Springs discussion to continue this week By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH North Port Community News Editor NORTH PORT — With almost no options available to keep Warm Mineral Springs Day Spa open beyond June 30, North Port city commissioners on Monday spent more than three and a half hours trying to hammer out an agreement. However, they weren’t on the same page and voted to continue the meeting at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The city and Sarasota County had 30 months to iron out an agreement for the short- and long-term development and operations of the Springs, which they jointly own. Their contract with current Springs operator Cypress Lending expires in 19 days, on June 30. The county proposed an interlocal agreement for city commissioners to review and potentially approve on Monday, but commissioners rejected it. Commissioner Tom Jones was absent. Commissioner Jim Blucher tried several times to compromise and make changes to the agreement, which included replacing county staff with city staff to take care of the licensing and operations responsibilities. The county agreed to coordinate an operations contract with all potential third-party vendors at an April joint meeting between the two boards with a facilitator. A majority of city commissioners agreed at the time; however, Rhonda DiFranco changed her mind the next day about the process. While some commissioners agreed with Blucher’s suggestions Monday, they said they couldn’t move forward with the interlocal agreement right away. Several times during the meeting, the agreement was brought up and commissioners attempted to work out a plan. They never did. Commissioners Cheryl Cook and DiFranco both said they didn’t want to stay until midnight working on an agreement. County commissioners said last week if city commissioners would give them any document, they would review it at their Wednesday budget meeting to potentially vote on it and move forward with a plan. “I don’t want any mistakes made,” DiFranco said. “Let’s get it done and get it right. We are talking about making changes which I’m agreeing with.” Cook wanted the city to fall back on her plan to negotiate solely with Cypress Lending. Mayor Linda Yates said she favored the city taking over operations of the Springs temporarily. “I’ll be darned if I’m going to let a private business come in and run it after it (the spa) makes $2 million (annually) and only gives back 10 percent of profits,” Yates said, adding she understands some of the buildings on the premises may not meet city codes. “We are putting business interest and private interest in front of the people’s interests, and they are being charged double to access it.” Commissioners were warned by City Attorney Rob Robinson that unilateral negotiations with Cypress, which the board directed him and City Manager Jonathan Lewis to do at an earlier meeting, may not work for several reasons. He said Cypress may not agree with a short-term lease without the county’s blessing. The proposed lease would include revenue-sharing with both the city and county. “The county could also take us to court to ask a judge to stop the process,” Robinson said, adding that the county cannot legally negotiate with one management company; it must go through a competitive bidding process. Cook said she wasn’t interested in it and the city should continue on with talks with Cypress. “I’m not so much concerned about a lawsuit from Cypress Lending as I am the county,” Robinson said. Robinson said if a lawsuit is launched, a judge will determine what happens at the 81-acre property. “Once it’s in the hands of the court, to some extent it’s out of your hands,” Robinson said. “All of us will be sitting up on Ringling Boulevard (at the courthouse) in front of the judge.” At 6 p.m., as Yates was asking Robinson a question, DiFranco and Cook got up and left the chambers. Robinson said he couldn’t answer the question until they returned. Yates then took a recess. After another hour of discussion, commissioners agreed to meet Thursday to talk more and possibly work out a proposed agreement to send back to the county. Email: eallen@sun-herald
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:03:50 +0000
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