- February 12, 2025
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The City Commission will likely face a decision in a couple of months: Pay more to subsidize operators of the Nova Skate Court Concession, staff it with city employees or go back to the old days when it was unsupervised.
Birdstown Surf & Skate came to the city recently and notified them that even with the current $900 per month subsidy, they are financially unable to continue management of the court, according to Leisure Services Director Robert Carolin.
At their Aug. 3 meeting, the City Commission agreed to send out a request for proposals for someone to operate the park. The request calls for the park to be open seven days a week and states that the city may agree to a subsidy for the operation.
It’s possible that a company may make a proposal to run the park with a lower subsidy, but previous RFPs for the park have drawn few bids.
While waiting a few weeks for proposals, the city will pay Birdstown an increased subsidy of $8.15 per hour plus $250 weekly administrative costs, with a maximum weekly cost of $650.
It’s unlikely the commission will want to return to the days when it was unsupervised.
“I walked by there the other night,” said Commissioner Bill Partington. “The kids were dressed appropriately. I did not hear any foul language, unlike what it was like before.”
Partington said he supported the resolution to pay Birdstown the increased fee in the interim because the park provides a way for the young people to occupy their time.
City Manager Joyce Shanahan said that with supervision, the younger kids are able to skate and it’s a “controlled environment.”
Commissioner Rick Boehm said he would like to see the $250 administrative fee broken down to see what they were paying for, and Assistant City Manager Ted Macleod said he could get those figures.
Commissioner Troy Kent said he had “heartburn” on paying an increased subsidy.
“We hoped someone would run it and give us something back but then we had to pay $900 a month — and now more.”
But Kent also said he didn’t want the park to go back to the way it was before.
“It was a pain in the side to the police department,” he said.
Mayor Ed Kelley said the commission can hope another company will come in with a proposal.
“Maybe, in a couple of weeks, we’ll have more options,” he said.
The city is going to give a cell tower at the airport another try which would likely improve wireless telephone and internet service at the airport, Airport Business Park and nearby areas.
The City Commission has authorized a lease agreement with Nextower Development Group LLC for a small portion of airport property located in the Civil Air Patrol leasehold property.
In 2014, the city executed a similar agreement with a company called Towercom for a tower site, but the lease ended in January after Towercom was unable to find carriers, and a tower was never built.
Now, Nextower, a Florida-based company, has the opportunity to find carriers and build a tower for wireless communication on the 0.05 acre site. The company has significant experience working with airports, according to a report from city staff to the City Commission..
If a tower is built, it would be a monopole design, which are the least intrusive and easily erected, and it would need to conform to Land Development Code guidelines. The FAA and Florida Department of Transportation would forbid the tower to be camouflaged because of its proximity to the airport. However, towers that are not camouflaged are easier to maintain and produce greater signal penetration, which may reduce the need for additional towers within the city limits, according to the report.
Sometimes, when towers are built, people object to the appearance. However, in this instance, the airport is relatively remote and is not expected to raise any objection.
City staff contacted nearby business owners and airport tenants and received overwhelming support for the installation of a cell tower at the proposed airport location. Another benefit is that the city would receive revenue which would go to the airport fund.
