Vote on Gulf Harbors annexation must wait

New Port Richey will wait to see if the county buys Lindrick Service Corp. before paying for an annexation study.

By BETH GLENN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- City residents probably won't get to vote on the annexation of Gulf Harbors communities in November, because City Council members said they won't begin a required annexation study until it becomes clear who will purchase Lindrick Service Corp.

County commissioners expressed interest last month in purchasing Lindrick, which provides water and sewer service to about 10,000 residents of the Gulf Harbors and Shamrock Heights communities. If the county were to purchase the utility, that would remove a major incentive for Gulf Harbors to join New Port Richey. And Gulf Harbors residents told council members Wednesday night that they preferred to wait on the county's decision, too.

"As you may know we have a petition requesting that New Port Richey take that action," community activist Ed McGee said of annexation. "But we haven't delivered it to you and we don't intend to until this issue with the county is resolved to some degree."

Councilman Tom Finn had suggested that the city begin the annexation study in hopes of winning over residents such as McGee. But Finn's motion failed 4-1 when other council members agreed that Gulf Harbors residents should make the first move.

"It's really not our decision to make," said Deputy Mayor Ginny Miller.

Mayor Wendy Brenner agreed: "I think the impetus needs to come from Gulf Harbors and not from us." "I think we need to settle the other issue first. I think the bigger issue is the Lindrick system and I think the residents will tell you that, too. It's hard for me to really gauge their interest (in annexation)."

The city has another interest in the Lindrick sale, since in exchange for forgiving Lindrick's debt years ago for wastewater treatment, New Port Richey was granted a right-of-first-refusal for any sale.

That means city council members could invoke that right if the county decides to make an offer for Lindrick. County commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri has requested a joint meeting between the commission and the city council to discuss how that right might be invoked, although no date has been set yet.

Also likely to be discussed at that joint meeting is whether the county will pay for an appraisal of Lindrick. The utility's owner, Joe Borda, tried to sell Lindrick to the city of Port Richey this year for between $18-million and $20-million. That deal fell through after New Port Richey and the county said the utility was not worth that much.

McGee, who has been lobbying county commissioners with other residents for two months on private water utility issues, suggested that the county pay for the Lindrick appraisal then ask New Port Richey to refund the cost if the city decided to buy the utility instead. "Someone, somehow has to move this forward by funding this study," said McGee.

Meanwhile, a study assessing whether the city could provide other services to Gulf Harbors and the surrounding communities is on hold. City manager Gerald Seeber said that analysis would have to be completed before Labor Day so the requisite 30 days could lapse before a vote. City residents would have to approve the annexation since it would nearly double the size of the city. New Port Richey now has about 14,000 residents and the Gulf Harbors communities would add around 10,000.

Thursday Finn said Thursday that there's still time for the city to take advantage of the high voter turnout in a presidential election. He said he thinks the city could prepare the needed analysis if Gulf Harbors residents expressed interest in the next few weeks since they had previous groundwork to build upon.

"This isn't the first time that annexation has been discussed," Finn said. "The last time, I think, was in the late '80s or early '90s. This could be just a millimeter away from reality.

"I do think there's advantage to be had but the only way to determine that conclusively is by analysis."

Staff writer Beth Glenn can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is glenn@sptimes.com.

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