BRADENTON – For 20 years there has been talk of a county pool north of the river in Palmetto. Much has happened since then: a recession, a shrinking budget, etc. Somehow, through all of the struggles, thousands of houses have been built and the promise for a pool moved to just a couple of miles from Parrish.
At Tuesday's meeting, Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith said he first heard about a pool back in the '90s. Smith said he grew up not having a place to swim, but there were a few pools scattered throughout the county south of the river. Smith said that when he was a member of the Palmetto City Commission, the promise came from county officials to build the next public pool would be in Palmetto.
Smith said it was in 2004 when it appeared a Palmetto pool just might become a reality. Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore said it didn't happen because Commissioner (and TBT publisher) Joe McClash changed the plans, pushing the pool plan back, and then she said the recession hit and the idea was no longer on the drawling board.
But at Tuesday's meeting, all of the commissioners–most weren't commissioners then–had less than a faint memory of it being proposed for Palmetto. They only remembered that the pool was supposed to be built 'north of the river.'
The commission had just watched a presentation of a site plan that proposed an 'Aquatic Facility' at Buffalo Creek Park, east of U.S. 41 and a few miles out of Parrish. The 5-acre site would be set between a county golf course and down the street from a junior high school off 69th Street East; almost 10 miles from Palmetto.
County Commissioner Larry Bustle, once Palmetto Mayor, said he only remembered talking about a Palmetto pool once, and that the other time a pool was discussed, it was identified as a pool "north of the river, not Palmetto." Bustle said, "This is an aquatic facility, not the same as a pool."
That not only produced a few laughs, but it infuriated Commissioner Smith. "It was always going to be a pool in Palmetto." Smith shot back. "If you build that pool out there, Palmetto will never get a pool." Smith said there are kids in Palmetto that have never been in a pool, "You say you want a facility that will focus on swimming lessons and drowning prevention. 6 out of 10 African American children can't swim, don't tell me that."
Smith said the facility will be too far for anyone to travel from Palmetto without a car, and voiced frustration that they'd only been told of the item a couple of days before the meeting.
Commissioners Benac, Baugh and Whitmore said that they too remembered the plan to be a pool north of the river, and only an occasional reference to it being located in Palmetto, but would entertain it being located in Palmetto if there was a place that didn't require using county funds.
The Buffalo Creek location is owned by the county, and the discussion made it clear that not only would Buffalo Creek have land but the facility's cost would come from impact fees, of which could not be the case if the facility was built in Palmetto. County Administrator Ed Hunzeker consistently made it clear that impact fees could not pay for the facility if built in Palmetto.
Enter Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant. Bryant stepped up to the podium and said, "Not all that was said here today is true. I can show you the memo that describes how the ball field was built at Blackstone Park where much of the cost came from county impact fees." Bryant said the county helps to facilitate the other pools in the county's municipality, but leaves Palmetto to fend for themselves, and she said it is something she is getting tired of.
Blackstone Park is where both Smith and Bryant proposed the new pool be built. Commissioner DiSabatino had also suggested the facility be built at Blackstone park throughout the discussion and got the same answer: not with impact fees. But Mayor Bryant brought the conversation to a halt with her game-changer, "I have it in writing."
County Attorney Bill Clague approached the podium and said he wrote the contract that included the language that described how impact fees could pay for much of the facility if built in Palmetto, and that it would take some time to construct.
The room seemed full of backpedaling and embarrassment as commissioners tried to push the proposal to a work session so to reevaluate the project. Chairwoman Baugh said she was extremely disappointed with the administration for misleading her and others to the falsehood in effort to control where the park was built. "I hate being misled," said Baugh.
The item is back on the drawling board to a work session, date to be announced.
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