- January 20, 2026
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District 5 Commissioner Bob McCann said too many Manatee County residents are not being heard.
Residents regularly attend commission meetings to make comments and to request certain issues be placed on future meeting agendas so they can be reviewed by commissioners.
However, McCann said the majority of those requests are overlooked, so he added three items to the Jan. 27 commission meeting agenda — garbage collection, the dog kennels at the Bishop Animal Shelter and the preservation of canopy roads.
He said residents have shown much concern about these issues.
Manatee County's decision to cut garbage collection to once a week was one of the Observer’s most read stories in 2025. Residents from every corner of the county have complained about the service cuts since they were implemented in October.
McCann said there are different needs in different areas, and the public should be heard on the issues they’re experiencing.
He called the community cleanup days an inadequate response to residents’ complaints about the cost of bulk pickup, which is $59 per item. The cleanup days require residents to drop off their trash at a designated site.
Commissioner Amanda Ballard broached the issue of bulk pickup during the county's strategy session Dec. 3. While a discussion ensued, no decisions were made.
Ballard called large items a "huge problem" in District 2. She said residents are concerned that their neighborhoods are deteriorating because of trash sitting alongside the streets.
Other residents are finding their own solutions.
Bradenton's Christopher Peters remodeled his kitchen and was left with loads of styrofoam from the appliances’ packaging.
With the new collection system, Peters had two options — pay $236 to have four bags of styrofoam picked up by the county’s hauler or pay $10 and take two trips back and forth to the Lena Road Landfill. The tipping fees at the landfill are $5 per car, but four oversized bags of styrofoam don’t fit into a car.
Instead, Peters asked six neighbors to allow him to stuff styrofoam into their bins on Sunday nights after they pulled them to the curb. It took about three weeks to get rid of all the leftover packaging.
Peters described the exercise as both funny and absurd.
He also complained that not all items are as clear cut as a single bag of styrofoam. Peters had some unbundled yard waste, which is considered an “extraordinary service” when not placed in a container or bundled, so the pickup fee is $45 per cubic yard.
When Peters called for pickup and an estimate, he was told to picture a washing machine to estimate the size of a cubic yard.
“They wouldn’t give me an estimate,” he said. “They want you to give them free reign over your account (to charge any price).”
Director of Utilities Patrick Shea said the county is looking at several options to make the bulk pickup easier on residents.
Software currently used by Code Enforcement is being evaluated to see if it can provide estimates. The idea is that residents would snap a photo of the unbundled waste on the curb and the software would calculate an estimate.
Shea said a conversion calculator has also been discussed so residents can better understand what counts as one item. For example, three pieces of plywood count as one item, but one sectional couch counts as more than one item.
Before Manatee County could cut the ribbon on its Bishop Animal Shelter kennel expansion Dec. 17, an anonymous letter was circulated to residents accusing the county of wasting taxpayer money on substandard prefab kennels.
The kennels were described as too small and inadequate to shelter dogs comfortably. Residents have aired those same complaints at commission meetings.
Manatee County is investing $12 million to expand and modernize Bishop with multiple play areas, additional security measures, air conditioned dog dormitories and upgraded medical services.
However, nearly 2,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to “demand a functional animal shelter facility for our community.”
McCann visited the shelter Jan. 15. After viewing the kennels, he called them adequate for dogs, but not what was promised. In his view, residents are upset because they were promised a state-of-the-art facility and got a "doggy trailer park."
"I don't know why the county is in this business, anyway," McCann said. "Bishop was donated to the county, and now it's become a maintenance nightmare with expensive costs."
Commissioner George Kruse said he welcomes "rational suggestions" from the public, but putting the kennels in the dump and starting over is not rational because the county has to work with a finite amount of tax dollars.
"I don't care what complaints you have about that shelter, nobody can look me in the eye and say that the Palmetto shelter is a better alternative for these dogs than what is now at Bishop," Kruse said. "These are substantially better than what is there now."
McCann will be looking for support from his fellow commissioners to instruct staff to bring back an ordinance that will preserve canopy roads in Manatee County.
Zipperer Road is one that residents have fought to preserve recently. At the Dec. 11 Planning Commission meeting, Simply Dwell Homes and M/I Homes of Sarasota presented a proposal to build a combined 289 homes on approximately 100 acres.
Residents complained that the projects would wipe out the trees that provide a canopy over Zipperer Road.
McCann said preserving canopy roads also preserves the scenic beauty of Manatee County. Additionally, the roads provide shade, wind protection, and a noise barrier, and also aid in the reduction of air pollution and the absorption of rain water.
