Doug Sword
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Wednesday, July 09, 2008, 5:06 pm
County sends Red Sox six stadium footprints
Six practice field layout.Sarasota County sent the Boston Red Sox six possible configurations for a new spring-training facility asking that the team pick how big of a footprint it wants for the complex, the seating capacity of the stadium and other features.
While prices of $70 million and $80 million have been talked about, an actual construction estimate cannot be made until the team provides a narrower range of what it wants, said County Administrator Jim Ley.
The county's request to the team was made in a letter dated Tuesday from Jeff Seward, the county's Chief Financial Officer, to Steve Fitch, the team’s vice president of finance. The county drawings included a stadium ranging from 9,999 to 12,000 seats, and scenarios ranging from one to six practice fields. Also under consideration is a split-site scenario where some of the practice fields would be at Ed Smith Stadium.
In the letter, Seward noted that if a new stadium has more than 9,999 seats it would be deemed a Development of Regional Impact by virtue of the state’s growth management laws. That would trigger a lengthy review on the project’s impacts on traffic, water supply, sewer capacity and other public assets that could take months or even more than a year.
That would not be conducive to quickly wrapping up a deal, said Seward, noting that a 10,000-seat stadium anywhere in Florida would trigger the same level of state review.
Ley told county commissioners Wednesday that knowing generally what the team wanted would be an important step in estimating the project’s cost.
“All we’re trying to do is get a rough feeling over concepts,” he said.
Two commissioners said they were unhappy with financing proposed by City Manager Bob Bartolotta, who suggested in an e-mail that the $80 million project could be financed largely through $45 million in county bed tax collections and economic development impacts.
“Those numbers just don’t add up,” said Commissioner Nora Patterson.
“I sure hope the city is going to be more aggressive than tapping into our revenue sources,” said Commissioner Paul Mercier. “I haven’t seen much come out of the city.”
Mercier wants to see a plan to redevelop the area and he also wants to see a contribution from the business community, which has pushed hard to lure the Red Sox here.
Ley conceded that details were lacking at this point, but predicted answers from the Red Sox and others would enable a realistic estimate to be made in probably two weeks.
He also gave a description of an e-mail from Bartolotta about possible financing of the proposal: “I would categorize that as thinking out loud.” Ley said.
The county drawings are all based on Fenway Park, including a thick, green, dotted line along the left field and left-centerfield walls with the notation “Green Monster.” -
Thursday, June 26, 2008, 3:51 pm
County and its engineers must pay $1.3 million
SARASOTA – A jury awarded $1.3 million to WES Inc. in the firm’s lawsuit against Sarasota County and its engineers over a contract to hook up 1,125 North Sarasota homes to sewer and water lines.
A trial that ran nearly three weeks ended Thursday when jurors found Baskerville Donovan Inc., an engineering firm, and its chief engineer on the Sarasota project the parties mainly responsible for negligence damages connected to the project.
The jury placed damages caused by negligence at $1.32 million, but attributed 15 percent of the blame to WES. BDI was found to be the cause of 70 percent of the damages, and its engineer, Kurt Jensen, 15 percent.
The jury also found that Sarasota County had breached its contract with WES and awarded $176,000 to the firm.
The original contract was for $5.3 million, although the full amount was not paid to WES, which was paid most of that amount but fired before completing the work. WES’ suit asked for an additional $7.3 million in negligence and other damages.
“We’ve said all along that we thought he was due some money,” Greg Rouse, the county’s engineering manager of environmental services, said of WES President Tony DeLoach. The county had refused to pay some of WES’ bills for constructing sewer laterals until it received engineering drawings of the work done.
“He finally was able to produce some evidence in court that he didn’t have earlier on” with respect to the sewer laterals, Rouse said.
Rouse noted that the judgment was for far less than WES sought and was also well below a $2 million settlement offer made before the trial.
DeLoach could not be reached for comment. BDI did not have an immediate comment about the verdict. -
Friday, June 20, 2008, 2:46 pm
County to spend $6M to finish Legacy Trail
County public works employees have had to go to surprising lengths to keep people from walking across rickety trestles along the partially completed Rails-to-Trails path. Barricades were placed near a railroad trestle over Dona Bay in Nokomis. (HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE)County commissioners voted to finally fund construction of trestles over Dona and Roberts bays which would complete the 11-mile Sarasota-to-Venice Legacy Trail.
