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CATHERINE E. SHOICHETWhile agreement was reached on a default payment, everything is not ready for a final deal to be signed and sealed.
OLDSMAR - A final deal is still in the works, but city officials have agreed to pay the Oldsmar Civic Club $250,000 if the city breaks the terms of its agreement to use the club's property for a new library.
The Rotary Reading Room at the Oldsmar Library had the air of an auction house Tuesday night as city officials and Civic Club leaders haggled over what the city should be willing to pay.
City Manager Bruce Haddock suggested $71,500, depreciating over 40 years.
Former Mayor Jerry Provenzano, acting as an intermediary, suggested $1,024,000, with no depreciation.
Mayor Jerry Beverland offered $200,000.
Provenzano countered with $250,000.
Sold.
City Council members approved that amount, with no depreciation, unanimously Tuesday night. They hope that concession and one other compromise will be enough to reach a deal with the Civic Club, which owns the St. Petersburg Drive site where the city wants to build a new $2.9-million library.
"I don't believe the city will ever have to shell out a nickel," Beverland said.
That's what members of the nonprofit Civic Club hope, too. The monetary penalty will ensure, among other things, that the city always provides the club with a place to meet, even when new leaders take the helm, club leaders said.
"The Civic Club has a problem with trust," Civic Club trustee Jim Campoli said. "This resolves that problem."
Council members also agreed Tuesday to increase the size of the new library's multipurpose room, which the Civic Club will use on Mondays and Saturdays for its regular bingo games and other functions, from 2,400 to 2,800 square feet.
Beverland said the city's compromise was a gesture of good faith.
"The city has said yes to everything that had substance to it," Beverland said. "I would hope that we don't have another meeting where we're at odds again."
At least one potential sticking point remains. The city wants the club to pay for liability insurance for its use of the room at the library. That would cost an estimated $600 to $1,000 per year.
But several Civic Club leaders hesitated to support that idea at the meeting.
"I think the city owes us something," said Civic Club President Betty Kinchen, adding that the club's 50 members will ultimately be the ones who decide the agreement's fate at a meeting at some point in the next two weeks.
Currently, the Civic Club is covered under the city's insurance. The club has never made any claims on that policy, club leaders said.
"That's like saying a hurricane has not destroyed Oldsmar for 30 years," City Council member Janice Miller said. "That doesn't mean it's not going to happen."
City officials at the meeting said requiring the club to purchase insurance was a matter of common sense.
"It's just reasonable," Haddock said.
But Provenzano suggested further compromise might be in order.
"You're asking them to give you a parcel of land, in return for which you will hand them a bill," Provenzano said.
The agreement originally was scheduled for discussion at Wednesday night's City Council meeting. But a special meeting was called Tuesday night so that Provenzano would be able to attend.
After the meeting, city officials said they were pleased with the progress of negotiations.
"I'm more optimistic than I was before the meeting started," Haddock said.
But on the Civic Club's end, reaction was mixed.
"They want the land for nothing. They don't want to meet us halfway," Kinchen said.
"I just don't know how it's going to go. I can't speak for the members. We just have to wait and see."
Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at 727 771-4303 or cshoichet@sptimes.com