The city manager works to mend relations between city staff and the mayor but gets disappointing news about his plan for a nature park.
By PHIL DAVIS
Published November 15, 2005
PORT RICHEY - The news from City Hall on Monday was mixed. On a positive note, the city manager reported progress in mending a bitter rift between the city staff and the mayor.
Meanwhile, a county committee threw cold water on plans to stitch together an 80-acre nature park on the city's southeastern edge.
City Manager Jerry Calhoun's park plan was the only bright spot in last Tuesday's rancorous council meeting. The meeting was marked by Mayor Mark Abbott's accusation that City Clerk Shirley Dresch controls information with a "political agenda."
Monday, everyone involved met to discuss the problem. Calhoun said he was satisfied that future interaction between the mayor and city staff members will be civil.
Abbott could not be reached Monday.
And is Dresch satisfied?
"I guess so," she said. "It doesn't change the public perception, does it? Once it's said in public, that's it. All we want around here is peace."
Abbott has repeatedly complained about how the city informs its residents of government business. The main reason for his ire last Tuesday was his feeling that some members of the city's volunteer boards were not properly notified their terms were up.
An Oct. 25 council meeting in which new board members were to be appointed was "illegal," Abbott said, because it was not properly advertised. Abbott also said he asked state and local law enforcement and the city attorney to investigate Dresch. The State Attorney's Office told Abbott the issue was an internal matter.
City Attorney Shauna Morris said last week that it appears Dresch did all that was required of her and that the mayor did not have enough facts to warrant further investigation.
Now Calhoun is concentrating on finding money to purchase a 9-acre tract of mostly undeveloped land at Pine Hill Road and Washington Street, the cornerstone of his proposed 80-acre nature park. The owner of the 9-acre tract is asking for $1.2-million.
Calhoun went to the county's Environmental Lands Acquisition Management Program last week looking for funding, but a committee unanimously rejected his proposal. The committee is tasked with finding and preserving large areas of undeveloped land. A small part of an urban park didn't fit its mandate, Calhoun said.
But Calhoun said the park idea is not dead.
"I am looking into other alternatives," he said. "I am going back to my council people to have them talk to county commissioners and see if they can come up with money from somewhere else in their budget. I am going to suggest they do a little politicking."
