County Out In Springs Talks

WEEKI WACHEE - The county won't be invited to talks between Weeki Wachee Springs and its landlord, a spokesman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District said Thursday.

The water district, known as Swiftmud, and the attraction's management have made too much progress in negotiations that would make the 60-year-old landmark a state park, Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan said.

"Our view is that we're so far along in the settlement process that to have any other party involved - the county or anyone else - would be a step backwards," Molligan said.

Swiftmud and Weeki Wachee Springs LLC are in court-ordered mediation to settle a long-standing dispute over the attraction's lease. The water management district owns the 27 acres on which the park sits.

On Monday, Weeki Wachee Springs general manager Robyn Anderson signed a letter of intent for the corporation to donate the attraction to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which would run the landmark as a state park.

DEP officials and even Gov. Charlie Crist expressed excitement at the prospect of folding the landmark into the state system.

"It appears DEP is ready to make those commitments," Molligan said. "It just seems counterproductive to have anyone else enter the negotiations."

County officials and commissioners agreed this week that they would rather avoid getting involved in the legal dispute and wait for the mediation to play out - or get an official invitation from Swiftmud to the talks.

The county as of Thursday had not asked for an official invitation, Molligan said.

Anderson had expressed hope that Swiftmud would act on the county's interest and extend an invitation to rule out the possibility of having Weeki Wachee Springs become a county park.

The attraction's management would have another avenue to consider, Anderson said, and the residents of Hernando County should have the right to at least ponder the possibility of mermaids in a county park.

The deal with the state hinges on many legal details and is far from settled, Anderson said.

It's a sentiment Weeki Wachee Springs spokesman John Athanason repeated Thursday upon hearing the news that Swiftmud would rather not invite the county.

He called the letter of intent "a promising outline" from which "real negotiating" can begin.

"We still have a long way to go with the state," Athanason said. "As an attraction we just want to make sure all the options are before us. When it's all said and done, maybe the state's better but until the county can make its voice heard we'll never know."

Attraction officials have no intention of holding up negotiations with the state, however.

"We're still ready to move forward," Athanason said. "We're not ready to stall."

The letter of intent, penned by DEP deputy counsel Harold Vielhauer, outlines specifics about how the attraction would transfer to the state park system as a "donation" by Oct. 31, 2008.

Several "key employees" - and the mermaid shows - would remain, but at least one waterslide at the Buccaneer Bay portion of the park would have to go, according to the letter.

The state would work with Swiftmud, which also owns the land surrounding the attraction, to expand the park to accommodate camping, hiking and interpretative trails.

The letter called the terms "our final and best offer."

When and if the mediation results in a successful resolution, "nothing precludes the county from reaching out to the state to have some kind of involvement," Molligan said.

County commissioner Dave Russell said that is likely inevitable because of the existence of the City of Weeki Wachee, tiny though it may be.

The city owns the corporation, an arrangement that Swiftmud has questioned in court.

"The City of Weeki Wachee is a solvent entity and as the parent government we are ultimately responsible for their activities," Russell said.

That fact makes Commissioner Diane Rowden question why Hernando County wasn't invited to the talks in the first place.

Rowden and Russell both acknowledged that Hernando is a cash-strapped county full of residents crying for more tax relief and facing an even tighter budget if more tax reform passes.

The state, they agreed, has more resources and experience to run the attraction.

"I don't think we'd ever be in the position to take over full operations," Rowden said, "but the point is we should have somehow been included."