Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/336863
was expected to be made between 1800 N. East Ave. and 1330 N. Osprey Ave. However, the East Avenue site had been pulled because some of the owners of that parcel had res- ervations about a shelter there, the board members learned. That action left only the city-owned Osprey site. In both cases — Osprey and East — the county commissioners choked on the price to create a shelter. Staff estimated the expense of building on the city site would be $8.9 mil- lion. The off-the-table East Avenue plan came in at $9.2 million. "We need to find an exist- ing building," said County Commissioner Nora Patterson. "If there are no sites within the city [that] the [City] Commission will not wholeheartedly support, then we can still get proximity to the services and be in the unin- corporated area." But County Commissioner Joe Barbetta was ready to kill any city-county cooperation. "I move we suspend any further search until further notice, when the city contacts us after finding an agreeable site." County Chairman Charles Hines seconded Barbetta's suggestion, saying, "I don't know what else the county can do. I would rather say to the city, 'Bring us a site.' It doesn't have to be in the city." The motion failed, with only Hines and Barbetta voting in favor of it. A subsequent motion by Patterson to keep looking for sites "in or out of the county" also failed 2-3, with Hines, Barbetta and Vice Chairwoman Christine Robinson voting against it. Thus, a motion to suspend the search for a site failed, and then a motion to continue the search failed. The County Commission clearly had run out of ideas. In the ensuing silence, City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell made a motion for staff County Commissioner Joe Barbetta listens to a speaker. Sarasota News Leader June 27, 2014 Page 53