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Palm Harbor gets on Penny list

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published November 21, 2006

At least $20-million would go to Palm Harbor for library projects and fire-rescue operations if the Penny for Pinellas is approved in March.

This week, county officials decided to add the projects to the Penny for Pinellas list. The Pinellas Board of County Commissioners must vote one last time on the list before it goes to voters.

For months, residents in the Palm Harbor area pushed to have certain projects appear on the list, including improvements to both Palm Harbor and East Lake libraries. County officials had received about $1.3-billion in requests from more than 20 areas in Pinellas. The goal was to whittle the list down to about $800-million. In the end, Palm Harbor's projects were deemed necessary.

"We had almost $2-billion in requests, so we had to look at the high-priority projects," said Jerry Herron, the county's budget chief. "We are allocating funds so they can try and get some things done."

If voters approve the Penny, Palm Harbor would receive funding for the following specific projects:

- $5-million to expand and renovate the Palm Harbor Library.

- $4.175-million to expand the East Lake Library.

- $6-million for Palm Harbor and East Lake fire-rescue teams.

Voters will decide whether to approve the Penny during an election on March 13. If approved, the Penny extension would begin in 2010 and go to 2020. It would generate an estimated $1.9-billion over that decade with more than $200-million of that amount going to fund a jail expansion and court improvements.

Palm Harbor and East Lake constitute about 100,000 North Pinellas residents. There is no formal town government for either area. However, Palm Harbor does have the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency, a local group that collects a property tax in the area to pay for library services. Earlier this year, members of the Old Palm Harbor Main Street Association and other community groups came together as the Palm Harbor Coalition to petition the county to earmark Penny funds for the area.

In the end, the group requested about $19-million in projects. These projects are not itemized on the Penny list. However, they could be funded through an additional pool of Penny funds that will be set aside for unincorporated areas such as Palm Harbor. Herron estimates that would be about $16-million in Palm Harbor's case.

That news isn't sitting well with Jim Kleyman, who leads the Palm Harbor Coalition. The group would prefer to have all its projects specifically funded and listed. Without that, there's no guarantee the area will get the money it needs to do the projects, he said.

"Our goal for the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency and the coalition is to make sure every one of these projects left is delineated and specified," Kleyman said. "So anyone can look at it online and see these projects specified individually, so they stand on their own merit individually."

In the coming months, the coalition plans to petition the commission to get all the projects listed.

"People in Palm Harbor will be voting on this, and they deserve to see where the money is going," said Ben Gagliardo, chairman of the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency. "If it's going to be allocated to a gymnasium, that's what we want to see, and where it is on the list. We need to see all that."

Nicole Johnson can be reached at njohnson@sptimes.com or (727)445-4162.

Penny for Pinellas

In addition to specifically named projects, the Palm Harbor Coalition has a wish list that includes the following projects:

- $2-million to expand the Palm Harbor Community Activity Center to include a new building, more parking and a playground.

- $6-million for a proposed gymnasium.

- $1-million for athletic field lights at Putnam Park, Palm Field and Sunderman Complex.

- $3-million for a 10-acre athletic complex.

- $250,000 for a shelter on the Pinellas Trail at Florida Avenue and Alt. U.S. 19.

- $750,000 to improve Alt. U.S. 19 between Tampa and Klosterman roads.

[Last modified November 20, 2006, 21:20:20]