 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Inverness caps talk of extending water service
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
© St. Petersburg Times, INVERNESS -- The residents of Inverness Golf and Country Club fought City Hall in 1998 and won, persuading the city not to expand its central water system into their community east of Inverness. Little did they expect to find themselves back at City Hall on Tuesday evening pleading for the same city water they refused just three years ago. "Who could have predicted that Florida would be experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history?" asked resident Kathy Cooper, who is leading the campaign for city water. "And there's no end in sight." With the drought leaving dried-up wells and murky groundwater in its wake, many residents no longer can rely on their wells for drinking water, Cooper said. She said the owners of 85 of the community's 181 lots have signed a petition in support of receiving city water. But Dr. Jim Fuller, another resident of the community, presented City Council with a petition of his own signed by 23 lot owners who oppose city water. He said some residents cannot afford the cost -- estimated at $3,000 per lot -- of hooking up to central water. Fuller also said having city water would not increase property values or decrease homeowners insurance premiums, contrary to what supporters have said. "Many have signed the petition (for city water) but have heard only one side of the discussion," Fuller said. In the end, the Inverness City Council had only one thing to tell the standing-room-only crowd. "You're spinning your wheels talking to us," council member Dick Kaufman said. "The county owns you people. We don't. You're really under their jurisdiction," council member Ted Stauffer said. Inverness will only extend its water system beyond the city limits after the county has determined that a majority of residents want it, City Manager Frank DiGiovanni said. It would also be up to the county to set up the assessment district to pay for extending the system, he said. The council voted 4-0, with council vice president John Sullivan absent, to share the community's petitions with the county, and then follow the county's lead on determining whether to extend the system to the Inverness Golf and Country Club. "I think the city's positioning is not to meddle, not to force water on anybody that may questionably not want it," DiGiovanni said. In other council news: Bus left at the depot. Linda Bega, chair of the Inverness Community Redevelopment Agency, said the advisory group made a unanimous decision not to restore the city's replica of a 1910 B-type double-decker bus. "We feel that it is not a very feasible project, and we feel that the funds could be better used on other projects," Bega told the council. The last estimate to restore the bus, but not repair the engine, was $24,591. Police partner with the sheriff. The city agreed to pay the Citrus County Sheriff's Office for providing computer training, records management and transcription of incident reports for the Inverness Police Department. Those services will cost the city $18,000 for the first year and will increase $1,200 in each following year.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Citrus Times |
