COLUMN: Far from free parking: Land purchase should not pass go

As a citizen of Destin, I often watch the Destin City Council meetings on Tuesday evenings on Cox TV Channel 6. I was particularly interested in the Nov. 16 meeting as our church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal, had a proposal to lease its parking lot to the city of Destin for a parking garage.

I found several issues questionable:  

•No. 1:  At the City Council’s prior meeting they had directed the city manager to obtain an independent financial analysis from Carr Riggs and Ingram for the two parking options, basically asking the staff to determine if it was a better financial decision to purchase the Clancy land for $3.12 million or to lease the St. Andrews parking lot across the street beginning at $52,000 per year, and escalating up to $100,000 over the 50-year lease period.  

The net present value analysis performed by the accountants advised the City Council that they would save $800,000 by leasing the St. Andrew’s Parking lot. The City Council voted 3-2 to purchase the Clancy property instead of following the recommendation of the financial analysis to save taxpayer money.

I believe that is my money as a taxpayer that they are deciding to spend unnecessarily.

•No. 2: They had a contract to purchase the Clancy property last year for $3.12 million and the closing date was in June of this past year. The seller did not appear at the closing, and did not ask for an extension to the contract.  In my mind, that means the contract no longer existed.  The city did not pursue any remedies available to them under the law.

I believe that is my money, and my best interests were not protected following the seller not “showing up” for the closing.

•No. 3: The city councilors voted 3-2 to purchase the Clancy property and to close on Dec. 30, 2009 without “wasting any additional time or money on further study” of the decision, specifically ignoring their right to have the property reappraised and the price adjusted DOWNWARD in order to take into consideration the real estate financial collapse that has occurred in Destin and nationwide. The property is probably worth $300,000 to $500,000 less than it was worth last year when it was appraised.

I believe that is my money that is being expended foolishly, and I would like to see the city councilors be a little more discerning and a little less wasteful in their decisions.

•No. 4: One of the city councilors tried to discuss the city's purpose in becoming land barons versus providing government services to the citizens. I believe it was then that another city councilor made statements to the effect that “in her opinion it was better to own than to lease” and pointed to “her personal philosophy.”

I'm not really interested in city councilors who tell me about their “personal opinions” or their “personal philosophy.” We need people on the City Council concerned with making decisions that are best for the community, and providing necessary services to the community.  

We are not trying to create some portfolio of real estate wealth.  

The good news is there is still time to scramble around and reverse this poor decision. I am asking all citizens of Destin to contact the City Council and have them reconsider their wasteful voting of our tax dollars.  They vote on

spending our money, we vote them in or out of office.

E-mail council@cityofdestin.com to make your opinion known.

Joyce Waters-Smith is a longtime Destin resident, who has served on multiple city committees.