Once a top priority for the county, completion of the $30 million-plus trail took a back seat last year to financial woes as commissioners struggled to balance the budget.
On Friday, commissioners voted to cobble together $6 million from a variety of sources to fund construction of the two trestles. Public Works Director Jim Harriott estimates construction will start early next year and be finished in September 2010.
The residents most irritated with the two big gaps in the trail are those living off Colonia Lane between the two bays, Harriott said. The trail between the two bays is less than a mile long. -
Friday, June 20, 2008, 2:42 pm
Riderless bus on chopping block
Scratching to find money to launch trolley service to Siesta Key, county commissioners are considering cuts to other bus routes with the almost rider-free Englewood Loop at the top of the list.
If the county wins a federal grant to pay for the new trolley, the local match will be $650,000, an amount that isn't funded in the current budget. The county is looking at cutting several routes, but commissioners made it clear Friday that the Englewood route was at the top of the list.
Eliminating that route, which typically attracts only four riders per trip, would save $356,000 a year. -
Saturday, May 17, 2008, 5:42 pm
Venice woman gets replacement bike
VENICE — Helen Livengood can once again fill her refrigerator and get her bright white hair styled, after a church donated a three-wheeled bicycle to replace the one stolen from the 92-year-old’s carport.
Livengood said she was flooded with phone calls today from hundreds of strangers who read about her plight in this morning's editions of the Herald-Tribune.
Many offered to buy her a new bike, but she accepted a refurbished, red bike that Venice Presbyterian Church donated.
“We think it’s a cold world. It’s not,” Livengood said. “There’s so many angels out there, and I found them.”
With no car, and a bad back that limits walking, the bicycle represents Livengood’s lifeline to the world — bridge games, exercise classes and the cluster of stores a half-mile down the street from her town home.
Livengood left it unlocked. The retired nurse suspects some young children took the tricyle about a week ago.
She had been checking newspaper classified advertisements for old tricycles, wanting to avoid the $200 to $400 expense. -
Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 7:57 pm
Commission turns down Thomas Ranch
County commissioners voted down a a 5,700-home expansion of Thomas Ranch, fearful of the raw size of the project, its impacts on South County roads and that it would thwart efforts to revitalize Englewood's Dearborn Street.
Despite probably $200 million worth of road-building commitments from developer Fourth Quarter Properties, also known as Thomas Ranch, three of five commissioners voted down the project.
This may mark the last major assault by a developer to build big in the county’s rural areas. A voter referendum that passed last November requires a “supermajority” vote of 4-1 for commissioners to approve similar projects. A referendum passed just last week upped the requirement to 5-0. -
Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 6:05 pm
Commission set to turn down Thomas Ranch
Sarasota County commissioners appear ready to vote down a 5,700-home expansion of Thomas Ranch, fearful of impacts of South County Roads.
A final vote is minutes away, but two commissioners have said they will vote against the development. Because of a referendum last November, it takes a 4-1 vote by county commissioners to approve such projects. -
Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 2:30 pm
Economic stimulus plan approved
The county plans to spend $150,000 to improve Selby Library's heating and air conditioning system, and update carpeting. (HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE / 2001)The first $14 million of a local economic stimulus plan was approved Tuesday with plans in the next month to begin remodeling Selby Library and repaving Swift Road.
In all, $6 million of the plan involves speeding up repaving plans. First is Swift between Bee Ridge and Stickney Point roads. That will be followed with repaving projects on Beneva Road between Clark Road and U.S. 41, DeSoto Road between Longwood Boulevard and U.S. 301, Lockwood Ridge Road between University Parkway and 15th Street and various streets in the Pinecraft area.
The $150,000 Selby project includes improvements to the heating and air conditioning system, and for carpeting.
Another $7 million will be borrowed to acquire land for the planned widening of Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75. The $26 million Fruitville project is expected to be put out to bid for construction in late summer.
Sidewalk construction to the tune of $1 million is the last part of the initial work.
