Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/309372
Gaubatz conceded, it is slightly over budget — around $2.1 million — at the 60-percent design mark. In September 2013, Carolyn Brown, direc- tor of the county's Parks and Recreation Department, estimated the total cost of improvements at $1,744,160. Approximately $1 million will be coming out of Tourist Development Tax revenue to supplement funds already available for the project, she said at the time. As for the business plan: Robinson pointed to the need for far more detail and explanations. "I don't know that we gain anything by just accepting it today." Among problems she cited with the document were revenue and hiring projections without details showing how the club expected to reach those marks. Brown said the new agreement will not have to be approved by the board until prior to the opening of the improved track. "I think it would be better for it to come back to us earlier than later," Commissioner Nora Patterson told Brown, adding that the busi- ness plan "is intended to reassure us of what's going to happen once we make the capital investment. … At that point, you absolutely need to know whether this thing's realistic … In the next few months, it should come back to this board." An aerial view shows the site of the county's BMX track at 17th Street and Tuttle Avenue in Sarasota. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader May 9, 2014 Page 42