Tequesta Notes
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Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Tequesta Park
A New Resolution
Lock in sports tourism and lock out what residents want
On Friday, September 3, the village administration posted another agenda with another proposed resolution concerning Tequesta Park. Apparently the Council intends to vote on this new agenda item Thursday, September 9. Mayor Frank D'Ambra is doubling down on his terrible plan. If you are wondering, wait didn't they just vote on a resolution, you are correct.
The new resolution would lock in the concept of making Tequesta Park a regional sports tourism destination and confer to the village manager discretion to modify the design superficially and only within the constraints of that concept. (See Council Agenda 9 Sept. 2021.) Both of these provisions in the resolution are totally unacceptable to voters in the village because these provisions prevent voters from having a meaningful opportunity to consider the consequences of the proposed design or possible alternatives. The mayor's plan would impose on the village a concept that was not developed in consultation with residents and which does not prioritize residents or our unique, high quality, local businesses but rather narrow outside interests of a homogenized national economy. The sports tourism concept does not protect the distinct character of Tequesta but rather would further blend the village into the surrouding development blob that everyone here seeks to escape. As explained previously, there has been no serious study to support the proposal and no meaningful public discussion of critical aspects of the plan or of possible alternatives. The mayor's plan is not even based in any kind of study of what residents want for Tequesta Park. None of these fatal defects to the mayor's plan has been remedied in the slightest.
Please email Molly Young (myoung@tequesta.org) and Kyle Stone (kstone@tequesta.org) and ask them to oppose the new resolution. You might email Mr D'Ambra and Mr Prince just to give them notice. Laurie Brandon has been consistently reasonable and has consistently voted the right way on all the issues connected with this plan, but no harm in thanking Ms Brandon for prioritizing the residents and local small businesses and the long term interests of the village. (Emails listed below.)
Residents Last
Tequesta residents have never been a priority for the mayor's plan to make Tequesta Park a regional sports tourism destination. If you look at the resolution you will see how it proposes to prevent residents from determining what is the right way forward for Tequesta Park.
In addition to locking down the concept so that no alternative possibilities can be considered and in placing the discretion of design modifications with the village manager (who has voiced support for the sports tourism concept), you will see that residents (voters!) are relegated to a minor position alongside "staff" and other "stakeholders." This is yet another example of the administration's failure to understand the right ordering in the governance of this village. The staff are employed to implement what residents want, not the other way around. Residents and local small businesses are not here simply to accommodate staff preferences. The priority here should be what residents want. Not staff and not other stakeholders. Especially in a project that is so substantial.
The Council are not prioritizing what residents want. They are doing the opposite.
The Maintenance Costs Joke
You will also recall that in their initial foray into this proposal adventure, the proponents of this plan estimated that the annual maintenance costs for their concept design would be on the order of $600,000 per year even omitting some obvious expenses (see prior articles on this at All Notes). This turns out to be a huge cost over the term of the lease that the Council has given negligible consideration to. Unsurprisingly they have sought to scale back on that estimate. But they have done this without any credible data or analysis.
On the very last page in the current agenda packet (page 19), you will see that they are now listing as maintenance costs $263,700 without any explanation or discussion or analysis. There is a disclaimer noting that this estimate could be different from what the true cost might turn out to be.
It is pretty clear how the proponents came up with this number also. They appear to have backed into it by pro-rating a figure close to what they are asking from the state, approximately $9,000,000, over the term of the lease. They want to be able to tell the Florida legislature that the village will be matching the state funds because this is a key requirement that the legislature will be looking at in the application. But it also means that this number has no credibility at all as a realistic estimate of the maintenance costs to village taxpayers. It is contrived for the application.
A starting point for thinking about maintenance costs is the current annual maintenance costs of $132,000 (see also agenda packet page 19). The proposed concept would require much more maintenance (there is more structure) and much more intensive maintenance.
Moreover, in the village manager's own words, the current state of the park is "neglected." Others have spoken of "disrepair." Even the natural spaces have not been properly maintained at all and there is a need for the careful removal of invasive species for example. So there is no way that the new estimate would be sufficient to cover the proper maintenance of tournament standard fields for a regional sports tourism destination. This is yet another instance of frivolity in a persistently deficient process to push this plan on the village. Either the number is pure nonsense or their maintenance will continue to be negligent.
Anyone on the Council who supports this resolution will not be able subsequently to make a credible claim to the following common election promises: 1) to care about fiscal prudence; 2) to care about prioritizing the interests of residents and of small local businesses; 3) to care about protecting the unique character and safety of the village; and 4) to care about making thoughtful decisions based on reliable information.
Please email Kyle Stone and Molly Young in particular and ask them to honor their election campaign commitments. It should be easy for them to oppose this resolution. In the past they have said that they need good information to make decisions but there is no credible information here on fundamental questions for moving forward with this plan that this resolution would burden the village with: the concept did not come from consulting with residents; there was no study of what residents want; there has been no careful study of possible alternative plans; there has been no meaningful study and discussion of maintenance costs; there has been no return on investment analysis; there has been no consideration of possible environmental harms. All of this matters a lot because we believe that this plan is grievously deficient in important respects that most voters care about but this process is making it impossible for them to consider the options.
Thursday's vote on the mayor's latest Tequesta Park resolution will show the village who on the Council is serious about prioritizing residents and fiscal prudence and who is there to play political games.
The right way forward here is simple: vote against the new resolution, stop this process, and start over beginning with what the residents of the village want in Tequesta Park.
Email the Council
You can email the Council at these addresses below. Please tell them that you oppose the proposed design and you oppose the process under which it has been imposed on the village.
→ Email Kyle Stone (kstone@tequesta.org) and Molly Young (myoung@tequesta.org). Tell them to honor their campaign commitments and oppose this resolution.
→ Please also email Laurie Brandon lbrandon@tequesta.org and thank her for prioritizing the residents and small local businesses of the village.
→ Email Mayor Frank D’Ambra fdambra@tequesta.org and Bruce Prince bprince@tequesta.org and let them know you oppose their plan.
If you have any questions, please send us a note at hello@TequestaNotes.org.
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