Column

County should steer clear of springs deal

By JEFF WEBB, Editor of the Editorials
Published December 23, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Dirk Shadd | Times (2001)] The state Department of Environmental Protection has reached a tentative deal with the pseudo-city of Weeki Wachee to accept ownership of the park, which is famous for its mermaid shows.

Hate to be cranky in this season of glad tidings, but the question has to be asked:

Were they serious?

I refer to the news that some Hernando County Commission officials actually entertained a proposition by representatives of Weeki Wachee Springs to take possession of the famed tourist attraction, where myth meets mirth to make mermaid mojo.

This overture came just days before the secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection announced to the Florida Cabinet and governor that it had reached a tentative deal with the pseudo-city of Weeki Wachee to accept ownership of the old-school roadside Florida attraction.

The people who embraced the notion that the county might get into the amusement park business apparently had visions of $$$ signs dancing in their heads. Perhaps they thought a steady stream of water could be a steady stream of revenue to float the county's foundering budget boat.

Admittedly, at first glance, it is an intriguing idea. After several years of operating in the red, the park allegedly is back in the black, the beneficiary of smarter marketing and the benevolence of businesses and individuals that value its continued operation.

But at second glance, the cost to taxpayers for liability insurance, salary and benefits for employees, and maintenance and improvements to the park would be excessive. Add the responsibility of making sure that neither the first-magnitude spring nor the United States' deepest underwater cave system suffer environmental decay or damage, and the County Commission's financial commitment would be enormous.

Commissioner Chris Kingsley said last week that he had spoken with Weeki Wachee's John Athanson and with representatives of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns the land upon which the attraction sits. Kingsley concluded that "we the County Commission could run a park as well as the state could run a park."

That's just crazy talk.

Short of earmarking the county's reserve funds for park expenses the next few years, there's no money available to invest in the park. And it would be nave to think that admission prices will cover all the costs. The state government's pockets are a lot deeper, and the DEP would be in a much better position than the county to respond to a financial emergency.

Besides, the County Commission does not have the political will to defend a recurring expenditure at the spring. The first time the cut-spending Grinches storm the commission chamber, a county-operated Weeki Wachee park would be cut down like an evergreen on Christmas Eve. Depending on the commission's makeup, the spring could be a very low priority.

Oh, and there are other capital projects demanding the county's finances, like a judicial complex, an addition to the jail, parks, roads, etc.

Astutely, the water district has said it does not want to include the County Commission in the discussions about Weeki Wachee. Bringing another entity into the mix of the attraction, the DEP and Swiftmud would only complicate things.

The attraction has solicited private donations - amount unknown - from a fundraising campaign called "Save Our Tails." The County Commission should take a cue from that clever turn of phrase and keep its tail out of the park business. A letter from the commission to all parties involved stating its desire to be left out, but kept abreast, of these negotiations would be appropriate.

That gift would bring a glad tiding for the New Year to Hernando County taxpayers and answer the question "Were they serious?"

Jeff Webb can be reached at webb@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6123.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 22:12:44]