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able to enjoy the warm healing waters of the Springs this season. If all continues to go as it appears it will, a firm called National and State Parks Concessions Inc. will figuratively swing open the gates to Warm Mineral Springs very soon. The firm appears to have a stellar reputation for park management, underscored by a March 26 email the county's director of parks and rec- reation sent to county administrators. Carolyn Brown wrote that county and city staff had met that morning with the owner, CFO and management personnel of National and State Parks Concessions. "We were thor- oughly impressed with their organizational skills and implementation plans to operate the Springs," she added, with emphasis. "They have already provided their insurance and will be providing a signed agreement within the 5 day period," she continued in the email. That is a huge relief, especially in the wake of the frustrations that arose late last sum- mer after a local firm called WMS Sarasota Management LLC won a short-term operation contract to reopen the resort. It did not take long for representatives of the firm to begin wrangling with North Port City Manager Jonathan Lewis over changing terms of the bid. Ultimately, the City and County commissions had no choice but to rescind the bid award. A n d a l t h o u g h w e a r e h o p e f u l n o t h - ing unforeseen will prevent National and State Parks Concessions from proceeding as the two boards hope, the bigger challenge will be securing a plan for the long term. We applaud both boards for taking the extra step of approving a major national and international marketing campaign to try to garner as much attention as possible from worthy bidders. County Commissioner Joe Barbetta was wrong to think the Springs could in effect sell itself. We wholeheartedly concur with commissioners who expressed the view that the boards' sometimes bitter dispute over the resort cannot help but have tainted the Springs' reputation. The goal here is to bring in the best ideas imag- inable — and we mean that in every sense of the word "imaginable." What proved the major point of contention between the City and County commissions last year was that the majority of members of the former wanted to preserve the property in a park-like state. The County Commission was interested in exploring development opportunities — a sentiment with which the North Port City Commission of July 2012 con- curred. It was only after the November 2012 election shifted the majority view of the city board that problems arose — and shut down the Springs. During the North Port City Commission's special meeting last month to consider and vote on the long-term s o l i c i t a t i o n p a c k - age for the Springs, As we see it, the goal in awarding a contract for the long-term operation is to ensure the best possible use of the entire 81 acres. OPINION Sarasota News Leader April 4, 2014 Page 79