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Council To Vote On Cross Bar Ranch Sale

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By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Pasco County officials made a final pitch to a state committee Thursday in Tallahassee in their bid to buy the Cross Bar Ranch from Pinellas County and dedicate the property to conservation.

The state's Florida Forever Acquisition and Restoration Council is set to vote this morning on adding the 12,500-acre ranch in central Pasco to its purchase list and to rank it among more than 100 other projects.

Pinellas County Utilities bought the land in segments in 1976 and '89, and excavated 17 wells during the height of the regional "water wars" that saw counties and cities competing for freshwater sources. The wells once provided close to 30 million gallons per day to Pinellas residents. Pumping has been reduced by about half and now is controlled by Tampa Bay Water.

Appraisals have not been conducted recently, but the county property appraiser's office has Cross Bar assessed at about $176 million. The ranch has no restrictions on development other than on about 25 acres where the wells sit.

Rene
Brown, Pasco's environmental lands program manager, said Thursday that the local delegation that pitched the purchase is optimistic. The group included three county commissioners, County Administrator John Gallagher and Pinellas County Utilities Director Pick Talley.

Officials from the state Division of Forestry and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission expressed interest in managing the land if Pasco buys it.

Pinellas officials say they want to sell to Pasco. But if the deal fell through they would sell to developers. Pinellas needs $70 million to expand its utility systems, and the sale of Cross Bar would offset those costs, Talley has said.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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