In the BOCC meeting held on Oct 6, the commissioners voted to prepare a new purchase contract for the county to buy the Gulf Harbors golf course. The instruction given by Commissioner Starkey to staff was to remove the contingency in the previous contract that required that an MSBU be passed by a vote of the homeowners in Gulf Harbors. So the new MSBU would be passed only by a vote of the commissioners, not the citizens that would end up paying for it.
Commissioner Starkey acknowledged that the property was remediated at the expense of the owner, which is correct, but went on to say that there would be a park on that site. The only problem with that statement is that the remediation done by the owner was to a level that would permit passive activity only, as stipulated by the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection. It is unclear what that would allow the golf course to be used for, other than leaving it in its current state. It is very likely that any improvements made would require further remediation, which after the county’s purchase would become a cost charged to the MSBU, which means all of us in GH.
It was also stated at the meeting that the county’s purchase would allow the golf course to be used for the dredging spoils, which confirms the statements made in the GBA dredging study, which can be seen under the Dredging tab here: https://gulfharborsunited.org/dredging/gba-dredging-study-sept-2020
The county commissioners will be voting on the new purchase contract at the BOCC meeting to be held on Oct. 20 at the Government Center on Citizen’s Road in New Port Richey. If you wish to have your voices heard on this matter, please show up.
