In the News...
Habitat
breaks ground in Ellenton
www.bradentonherald.com - Posted on Sun, Jan. 31, 2010
Manatee County Habitat for Humanity broke ground Saturday on Hope Landing in Ellenton, the organization’s newest neighborhood of family homes. From left to right: Carlos “Charlie” Ugarte and David Bishop, architects with Ugarte and Associates; Mike Kennedy,..... Continue reading at Bradenton Herald
New
day dawns for 13th Ave. Center
Groundbreaking signals renewed mission of 13th AV/Dream Center.
www.bradentonherald.com - Posted on Wed, Dec. 16, 2009 By VIN MANNIX
BRADENTON
— The sound of a power drill was a fitting backdrop to Tuesday’s
ceremony and speeches.
The event was the official ground breaking of the 13th Avenue Community
Center’s new home, the $1.8-million Dream Center, an occasion attended
by several city, community, county and corporate leaders, not to
mention Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays officials, all of whose
collaboration made this day happen.
Yet Patrick Carnegie, standing inside the unfinished main building of
the 16,000-square foot complex, remained focused on the task ahead.
“This is just the beginning,” said the executive director of the United
Community Center,
..... Continue reading at Bradenton Herald
Officials talk about what Palmetto will look like
www.bradentonherald.com - Posted on Tue, Sep. 22, 2009 By CARL MARIO NUDI
PALMETTO
— Without knowing what the future holds, several city commissioners
were reluctant to change current land use designations.
The panel held a workshop Monday to discuss comprehensive plan changes
proposed by the city planning and zoning commission.
The Florida Department of Community Affairs requires local governments
to submit revised planning documents that cover possible land use
changes through 2030.
Commissioner Tambra Varnadore voiced concern with
allowing up to 45 residential units per acre in the commercial
corridors along Eighth and 10th avenues west and 10th Street West.
City planning consultant Tom McCollum said the comprehensive plan
already allows a maximum of 45 units in the planned development
designations, but the proposal to allow it in the business district was
to encourage mixed uses of retail stores, restaurants and other
commercial enterprises on the street level with residences above them.
The change led to a philosophical discussion of what the individual
commissioners wanted the commercial core to look like in the future.
The planning commission’s thinking was if Palmetto was going to sustain
a viable downtown community, then going to 45 units was not that
drastic, McCollum said.
“I would be uncomfortable with a higher density,” Varnadore said.
Planning commission member Charlie Ugarte, a Palmetto architect, tried to explain how the panel developed its proposals. ..... Continue reading at Bradenton Herald
GIFT FROM THE HEARTS
Posted on January 9, 2007 By Vin Mannix, Herald Columnist
BRADENTON- Scripture says we are our brother's keeper.
Craig Campbell, Charlie Ugarte and Rob Barnes take those words to heart. They were among area homebuilding professionals who teamed up for an extraordinarily benevolent act for Ryan Costello and his family over the holidays.
They fully remodeled Costello's master bathroom gratis, so his mother, Monica, and cousin, Nicole Redburn, can bathe the 20-yearold, incapacitated since a car crash off the Anna Maria Bridge last April. The crash killed longtime friend Zane Zavadil, who was driving Costello's SUV, and left Costello comatose for a month and hospitalized for five.
"I remember reading about it and thinking, 'How sad,' " said Campbell, president of Zirkelbach Construction. "That was the extent of it until this came to my attention."
Word had gotten around of Monica Costello's difficulty bathing her son since he came home last August to continue his recovery. Unable to maneuver him and his wheelchair into the bathroom, she had to be resourceful.
"I'd put a handheld shower head through the window and wheel him (to an enclosure) outside," said the single mother, a nurse who just resumed working after nine months. "It was a major undertaking."
After getting the lowdown from Bradenton City Councilwoman Marianne Barneby, Alan Zirkelbach, Campbell and Ugarte, an architect, took action. While Ugarte worked up the blueprints, Campbell talked to supply companies, contractors and plumbers.
"They were immediately on board," Campbell said. "It's what you should do, being a human being and taking care of one another." Said Barnes, the contractor,
"When Craig called me, it took me two seconds to decide. I'm happy to do it. I wanted to give her something nice, show her we cared."
Art Ricker, Manatee County's construction review coordinator, hastened the process, working up a permit within 24 hours.
"The county was phenomenal," Campbell said.
Within two weeks, the Costello master bathroom had a new floor, lavatory, plumbing, shower, tile, walls and window.
Ugarte and Campbell estimated the job would've cost $15,000. "She was struggling to do something we take for granted," Ugarte said. "We thought we could do something simple for us and make a big difference in somebody else's life."
Monica Costello is forever grateful. She gave her son his first shower in their new bathroom last Friday night.
"People have been just so wonderful, so generous," she said. "How great this community is. I can't say thank you enough."
PROJECT DONORS
* Project coordination: Craig Campbell, Greg Hodge, Matt Mathews of Zirkelbach Construction.
* Architect: Charlie Ugarte of Ugarte & Associates. * Contractor: Rob Barnes, Rusty Parks of Hawaiian Style Tile.
* Materials: Rodney Potter of Leeds Building Products.
* Subcontractors: Bill Smock of Gator Plumbing; Paul Steihle of Climatic Conditioning, Inc.