Manatee commissioners draw hard line on animal shelter spending

With costs for a new building at Manatee County’s Bishop Animal Shelter in Bradenton continuing to rise, county commissioners have put their financial foot down.

Commissioners were presented for the first time Feb. 14 with a county staff estimate of $17 million to construct a building at Bishop to triple the shelter’s 53 kennels.

After the County Commission approved the donation of the Bishop Animal Shelter in December 2021 and then took control of the facility the following March, the conversation focused on whether the county could close its existing shelter with 85 kennels in Palmetto and whether a new facility was needed in the Lakewood Ranch area.

Sarah Brown, division chief of Animal Services for the county, told commissioners that a centralized facility would best serve the county so employees in animal services could more effectively work together instead of being split at different facilities.

District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh told Brown that the Palmetto facility “definitely needs to be flattened.”

With $8 million in county funds having been directed away from a possible Lakewood Ranch-area facility and earmarked for the Bishop Animal Shelter, commissioners made it apparent they are all-in on a centralized single animal shelter.

However, commissioners rolled their collective eyes when told plans for a new building at the Bishop Animal Shelter had skyrocketed to $17 million. According to Manatee County Construction Services Manager Tom Yarger, a $17 million facility would have consisted of about 15,000 square feet with 100 kennels.

In March 2022, the donation of the Bishop Animal Shelter and its accompanying 14 acres were estimated to be worth $18 million.

Do the taxpayers want a $35 million animal shelter?

“I see your need for more kennels,” Baugh said to Brown. “Right now, we need to figure out a solution for $8 million. All jokes aside, I don’t know we can afford to give you more. I don’t see how we can add to it.”

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge agreed.

“I am not seeing more money coming into play here,” he said. “But we do want to get you out of Palmetto.”

Commissioners told the county’s staff to come up with a plan for an $8 building at the Bishop Animal Shelter — and no more. They said when that plan is in place, to return to the commission with a presentation.

At the Feb. 14 meeting, commissioners were going through a list of capital improvement projects that had become far more expensive. Commissioners said they had not been informed of the greatly inflated project costs by previous Administrator Scott Hopes.

Animal Services improvements were just one example of spending run amok and without the commissioners knowledge of the plans.

One of the arguments for building an animal shelter in the Lakewood Ranch area was that residents there would not utilize shelters in Palmetto or west Bradenton.

That was perceived to be a problem because the shelters couldn’t depend on their fastest growing area to adopt abandoned pets and therefore clear room for more pets.

At-large Commissioner Jason Bearden said that county should be able to overcome such a problem by increasing its marketing for the Bishop facility, aiming at residents of Parrish and the Lakewood Ranch area. 

He said many people with whom he had spoken did not realize there was an animal shelter in Bradenton.

Van Ostenbridge said he had spoken with Hopes about providing $500 in advertising funds to Hans Wohlgefahrt, the outreach and event specialist for Manatee County Animal Welfare so he could spread awareness of the Bishop to those who lived in Parrish and Lakewood Ranch.

In June 2021, then-Commissioner Carol Whitmore said the need to build a shelter in East County was largely about smart planning for the future amid an increasing population. At the time, some commissioners suggested the county wait until the donated Bishop facility was running for a period of time before making a decision.

The current Bishop facility includes an animal hospital and cat condos.

Yarger said the new facility at Bishop would feature an educational component but would not include a vet, as the current building does.

He said a new building would need a lift station, as well as the standard levels of ventilation for dog and cat kennels and enough plumbing for every kennel to have access to a drain and hose.

The construction of a new building would require the removal of most of an old building that was constructed originally in the 1950s with renovation in the 1970s, but since has deteriorated.

Some of the bricks used in that building would be saved for historical value.

Photo by Ian Swaby

Deputy County Administrator Charlie Bishop said while he could not go detail with the project in its “silent phase,” the county was preparing to select a project architect.

Also under consideration is whether a new building would need to be hardened for hurricanes up to a Category 3 level so that animals would not need to be moved to another area in the case of a big storm.

The new building at Bishop is hardened.

Yarger estimated not hardening the new building would mean a construction savings of approximately 25%.

Bishop said he recommended spending $50,000 to add a double throw disconnect, to allow a generator to be activated through the flip of a switch in case of a bad storm. Commissioners agreed that was a good idea.

Sarah Brown, Division Chief Manatee County Animal Services, told commissioners hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent “band-aiding” the Palmetto facility. She said plumbing issues take place every day despite significant repairs.

“It’s a money pit,” she said.