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Securing a new police agency tops busy agenda

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published March 21, 2007

With the election over, the City Council is moving swiftly to address three major issues: contracting for police services, redesigning a new city hall, and replacing its departing city manager.

The issues will be discussed at a special council meeting at 4 p.m. Monday.

"It's going to be very busy here in Belleair Beach for the next few years," said newly elected Mayor Lynn Rives.

First on the council's priority list is law enforcement. Voters approved closing the existing police department and authorized contracting for outside services.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has already offered to provide a single deputy per shift, patrolling 24 hours a day, seven days a week at an annual cost of $382,066.91, a savings of more than $200,000 when compared to the city's present police budget.

The deputy would perform neighborhood patrols, traffic enforcement and house checks when residents are on vacation.

Rives says he wants the city to solicit similar proposals from Clearwater and Belleair, which operate police departments in areas contiguous to the city's boundaries.

The switch in law enforcement services also would affect Belleair Shore, which now contracts for policing with Belleair Beach. The sheriff's proposal could cover Belleair Shore as well as a subcontractor to an agreement with Belleair Beach.

The Sheriff's Office has offered to hire all of the city's full-time officers, but it is not known if a similar offer would be made by either Belleair or Clearwater.

Next on the city's priority list is replacing the current aging city hall. Plans to build a new city hall were put on hold last summer when increased construction costs added nearly another million to the estimated $3-million price tag.

Originally the new city hall was to cost $2.8-million. The design included a large council chamber that could also serve as a community center, and more space for administration offices and the city police department.

Now that voters agreed to close the police department, council members hope eliminating up to 20 percent of the design's square footage - and the construction slow down - will bring the building cost back down to the originally budgeted amount.

The council is expected to ask its architect, Ward Friszolowski, to redesign the new city hall.

The present 1950s-era city hall is too small, does not meet handicapped requirements, and has a roof that leaks in even light rain storms.

The city also must decide how it will seek a replacement for City Manager Reid Silverboard, who will leave in early May to assume his new post as city manager in Treasure Island.

[Last modified March 20, 2007, 22:53:17]