BRADENTON BEACH – On March 18, the Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board members and city staff discussed the repairs needed and the funding available for the city-owned Tingley Memorial Library.
The library is located at 111 Second Street N., which is in the CRA district. Built in 1994, the Tingley Memorial Library was funded by a bequest of more than $500,000 made long ago by benefactor Beulah Tingley, whom the library is named after. The bequeath funds the library operations that include one full-time salary and the utilization of several volunteers.
The library building needs repairs in the $230,000 to $250,000 range, according to Police Chief and Public Works Director John Cosby.
According to City Treasurer Shayne Thompson, the current balance in the bequeath fund is $130,000. During a previous library discussion in May 2025, Thompson said the bequeath fund had a $165,000 balance at the time and would likely be exhausted within three years.
During the March 18 meeting, Cosby said, “The back steps of the library are basically unusable. They shake when you walk on them, and that’s part of the fire exit. The air conditioning units are getting ready to fall through, but I don’t want to spend money to do that if we’re going a different route. With the air conditioning system in the library, I had a company come out and look at it. They don’t think it’s going to make it through the summer.”
Operating as a separate city-affiliated entity, the CRA board consists of Mayor John Chappie and the four city commissioners.
On March 18, the CRA members discussed the city selling the library to the CRA, which would allow CRA funds to be used to make the needed repairs. Another option is to continue discussions with Manatee County about making the currently independent non-profit library part of the county library system. There was also discussion about raising the library building and installing paid parking underneath it.
CRA Chair Scott Bear asked if CRA could use eminent domain to take the library ownership away from the city.
“Does this board have the authority to use eminent domain over the city?” Bear asked.
“I’ve never heard of a government using eminent domain over a government property. I’m not in the position right now without doing the research to give you an answer that I’m comfortable with,” City Attorney Erica Augello said.
Augello was filling in for CRA attorney Nancy Meyer, who’s also a member of the Trask Daigneault law firm.
“To assert eminent domain is a court proceeding. You still have to pay the reasonable price of the property. You can’t just acquire it for zero dollars,” Augello said. “I don’t know why you would do an eminent domain proceeding when you have to use it for a public purpose afterwards – other than just selling outright to another entity.”
Bear said using CRA funds for the library would impact the timing for other CRA projects and he asked if the use of the library property would have to change if the CRA acquired it. City Clerk Terri Sanclemente said she looked into that and part of the library building might have to be used as a community center if sold to the CRA.
Commissioner Debbie Scaccianoce is the city commission liaison for the Tingley Memorial Library.
“I thought we owned the land already,” Scaccianoce said. “Currently, it’s non-profit. It’s a 501(c)(3), so do we lose that designation? What changes if the city takes control?”
Augello said the library has a lease to use the building.
“There was a bequeath for construction of the building,” Mayor John Chappie said, noting the lease remains in place as long as the bequeath funds exist.
Scaccianoce said there have been discussions with Manatee County officials about the county helping with the repair costs and making the library more of a community meeting place.
“I would never want to see this library close, especially since we have come so far in the last year. With Stephanie (new Library Director Stephanie Katz) coming on board, it’s just incredible,” Scaccianoce said.
“What does it look like if the bequeath runs out? It reverts back to the city?” CRA member Ralph Cole asked.
“Yes,” Augello said.
Cole asked what happens if the city doesn’t have the money to fix the library building.
“I may get attacked for saying this, but you tear it down and you put up paid parking,” Cosby said. “We need between $230,000 and $250,000, not counting the money we need to try to continue to operate it.”
Scaccianoce said, “If we decided to take it over and make it part of the CRA, we could use that $130k to affect the repairs that are most urgent.”
She also said, “One more giant parking lot, instead of a library, just breaks my heart, but I think we have options and I’m still working with the county. They don’t want to lose the library. They said in a year and a half, they would be willing to come in and make it a (county) branch.”
“One of the things we talked about over the years was elevating the structure to create parking underneath the building,” Chappie said. “It’s such a waste of that land when we need parking desperately.”
“What’s the will of the board?” Bear asked. “To continue the county discussions and figure out what the issues are from a legal standpoint?”
Scaccianoce said she would reach out to the county.
“Let’s see where we are legally if we were to take over the library and see what that means for the city,” she said.
Bear suggested setting a deadline of one month to continue the library discussion.
