Siesta Key, Gulf Gate Library Projects Move Forward

Sarasota County Commissioners Wednesday afternoon made a fundamental decision about the long-delayed Gulf Gate Library. And they and asked staff to figure out how to accelerate the Siesta Key Beach project.

For different reasons, both have suffered money problems. The library project was funded, then de-funded, then re-funded over the past seven years. The beach project is tied to dwindling receipts from the local option sales tax, with about half the funding budgeted in fiscal year 2024. No, that’s not a typo. 

Gulf Gate Library is not the biggest in the county system but it is the most active, boasting the largest circulation of all the libraries. It opened in 1973, moved twice and found it’s current home on Gulf Gate Drive in 1983. In 2004, planning began for a new building. But the funding was raided for other projects, then later restored. 

In April consultants began evaluating more than 300 potential sites for the new library. These were cut back to 38, and then 10 finalists. The winner was picked Wednesday afternoon – the site of the existing library. 

To meet the space requirements, the new building will feature two levels. Isaac Brownman with public works said he hopes to have the new library open “in the latter half of 2013.” In the coming months, he said the county will decide if it wants to lease space temporarily to relocate the books and facilities, or simply tear half the building down, build the new half and then switch things around.

Commission Chair Nora Patterson was pleased the long-stalled project is about to get under way. “At one point, all the funding was there. Then at some point, it was zeroed out. It was a very unusual giving and taking away of dollars,” she said.

The same might be said about the Siesta Key Beach improvement project. It’s now estimated to cost about $21.5 million. But the funding mechanism – the one-cent local option sales tax – isn’t producing the money as expected. To compensate, county staffers carved the project into four phases. The last phase, where $9 million would be used, won’t start until fiscal year 2024, more than a decade from now.

Thanks to “Dr. Beach’s” declaration that Siesta is the , the island is having a banner tourist year. Commissioners are anxious to maintain the facility, and uneasy with the idea the upgrade plans will drag on and on. 

Commissioner Joe Barbetta suggested the county could use bonds to get the money up front instead of accumulating all those single pennies of sales tax. “We’ve got a great credit rating, construction costs are low, and job creation is important,” he said. “You could bond it and compress the construction.”

That could be tricky. State law requires governments to have the money before they sign contracts. And at least one commissioner – Christine Robinson – balked at Barbetta’s bonding idea. “I don’t have a whole lot of appetite for more borrowing right now,” she said.

With the fluctuating fate of the Gulf Gate Library in mind, Patterson said, “Let’s make sure we don’t bankrupt some other projects. Staff should show us what’s possible. There are other projects that could be affected. We’ve robbed a lot of money that was supposed to subsidize the Phillipi Creek [sewer expansion], which is going dead slow right now.”

Spencer Anderson with public works said staff would come back with a series of ideas – including the use of bonds – that could be used to compress the construction schedule. In the meantime, Anderson will move ahead with a related-but-separate part of the beach project, creating a stormwater treatment facility at the eastern edge of the public beach property. The permits and money for that effort are in hand.