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Shuffleboard club lands a lease deal
By MATTHEW WAITE © St. Petersburg Times, published October 18, 2000 NEW PORT RICHEY -- The New Port Richey Shuffleboard and Tourist Club has some more time to find a new home, but how much could depend on how quickly someone wants to buy the club's building. The City Council on Tuesday night gave first round approval to an extension for the club's lease, which runs out at the end of the month. But the lease the council granted was a month-to-month lease, one that the city can terminate at any time. Club members had asked the council for a year's lease, believing that state law required it for them to hold bingo games, the club's moneymaker. But the council learned Tuesday night that it can give the club a month-to-month lease and still allow bingo. The club hired an attorney a month after the council voted in August to sell the property as surplus. That attorney, Roland Waller, told the council Tuesday night that the club wanted to work with the city to find an alternative for the club, such as moving somewhere with the city's help or the club buying the property. "We're not here demanding," he said. "We're here asking." The ordinance passed Tuesday night could change by the next time the council votes on it. City Manager Gerald Seeber wrote in a memo to the council that it could change the terms, and he believed the club might want to make some changes as well. Council member Tom Finn said he didn't want to give the club a year's lease, and a permanent solution needed to be found. "We need to stick to our guns," Finn said. The lease passed Tuesday night would raise the rent from $10 a month to $100 a month. The club has been trying to hold on to 6145 Grand Blvd. Members had talked of getting an attorney, which they did, and organizing nearly two dozen retirees to picket City Hall, which they didn't. Waller gathered a group of about 30 club members in the hallway after the vote and tried to explain to them that the city wants to add the land where the club sits to the tax rolls. The city and the club had been feuding for some time, but it came to a head in August, when the council voted unanimously to end the club's lease on Oct. 31 and sell the property as surplus. The city estimates it could get $180,000 for the property or lease it for $1,580 a month. The money from the sale and the addition of commercial property in the downtown area to the city's tax rolls are tempting to a city pushing downtown development. The budget just passed cut three jobs and raised taxes, and future projections show the city will need to raise taxes next year if it doesn't find more money. At that August meeting, three motions were posed by council members, two of which held options letting the club hold on for a while longer. Both failed. The only motion that passed was to sell the property.
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