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Bridge users will have their say on a new one
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA BELLEAIR BEACH -- A new bridge is coming, and city officials here are prepared. They will renovate their meeting hall and replace other rundown public buildings. Now they are turning their attention to the new design of the Belleair Beach Causeway bridge -- high and fixed? lower drawbridge? -- which will be debated Thursday night at a public meeting at Largo High School. Drawings of three possible elevations will be available for inspection at the meeting, from 4 to 8 p.m. in the school auditorium and cafeteria. County public works planners will give a presentation at 6 p.m. The alternatives are low-level and midlevel drawbridges for as much as $46-million, and a high, fixed span at a maximum of $37.5-million. Last Thursday, the county mailed a questionnaire to 10,000 residents on the barrier island and the mainland, asking their bridge preference. The responses, and the comments gathered at this Thursday's meeting, will be compiled in a report to the County Commission, which is expected to select a bridge profile at its Feb. 25 meeting. Belleair Beach Mayor Michael Kelly and Presiding Officer Burt Cutler, who plan to attend Thursday's meeting, favor a high bridge. "There has been a lot of noise from the other side (Belleair Bluffs). They are only concerned with aesthetics," Cutler said. "They aren't really concerned if anybody gets off this island. If we don't combat (mainland efforts to get a low or midrise bridge), we will lose the battle over the bridge." Once the county selects a bridge plan, Belleair Beach officials will know exactly how much frontage the municipal complex will lose. The new span also will influence the redesign of entrances to the complex and the configuration of possible replacement buildings. Serious discussions to replace the town's City Hall began more than a year ago when it became clear that a new bridge would take much of the parking area in front of the meeting hall. Since then, the city decided to retain and repair the 50-year-old facility because of its unique architecture. The city plans to reconfigure the entrance and landscape up to a concrete retaining wall that will separate the complex from the new bridge approach. "This building has its own unique character, and we should darn well keep it here and make it last," said Dick Williams, a resident who has been working with a special building committee for the past year to develop plans and recommend funding for repairs and replacement of the municipal complex. The remaining buildings, including the Police Department, city offices and maintenance department, will be replaced. They are severely damaged and could not be repaired to meet current codes. The 13-member police force works out of a 10-by-10-foot office and has no secure holding cell. The air conditioning and roof leak, and there is extensive termite damage. The city has budgeted $77,000 to repair the meeting hall and has authorized $51,705 for an architectural and engineering site plan for the rest of the site.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
