Manatee County commissioners also Thursday:
n Accepted a $235,000 Florida Department of Transportation grant toward constructing a park-and-ride facility in Palmetto.
n Accepted a $535,000 FDOT grant to continue operating the Anna Maria Island trolley.
n Directed county staff to work with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office to move the department’s beef cattle herd off Duette Preserve. County officials said the cows must go so they can restore the area and eradicate a noxious weed that threatens the park.
n Accepted $2.4 million in federal economic-stimulus money for energy conservation. The money will be used to install energy-efficient street lights, replace fluorescent lighting at the county jail and replace an air conditioner at the historic county courthouse, among other uses.
n Doubled, from $15 to $30, a county surcharge on non-criminal traffic tickets. The extra $450,000 the increase is expected to generate annually will be used toward paying off the new judicial center’s construction debt.
n Passed a resolution opposing any oil or natural gas exploration or drilling in Florida’s coastal waters.
— Duane Marsteller
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