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Some Tyrants Lose, But We Still Pay
Some Tyrants Lose, But We Still Pay
Host
Joshua Black
Description
The notes from Thursday's all day council meeting at city hall.
Listen
Transcript
Welcome to the 6th edition of the Saint Petersburg Florida Area News Podcast for the year 2019. I’m your host, Joshua Black, and, today, we will cover the city council meeting that took place on February 7, 2019.
When I entered the building around 8:40 AM, there was still a line at the security checkpoint downstairs. This is unusual for a morning meeting. I found out why when I made it upstairs.
But first we must note that council passed both Consent Agenda A and Consent Agenda B unanimously, minus the items pulled by Councilmember Ed Montanari, council vice chair for this year (from A, item 5, and from B, item 10). Actually, those pulled items passed unanimously, too, but after a full report from staff and questions from the council. Oddly, though, for consent agenda item A-5, the cost to the city of $500,000 was not mentioned in the summary. It was mentioned in the staff report. Unless you had read the backup material, you may not have noticed that except that Montanari had pulled it to reports.
All told, the Consent Agenda as passed spent $7.3M without a debate or a report.
But that’s not what brought so many people out this morning. Remember that the Health, Energy, Resiliency, & Sustainability (HERS) Committee Chair councilmember Darden Rice had made a big deal about trees, especially older trees before she left in the middle of the last meeting to drive to PSTA? All of the people not obligated to jobs that morning who supported her position were taking turns at the podiums during open forum speaking in favor of more government regulations, including mandates for private property, regarding trees.
After they finished, the next item was regarding another downtown redevelopment proposal, this time for the southeast corner of the intersection at 3rd Ave N and 5th Street, across the street from the MIrror Lake Library. The appeal of city approval for the proposal drew 45 cards and a court reporter, likely because the city is being sued by the Bezoo project for their denial of its application for approval. The leading opponent for this project was the activist group Preserve the Burg, whose vision is to keep historically significant items from being replaced.
The proposal involves the demolition of several older buildings, which are used today as rentals to residential tenants on a month to month lease. The rent for these buildings is rather low, but not all 97 units are filled, though that may be because the owner made his plans to rebuild clear to the tenants last year. The reason for rebuilding is to increase the number of units from 97 to 270, and the owner has designed the project to include commercial space on the street level. The project does include 300 parking spaces inside the new structure.
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By St. Petersburg, FL Area News | Reconstructionist Radio Reformed Podcast NetworkSome Tyrants Lose, But We Still Pay
Host
Joshua Black
Description
The notes from Thursday's all day council meeting at city hall.
Listen
Transcript
Welcome to the 6th edition of the Saint Petersburg Florida Area News Podcast for the year 2019. I’m your host, Joshua Black, and, today, we will cover the city council meeting that took place on February 7, 2019.
When I entered the building around 8:40 AM, there was still a line at the security checkpoint downstairs. This is unusual for a morning meeting. I found out why when I made it upstairs.
But first we must note that council passed both Consent Agenda A and Consent Agenda B unanimously, minus the items pulled by Councilmember Ed Montanari, council vice chair for this year (from A, item 5, and from B, item 10). Actually, those pulled items passed unanimously, too, but after a full report from staff and questions from the council. Oddly, though, for consent agenda item A-5, the cost to the city of $500,000 was not mentioned in the summary. It was mentioned in the staff report. Unless you had read the backup material, you may not have noticed that except that Montanari had pulled it to reports.
All told, the Consent Agenda as passed spent $7.3M without a debate or a report.
But that’s not what brought so many people out this morning. Remember that the Health, Energy, Resiliency, & Sustainability (HERS) Committee Chair councilmember Darden Rice had made a big deal about trees, especially older trees before she left in the middle of the last meeting to drive to PSTA? All of the people not obligated to jobs that morning who supported her position were taking turns at the podiums during open forum speaking in favor of more government regulations, including mandates for private property, regarding trees.
After they finished, the next item was regarding another downtown redevelopment proposal, this time for the southeast corner of the intersection at 3rd Ave N and 5th Street, across the street from the MIrror Lake Library. The appeal of city approval for the proposal drew 45 cards and a court reporter, likely because the city is being sued by the Bezoo project for their denial of its application for approval. The leading opponent for this project was the activist group Preserve the Burg, whose vision is to keep historically significant items from being replaced.
The proposal involves the demolition of several older buildings, which are used today as rentals to residential tenants on a month to month lease. The rent for these buildings is rather low, but not all 97 units are filled, though that may be because the owner made his plans to rebuild clear to the tenants last year. The reason for rebuilding is to increase the number of units from 97 to 270, and the owner has designed the project to include commercial space on the street level. The project does include 300 parking spaces inside the new structure.