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Pinellas Park, Lealman agree on settlement
Years-long annexation battle ends with Mischler casting only dissenting vote
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Friday, May 9, 2008 |
PINELLAS PARK - The City Council with only Mayor Bill Mischler dissenting, approved on May 8 a tentative agreement that ends a years-long battle with the Lealman Special Fire District over property annexations, tax revenues and other issues.
The council approved the pact with neither side winning money over the controversy that stretches back nearly a decade.
The fire district, however, must still vote on the contract at a May 19 meeting. There is very little likelihood that anything will change.
The contract calls for the following:
- Pinellas Park agrees to continue a policy of not annexing into Lealman for eight additional years.
- Lealman will dismiss with prejudice a lawsuit against Pinellas Park that has made claim for reimbursement of property taxes prior to 2004.
- There will be no reimbursement for legal fees, with each party responsible for their own.
- Neither party takes responsibility for any real or imagined infractions.
Mischler was obviously upset and disappointed over the pact, but he refused to elaborate.
“It’s best that I do not voice an opinion,” he said. “I will only say that people have a right to live where they wish, but I must respect the decision of the council members.”
Lealman Fire Chief Fire Richard Graham, the only fire district representative at the council meeting, said he welcomed the settlement.
“It’s the best offer that was put on the table,” Graham said. “We finally got down to business once the attorneys were out of it (the negotiations).”
The controversy was a boon to lawyers’ coffers. Pinellas Park alone paid out between $60,000 and $70,000 in legal fees.
Councilwoman Sandra Bradbury hailed the agreement as being “best for the city as a whole.”
Councilman Rick Butler, although he voted for the settlement, warned that “the game playing is over.
“We promised you that we would not annex into Lealman and we did not,” Butler said. “Play more games if you wish, but we’re over them.” Pinellas Park only accepted voluntarily annexations and never aggressively went after properties located within the fire district.
The pact does not end the controversy since is doesn’t include St.
Petersburg. At one point it also included Seminole, Kenneth City and Pinellas County.
Kenneth City and Seminole never were major players in the legal maneuvering.
Kenneth City was dragged into the fracas solely because it uses Lealman for its fire protection. Seminole already has annexed what it wanted so Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg were for the longest time the only municipalities gnawing away at Lealman’s tax base.
So heated was the controversy between Lealman and neighboring towns that the Lealman Fire District Special Task Force was created to bring all sides to the bargaining table. Representatives of the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners, the fire district, the cities and others are seated on the board.
The task force had four options. One would create an agreement covering the issues of annexation and fire services. The second would dissolve the fire district with fire services being contracted out by Pinellas County. The third is an extension of the so-called Farkas Bill that expires July 1 and the final would establish a uniform rate of tax for fire services throughout the unincorporated areas of the county.
So far apart on the issues were the principals that last November a preliminary report to the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation indicated that major unresolved issues still existed.
Those issues included an anti-lobbying provision and agreement that the so-called Farkas Bill not be extended past July 1.
City officials called the latest development a “win-win situation” for the city and fire district. Each side had voiced hope that St. Petersburg will follow suit, but some believe that is not going to happen now or any time soon. That is mainly because St. Petersburg has its eye on the Joe’s Creek Industrial Area that could mean additional big tax dollars into that city’s tax coffers.
One of the big points of the controversy is that Lealman did not want to merge into either the St. Petersburg or Pinellas Park fire departments.
Lealman’s objections reportedly ranged from fear that former employees now with Lealman would be merged out of their jobs to disdain for Pinellas Park’s green/yellow fire service vehicles.
Officials from both sides are making nice now that the controversy between Lealman and Pinellas Park are just about over.
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Article published on Friday, May 9, 2008
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