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Some commissioners, already worried about a tight budget, question the wisdom of spending $27-million on beach towns.
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2003
CLEARWATER -- The county, like every level of government, faces a tough budget year. Revenues are down, money is tight, and the state Legislature might not come through with needed local funding.
Suddenly, the notion of spending $27-million to beautify the county's wealthiest communities doesn't sound like such a good idea.
"When we started talking about this," said County Commissioner Bob Stewart, referring to the five years the county has spent discussing Gulf Boulevard, "our country was not at war, and gas prices were not busting out of the ceiling at $1.75 a gallon."
When a committee comprised mostly of beach leaders approved a Gulf Boulevard recommendation for the County Commission earlier this month, they considered their proposal a compromise. But when it reached the commission Tuesday, the panel that controls most of the purse strings was still questioning whether the project was realistic.
The Gulf Boulevard Improvement Program Undergrounding and Beautification Committee hoped to win the county's favor by scaling back the project and its cost. A few months ago, the extensive improvements to Gulf Boulevard, intended to lure tourists by sprucing up the aging strip, were expected to cost $73.9-million.
The new cost estimate is now $46.2-million -- still significantly higher than the $30-million the county initially hoped it might cost.
County Administrator Steve Spratt told commissioners Tuesday that if they want to adopt a gas tax -- the funding source that appears most likely -- they must make a decision by July 1.
County Commissioner Susan Latvala, admitting she was throwing "a wet blanket" on the project's momentum, said she was uncomfortable selling a gas tax increase to voters when the county might not have enough money for other programs.
"I can't make a commitment to this until we know what else is going to happen to us," Latvala said. "I can pretty well tell you that if we lose what we expect to lose after the legislative session, we will be making some very serious decisions that will cut services. And then to go and tell the public that I'm going to raise the gas tax to go and do some beautification on the beach? It ain't going to fly well."
The beach communities argue that beautification of Gulf Boulevard will help turn around faltering tourism and the image of the Pinellas beaches. The beach communities will pay for the landscaping, benches, trolley stops and other amenities that are part of the plan, and they hope the county will pick up the tab for burying utility lines along key portions of Gulf Boulevard.
The project once called for burying utilities from Pass-a-Grille to Clearwater Beach. But the beaches have since agreed to focus on key portions of the street to reduce costs.
County Commissioner Ken Welch was more supportive of the project, but insisted that it must be tied to other transportation improvements elsewhere in the county, including 22nd Avenue S and Gulfport Boulevard in St. Petersburg and Gulfport.
"This is an important project, and the county's made a commitment to Gulf Boulevard," Welch said. "It is an investment in our biggest industry in this county. But it has to happen in conjunction with other traffic-moving projects around the county."