Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/352007
Negotiate" for a concessionaire at the Lido Pool and Pavilion. It is unusual to find a fresh- water public pool on a Florida Gulf Coast beach, but Lido is an exception. For months, city staff and the Lido Key Residents Association worked to devise a plan for the struggling facility. The Sarasota County Commission at one point controlled the pool and was on the verge of filling it with sand because so few people used it. After the city took control of the pool, it worked with residents to flesh out a master plan to make the facility more attractive. The result is the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN), asking private parties to use their own resources to improve the facility and then manage it. The motion to approve and release the ITN passed 3-2, with Mayor Shaw and Commissioner Shannon Snyder in the minority. Next up in the afternoon was a decision to appoint City Manager Tom Barwin as the liai- son with a private group studying the future of the city-owned property around the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. In 2007, a con- sultant created a $400,000 report called the Cultural District Master Plan, which involved a variety of performing arts organizations. The so-called 20:20 plan is led by Michael Klauber, chairman of Visit Sarasota County (aka the Sarasota County Convention and Visitors Bureau). Some fear it is an under- the-covers attempt to put a convention or conference center on the publicly owned property. "Do we want to revisit that, set some clear parameters for the city manager? Like no conference center, or the property will always be public land, or the public will always have a view of the bay?" asked Chapman. Meanwhile, another investment-oriented group called Bayfront Now is holding meet- ings with a separate proposal to develop the property with a hotel. Chapman moved to send the city manager as a delegate to the 20:20 discussions, with the proviso that no con- ference or convention center be considered and the property remain in public owner- ship. It passed 3-2, with Commissioners Paul Caragiulo and Suzanne Atwell in the minority. A substantial boost to citizens' water and sewer bills was approved 4-1, with Mayor Shaw voting against. The city Utilities Department proposes a 6-percent jump starting in October and another 6-percent hike in October 2015. The money would be used to upgrade exist- ing infrastructure (including facilities under new traffic roundabouts) and reconstruct the freshwater pipeline from the Verna Well Field in eastern Sarasota County. During public testimony, Eli Gomez reviewed the recent history of city rate hikes. "In 2006, it was a 16-percent increase. In 2007, 4 per- cent; in '08, it was 4 percent; in 2012, another 4 percent; in 2013, 4 percent again. Total is a 32-percent increase. If we go ahead with the 6 percent and another one, that's almost 50 per- cent from 2006 to 2016 pushed on the average user," he said. Two years ago, the city dropped its water and sewer impact fees as an incentive to devel- opment. Caragiulo asked how the rate hikes would be affected if the impact fees were Sarasota News Leader July 25, 2014 Page 22