STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Local News

• Marco Island may name new police chief Monday
• Marco to loan Hideaway Beach $1.6 million
• Congressman Connie Mack talks politics on Marco

Share and Enjoy [?]

State-ordered budget cuts probably have dashed plans to establish a city-sponsored teen center in the near future on Marco Island, the city’s parks director says.

With a viable space for the center now located, a negotiated lease in hand and the city planning board’s recent approval of a conditional-use permit, the parks director thought providing island youth their own safe, supervised place to spend time after school and during the summer might finally become a reality.

But when City Manager Bill Moss makes budget recommendations to the City Council later this summer, he won’t ask that money be set aside for the center, Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza said.

“It’s disappointing for our department, for a committee that’s worked long and hard and for the teenagers,” Souza said. “When you have the kind of state legislation that was passed recently, these are the things that typically get cut. People think it’s nice to have a dedicated teen center, but that it’s not necessarily an essential service.”

In June, the Florida Legislature passed a property tax cut for all local governments, requiring cities and counties to roll back tax rates to 2006 levels and make further cuts based on spending increases during the past five years. In recent weeks, Marco officials learned the reforms equate to a 9 percent cut in city spending for 2008.

If the council decides to add the teen center to next year’s budget, cuts likely will have to be made in other areas.

Councilwoman Terri DiSciullo said she will suggest the city find money for the teen center when the council meets for its next budget workshop in August.

“I can’t say exactly where right now, but I think there will be other items we can cut, like tree planting,” said DiSciullo, who has been one of the center’s biggest proponents. “I suggested some places we could cut from the capital improvements budget at our last workshop, but I didn’t get support from the other council members. Now that we’ve gotten the tax reform, maybe they’ll look at it again.”

“I think it’s up to discussion, but we’ll have to look at what the priority for the teen center is and what the priority is for other items,” Councilman Bill Trotter said. “It’s a pretty tight budget and we have to look at the totality of all the programs.”

A teen center is an idea that has been discussed for at least six years.

In 2001, a special panel on teenage affairs recommended that the city establish a center and in 2005 a center again was recommended as part of an expansion of city facilities included in the Mackle Park master plan. Funding for that space won’t be available until at least 2011.

Last August, the city began looking for a property to lease as a temporary teen center, first targeting space in the Publix Plaza at San Marco Road and South Barfield Drive.

Funding for leasing the site and hiring staff was approved at $150,000 for fiscal 2007, but the deal fell through when owners of the property decided to renovate and look for retail tenants instead.

Another space was located nearby, but that deal also fell apart after the property’s owners, Calusa Properties, decided updating the air-conditioning would be too costly.

“We’ve been looking at properties for a year or more,” said Pat Reese, a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee that was asked to locate a space. “You have to be careful because there are all kinds of issues. You can’t be too close to a bar or liquor store, you can’t have kids crossing a busy street all the time and you have to make sure people in the neighborhood are OK with it.”

The latest site fit the city’s requirements, Reese said.

It is a first-floor space on North Collier Boulevard, beneath a second floor tae kwan do studio. At 3,600 square feet, the facility could provide teenagers with lounge and game areas and enough room for dances and other large events.

The space would cost the city $66,000 in the first year, with yearly increases tied to the consumer price index, not to exceed 5 percent, Souza said. The proposed lease would be for three years, and the city would have the option to extend for three one-year periods.

Currently, the city organizes teen trips to places like bowling alleys, skating rinks, athletic events and movie theaters. Teens also gather for programs and special events at Mackle Park, where as many as 80 to 120 teens show up for larger events like dances, Souza said.

“We do have a good turnout when we schedule events, but it would be nice if we didn’t always have to check the calendar and make sure we can find an open space somewhere,” Reese said. “We need a place where the kids can hang out on a daily basis, a place to call their own.”

Souza said an advertised opening to staff the teen center wouldn’t be filled. The conditional-use permit for the property still will be sent to City Council for final approval so that part of the process will be complete if the city finds money to enter the lease.

In the meantime, he will look into finding more space for island teens, possibly at Mackle Park or in partnership with another organization like the YMCA or the island’s new charter school.

Contact correspondent Pete Bishop at lpbishop@comcast.net