Back

  By Jim Norman, County Commissioner District 2 

Acquiring Park Lands, Open Space, and Buffers for Environmental Lands

I have made a proposal to County Administrator Dan Kleman to review all lands owned by the Water Department for the purpose of transferring ownership of thousand of acres to the County Parks and Recreation Department. 

The Water Department cannot transfer the land to the County due to the requirements from bondholders that the land be sold at fair market value. 

My proposal would have the Administration map out all land in the County that belongs to the Water Department that could benefit communities by increasing parks, creation of new parks, developing large open space tracks, or buffer environmental lands. 

We need to move on this proposal and acquire the land that can benefit our community as soon as possible. This urgency is established because the sale to the County is required to be at fair market value. If we wait for years to acquire these lands with the fair market value escalating, many of these parcels will be unattainable. 

I have also asked the Administration to review the best financial arrangement possible to acquire these lands, for example, a demand bond that would establish the land cost today. However, it would not require any payment by the County to the Water Department for up to fifty years. Another plan could be to establish a thirty to fifty year payment schedule that would require a percentage of park impact fees to be applied yearly to the purchase. 

Whatever financial plan can be developed, we need to acquire the land today at today's fair market value and assure the community can have access immediately (like purchasing a home). 

This plan gives the County an opportunity to add quality of life all over our community instead of a mass built out of these areas.

Inaugural High School All-Star Game/Youth Game Day of Champions Five years ago, I proposed that youth football organizations in Hillsborough County send league champions to play each other in the Tampa Stadium. I raised the money through donations throughout the community to fund these games and let our youngsters play in a pro-stadium. 

I then raised funds to create the Tampa Bay Sports Commission that would focus on overall development of amateur sports. The Tampa Bay Sports Commission continued the Game Day of Champions and pursued my goal of creating a High School All-Star Game. In December we had the first High School All-Star Game in Raymond James Stadium. The game was developed to have a representative from every Hillsborough High School play in the game against the All-Stars from Polk County. 

It rained all day which reduced and dampened the crowd (approximately 6000 throughout the day) but not their enthusiasm to cheer for their boys and girls. There are some wonderful things you can do as a County Commissioner. For me, this is one of those wonderful achievements. I can't express the thrill it gave me to see 750 children throughout the day from youth football players and cheerleaders to high school football players and cheerleaders to all-star bands getting the opportunity to play, cheer and march in Raymond James Stadium. 

I was able to play a part in giving these young people a wonderful memory they will hold for a life time. Thanks goes out to the members of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, County Parks and Recreation Department (specifically Ed Radice), the Sports Authority, and the School Boards from Hillsborough and Polk Counties. 

In closing, Hillsborough 26, Polk 6.

Back

Send mail to keybored@keybored.net with questions or comments about this web site.