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St. Pete Beach sees city hall deal grow shaky
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA © St. Petersburg Times, published December 27, 2000 ST. PETE BEACH -- Developer Paul Skipper is ready to back out of his deal to donate land and build a new city hall unless the city agrees to renegotiate its contract with him. "If it's going to continue to be this controversial, we'll keep our land and wish them (the city) luck. We're at our limit. We don't want to be a party to controversy," Skipper said Tuesday. Skipper and the city reached a design/build agreement last year to put a $2.8-million city hall at the foot of Corey Causeway on land Skipper would donate to the city. The cost of the building has escalated, however, to at least $3.08-million and perhaps nearly $4-million, according to a Times estimate of the project's costs. On Friday, a letter from Skipper's attorney, David Bacon, notified City Manager Carl Schwing that Long Key Properties Inc. was ready to "terminate" its contract with the city. Neither Schwing nor Mayor Ward Friszolowski could be reached for comment. Bacon asks the city to accept the letter as "confirmation to the City that Long Key and Developer must exercise the right to terminate the Contract unless all parties can agree" to resolve problems that have led to the recent controversies and delays in the city hall project. "There has not occurred mutual approval of final plans, specifications and the final price," Bacon wrote. "Progress has been directly affected by multiple and often conflicting opinions by a number of individuals involved in the planning and review process which have caused numerous changes." Skipper said the project has been hampered by a "lack of leadership." He defended his firm's actions and said there have been "missed deadlines on all sides." "We have so far declined to sign the city's request for an extension of the contract deadline (calling for final approval of plans, specifications and a construction start date)," Skipper said, adding that failure to sign the extension would automatically cancel the contract. "We are undecided as whether we even want to work on this project. We don't know if it is worth it to fight this hard," he said. Skipper said he felt he and his company had been so "beat up" that it "would be better for us to do something else" with the property. Among the more recent incidents in this crisis: The city's architect, Mike Russell, resigned and then was persuaded to remain as the city's representative in dealings with the developer. Russell originally quit last week over unexplained cost overruns, threatened lawsuits, and a state attorney's investigation into the city's handling of the project. The city's Police Department also has asked the state attorney to conduct a separate investigation into the commission-appointed City Hall Advisory Committee's actions and possible Sunshine Law violations in writing a letter that criticized the developer for repeatedly missing deadlines and suggested ending the agreement. Now Skipper has given the city a deadline, or St. Pete Beach will return to a question it began asking more than a decade ago: What to do with City Hall? PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Turmoil pursuing building of new City Hall City Hall letter may go under microscope City Hall contract encounters opposition City considers purchasing property on 75th Avenue Beach city hall site is valued at $1.23-million
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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