MANATEE COUNTY – On May 5, the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously directed county staff to negotiate a plan with the city of Bradenton Beach for county contributions to help support the city-owned Tingley Memorial Library.
The Tingley Library is not part of the Manatee County Library system and the potential county support was proposed by BOCC Chair Tal Siddique.
“If you’re not familiar with the Tingley Library, it’s a very cute little city library. It was built in 1994 after a bequeath from Buelah Tingley to the city of Bradenton Beach in the amount of $500,000 to create a private library,” Siddique said during the May 5 county commission meeting. “At that time, the Island Branch (library) was already there (in Holmes Beach) and there was a need identified in Bradenton Beach for what was then called a reading room – a library today.”
In March, Bradenton Beach Police Chief/Public Works Director John Cosby told the mayor and city commissioners the city-owned library building requires $230,000 to $250,000 for repairs that include the replacement of front and back stairs and the replacement of the air conditioning system.
In April, Cosby estimated the repairs might cost $350,000, including the replacement of the air conditioning duct work. The mayor and city commissioners – who also serve as the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency members – have also discussed tearing the library building down and replacing it with a paid parking lot.
Siddique attended the April 16 city commission meeting and mentioned the possibility of the county providing financial support for the library repairs. He said the county (or the county library system) could also possibly enter into an interlocal agreement with the city to augment library programming and possibly provide additional staffing and operational support.
“After speaking to the librarian and the community, my suggestion would be this remain a city property,” Siddique said during the April 16 city meeting.
On May 5, Siddique asked the other county commissioners if they would be open to providing financial support for the city library.
Regarding the cost of the needed repairs, Siddique said, “That’s a substantial ask from us, when it’s not a county library.”
“I’d like to see the numbers and the options,” Commissioner George Kruse said.
Kruse asked if an engineering study had been done to determine the structural integrity of the library building.
“They had a building inspector look at the building. The core concrete structure is in good shape and the roof has been replaced recently,” Siddique said.
“We need to know what the real costs are to move that forward,” Kruse said. “We also need to understand some of the options. Does it become a county library? Does it become some sort of interlocal (agreement) situation? Are we going to be paying the staff and operating expenses? If so, we need to factor that in. There are a lot of open questions.”
Kruse said he’s in favor of the county assisting the city library, in part because it’s a way to return county-controlled property tax revenues to the city of Bradenton Beach and the Bradenton Beach taxpayers.
“They pay a lot of property taxes and they almost become ‘donor property tax’ situations – where they pay a lot more taxes than they get back,” Kruse said. “We always look for opportunities where we can give some of those tax dollars back in good faith and make sure that our municipalities are being taken care of by the county.”
Kruse mentioned the county’s support for a community center in Longboat Key as an example.
Kruse said he supports the idea of the library remaining in Bradenton Beach but he would like more information. Kruse made a motion to direct county staff to negotiate with city officials to determine the amount and nature of the county’s potential contributions for the Tingley Library repairs and operations.
When addressing the county commissioners during public input, Bradenton Beach Vice Mayor Debbie Scaccianoce said, “I want to thank you for considering this. This is very important to our community. I have provided the recent quotes and I’m happy to say it’s much less than what was discussed in our previous meeting, so I am very encouraged by that.”
During the Thursday, May 7, city commission meeting, Scaccianoce and Cosby were directed to represent the city in the library negotiations with the county.
