The Safety Harbor City Commission voted unanimously 5-0 on Aug. 17 to negotiate and sign a purchase agreement of up to $500,000 for a property at 2157 Railroad Ave. The vote does not finalize a sale, but allows city staff to move forward toward potentially acquiring the land for a planned Public Works campus expansion and future emergency operations facility.
The decision followed an initial 5-0 vote at the Aug. 3 meeting, where commissioners first authorized city staff to open formal negotiations with property owner Kevin King.
The 0.66-acre parcel sits directly south of the entrance to the Public Works complex and is surrounded by city-owned land on three sides.
The city’s interest in the site dates to September 2018, when the commission approved a $350,000 agreement to purchase the eastern portion of King’s land for Public Works. However, the western residential portion at 2157 Railroad Avenue was excluded from that deal.
As part of the 2018 transaction, Safety Harbor secured a Right of First Refusal agreement for 2157 Railroad Avenue. Under that agreement, if King ever chose to sell the western parcel, Safety Harbor maintained the right to match an outside offer or purchase it at appraised market value before a private sale could proceed.
Public Works Director Renee Cooper informed commissioners that King verbally notified the city in July of his intent to sell. Staff later learned an outside offer had come in and reminded King that the agreement required written notice, which triggers a 20-day window for the city to exercise its option.
City officials emphasized that acquiring the land is essential because the current Public Works campus is out of room. Recent restructuring brought the parks and building maintenance divisions into Public Works, forcing building maintenance to operate away from the main campus at a secondary facility on Ninth Avenue.
“The Public Works campus is currently at capacity, with only one division still operating off site,” Cooper said during the Aug. 3 meeting. She explained that the Railroad Avenue lot “supports the long term expansion of the Public Works campus, bringing the remaining division on campus, and allows space for construction of the future hardened Public Works emergency operations center.”
Commissioners expressed strong support for securing the land to bring all divisions under one roof. Vice Mayor Nancy Besore pointed to the city’s past investment, noting during the Aug. 3 meeting, “I think it’s been a really great investment, thus far, the part we own, and I’m hopeful for the future.”
Recognizing that the seller had an outside offer, Commissioner Jacob Burnett stressed that the city needed to act promptly. “I think there’s probably a little urgency on this to take advantage of our right of refusal and to square up that piece of property, so I’m in favor of starting negotiations on it,” Burnett said.
Commissioner Kevin Shanks also supported moving forward, noting however that logistics still need to be worked out. “I certainly think it makes sense with how we surround the property,” Shanks said, adding that his approval was “obviously, contingent on price, and how we actually pay for it.”
Property owner Kevin King addressed the commission during public comment on Aug. 3, pressing officials to move without delay because he had an outside buyer lined up.
“Time is of the essence, because there isn’t anything in there about a time situation, and I do have a contract on it. ... We need to go,” King told commissioners.
While earlier discussions referenced figures around $300,000 to $400,000, the property was recently listed online for $500,000. At the Aug. 17 meeting, staff requested setting a maximum purchase cap of $500,000 so negotiations could be finalized efficiently once appraisal details are verified.
“We’re working with the seller and legal,” City Manager Josh Stefancic explained. “The idea of the 500 was to set the ceiling ... but obviously, if it were to settle, if the number were above that $500,000, we’d come back to the commission.”
To pay for the purchase without taking on immediate debt or draining the General Fund, staff outlined a plan to split the cost across reserve funds from the General Fund, the Stormwater Enterprise Fund, the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund, and the Sanitation Enterprise Fund.
Commissioners asked for clarification on using enterprise utility funds for a real estate purchase.
“I noticed we’re suggesting that we can pull from the general fund along with our enterprise funds,” Commissioner Burnett noted during the Aug. 17 meeting. “Because of the use we’re going to have it for, it opens us up into the other places, right?”
“You said it perfectly,” Stefancic replied. “Because of what will be used there and the operation going there, we’re allowed to utilize those enterprise funds... If this were to be just a park facility, you would not be able to utilize the enterprise funds to help pay for this, but because of the several different disciplines and use of enterprise funds that this would support, we feel that we’ll be able to use those enterprise funds to help share the cost.”
The commission also debated whether the city should eventually sell the secondary Ninth Avenue property, valued at approximately $470,000 across two parcels, to offset costs once building maintenance relocates to Railroad Avenue.
“I know we spoke at the last meeting of the possibility of disposing of the property on Ninth Avenue to help offset the cost,” Mayor Joe Ayoub stated. “I was just wondering if that one’s worth $600,000, and we’d be up a little bit on money, or if we’re going to still have to dig further into reserves.”
Cooper noted that no sale could happen until space is built at Public Works, “In order to dispose of that property, I need to move one last division on the Public Works campus, in which I currently do not have space for at Public Works.”
Other commissioners urged caution against selling municipal land too quickly.
“I just would like to hold onto it, because I just think that we’re challenged all the way around,” Commissioner Andy Steingold argued. “We don’t hold that much property outside of parks. ... I’d like to hold on before we start unloading properties right away.”
Burnett suggested waiting for the upcoming Facility Master Plan. “I’m anxious to get that long-term facilities plan,” Burnett said, “so that it makes us see the whole playing field better if these things start to come up.”
Approval of the motion authorizes city staff to finalize negotiations, but the land deal remains pending. Once the city manager and legal team verify the property appraisal and confirm the outside offer details, the city can execute the purchase agreement up to the $500,000 limit and officially take ownership of the parcel for the Public Works campus.