The city gets more than the $30,000 original offer. The Hamiltons keep the franchise through the summer.
By JENNIFER FARRELL
Published June 25, 2004
CLEARWATER - The city inked a 90-day deal Thursday to let City Council member Hoyt Hamilton's brothers take over the South Beach Pavilion when their father's three-decade lease runs out June 30.
In an agreement that will keep the popular concession open through the busy summer months, Ken and Wade Hamilton agreed to pay $23,399 rent plus 10 percent of gross sales on chair and umbrella rentals, which top $7,166 each month.
Based on last year's revenues, that would amount to $30,723 through Sept. 30, more than the Hamiltons would have paid under a $10,000-a-month offer they made last week after the city threw out all bids for the lucrative beach concession on S Gulfview Boulevard.
Last week, Ken Hamilton refused to commit to those terms, which mirror the existing lease, after the council voted 4-0 to grant him and his brother a short-term deal.
The Hamiltons had instead offered a month-to-month agreement at $10,000 a month.
During the public meeting last week at City Hall, Hoyt Hamilton did not discuss the matter and abstained from the vote.
Afterward, City Attorney Pam Akin negotiated the finances with the Hamiltons. She said they reached a tentative deal Wednesday and finalized it Thursday.
Later this year, the city plans to put a new 10-year lease out to bid, giving bidders 60 days to respond, up from just three weeks when it first put the lease out to bid in May.
Hoyt Hamilton's father, Howard, has leased the beachfront pavilion since it was built in 1969. For much of the past decade, Wade Hamilton has run the fast food and umbrella concession.
Last month Wade and Ken filed a bid to take over the business for three years while the city decides how to proceed with a planned redesign of the area that could eliminate the pavilion entirely.
But the Hamiltons goofed on the numbers, then refused to stand by their offer.
The city, meanwhile, had sent its request for bids out late, giving just 19 days' response time, instead of the typical 30-day minimum.
Unlike the Pier 60 concession, which drew more than two dozen bidders, the South Beach Pavilion drew just two besides the Hamiltons'.
Because of high startup costs, the short-term lease represented substantial risks for anyone who didn't already run the business.
After the Hamiltons refused to stand by their mistaken offer, the city rejected them. Saying the other two bids were unrealistic, City Manager Bill Horne threw them out, too.
The process, criticized by citizens and council members alike, raised questions about whether the politically connected Hamiltons got special treatment.
Last week, City Council members said they will put the lease up for bid again as a way to be fair to everyone.
