CLEARWATER - The news that Pinellas County is proposing to downsize capital improvement projects brought several mayors from the barrier islands to the Board of Commissioners June 22 budget recap session.
The issue was funding for the Gulf Boulevard beautification project.
Plans for improvement of the corridor that runs from Clearwater Beach to St. Pete Beach have been in the works since a study was approved and funded in 2000.
The gist of the plan is to split the cost between the county and 11 beach municipalities. The funding source is Penny for Pinellas which receives a hefty contribution from tourist spending.
In 2006, the county began work on interlocal agreements with the 11 municipalities. Municipalities that did not want to participate could opt out of the plan.
However, county commissioners, especially former commissioner Robert Stewart a big champion of Gulf Boulevard improvements, pushed hard to get everyone one board.
The thinking then and now is the importance of the corridor to tourism: The county’s No. 1 industry.
The plan includes two basic elements: Undergrounding of utilities and streetscaping.
The Penny for Pinellas program for the years 2010 to 2020 had included $35 million for the project. The money was to be split among the municipalities beginning in 2011.
Jerry Herron, bureau director of the Office of Management Budget, told the commissioners in March that estimates showed a reduction of as much as $80 million to fund current Penny for Pinellas projects. He recommended a review of the goals set for the current Penny and money budgeted for future projects.
Doreen Moore, Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce board member, attended that March meeting and asked commissioners to remember the commitment to the Gulf Boulevard beautification project.
On June 22, county staff presented a proposal for a new six-year plan for fiscal years 2010-15. The plan calls for delaying allocation of Penny for Pinellas funds for the Gulf Boulevard project to the years 2013-2015. Staff also recommended cutting the total allocation by 25 percent from $35 million to $26,250,000.
Jim Lawrence, mayor of Indian Shores and president of Barrier Islands Governmental Council, asked the commissioners to stand behind the commitment of funding $35 million for Gulf Boulevard.
He said members of the Big-C had used the project as a campaign point to ask voters to approve extending the Penny for Pinellas another 20 years.
He said each town had expected to receive a certain amount of money and that getting 25 percent less would be a problem. He said it was “ok by us” if the county needed to extend the project out from five years to 10 as long as full funding could be maintained.
Redington Shores Mayor Bert Adams, Indian Rocks Beach Mayor R.B. Johnson and Clearwater Councilmember George N. Cretekos also asked the commission to take another look at the budget to try to find a way to keep its commitment to the barrier island communities.
Mark Deighton, vice mayor of Redington Beach, said he understood the “difficult decisions” the commission was faced with but “strongly urged” the commission to “give us a little bit more money.” He also said the faster the money was made available the faster “we can get started” on the project.