In all, voters approved a measure to allow the county to borrow up to $300 million to speed up projects. The ballot question was backed by the business community where it is hoped the money will spur the local ailing construction industry. The county expects to be able to start about $100 million of that work during the next 12 months. -
Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 11:23 am
Nokomis water project costs $14.8 million
A project to hook up 2,408 homes in Nokomis to county water isn’t hitting the pocketbooks of homeowners as hard as earlier projected, largely because of a big subsidy from consumers around the county.
Two years ago, the first two neighborhoods being hooked up – Bay Pointe and Shore Road – were shocked to find out it would cost at least $6,100 per home to connect to the system, more than double the cost of estimates from just one year earlier.
But that was during the building boom when construction costs were ballooning. Since then contract costs have eased slightly and the county opted to subsidize the huge project with $3.6 million from the 1-percent surtax that voters extended last November.
That means $11.2 million of the project’s $14.8 million in costs will be borne by residents through 20 years of annual assessments.
About 700 homes that previously relied on well water in the low-lying area have been connected to county water. The other 1,700 will be connected within 18 months.
Assessments haven’t been made final, but it appears they will amount to $4,199 for 487 homeowners in Bay Pointe. The annual assessment would be $348.49. The highest cost will be borne by 91 larger lot homes on the south shore of Dona Bay east of U.S. 41. who will pay $6,808, or $564.98 a year. -
Monday, March 24, 2008, 3:24 pm
County OKs ballot question on growth
Sarasota County commissioners voted this afternoon to put a “consensus” question on the May 6 ballot that would require them to vote 5-0 any time a landowner asked to move the Urban Service Boundary, which is the line dividing the western parts of the county that can be developed and those out east that cannot.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to put the question on the ballot, with only Commissioner Paul Mercier voting against.
Among the groups asking commissioners at a hearing Monday to put the question on the ballot was the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Sarasota Association of Realtors, Citizens for Sensible Growth, Argus Foundation, the Sierra Club and the Siesta Key Association
More than 12,500 people signed petitions in a drive sponsored by Citizens for Sensible Growth to change the county’s charter to require voter approval any time a landowner asks to move the Urban Service Boundary. But business and slow-growth groups agreed on a compromise that includes a mechanism for the two traditionally warring groups to talk about their differences on future issues. The new question would require a 5-0 vote of county commissioners to move the boundary rather than requiring voter approval for each change.
But the slow-growth group, Citizens for Sensible Growth, asked commissioners to set aside the ballot question and replace it with the new “consensus” question. The big question commissioners will decide today is what sort of legal risk the county might face if it makes the switch.
Both business groups and slow-growth advocates have agreed to jointly fight any legal challenges if the county puts the “consensus” question on the ballot. But both sides say that any group that could bring a challenge has been involved in negotiating the new question. -
Monday, March 24, 2008, 2:40 pm
Growth debate starts
An array of business and slow-growth advocates spoke out today for a ballot question that would require a 5-0 vote of county commissioners to move the Urban Service Boundary, which is the line dividing the western parts of the county that can be developed and those out east that cannot.
County commissioners are being asked at a hearing today to put the question on the May 6 ballot. Among the groups asking the question be put on the ballot are the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Sarasota Association of Realtors, Citizens for Sensible Growth, Argus Foundation and the Siesta Key Association
More than 12,500 people signed petitions in a drive sponsored by Citizens for Sensible Growth to change the county’s charter to require voter approval any time a landowner asks to move the Urban Service Boundary. But business and slow-growth groups agreed on a compromise that includes a mechanism for the two traditionally warring groups to talk about their differences on future issues. The new question would require a 5-0 vote of county commissioners to move the boundary rather than requiring voter approval for each change.
But the slow-growth group, Citizens for Sensible Growth, asked commissioners to set aside the ballot question and replace it with the new “consensus” question. The big question commissioners will decide today is what sort of legal risk the county might face if it makes the switch.
Both business groups and slow-growth advocates have agreed to jointly fight any legal challenges if the county puts the “consensus” question on the ballot. But both sides say that any group that could bring a challenge has been involved in negotiating the new question.
