Editor's Note: The New Smyrna Beach City Commission meets 6:30 tonight at City Hall to discuss the possible sale of the Angler's Club waterfront property on the North Causeway that has become a tug of war between citizens and the private organization as to the net worth of the acreage that was consumated in the mid-1940s with a 99-year lease with the city for the public-owned property for a paltry sum. NSBNEWS.net has posted blogger Palmer Wilson's take on the issue here on the home page as well as his customary spot on the Opinion page because ogf the importance of the issue. NSBNEWS.net has not taken a stand on the issue either way.
Well I see it is August and time for the City Commission to sneak things through on a packed agenda when most of the citizens are on vacation or just out of town. If you wade halfway through the 417 pages of the Aug. 10 agenda you will find a ridiculously low-ball offer from the Angler’s Club to buy the property that has been the center of debate for over 18 months.
They want to buy it for a bargain basement price of $795,000.00 at the unheard of interest of 5%.
And get this: They want you, the taxpayer, to hold the note and wait for the money as they stretch out payments over the remaining 396 months.
What a deal, for the 90 members of the Angler’s Club only, of course. This property was recently appraised at well over $2 million in the bottom of a depressed real estate market, something that Commissioner Judy Reiker should be keenly aware of, and a neighbor property, known locally as the “Boat Barn” was recently sold for over $2 million under default conditions by the bank holding the note, an obvious depressed sale.
And it did not have either the improvements or the number of slips that the Angler’s Club property has. Amazingly, no one asked the taxpayer to hold the note.
But then, this is the Angler’s Club whose 90 or so members have never publicly stood up and defended their position on the contested lease, leaving all public comment to Mr. Mike Brewer, a member and attorney.
These are the same citizens that actively backed Ms. Reiker’s election with their funds, and in fact, one member was her campaign manager. This is the same club that Commissioner Jack Grasty has lauded while prancing around the City Commission head table with a large black notebook, extolling the virtues of chicken dinners and scholarships that no one has ever seen a list of.
And the same club, that Commissioner Jim Hathaway seems to favor in his words and lack of support to demand an equitable and market value lease that favors the taxpayers and not the club or to seek a declaratory judgment; a club that has paid only $25.00 a year for over 66 years. That’s right, $25 per year for a property worth millions.
As this property sits smack in the middle of the harbor crescent and will certainly be a linchpin of any future development there when the economy improves, I have been in favor of retaining this property in the hands of the taxpayer to further that development. I have also stated, in this blog and at the Commission meetings, that I harbor no ill-will toward the Angler’s Club, have no special agenda against them, and would not be opposed to their continued presence on the property under a revised lease with the City.
But I have also made it clear that any new lease with the City would have to be at market rates and contain a non-discrimination clause that mirrors that already required by both the State submerged land lease and requirements mandated by the SBA, under which they obtained the City guaranteed SBA loan after the hurricanes. In addition, hat lease would certainly have to provide the City with the flexibility to respond to any development overtures.
That met, I have further stated that should economic development force a move of their activities to another site on the river, that the City do all it can to ensure they are relocated to surroundings that facilitate their recreational activities and provides dockage for their boats.
That kind of solution would respond to their needs as club members and recognize their status as citizens also.
This issue is plain and simple an economic and fairness one; that the taxpayer’s receive fair and market rate returns on their investments, in this case the Angler’s Club property.
So we will see Tuesday on whose side the City Commission casts their vote; for a special interest group of 90 people without “public faces” or for the taxpayers they work for and have a responsibility to mind the public purse of as they carry the burden of their lack of fiscal constraint.
You should attend Tuesday and let the elected ones know who pays their salary. I would, but I am writing this from out of the country on business and will not be back in time. I hope the public wins this one for if it does not, it will only add to the litany of poor public service that we have seen lately with the DCA mess and the losses in the courts that are costing the taxpayer’s money to correct the actions of a few employees and officials that have not acted in the public interest. And that is on top of a refusal to cut spending and reduce the budget. See you next time. Palmer