BRADENTON – The county has a chance to acquire 200 acres of land from the Robinson family, commissioners were told Tuesday morning, but without a funding mechanism, it may not happen.
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Manatee County Commissioners were told that the parcel of land next to the 487-acre Robinson Preserve was slated to be used as a golf course and country club in a home development, said Charlie Hunsicker, the head of the Natural Resources Department. But while they have the approved plans for the houses and golf facility, they want to sell the golf course land to the county while keeping the land for 20 home sites.
”They have indicated they're willing to work with the county,“ Hunsicker said, ”for a financing plan, or payment options or a partnership with private-public sector partners,“ but they want a decision by the spring.
It’s a ”once-in-a-lifetime“ chance, he said.
The challenge would be to find a funding mechanism, and Commissioner Ron Getman said he couldn’t see using any county money to pay for land when the county will have a deficit this year.
”We can't think of purchasing a property with taxpayer dollars when we have so few dollars to go around,“ he said. ”If it's grant funding, it's a great opportunity.“
County Administrator Ed Hunzeker said it may be premature to talk about money. ”We haven’t negotiated anything yet, you know, how much, when, what terms“ he said. ”The idea was just for Charlie to brief you about the opportunity. We'd have a discussion with them of terms, conditions and costs later. At this point in time, we have no way to pay for it.“
In that case, Getman asked, why move forward with it?
Hunzeker said they’re willing to continue to talk with the Robinsons, and County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who chaired the worksession, said since the Robinsons don’t have any plans for the land for the next few years, maybe part of the negotiations could be to not buy the property right away.
She said she wanted to see it on the next board agenda to vote to move forward with negotiations.
”This is probably an opportunity, as Charlie said, that we’ll never get,“ Whitmore said.
Hunzeker said it didn’t require any board actions, but they’ll be back to the board when there’s more information.
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