Sarasota News Leader

02/15/2013

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SOME HITS, SOME MISSES Plans for the county���s new Emergency Operations Center came in $4 million over budget, but other capital projects are in good shape ��� Rachel Brown Hackney As Sarasota County staff moved quickly through updates on the status of capital projects during a Feb. 8 budget workshop with the County Commission, one comment drew some groans. Bob Stuckey, general manager of public safety communications, was talking about the work of a stakeholders group in the design of the new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) when he mentioned the initial plans had come in over budget. Commissioner Christine Robinson allowed him to complete his presentation before asking how much expenses appeared to be over budget. The answer: $3.9 million. ���That���s almost 25 percent over budget,��� Commissioner Joe Barbetta pointed out. The PowerPoint slide about the EOC project shows its construction cost pegged at $13.2 million, with another $830,000 for equipment. The county has received federal grants totaling $1.3 million to help pay for the facility. (Full story here) LINGERING IN LIMBO Legal ���fisticuffs��� may be coming in Warm Mineral Springs debate ��� Cooper Levey-Baker ���Terrible.��� That is how North Port Vice Mayor Jim Blucher described the Sarasota County Commission���s $2 million offer for the city���s share of Warm Mineral Springs during a City Commission hearing held Monday evening, Feb. 11. Apparently the rest of the commission agreed, voting unanimously to reject the deal and leaving the future of the springs once again in limbo. North Port and the county jointly acquired the 81-acre springs property for $5.5 million in 2010, but the city wants out of the 50-50 arrangement and offered to sell its share to the county last month. The county said OK and floated the $2 million number along with a host of specifications ��� among them a requirement that the city ���contract its municipal boundaries��� to return the springs to unincorporated Sarasota County. North Port Mayor Linda Yates told The Sarasota News Leader two weeks ago that the offer represented ���a major, significant financial burden on south county residents.��� (Full story here) Click Any Headline To Go Directly To That Article AT A GLANCE TOP STORIES

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