Tuscany survives a squeaker vote

It’s Wednesday, and plenty to discuss.

T’was a long County Commission day. I watched most of it from home, including the marathon Tuscany hearing. Judge me if you must. Youthful exuberant reporter Mike wanted to be there in person; 66-year-old blogger Mike said to watch online from the World Headquarters.

The old dude won.

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— First up, Tuscany! Following an extraordinary six-hour public hearing, the board voted 3-2 just before midnight to approve the Tuscany Ranch development. Considering all the hullabaloo about this project, very few citizens were there to speak. Commissioners Diana Finegan and Janet Barek voted no. Chair Rebecca Bays cast the deciding vote, pausing for several quiet moments before signaling her support.

As a government geek, this was one of the best County Commission discussions I’ve ever seen. I’ll have much more on Tuscany for Thursday. 

— The board voted 3-2 to offer $1.2 million for Pirates Cove. Of that, $900,000 is county money from various funds. The rest, including closing costs, come from the private sector.

Commissioner Jeff Kinnard says there are folks ready to step up and provide the additional $300,000. He’s been saying that from the start so I’m guessing people are in the wings waiting for the county to make an official move before they step in.

Look. No one east of C.R. 491 is a bigger supporter of buying Pirates Cove than me. It’s one of the few Just Wright Citrus editorial positions. Pirates Cove should be in public hands for citizens to enjoy. 

However, this process feels a little clunky. Pirates Cove wasn’t on the agenda — Kinnard added it Tuesday morning after realizing the deadline to answer the seller’s $1.8 million offer comes before the next board meeting.

Barek and Finegan both voted no. Finegan said she isn’t opposed to the purchase but thought an offer was too soon without having all the financials in place.

Barek said she couldn’t see spending money on property prone to flooding.

“My constituents have said we don’t want anything to do with that,” she said, adding that the boat ramp porta potty “keeps floating out into the ocean” with every major storm.

I’m also wondering about the Ozelloeans. Do they support Pirates Cove in county ownership? Oppose it? No opinion?

— The homeless workshop went very well, though I’m a little unsure what will happen next. Commissioner Holly Davis, who is spearheading this conversation on the board, seemed to suggest the only formal role the county would play in a Citrus Hope project is rezoning property.

I have a feeling it won’t be that simple, but we’ll see.

I’ll get into all this another day, but two things were quite clear Tuesday: On any given day, about 700 of our neighbors have no place to call home. And we have folks in our community who driven in their desire to help.

— Pet peeve time. Open to the public rules state everyone gets 3 minutes to speak, unless representing an organization that has a letter on file with the clerk of court. That person gets 5 minutes if the subject matter is relevant to their organization.

I cannot stand this rule. The 5-minute thing is wildly abused; I wrote about how Library Guy exploited it by representing a hate group and getting his 5 minutes to trash decent people.

Well. Up Tuesday comes a businessman. Owns a photography studio. He placed a letter on file that allowed him 5 minutes to speak because…um…heck, I don’t know, he just did. 

That is just plain crazy. The county should ditch this 5-minute thing altogether. If you can’t explain a position to the County Commission in 3 minutes, send an email.

OK. I’m done. Have a great Wednesday, friends.

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