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City Delays Canal Referendum

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By MARK HOLAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2008

WEST SHORE - The city has postponed a mail-in referendum to determine whether waterfront homeowners are willing to pay a special tax for dredging the canals in their backyards.

Instead, the city has mailed letters to about 200 homeowners telling them the vote will be delayed until spring.

"It's basically to provide the people who are voting with more accurate information," city stormwater director Chuck Walter said Tuesday.

Walter said BCI Engineers & Scientists Inc. will survey canals and nearby water bodies to develop a proposal for companies to bid on the dredging work.

Last month, the city council agreed to hold the mail-in referendum this summer. At least 60 percent of the homeowners along 13 West Shore-area canals must approve the dredging assessment, estimated at $8,000 per household.

The proposal calls for dredging the canals 20 feet wide by about 5 feet deep, or 3 feet deep during mean low tide.

Letters outlining the new timetable were mailed June 18.

An additional 200 homeowners received letters saying the waterfront next to their property does not require dredging because it is 3 feet deep at mean low tide. They would not be assessed.

Forty-five property owners received letters saying there might be dredging in front of their property for environmental but not navigational purposes. These include waterways east of low bridges that block access to Old Tampa Bay. This group also would not be assessed.

In July, the council will be asked to adopt an ordinance providing the authority to impose the assessments on tax bills in November 2009 instead of this year as originally proposed.

"The ordinance will not impose the assessment," states the city's letter to property owners. "If the city council adopts the ordinance, the city will next solicit bids from contractors in order to obtain the lowest cost for the dredging activities."

Once those bids are received, Walter said, the city will be able to provide a more accurate assessment amount for the referendum.

Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7651 or mholan@tampatrib.com.

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