link will take you to the City Council’s contact information including email addresses.
https://bradentonconcernedcitizens.com/county-and-planning-info
Email, call, write, or do all three. They need to hear from you. Attend the upcoming meetings.
If they vote to relocate the City Hall to 14th Street, there is no going back. This property is lost.
Where are the public meetings surrounding such an important decision that will change downtown forever?
NOW IS THE TIME TO ATTEND AND SPEAK UP. We need you to speak during public comment; however, if you are unable to speak, then attend in support of others speaking. Numbers speak louder than words in a lot of cases.
Infrastructure
• Traffic is at a standstill every day even in the summer
• Parking downtown is limited and getting worse
• 22 million gallons of sewage, including a rain-induced bypass of 9 million gallons were released into the Manatee River on Sept. 12. After Hurricane Ian 13 million gallons were released (Bradenton Herald). Another 4 million gallons of untreated wastewater poured from another failed pumping station into Wares Creek (The Washington Post).
Shouldn’t Bradenton correct its infrastructure issues such as traffic, parking and water/sewage before proceeding forward with more construction?
Bradenton is a wonderful place to live and the downtown area has much to offer all residents and visitors. We have many Festivals and events downtown. What happens when you can’t get to these events because of the inability to park or even get to downtown due to traffic. A lot of projected construction downtown has not taken place yet. Shouldn’t we see what the impact those developments have on downtown before bringing even more to the area?
Please write, call, email and attend the upcoming meetings. Let your voice be heard.