"What's the rush?" Pensacola leaders question Escambia's $90 million proposal
Pensacola’s mayor and other city leaders are concerned about Escambia County’s plan to spend up to $90 million on an indoor sports facility and improvements to the Pensacola Bay Center, saying the Tourist Development Council’s (TDC) decision to rush the vote on the project left the city without a say in a big decision that will have ramifications for decades.
Escambia’s Board of County Commissioners will now make the final decision on the spending proposal, and city leaders are urging the board to wait until more stakeholders can weigh in on the project that will tie up some county tourism dollars for the next 30 years.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves talked about the issue during his weekly conference at Pensacola City Hall on Tuesday morning. When asked if he believes the city has enough of a say in such a big project, the mayor said “probably not.”
Big spender: Despite pushback, TDC approves $90 million for indoor sports hall and Bay Center upgrade
The TDC approved the expenditure at its special board meeting on Sept. 9. The council recommended Escambia County issue an up-to-$90 million bond for multiple projects. Most of the bond money would go to an indoor sports facility in Gonzalez, with a price tag of up to $60 million, and at least $30 million in improvements to the Pensacola Bay Center, but the board also approved $1 million to acquire the ocean liner SS United States, and another $350,000 for the pop-culture convention Pensacon, in other tax revenue.
Only six of the nine board members attended the special meeting when the vote was taken, and two board members, Jim Reeves and Mitesh Patel, voted against the proposal. That left four members to make the call on the $90 million decision with Chairman David Bear, Escambia Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, as well as businesswoman Shirley Cronley, and Ronald Rivera with the Escambia Sheriff’s Office all supporting it.
The TDC first took up the proposal at its regular meeting at the end of August, but that meeting ran long and the board lost quorum when members left. The special meeting was scheduled to pick up where they left off, but it was scheduled at the same time as a Pensacola City Council meeting. That left the city’s two representatives, City Council members Teniadé Broughton and Casey Jones unable to be there when the vote was taken.
Broughton was there for the first part of the discussion but had to leave before discussion on the issue ended. Prior to the meeting she said she asked TDC Chair David Bear about rescheduling the meeting because of the conflict but he told her that wouldn’t work. During the special meeting, she asked Bear to move the item up in the agenda so she could be there for it, but she had to leave before the vote was taken.
She said she’s concerned that the city’s voice isn’t represented since the decision was made without either city council member present. She and other city leaders say Pensacola has a stake in the decision, too, because they also contribute to tourism and the dollars the county collects for it.
“I don't know what the county's going to vote for, but I still want the TDC board to be treated as seriously as if it had the authority of a county vote,” Broughton said. “I want our county commissioners to know that they can trust us, but I don't think that they can trust that the people were heard because two of the representatives from the city limits were gone that day.”
Several other community leaders including developer and TDC board member Jim Reeves, Visit Pensacola CEO and President Darien Schaefer, and Innisfree Hotels President and CEO Ted Ent all asked the TDC board to wait until more stakeholders could weigh in on the pricey proposal. Among their concerns is the lack of time the board and others had to review the sports facility study that was commissioned by Escambia County and only focused on building it at Ashton-Brosnaham Park within Escambia County Commission Board Chair Steven Barry’s district. The study was only provided on request after it first came up at the TDC’s August meeting.
They also expressed concern about tying up the county’s “fifth cent” dollars – the bed tax dollars the county is proposing to use to fund the sports facility and Bay Center improvement projects – for 30 years. The move would leave Visit Pensacola without extra dollars for destination development and to create new facilities or renovate existing facilities that have the potential to generate significant visitor impact for Escambia County, including a long sought after conference center for the county. Despite their concerns, the TDC board passed the proposal.
Besides the lack of input, Broughton said she’s also concerned about the location of the indoor facility being so far north off 10 Mile Road and questions if that’s the best location. She supports funding to improve the Bay Center and wonders why more time and planning hasn’t been given to exploring the idea of building a conference center and indoor sports facility closer to the economic and cultural hub of the city.
“I didn't know until after it was presented to us that we even had the option to consider the city being a location because the study was done for the county out in Commissioner (Barry’s) district. I never knew that it (included) anything for the possibility of it being in the city limits,” Broughton said.
She and Reeves also say they’d like to see the county wait until after the election in November to make the decision when at least two new county commission board members will be installed. Escambia Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, who supports the proposal, lost during the primary election. A new commissioner for District 4, a seat that is currently vacant, will also be elected.
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Mayor D.C. Reeves says the issue has highlighted an ongoing concern that the city does not have enough administrative representation on boards like TDC and the Pensacola-Escambia Promotion and Development Commission (PEDC), which make significant financial decisions concerning the county and city.
“The example I've been using is the SS United States issue,” Reeves said at the press conference. “If a decision is made to spend money on that, well, I'm assuming unless there's another port close by, there's probably going to be a heavy involvement with the Port of Pensacola. And whatever happens with that boat, if it were to come here, and to not have a voice there that would be involved in any way in day-to-day operations with the city, to me, means there is a gap.”
Escambia County is considering buying the ocean liner, SS United States, for about $8 million and sinking it in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef. Reeves said the $90 million indoor sports facility/Bay Center proposal is another reason he wants to explore the possibility of adding a mayoral appointment or additional representation on the TDC.
“I'm not sure that there's a huge upside for the city of Pensacola when we're talking about being the mayor of these 39 square miles,” Reeves said referring to the sports facility. “I'm not against the idea of a project, but I certainly have questions about what its value to the city is given the proposed location that's being discussed now. I think Visit Pensacola would tell you, I think hoteliers would all agree that that is a missing asset that we have: convention space. I would want to make sure that was done right and if that is the right thing to do, we should build a business case for it.”
Escambia's Board of County Commissioners will make the final decision about the indoor sports facility and Bay Center improvements proposal.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County $90 million proposal frustrates Pensacola leaders
