Weeki Wachee turf war still murky

The battle weighs on Swiftmud and the mermaid attraction.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER Times Staff Writer
Published July 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times (1999)] Buccaneer Bay water park and the mermaid attraction Weeki Wachee Springs are owned by the city of Weeki Wachee. » Fast Facts If you go Weeki Wachee Springs, 6131 Commercial Way (U.S. 19 and State Road 50), concludes its 60th anniversary mermaid reunion weekend today. Here's today's schedule: 11 a.m. The Little Mermaid Show with current mermaids. 1 p.m. Mermaids of Yesteryear Show with former performing mermaids. 2 p.m. Fish Tales Show with current mermaids. 3:30 p.m. Reunion Show with current and former mermaids. Admission to the attraction and the Buccaneer Bay water park is $22.95 for adults, $16.95 for seniors and $15.95 for children ages 3 to 10. Parking is $3. For information, call (352) 596-2062 or visit www.weekiwacheesprings.com.

WEEKI WACHEE - Three-and-a-half years have passed, and the "battle royale" between Weeki Wachee Springs and the Southwest Florida Water Management District continues.

As the attraction celebrates its 60th anniversary this weekend, its financial state appears favorable enough to keep the mermaids swimming.

But Swiftmud's legal wranglings with the attraction continue. And with the two sides heading back to court in August and a new judge on the case, the picture is anything but clear.

Both sides say they're ready for a resolution. But when will it come?

"Are we tired of this process? Absolutely," said Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan. "It needs to be resolved, and it's going to be resolved. Did we expect to spend almost four years of our lives on this? No. But it was thrust upon us. Our goal has always been to make sure the spring's protected."

Weeki Wachee general manager and Mayor Robyn Anderson sees it differently.

Swiftmud, she says, has tried to shut down the attraction and do away with the mermaids.

"They say they want to protect the mermaids," Anderson said. "But this all is the big guy beating up the little guy. We pay the lease on time; we fixed the safety issues. What is the problem?"

* * *

Officially, on paper, it all began March 31, 2004. After months of mounting tensions, the water district board voted to sue Weeki Wachee Springs.

Then, as is the case now, the city of Weeki Wachee owns the mermaid attraction and adjacent Buccaneer Bay water park, donated by the previous owner. The land the attraction sits on is owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which leases it to Weeki Wachee.

When the suit was filed in 2004, at issue was whether the attraction broke its lease on the 27 acres it occupies around the spring. The water district argued three main points:

One, it questioned whether the city, under state law, could legally own and operate the attraction. Two, the water district said it should have approved the donation of the attraction to the city. Three, an illegal "dredging" -- attraction officials call it a "reclamation" -- broke the lease and harmed the land.

Today, the district still wants answers. The attraction has since completed about $1-million in renovations deemed necessary for safety by Swiftmud.

Meanwhile, Weeki Wachee has continued to maintain that it never defaulted on the lease. And it says the acquisition of the attraction was legal and never required the water district's approval.

* * *

As of July 20, Swiftmud had spent $49,175 on outside legal counsel for the Weeki Wachee suit. According to Anderson, Weeki Wachee lawyer Joe Mason has yet to submit his bill.

When it comes to attraction finances, Anderson and Weeki Wachee spokesman John Athanason have always kept tight-lipped. Discerning to what extent city and attraction money is kept separately is difficult, though Weeki Wachee officials say the money is not comingled.

But since inheriting the attraction from the previous owner in 2003, Weeki Wachee has begun to make a profit, they said. Though the amount is not clear from records, it's apparently enough to pay the $260,000 annual rent to Swiftmud and to compensate 200 attraction employees.

A report released by the state Auditor General's Office in May gives the clearest picture of Weeki Wachee's finances. It stated that the attraction was in debt by about $31,111 in 2005. In 2002, it had operating losses of about $177,000. In 2003, that number was $174,000.

City profit-and-loss statements provided to the St. Petersburg Times show a deficit of $46,482 from October 2003 to September 2004. The following year, debt dwindled to $6,227.

According to Athanason, numbers for 2005-06 were not readily available.

"We were in negative, negative land at first," Anderson said. "There was just so much neglect. The former owner had vendors that he owed money to, and there was so much neglect."

Anderson said that the former owner, Jeff Farrar, used to pump money from Weeki Wachee into other parks he owned. She said he used to say that he wouldn't care "if the mermaids never swim again."

"They say the park was a gift," Anderson said. "But to me, it's a nightmare. A gift is pretty -- it comes in a nice package and is already paid for."

* * *

As the legal case has evolved, Swiftmud and Weeki Wachee have come close to settling their differences. It almost happened in May 2006, when Anderson and water district board Chairman Tom Dabney met without lawyers and whittled their disagreements down to one main sticking point: an underwater lease.

Swiftmud wants the attraction to obtain permission from the state Department of Environmental Protection to use the springs and the river. But Weeki Wachee argues that its current lease already allows it to do that.

"That underwater lease would cost $20,000 extra a year," Anderson said.

The talks fell apart when Weeki Wachee missed a deadline to answer Swiftmud. Shortly afterward, district lawyers filed a request to go back to court, after Weeki Wachee requested more court mediation.

Last month, Hernando Circuit Judge Richard Tombrink recused himself at the request of Mason, who said Tombrink was no longer objective -- biased against both him and the attraction.

In his response, Tombrink wrote that his continued oversight of the "legal quagmire" wouldn't benefit anyone, particularly taxpayers who may have to finance the "battle royale."

Senior Marion County Judge William Swigert has since been assigned the case. He will meet with Swiftmud and Weeki Wachee on Aug. 16 for a case management hearing. A trial is scheduled for Aug. 21, but it is not clear whether it will begin then.

"We want it to work out for them and for us," said Molligan, the Swiftmud spokesman. "That would be the ideal solution."

Anderson hopes for the same.

"All I ever wanted to do was save the attraction," she said. "I don't even know what this is about anymore. We're so over this."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1432.

[Last modified July 29, 2007, 18:50:20]