Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pinellas News

Suncoast Pinellas > News

Dunedin To Seek Weaver Property Deal

By Mark Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: August 11, 2008

Dunedin - During a special Monday morning work session, the City Commission gave City Manager Robert DiSpirito permission to proceed with his multifaceted plan to purchase the J.C. Weaver property and transform it into a park on St. Joseph Sound.
A year of negotiations brought together the Florida Communities Trust, Trust for Public Lands, the county and the local Coca-Cola bottling plant to make it cost effective for the city to purchase the waterfront land from country music songwriter J.C. Weaver.
DiSpirito told city commissioners the 6-acre site on Alt. 19 has now been appraised at between $5 million and $10 million. The land was appraised at $18 million two years ago, before the collapse of the state's real estate market.
The city has qualified for Florida Communities Trust Grant to pay for half the cost of purchase and must soon notify the state it is interested in those funds, he said.
Meanwhile, Pinellas County has informally agreed to dedicate land preservation funds to help pay the city's portion of the purchase.
The lower asking price and county funds now allows the city to purchase the property as one parcel and preserve a quarter-mile waterfront vista.
Through negotiations with the city, the local Coca-Cola bottling plant, which is near the Weaver property, has agreed to donate $27,000 each year for five years to pay for maintenance on the park. The firm has also planned to establish a permanent endowment to pay these park maintenance costs.
Officials have also found the city is eligible to receive $75,000 from the Florida Department of Transportation to create a median that will provide pedestrians with a safe place to cross Alt. 19 between the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, to the east of the highway, and waterfront, to the west.
More information on the Weaver property purchase plan can be found in Saturday's North Pinellas print edition of The Suncoast News.