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Dispute Resolution Meeting Set Over MTI Campus

Posted on: Saturday, 20 May 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Nicholas Azzara, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

May 20--EAST MANATEE -- The battle over a $61 million technical school being waged between a resolute school board and a group of angry residents, with the county commission caught in the middle, comes down to this: a meeting of the minds Monday at Braden River High School.

The purpose for the meeting will be the future configuration of Manatee Technical Institute, a 265,000-square-foot campus the school district has planned for a 45-acre plot near a heavily residential area just north of the high school along Caruso Road.

In the summer of 2003, the school board purchased 200 acres for $11.9 million near Caruso Road. Residents requested that the MTI campus be built south, rather than north, of the high school.

Earlier this month county hearing officer John Roe recommended that MTI not be built near the neighborhoods. The board was not bound by Roe's decision and approached the county for a dispute resolution to help address residents' concerns.

County commissioners agreed May 9 to hold a dispute resolution over the controversial project. School district officials have said they may reconfigure the campus to satisfy concerns about its impact on neighborhoods, but they refuse to relocate the campus to land south of the high school along State Road 70.

The dispute resolution will be held at 1 p.m., and will attempt to reconcile residents' concerns over noise and traffic with the school board's plans for the campus.

But reaching a compromise has proven difficult in the past.

Dearing said May 9 that the school board will not relocate the campus.

"We're a couple million (dollars) into a design already," he said then. "June 26 is the date for (county commissioners) to tell us what they need to make the campus palatable."

County Administrator Ernie Padgett said the school board and county staff have met several times over the past week and a half to clarify some issues over the future campus.

"Maybe the school board hasn't been as clear on some things as they need to be," Padgett said. "(Superintendent Roger) Dearing and I want both (school and county) staffs to have as much accurate information to present each other as possible."

Commissioner Ron Getman said he aims to appease all the interested parties during the dispute resolution.

"I certainly hope for a resolution to be reached that addresses the concerns and needs of the school board, the residents and the county," Getman said. "Anything is possible if everyone present is willing to compromise."

Linda Sterrett, who lives in the nearby River Forest subdivision, said she will attend Monday's meeting in hopes that the school board reverses its stance.

"I hope (the school board) sees the light and realizes that's not the right location for (the campus)," Sterrett said Friday. "I hope they put it where it belongs. They need to locate it near the interstate, and near a busing service. They need to locate it where it will fit."

Padgett said it's unlikely that everyone will come away from the meeting satisfied with the board's decision.

"If you have folks out there who think nothing should go there or that the campus should go on (State Road) 70, their mind is not going to be changed," Padgett said. "If their concerns are about the layout of (the) campus, and having a little less impact on adjoining properties, that category of concerns may be met."

Commissioners and county staff have until June 26 to reach a compromise. After that, the school board may proceed without the commissioners' recommendations.

"We'll do all we can to show land development codes and planning rules have been met," Padgett said. "I remain optimistic that the two boards can work this out."

Nicholas Azzara, county

government reporter, can be reached at nazzara@HeraldToday.com [mailto:nazzara@HeraldToday.com] and 745-7081.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

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