Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/293799
In 2003, the City of Sarasota agreed to deed to Sarasota County the property on which its Police Department stood in exchange for the county's vow to keep its primary operations in downtown Sarasota. But the city never followed through on the transfer, and in January, the issue resurfaced as a simmering politi cal debate between the two local governments. On Jan. 14, the county commissioners opted to have the county's and city's legal teams meet. At the heart of the issue is the county commissioners' desire to begin planning for expanded judicial and law enforcement facilities on Ringling Boulevard. They cannot do that, they point out, until the county owns the site. But before they will deed it over, city officials say they want reas surances the property will be used for public purposes only. During the Tuesday, A p r i l 8 , C o u n t y C o m m i s s i o n m e e t ing, Chairman Charles Hines asked for an The former site of the Sarasota Police Department is a cleared lot in front of the new police facility, which fronts on Adams Lane in downtown Sarasota. Photo by Norman Schimmel THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HAD HOPED FOR A QUICK DIPLOMATIC AGREEMENT IN A DISPUTE OVER THE OLD SARASOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT SITE, BUT THAT REMAINS OUT OF REACH NO DEAL YET It has been a decade. Joe Barbetta Commissioner Sarasota County By Roger Drouin County Editor