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Hernando Today

Council Approves Deal With Enrichment Center

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: December 3, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The Enrichment Center of Hernando County will provide its services in one city building until another building can be transformed to a permanent home and a special needs emergency shelter.

That's the deal approved by a unanimous city council at its regular meeting late Monday.

The nonprofit enrichment center, which provides a range of services used mainly by the county's seniors, will lease the Jerome Brown Community Center for $1,000 a month. The nonprofit enrichment center board will put its $700,000 in state and county money toward a 96-year-old storage building on The Quarry, the city's municipal golf course.

The building will be renovated to house the enrichment center, a pro shop for the golf course and museum celebrating the history of the mining industry in Hernando County.

Council member Lara Bradburn said she was pleased with some tweaks to the agreement and a staff report that showed the city's youth programs held in the Jerome Brown Center wouldn't be compromised.

"We're all in agreement that the youth will remain a priority and this accomplishes that," Bradburn said.

The deal also gives the city a way to provide residents with a valuable array of services and a safe haven for the frailest county residents when a storm or other disaster strikes, she said.

Mayor Joe Bernardini, who'd asked for the issue to be postponed last month so he could do more research, said he still wasn't convinced the city wouldn't incur more than $1,000 in monthly costs.

"I don't want the city going in the red," he said. "What if our expenses turn out to be $3,000?"

County Parks and Recreation Director Mike Walker assured the council that the lease would be enough to cover the higher utility bills and other sundry expenses. The enrichment center has agreed to keep the place clean.
Bernardini also worried about a clause in the agreement that gives the enrichment center's activities scheduling priority in the new building.

Joe Mason, a Brooksville attorney and an enrichment center board member, called the removal of that clause a "deal breaker." The center needs to show the state that it will have a permanent home in order to secure the funds, he said.

Council member David Pugh Jr. said it was one the city can live with.

"I know it seems like we're giving up some our rights, but we're getting back a lot from this project that we would not have," Pugh said.

David Pugh Sr., Pugh's father and Walker's predecessor, said the council should jump at the chance to get the golf course operations out of a doublewide trailer

"They're going to give us ($700,000)," Pugh Sr. said. "C'mon now, let's get real."

The enrichment center board will now present its plan to the state so construction could begin next year. The Legislature set aside $600,000 for the project, and the county has dedicated $100,000. The board came to the city after its other plans to build a shelter ran into funding problems.

The center currently leases a storefront in the Brook Plaza shopping center south of downtown. Board members said they hope to break the lease and move to the Jerome Brown Center as early as next month.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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