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Hernando Today

Water District OKs Weeki Wachee Springs Deal

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By TONY MARRERO, Hernando Today

Published: January 30, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Now all that's left is the closing and it's "Weeki Wachee Springs State Park."

The governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District gave its unanimous blessing Tuesday to an agreement that would make the 60-year-old attraction, famous for its mermaid shows, a state park later this year.

The deal transfers the attraction's lease with the water district, commonly known as Swiftmud, to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Nov. 1. The water district owns the 27 acres on which the park sits.
Weeki Wachee Springs LLC agrees to sell its assets - right down to the mermaid tails - to DEP for $10.

The closing date is set for Nov. 1.

Robyn Anderson, mayor of the City of Weeki Wachee and general manager of Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, signed the agreement last Thursday night at DEP's Tallahassee office.

The governing board also unanimously approved a settlement between Swiftmud and Weeki Wachee Springs that dismisses pending lawsuits and prohibits any future claims. Each side contends the other violated terms of the attraction's lease, and the case has been ongoing for four years.

"It is quite a satisfaction to see it come to a conclusion," said governing board member Tom Dabney, who called himself and board chairwoman Judy Whitehead "veterans" of the longstanding legal dispute.

"It's unfortunate that it took so long to get here, but at the end of the day Weeki Wachee Springs and the mermaids are part of Florida's history," Dabney said.

"This has been a long time coming, but as a longtime Hernando County resident no one could be more thrilled than I am that it will be a Florida state park," Whitehead said.

"By becoming a part of the award-winning state park system, the Weeki Wachee Springs attraction as well as its signature mermaids will remain alive for generations to come, and the District's goal of protecting the environment will be achieved," David Moore, Swiftmud's executive director, said in a statement issued after the vote.

The agreement includes a stipulation to ask the courts to "retain jurisdiction" to allow the legal battle to pick up where it left off if the closing doesn't happen by Nov. 1.

"I'll have to take a look at it," Joe Mason, the Brooksville lawyer representing the attraction, when asked about that clause Tuesday afternoon.

Mason said he'd grown concerned that the attraction and DEP were "negotiating in vain" after Swiftmud stated earlier this month that the court-ordered mediation talks between the district and attraction management had hit an impasse even though the attraction and DEP were close to a deal.

"We (negotiated) in good faith and we're very pleased Swiftmud was willing to get back on the bus," Mason said.

"We're happy about it," Weeki Wachee Springs spokesman John Athanason said Tuesday afternoon when reached after the board vote.

Athanason, who was with Anderson when she signed the agreement last week, said "the biggest sticking point" during the final 11 hours of talks was the protection of the attraction's current employees.

Under the agreement, DEP will appoint its own park manager. Anderson will be offered the position of assistant park manager.

As well, Athanason, human resource director Sarah Tenison and finance director Marcia Karcher will be offered positions consistent with the ones they hold now for "approximately equal" their current pay rate, according to the deal.

But Anderson was most concerned about the rest of the employees, Athanason said. According to the agreement, DEP will use its "best efforts" to retain all of the employees currently working at the attraction, including the mermaid performers and those workers who have full-time status.

The attraction has some 70 employees during the winter, a number that swells to 200 during the busy summer months.

Those who aren't given full-time posts will be offered "other personal services" status. Those positions don't come with health care or other benefits, but the employees given such status who had received benefits before the transfer will be offered 110 percent of their current pay rate, according to the agreement.

Those employees who are retained can only be terminated "for cause," which includes "lack of funding." If the state seeks to cut staff because of redundancy, it must do so by attrition first, the deal states.

"The whole key was employee retention," Athanason said.

Athanason will be allowed to continue living in one of the on-site cottages. Three other employees who also live on the property have as long as three years to find new housing, depending on the employee.

DEP was "pleased" to hear about the vote, department spokeswoman Katie Flanagan said.

"That just gets us one step closer for Weeki Wachee to become a state park, preserving one of Florida's natural and cultural resources," Flanagan said.

DEP officials plan to visit the attraction soon to meet with employees and "start building positive relationships," she said.

DEP also will hold town hall meetings after the transfer to get input from residents on how to expand and improve the park, Flanagan said. One such option that has already been mentioned: adding camp sites.

Athanason said that the chance for residents to offer their ideas also was important to Anderson and the rest of attraction management, who had been disappointed that the county wasn't able to pursue the option to keep Weeki Wachee Springs in its own park system.

"The voice of the community is going to have a really big say in the direction this park goes," Athanason said, "and rightfully so."

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

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