Desperately seeking public art for Bradenton's Riverwalk project

The Downtown Development Authority is looking for artists with public art experience to create  sculptures metal works, sidewalk art and interpretive art for the city's 1.5 mile Riverwalk project along the city's waterfront. 

A variety of public art will be installed at designated locations along the Riverwalk which is designed to be an active city attraction that will include a splash park, volley ball court and skate park. 

Currently the city is inviting artists to submit designs for the first phase of the project. The designs that are currently being reviewed include: 

•   monumentally scaled sculpture for the entry to a children and family-oriented zone
•  metalwork panels that can be seen through to define areas within the Riverwalk;
• metalwork or other media attachments or insertions to railings along the boardwalk leading under a bridge
• art inserted into sidewalks and the border of a children’s splash pad water feature  
• two dimensional panels that interpret community history as related to the river in media that is permanent. The artist for this project will work with students and teachers who are studying Bradenton history. 

 Artists will soon be invited to apply for additional sites to be included in phase two.       

  To apply for the phase one projects listed above visit www.downtownbradenton.com, click on PROJECTS for a detailed RFQ that includes directions on how to upload application files, plus site plans. 

Questions may be addressed to Ann Wykell at publicart@ddabradenton.com.

Manatee County tax collector's office wins state award for excellence

Times are tight so saving money is important, especially when it comes to ever-shrinking tax revenues.

Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Sterling council recognized the Manatee County tax collector's office for using technology to shrink costs by more than $800,000 since 2007.

“I am honored to recognize this year’s Sterling Award recipients,”  Scott said.  “These winners are shining examples of how organizations can achieve great savings and deliver outstanding services to Floridians by focusing on efficiency, innovation and excellence.”

Through better use of technology, the office not only reduced its total operating cost by more than $800,000, but Manatee county customers also have a wait time 35 percent shorter than those at the average tax collector’s office. The organization was also the first tax collector’s office in the state to sell hunting and fishing licenses and to offer the free E-check to customers who transact business on its website.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's Southern Business Center in Tampa also was recognized. In 2010, the corporation settled nearly $1.66 quadrillion in securities transactions.

Manatee County Tax Collector and The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation will be honored at the 2011 Governor's Sterling Award Banquet in June. 

Manatee County's preserve, botanical gardens big winners in Robinson Preserve 5K race

During Tuesday's County Commission meeting, Bill and Parks Robinson will present nearly $10,000 to the county for the Robinson Preserve and the Palma Sola Botanical Park.

The money comes from the proceeds of the Robinson Preserve 5k race held in March. Owners of Fit2Run, the pair will present county commissioners with two checks each for $4,761.

The Robinson Preserve 5k run attracted more than 1,500 participants, double the number of racers last year.

Parks Robinson, general manager for Fit2Run, said that he wanted to donate the proceeds so that the public can "enjoy their healthy pursuits at these wonderful park venues."

This year's run was the third of what promises to be many more races to come. Robinson said and a board of eight take more than four months to plan the run and other festivities. And they have been successful, if you measure success by the number of participants: So far the number of racers have doubled each year. The inaugural run three years ago attracted just 400 runners on the 3-mile loop through the preserve. 

The runs are put together through a group of volunteers and this year they extended festivities to include a post race party with food from Ezra Cafe this year.

Robinson said the race is designed to get people running, but also to raise money for the park.

"We want it to grow and get better," he said.

The presentation is scheduled to take place between 9 a .m. and 10 a.m. Tuesday in county commission chambers.

To view photographs from the run, go here.

And for photographs of everything Robinson Preserve has to offer visitors, go here.

Expect to hear rumors on Manatee County budget, but don't believe everything you hear

As County Administrator Ed Hunzeker prepares the county's budget, he warned County Commissioners on Tuesday that “over the next month you’ll hear plenty of rumors over what’s in the budget and what’s not in the budget. At this point in time it’s all rumor.”

He will present his budget proposal to the commissioners on June 1. Until then he has a lot of things to consider in cutting at least $8 million from the coming year's budget.

Since 2007 Manatee County has trimmed $122 million from its annual operating budget. Declining property values are likely to mean another $8 million in cuts in this year’s budget, depending on decisions the county commissioners make. Hunzeker emphasized that no budget decisions have been made yet and that nearly every agency, department and program funded by the County Commission is subject to potential reduction. 


The Sheriff's office recently asked for a 4.4 percent increase to it's budget $93.6 million budget. If commissioners approve the $4 million increase, it will mean raising taxes or making even deeper cuts to other county departments.






 The draft budget for the 2011-2012 fisca year is set to be unveiled on June 1. The final budget will go into effect on Oct. 1. 


All budget meetings are open to the public. They are as follows:
 
June 1, 1:30 p.m.: Budget Presentation, First Floor Chambers  
June 6, 9 a.m.: Budget Fund Analysis, Fourth Floor Manatee Room 
June 6, 1:30 p.m.: Decision Unit Review, Fourth Floor Manatee Room
June 9, 9 a.m.: Decision Unit Review, Fourth Floor Manatee Room
June 14, 9 a.m.: Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Presentation, Fourth Floor Manatee Room
June 14, 1:30 p.m.: Constitutional Officers’ Budgets, Fourth Floor Manatee Room 
June 16, 1:30 p.m.:  Decision Unit Review (if needed), Fourth Floor Manatee Room 
June 16, 6 p.m.: Public Hearing, First Floor Chambers 
July 28, 9 a.m.: Budget Reconciliation, First Floor Chambers

Budget materials will be available by June 1 at www.mymanatee.org/budget