Treasure Island can't wait for bridge, and to give it up
To spare taxpayers, Treasure Island is scheming to love it, then set it free.
By KATHY SAUNDERS
Published December 7, 2003
TREASURE ISLAND - Once the new Causeway Bridge is built, city commissioners would love to give it away.
They tried to get the county, state or federal government to take over the existing 64-year-old structure before they began to replace it. But no one was interested in an aging and badly deteriorating bridge.
Now that it looks like the city will have a brand-new, debt-free bridge designed to last 75 years, the offer might be more attractive.
"I think the likelihood of that would be significant," City Manager Chuck Coward told his bosses Tuesday evening. "I think we would have a 50-50 chance."
Transferring ownership of the bridge would relieve city taxpayers of paying future maintenance, operation and landscaping costs for the span. The landscaping and operations alone could cost the city $600,000 to $900,000 a year, Coward said.
Commissioners met Tuesday to mull over the recent news that the federal government most likely will pay the $50-million for the new bridge. Until Mayor Mary Maloof got a recent phone call from U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, the city was looking to borrow the millions for the bridge and raise the cost of tolls. Young told the mayor he doesn't like tolls so he included the funds in a federal spending bill, provided the city removes the toll plaza altogether.
"This is a special gift, and these kinds of gifts don't come along very often," Coward said. But that means the city won't have the toll money either.
In response, commissioners prepared a resolution for this Tuesday to rescind their earlier decision to increase the price of Causeway Bridge annual passes from $30 to $80 beginning Jan. 1. They also will keep the toll at the plaza at 50 cents rather than increasing it to $1. That resolution is expected to pass Tuesday at the commission's regular meeting at 7 p.m., 120 108th Ave.
At the same time, Coward gave commissioners a list of other issues to consider when they accept the federal money.
For one thing, the city will save money by not having to design and build a toll plaza. It also can sell the house in St. Petersburg that it bought to use as a possible staging area for bridge construction. Coward said the property is worth $200,000 to $250,000.
Without the tolls, the city will have to rearrange its budget and figure out how to pay for the future maintenance of the bridge.
If they can't give the bridge away, commissioners could raise property taxes to cover those expenses. A small increase probably would be less than the cost of the annual bridge passes, Coward said.
"We still think it's wonderful and exciting and a no-brainer to accept this grant," Coward told commissioners. "But, yes, there will be some changes to the way things happen in this community."
Commissioners decided to rescind the increase in bridge tolls even though they probably won't know for sure whether they'll get the federal grant until the end of December. Bridge passes go on sale Dec. 15 at City Hall.
The federal spending bill has to pass the House and Senate and be signed by President Bush.
"The upsides of this are tremendous for the economic development of our downtown area and our hotel/motel areas," Coward said. "This could be a real boon to our community."
Designs for the new drawbridge are under way and expected to take a year. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2005 and be completed in 2007. The toll plaza would remain until the new span is opened to help pay for repairs on the ailing bridge.
