Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/203490
Sarasota News Leader November 1, 2013 "I still think we have problems." During the board's Sept. 24 regular meeting, he pointed out, he mentioned that he had learned Manatee County pays about $9,000 per bus shelter. A SCAT presentation by Carter in January noted the Sarasota cost was about $40,000 per shelter, he added. However, after he requested staff look into the use of chickees for shelters — an idea proposed several years ago — the Sarasota County price dropped to about $27,000 when Carter provided her follow-up report in April. Chickees are thatch-covered shelters built by the Miccosukee and Seminole Indians. Former Sarasota County Tree Advisory Council member Jack Gurney proposed their use about three years ago in lieu of the bus shelters SCAT was putting up. Gurney told The Sarasota News Leader he had spotted "really modest … little wooden [bus] shelters" in Deland, near Daytona, years ago and was struck by the idea that chickees would be much cooler than the glass-and-steel structures the county Page 51 erects. He also expected they would be much less expensive. However, Carter's April 5 memo questioned the ability of chickees to stand up to strong storms and pointed out they still have to comply with zoning regulations, such as setback and right of way requirements. For those and other reasons, Carter wrote in that April memo, the SCAT recommendation was that the chickees would not be appropriate for bus shelters in Sarasota County. "There are still too many people standing in the sun," Barbetta pointed out during the Sept. 24 discussion. "Imagine yesterday and today," he added, "standing in the rain, waiting for a bus. It's pretty sad." CONTRACT FACTORS On Oct. 22, Barbetta also questioned why the county has been buying structures from a Detroit firm. "Is there nobody in Florida that does bus shelters?" On Oct. 22, Commissioners Joe Barbetta and Christine Robinson asked to hold off on a new contract amendment to provide county bus shelters. File photo