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City Canal Plan Is Necessary And Fair

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By MICHAEL WEIGNER

Published: November 15, 2007

Much has been written about the waterway management plan to dredge the residential canals in Tampa. As the Co-Chairman of Tampa Canal Preservation & Restoration, I have personally worked with waterfront neighbors and the city to create this plan and would like to answer the most common objections.

1. "The city should pay..." We agree! Unfortunately marching down to city council with our buckets of muck, pointing at them and saying, "This is your fault!" hasn't gotten one cubic yard of sediment removed from anyone's canal; and some have been at this for decades. The majority of the waterfront residents have shown a willingness to partner with the city in the cost to get this done. Tampa's plan is a reasonable compromise and similar to what many other waterfront communities have done successfully around the state.

2. "I can't afford this..." Tampa CPR has worked hard to create payment options for the estimated $8,000 to suit the needs of all property owners. These include up-front payment in full, financing over 20 years, or 100 percent deferral, with interest, until the property is sold. As is the case with any home improvement expense, the least expensive way to go is cash up front, but that doesn't mean those who will pay interest expense won't have a great return on their dredging investment.

Although this project is not about increasing property values as some of the opposed have claimed, we certainly feel that the project will pay for itself in increased property values, and some feel that it would pay for itself many times over.

3. "I don't need dredging..." The city overestimated who would be included in this project to reduce the possibility that anyone would be disenfranchised. Residents who received a letter stating that they are "possibly affected" would be later confirmed via professional survey in early 2008 that they do or do not meet the level of service (LOS) of 3 feet at mean low water.

Those who say that they are being included only to pay for the dredging on other canals could not be more wrong. If they meet the LOS then they are considered to have adequate depth and will not be included in the assessment. If they do not meet the LOS, but they and a majority of their canal neighbors feel that they do not want to be included, they can opt out of the program and will not be part of the assessment.

4. "The federal grant money is not for this..." This position has been mainly promoted by the Sunset Park Area Homeowner's Association. A few members of the SPAHA board objected to the waterway management plan and its use of the $1.3 million federal environmental grant. City staff spoke at a SPAHA meeting on Jan. 10, 2006 to clarify the issue, read the grant language, and give the city attorney's opinion as to how the grant could be used.

So I guess it boils down to this: attorneys, city of Tampa officials, EPA officials and investigative reporters have all failed to produce any evidence that this grant was obtained exclusively for a few select bodies of water. Do we continue down this road of unproductive (and sometimes underhanded) infighting between the residents, or do we move forward with a plan that will clean up our waterways and make Tampa a better place to live? Tampa CPR is working hard towards the latter.

Tampa CPR sincerely hopes city council will keep the public hearing date on the schedule for December 18. On that date council will be called upon to vote to proceed with the democratic process and meet the end-of-year deadline to notify the property appraiser that the city may be using the uniform methods of collection for waterways capital and maintenance. Future public hearings will be held to determine whether or not to complete the project, which homes or canals will be included or excluded and what property owners will be asked to pay.

Michael Weigner is co-chairman of Tampa Canal Preservation and Restoration.

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