LARGO – Most Largo commissioners are opposed to offshore oil drilling in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that are controlled by the state.
A bill was passed in the House in the 2009 session that allows for drilling leases within state waters, which occurs three to 10 miles offshore. The Senate took no action on the bill.
“Certainly, to open up oil drilling in state waters will bring it much closer to our shores and our beaches,” Assistant City Attorney Mary Hale said at the commission’s Dec. 15 meeting.
Other beach communities have voiced their opposition to the measure, she said, because oil rigs can cause pollution, spills and debris.
City officials said oil drilling poses a threat to the local economy, which depends heavily on tax dollars raised through tourism and recreation services along the beaches.
Commissioner Curtis Holmes was opposed to a resolution calling for a ban on oil drilling in the gulf.
“Unless we are all willing to stop driving your automobiles, you are going to have to have carbon fuels coming in from somewhere,” he said.
The country is importing too much oil and not going after its own resources. Oil spills are “few and far between,” Holmes said.
“This is a revenue producer for the area,” Holmes said. “You are going to create the jobs; you are going to get the tax revenue. You are going to see oil wells out in the gulf anyway.”
They are going to be operated by the Chinese, Russians and Venezuelans.
“If you have the resources right off shore, and they are relatively easy to get, by all means go get them,” he said.
If tourists don’t have the gas to put in their cars, how will they get here, he asked.
Commissioner Woody Brown disagreed.
“If it weren’t just state waters, I might be on the same page with you. Because it’s state waters, it’s three to 10 miles offshore. I spend a lot of time in those waters. And for me, this could be catastrophic to the biggest industry in Florida, which is tourism.”
Most of the jobs created by drilling wouldn’t go to local residents, he said. They would be people coming from Louisiana and Texas.
“I know the only reason they are looking to do this is that it is a heck of a lot cheaper to drill in 40 feet of water than it is to drill 180 feet,” he said. “I think there are leases out that are unexplored. I think that is where it should start ...”
He agreed with Holmes that most of the spills are from boats.
“But for me, if you put an oil rig, 10 miles offshore, and you are standing on Clearwater Beach, you can see it. I have a problem with that.”
Commissioner Mary Black said that Brown said he has made an argument against drilling “a lot more eloquently than I could,” and she supports his position.
Commissioners, with Holmes the lone dissenter, adopted a resolution that, basically, calls for a ban on oil drilling or exploration in the gulf in areas that have not been approved for such activity.
Several counties, cities and special interest groups, such as the Clearwater Audubon Society, have voiced their opposition to offshore drilling in the gulf.
Members of the Barrier Islands Governmental Council unanimously passed a resolution Sept. 30 opposing offshore drilling in state-controlled waters in the gulf.
In other matters, Commissioner Harriet Crozier said the county Metropolitan Planning Organization is drafting a resolution to encourage the state to consider prohibiting drivers from texting.
She also said Kenneth City has installed cameras at traffic signals, and that was also a topic discussed by the MPO, she said.
“Police chiefs want a common ordinance a fair way to give someone a ticket. They want it done throughout the whole state, not individual cities or counties doing it because some of them charge differently.”
It’s better to address cameras at the state level, she said. The MPO staff has been asked to perform a camera test at certain intersections.
The MPO was established to develop plans, policies and priorities that guide local decision making on transportation issues in the county.
