Garbage collection a hot topic at town hall meeting in Lakewood Ranch

District 5 Commissioner Bob McCann said Feb. 2 his town hall meetings are not just for telling residents about what is happening in their district and for listening to complaints.

He said the town halls are also for soliciting reasonable solutions to problems.

Lakewood Ranch’s Cindy Clevenger took a shot at offering an idea to off-set the cost of the county going back to twice-a-week trash pickup.

Her comments came in the wake of Director of Utilities Patrick Shea saying Jan. 27 that a change to twice a week pickup would have to be completely renegotiated and would increase the monthly rates for residents.

Clevenger said the county should continue a trade-off with the provider.

“Maybe to offset the cost of (twice a week collection), it would be possible to change recycling or lawn debris pickup to every other week so you can balance the budget,” she said. 

Whether or not Clevenger's idea would work, McCann urged the residents to keep the ideas coming.

“I want to hear from you,” he said. "I’m looking to improve your quality of life.” 

About 50 residents attended the town hall at the Lakewood Ranch Library. Trash collection was a hot topic.

Manatee County is researching ways to bring back bulk pickup services, but whether a return to twice-a-week pickup will be seriously debated remains to be seen.

Bulk pickup can be accommodated within the parameters of the current rates that are charged to residents because the county can use credits from community cleanup days to put toward bulk pickups. 

Several other topics were discussed at the town hall. Lakewood Ranch’s Walter Finkelstein suggested that in order to keep the growing number of roundabouts in Manatee County accident-free, newcomers to the area would need to be educated, and perhaps tested, on driving in roundabouts.

“I have had close calls — too many — because a lot of people don’t know how to go through those things,” Finkelstein said. 

McCann agreed that roundabout training would be helpful. He called the area’s traffic “atrocious” and said sometimes the only way to get through a roundabout in University Town Center is to step on the gas, shut your eyes and hope you make it. 

McCann disagreed with some of his fellow commissioners who have said building grocery stores closer to people’s homes and offering free bus fares is a way to lessen traffic. 

McCann’s solution is to slow development. He noted that Manatee County’s water supply is suffering from the area’s rapid development, too. 

“What we need to do is start preserving the wetlands, protect the environment and stop putting concrete on everything,” he said. “It’s become a concrete jungle. That’s my opinion, not me speaking on behalf of the commission.” 

McCann also took the opportunity to network when he realized he was speaking to Deanna Murchie, the president of the Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch. 

Because so many residents are upset with the dog kennels that were installed at the Bishop Animal Shelter, he asked Murchie to come by his office. 

“I want to talk to you about public-private partnerships,” he said. “I understand the county picks up strays, provides medical care and makes sure they’re healthy. But they should be housed by the Humane Society or somebody who has the expertise to do it.”

At the Jan. 27 meeting, McCann made motions to have staff members provide an update on construction at the Bishop Animal Shelter, and on going into public-private partnerships. He also asked the University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program to analyze the shelter and to have staff immediately advertise positions for the animal welfare task force and citizens advisory board. 

The motions were approved unanimously.

Not up for discussion

The town hall discussion carried on to include topics, such as canopy roads, flooding and affordable housing, but McCann said two topics were off limits — campaigns and baseball fields. 

Several candidates running for house and commission seats in the 2026 elections attended the town hall. McCann made it clear to the candidates that the meeting was not a forum for campaigning. 

The one issue McCann refused to discuss was the youth baseball fields planned for County Club East Park. 

Alan Dolhi, the president of Lakewood Ranch Little League, told McCann and the audience that he attended the meeting to reinforce the need for those fields. 

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

The league has 750 players registered to play, but the program’s cap is about 500 players. 

“We don’t have enough fields for practice," Dolhi said. "We’ve had to get creative, including having some of the younger kids travel. I refuse to not let kids play in our league.” 

Dolhi noted that Manatee County has already invested money into the fields at Country Club East and warned that starting from scratch will cost taxpayers. 

“I hear what you’re saying,” McCann said, “But because that’s going to come before the commission, I can’t tell you how I’m going to vote.” 

Bill Logan, information outreach manager for Manatee County, confirmed that the guaranteed maximum price for construction of the ballfields is scheduled to go before commissioners but a date has not been set yet. 

The GMP is typically approved on the consent agenda when a project is moving into the construction phase. That being said, McCann regularly pulls items from the consent agenda. 

As it stands, according to county records, the project is on track. Just over $6.6 million has been allocated to convert the current multi-use fields into three youth baseball fields, complete with bleachers, dugouts, bases, backstops, restrooms, perimeter fencing and an expanded parking lot.