LARGO – City staffers on Jan. 23 unveiled a $243 million wish list of capital improvement projects foreseen as needed in the next six years. The list included $50 million to begin renovation of the city’s sewer system under state orders to eliminate spills that have occurred during the past 10 years.
Most of the projects outlined during the City Commission work session have been previously reviewed, and approved, by the elected officials. These include renovating the city hall complex roofs, downtown redevelopment plans, road paving and sidewalk repairs and building, reconstruction of the Highland Recreation complex, expansion of the Largo Cultural Center, rebuilding the Community Center and building an arts center.
New ideas proposed included a new, $8 million disinfection system for septic waste, a $7 million police and fire training center, $3 million for a recreation center on the east side of the city and nearly $2 million for a formal entrance to Central Park from the former library site.
City Manager Steve Stanton cautioned that these new ideas were “just thoughts” and not yet firmly studied.
“This is a treetop level discussion,” he explained, saying the idea was to test the reactions of elected officials before spending more time in the planning.
Commissioner Gay Gentry said she felt the discussion was intended to avoid criticism she said is often leveled at the commission for appearing to simply “rubber-stamp” plans of the city staff.
Mayor Pat Gerard explained that every year the commission reviews capital investments expected during the next six years. She said this usually comes in the spring, just before work begins on the city budget for the next two years.
Little was decided on the proposed spending, much of which will hinge on voters’ approval in March of the Penny For Pinellas sales tax surcharge. Other projects may hinge on the city’s ability to get state or federal financial aid.
Among those currently under study is the location of new facilities for the city’s Recreation, Parks and Arts department. A proposed new site on East Bay Drive where the closed Winn-Dixie Supermarket now stands could become the site of a new Community Center with facilities for senior citizens and for dance programs.
This was decided by the commissioners who agreed that, despite earlier proposals, a new art center should be a separate project, not included with any new building on the former grocery store’s site.
One of the most vocal advocates of a new art center has been Gerard. In the past she pressed hard to include art programs in a renovated former city library. Those plans, which could have exceeded $5 million to complete, were crushed last week when the city began leveling the building on Central Park Drive.
“I’d rather see the right building at the right time,” Gerard said at the Tuesday meeting. She explained that her vision was for a smaller building, preferably in the downtown area.
Plans for a $24 million renovation of the Highland Recreation complex would also be scaled down, moving many programs now held there to the new Winn-Dixie site.
Commissioners advised the recreation department head, Joan Byrne, to put off most plans for an east side recreation center until more homes in that area have been annexed into the city.
Recreation proposals represented 22 percent of the city’s projected capital expenditures during the next six years. The most money, $102 million, was proposed for the Environmental Services department, half of that going into the sewer renovations.
Also slated for about 22 percent of the money is the city’s Community Development department for drainage and road improvements.
