The City of Brooksville’s 90 year lease agreement with the Florida Blueberry Festival was discussed at a public workshop on November 2nd.
Brooksville residents expressed much confusion at the workshop over the length of the lease. It is a 50 year lease followed by two 20 year leases.
Concerns mentioned are the cost at $6000 per year, so potentially in 90 years the lease would still be the same amount of money. In the same vein, they require a certain amount in insurance and this does not seem to increase over time or be renegotiated after a certain number of years. Costs will grow over time, but lease and insurance requirements stay the same.
City resident, DeeVon Quirolo made several remarks in regards to the lease agreement and the Blueberry Festival in general. She stated, “I question the need for the city to give any more than a one year contract for the Blueberry festival. We should not be privatizing our parks with sweetheart deals with out of town promoters while picking up the costs of security and grounds maintenance for them.”
Additionally, several members of the disc golf league were concerned about how the lease agreement would affect their use of the property.
According to Cliff Manuel, moving the Blueberry Festival to the quarry along with other events could possibly attract over 400,000 people a year. “That’s our goal is to turn it into a destination.” He explained that each parcel would have a particular function for events.
1 at the north side of the map is where the driving range is today and the horseshoe facilities. North of the parcel 1 is the existing softball complex in Tom Varn Park. The Blueberry Festival anticipates moving the festival into Parcel 1 and Parcel 4. Some portions have been left out of parcel assignment for the Coast to Coast Trail. Parcel 2 is where the Enrichment Center is located. They would like to see it expanded and possibly function as a research facility for the blueberry growers. There are 800 growers in the state association and the Enrichment Center would function as the association’s meeting place. Parcel 2a is an area they would like to expand parking. Parcel 6 is not included in the lease and there have been a number of potential uses floated including a camping area for bikers.
An interesting issue brought to light in the lease (14b7) is the contamination of the site. “The contamination at the Quarry site is limited to shallow soil based on the results of recent soil and groundwater testing. The State is paying is paying for 100% of the assessment and cleanup of the site. The City has opted for conditional closure, which should ensure that no active remediation (excavation, system, installation, etc.) should be required. Lessor acknowledges that it shall remain liable for and remediate all environmental matters related to the land and regarding the contamination.”
At the Nov. 2nd workshop, Battista stated that Hernando County has had land lease agreements at the airport for thirty years and should be considered in developing the lease agreement with the Blueberry Festival. He stated that the lease has a long way to go. Battista is excited about the idea, but he wants to make sure the City is protected in the lease. He pointed out that the county land lease agreements adjust insurance requirements every 5 years, which isn’t provided in the proposed lease agreement.
The City Attorney did state that the lease agreement is at this point just a framework since they were working without the input of council. “There’s still negotiation that needs to be done. I think there is some good language in the airport lease,” said Tom Hogan, City Attorney.
There was some confusion on whether or not the property would be used to back financing for construction. That should not be the case. The lease will be used to back the mortgage. A fifty year lease at $6000 per year should be valuable enough to allow the festival to obtain financing.
A second public workshop followed on November 3rd, where the Council discussed the lease agreement line by line.
Related article:
http://hernandosun.com/blueberry_fest_90_yr_lease_agreement_mckethan_park_20161104