Approving Beck and Eating B.S.

The Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees voted today to forward a proposed lease agreement with Justin and Greg Beck for the park’s parcel one on to the Pensacola City Council.

“We’re glad you’re here,” CMPA member John Merting told the Becks this afternoon. “We’re glad you’re moving forward.”

The Becks plan to build a mixed-use development at the Community Maritime Park. The project—which entails retail, office space and residential—will be the park’s second development, following Wahoos-owner Quint Studer’s planned office complex.

Using the Studer deal as a template for negotiations, the CMPA, along with representatives from Mayor Ashton Hayward’s office and the Pensacola City Council, hashed out the proposed lease last week. The Becks agreed to up the proposed annual lease fee from the original $39,700 to $46,222.

“I thought it went really well,” said Justin Beck.

CMPA Executive Director Ed Spears described the negotiations as “speedy, open, honest.” He advised the trustees to recommend the lease’s approval, pending amendments made by the city council.

“That’s a little scary, to say they could change anything they want,” said CMPA member Mark Taylor.

“We could go around in circles for months if we don’t do that,” Spears said.

Also during today’s CMPA meeting, board members received an update from Kim Carmody, of the city’s Neighborhood Services, on activities slated for the park. The park board has contracted with the city to manage the facility.

Carmody reported that the park would be hosting multiple events in the coming months, such as the Listen Local concert series. She said the calendar is filling up.

Carmody also said that the city is still in the process of negotiating with a management company to take the reins at the park. She declined to reveal the company’s name prior to inking a deal.

“Hopefully we’ll have something signed and ready to roll next time I talk to you,” Carmody said. “We’ve met with them on several occasions—they’re very excited, we’re very excited.”

The CMPA previously voted to have a request for proposals (RFP) conducted in an effort to find a management company for the park. That RFP was never followed through on.

“We opted out of the RFP for various reasons,” Carmody said, explaining that the company currently being negotiated with already has a footprint in the area and will also be able to offer alternative venues during rain events.

Members expressed concerns about the board’s direction being circumvented. They discussed again requesting that the city conduct an RFP process.

“As our agent, if we told you to go ahead and do an RFP,” asked CMPA Treasurer Jim Reeves, “you’d be pretty excited about that?”

“Oh, skippy-yes,” replied Carmody.

Both Carmody and Spears contended that it was within the city’s power to contract out their management duties to another entity. The director said that the city was not negotiating a new contract—which he said would be illegal—but rather expanding an existing contract.

“We’ve done the research, we have not done anything that is illegal, unethical,” said Carmody. “Nothing is being done that is shady, that’s wrong.”

Pensacola City Councilwoman Sherri Myers challenged the city’s position that the management company’s name could be withheld from the public. She asserted that the matter was subject to sunshine laws and made a verbal public records request for the information.

“When you ask for the name of this company that the city is negotiating with, you have a right to know,” Myers told the CMPA board.

While not technically revealing the company’s name, Spears did tell the board that there was only one venue-management company operating in the area—SMG, which manages the Saenger Theater for the city, as well as the Pensacola Bay Center for Escambia County.

Merting, who also serves as head of the CMPA’s Operations and Audit Committee, told his fellow board members that it was likely a waste of time to continue the RFP discussion—“that ship has sailed, that’s water under the bridge, coulda, shoulda, woulda”—but also relayed a message to city staff via Carmody.

“We feel like mushrooms—we’re fed B.S. and we’re kept in the dark, and that’s not very beneficial,” Merting told her. “All we can do is vote and pass motions and if the people that we work with thumb their noses at us, that’s what they’re going to do.”