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Long-running Harbor Drive home saga winds down
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 |
BELLEAIR BEACH – It may not cost the owners of a hurricane-damaged house on Harbor Drive as much as expected for taking too long to repair their house.
The owners of the house on the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway pleaded with the City Council Sept. 11 to reduce the $70,000 fine imposed by the city. The fine covered two years during which neighbors complained that they had seen little progress in repairs on the house.
Thomas and Sandra Brown presented evidence to the council that their house was completed and they had received a certificate of occupancy from the county planning department. In addition, they produced a landscaper’s drawing showing they planned to invest thousands of dollars in plantings.
Thomas Brown said they wanted their house to be a landmark in the community of million-dollar homes and that his family wanted to heal relations with their neighbors. The Browns moved from the house in 2003 after one of their children got sick from mold caused by a leaky roof. Then, in 2005, two tropical storms struck the barrier island and further damaged the roof, making the house uninhabitable.
Repairs were started but moved at a snail’s pace, neighbors said, while the Browns pointed to the amount of money they were paying a contractor to make the house more hurricane-resistant.
Sandra Brown reminded the council this week that steel I-beams were used to reinforce the house and roofing was screwed-on to resist high winds. The Browns asked the city to reduce the fine and they would drop their legal challenge.
Mayor Lynn Rives, previously adamant in prosecution of the Browns, was smiling when he said he never intended to impose a fine that could have reached more than $100,000. He said all the city wanted was to have the house finished to quell neighbor’s complaints. Rives, himself, is a neighbor on Harbor Drive.
“I never filed a complaint, though,” Rives said.
He made his displeasure on the public record, first when he was vice mayor last year and again, after winning the leadership post in March.
It was unanimous among the council members that the fine should be reduced to $15,000, to cover the city’s legal expenses and some punishment. City Attorney Paul Marino was instructed to reopen negotiations with the Browns to resolve the issue and remove it from court dockets.
Budget, tax rate adopted
In other business, the 2008 city budget and tax rate were adopted without any citizen comments. There was none of last year’s clamor for lower taxes.
First, the council adopted the 2008 millage rate of 1.98, which is 13 percent under the rate that would raise the same amount of taxes as this year.
Rives noted that, if voters approve the state charter revision in January, it would force the city to make only a 4 percent further cut in its 2009 budget, compared to cuts projected of twice that much in surrounding communities.
Next, the council adopted a $2.5 million budget for next year.
Belleair Beach made few sacrifices in the face of state-mandated budget cuts. That was the result of eliminating its police department which cut at least $300,000 from the budget after the cost of contracted police service was added.
The department was eliminated after voters approved its dissolution in the March elections. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office was contracted to provide police service to the city at half of the city’s annual budget for the police department. No jobs were lost as the sheriff hired all five existing full-time officers, as well as former police Chief Ernest Armistead.
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Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
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