The interim city manager says obtaining permits delayed a lot of the work.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
Published March 24, 2004
MADEIRA BEACH - Wonder why it's taking so long to complete the city's newest park?
Blame the delay on paperwork. City officials say that is the reason for the holdup.
City officials said in July they were hopeful Madeira Beach Causeway Park would be done by the end of the year, but that deadline was missed.
An engineering firm needed to file plans and the city needed to acquire permits from regional, state and federal agencies. That process took a long time, said Community Services Director Mike Maxemow, who also is serving as interim city manager.
"Most of it was waiting on permits," Maxemow said of the delay.
And although it appears a lot still needs to be done on the 1.9-acre site on the northwest end of the Tom Stuart Causeway, the majority of work is finished or is close to being done, Maxemow said.
By June 1, the park will be "substantially completed," Maxemow said.
A fishing pier is ready for anglers, and an observation pier is ready for onlookers. A sea wall has been built. Irrigation pipes have been buried, and sidewalks have been installed.
Workers are building a gazebo, picnic shelter and restrooms, Maxemow said. Next month, landscapers will cover the sandy ground with grass and native plants and trees, including wax myrtles, sea oats and southern magnolias. Workers also will plant 75 palm trees. Educational signs will be posted throughout the park detailing the vegetation.
The parking lot has only five spaces and one handicapped space so most park users will get there by walking or riding a bicycle, Maxemow said. Once there, they can relax on one of the benches that will line the water's edge or enjoy a picnic in the shelter.
"It's more of a passive park," Maxemow said.
To name the park, city officials asked residents for suggestions. The commissioners recently voted on the park's official name: Madeira Beach Causeway Park.
The city has been working on developing the park for six years. But a number of factors, including stalled property negotiations and an on-again, off-again relationship with an engineering firm, caused delays.
There was also the time-consuming process of acquiring permits.
Madeira Beach has looked at turning the vacant property at its entrance into a park since 1991, according to city records. But it wasn't until 10 years later that the city bought the land with the help of a $1.9-million state grant.
Money from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency - $400,000 of settlement money from a 1993 oil spill in Tampa Bay - helped pay for the $500,000 project.
The city also hopes one day to develop an area under the causeway so residents can walk to the park under the bridge without having to cross busy 150th Avenue.
