Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/141988
Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2013 Page 39 that called for the parties to seek an Invitation to Negotiate for potential new development on the site. Although North Port City Manager Jonathan Lewis informally notified County Administrator Randall Reid last week that city staff would be working on the advertisement of bids for a short-term lease, Lewis made that news formal in a June 26 letter. Lewis wrote, "City staff has immediately begun work to comply with the short term competitive selection process identified in the interlocal. It would be useful if you could identify the appropriate personnel to consult with City procurement staff to ensure the cooperative nature of the process and compliance with any required laws impacting the County which may not apply to the City." County commissioners over the past several months have pointed out that state law necessitates a competitive process regarding contracts for any new management of the Springs. The interlocal agreement calls for the city to make a "good faith effort" to secure a management firm no later than 60 days after the City Commission's June 24 vote. The County Commission then will have 30 days to act on North Port's recommendation. IN THE MEANTIME … While the City of North Port works through the bid process, county staff this week was dealing with multiple issues — from people contacting the county's Call Center about Warm Mineral Springs to how best to handle refunds to those who had bought annual resort passes to making sure "there are no un- North Port and Sarasota County commissioners hope Warm Mineral Springs will reopen by late summer. Photo by Ebyabe via Wikimedia Commons identified environmental concerns within the existing chain link fence in regards to mowing and pesticide application," as Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Manager Carolyn Brown put it in a memo to Assistant County Administrator Lee Ann Lowery on July 1. Regarding the Call Center, Brown noted in her memo that staff is "working hard to calm WMS customers." Preisser told the News Leader early on the afternoon of July 3 that the Call Center had fielded about 100 calls from people, with most interested in knowing when the resort will reopen. The Call Center staff is letting them know "we are doing our best to expedite the process," he added. As for the annual passes, Brown told Lowery in the email that staff had received an initial list from Cypress Lending, which had held the management lease on the site through June 30. "Cypress has concerns about the sales taxes paid and how they could document the taxes were refunded back to the customer if we were providing the refunds," Brown added. "They asked if they could issue the refunds."