Shannon Nickinson has written a viewpoint on the Bruce Beach lease for a fish hatchery.
City officials are finalizing a lease agreement to build a fish hatchery and research facility on city-owned property at Bruce Beach. We’ve been talking about this since June of 2011.
The agreement would allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to lease Bruce Beach for $1 a year from the city. In exchange, the state would use $18.8 million in fines paid by BP to construct a fish hatchery center that would incorporate educational outreach for college and secondary school students and public access spaces including walking trails and signage highlighting the ecological processes in use at the site and Bruce Beach’s history.
After the first five years of using BP money to run the center, the FWC will take over the financial responsibility for the hatchery.
But what if the City Council rejects the project when the lease is brought forward for its consideration?
Read the full op-ed here.