Old Jail building housing proposal gets first OK

Members of an evaluation committee for the future of Manatee County’s Old Jail building found the sole proposal to be responsive, moving one step closer in the process to transform the more than 80,000-square-foot Old Jail building from its current condemned state into workforce housing.

At a meeting that lasted a little over 10 minutes Monday afternoon, committee members spoke with Bernard Croghan of The Croghan Company, which is doing business as Connect Bradenton. The company last month submitted the sole proposal to the county.

Charlie Bishop, Manatee County director of property management and chairman of the committee, led the brief meeting. Reading from an agenda document, Bishop said his department determined the proposal to have met the “minimum requirements of submission of required forms, attachments and verifications,” including submitting the proposal before 4 p.m. Sept. 15.

Bishop asked his fellow committee members if they found the proposal to be responsive. Manatee County planning official John Osborne and Debbie Underwood, budget division manager, said they both found the proposal responsive.

“I, too, find it responsive,” Bishop said to Croghan, who sat across from him at a long table. “Very excited about this, Mr. Croghan.”

Croghan was presented with a list of 25 to 35 questions from the county. Croghan, in turn, brought his own set of questions but said he didn’t need answers immediately.

The county’s questions, which cover financial, construction, operational and safety issues, could not yet be released publicly, according to Joy Leggett-Murphy, property acquisition division manager. A follow-up meeting will be held to review questions.

According to the meeting agenda, a summary of the outcome of the meeting will be provided in writing to The Croghan Company and the public no later than Oct. 10.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Old Jail building housing proposal gets first OK."