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Potential of other bid overlooked

Hernando County commissioners may have chosen frugality over function when they decided recently to override the recommendation of an advisory group about who should undertake a major land-acquisition project.

The commissioners voted unanimously to award a contract for acquiring 2,649 acres that will link two larger tracts of forest land in north central Hernando County to TBE Group LLC of Clearwater. TBE's bid was $75,000, which is significantly less than the $148,000 estimate submitted by the advisory panel's preference, the well-known Nature Conservancy.

The Nature Conservancy is a national organization with considerable experience in land conservation. That know-how, combined with the nonprofit agency's extensive resources and expertise, was enough to persuade most of the appointed members of the group that the commission assigned to evaluate the bids.

But the commissioners rejected that advice mainly to save money - also because TBE has hired local engineers who are more familiar with the landscape.

Those are two good reasons, and we commend the commissioners for being prudent with the public's money. But the commission's decision apparently did not take into account the Nature Conservancy's potential to find other sources of money that might be used to acquire the land. The Nature Conservancy is also skilled at stretching the available money by purchasing, at greatly reduced prices, the conservation rights to environmentally sensitive lands.

Time should tell if the commission's preference for saving $73,000 up front will be reflected in the bottom line once the project is complete. But it would be prudent for County Administrator Gary Adams' staff to thoroughly monitor the undertaking so the commission will have that information the next time it is asked to allocate scarce funds for such a worthwhile and farsighted endeavor.

[Last modified August 25, 2005, 00:52:33]