By LOIS KINDLE
S[/dropcap/ometimes things simply don’t work out the way you’d like. Case in point: the anticipated move of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Sun City Center substation to a larger, more accessible space inside the community’s Security Patrol building.
When former Sun City Center Security Patrol Chief Karen Ryan entered lease negotiations with ClubLink last year for use of the old North Lake Golf Course Clubhouse, she approached Community Resource Deputy Jeff Merry about having the substation move there from a tiny office the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was (and still is) leasing from the Sun City Center Community Association for $1 per year.
Ryan drafted a lease agreement for Merry to submit to his chain of command, which was ultimately approved and forwarded to Hillsborough County’s Real Estate & Facilities Services department for approval. The agreement was for 410-square-feet.
In addition to private, secure working space for Merry and his community resource officer and their records, the additional square feet would have provided a sitting area for residents to wait while others were served.
Ryan said she had “the blessing of the board” to proceed with negotiations but was asked to see if she could get the county to increase the annual amount it paid.
“I felt this was a win-win-win for the sheriff’s office, the patrol and the community,” she said, adding the (ClubLink) building was centrally located and seemed a perfect fit for a public safety building.
But then Ryan unexpectedly resigned from the patrol, and the matter was left unsettled.
Gill Jessee became the interim chief in July (2016) and Norma Hardesty became board president.
Hardesty said although the board felt the sheriff’s office should pay more rent, it initially agreed to honor Ryan’s $1-per-year commitment.
However, things started to get complicated.
Hardesty said the board was unable to get a copy of the current lease between the sheriff’s office and community association to compare it to the proposed lease sent by Hillsborough County Real Estate & Facilities Services. She said the board was alarmed at additional stipulations that weren’t part of the original agreement: A difference between lease termination requirements; the use of common areas, which the board felt gave too much leeway to substation visitors; a requirement for liability insurance above the current amount carried by the patrol and the addition of the county as a named party as an additional insured on the patrol’s policy; and the requirement that the patrol release patrol records when requested.
County officials say there was nothing unusual about the proposed lease.
“I took a look at it, and I can say all of its language was very standard,” said Josh Bellotti, director of real estate and facilities for Hillsborough County. “From the county’s perspective, nothing was added beyond what is normal.”
After discussing the matter with many of its members, the board decided it didn’t want to incur any additional expenses, and the sheriff’s office wasn’t willing to pay more to help, Hardesty said.
(It should be noted that all Hillsborough County substations pay $1 per year annually for the spaces it leases.)
“We were looking at how far we could continue operations with the current level of donations we’re receiving and decided we needed to tighten our belts and change the direction of the patrol,” Jessee said. “We felt why put the patrol through this when the sheriff’s office already had a perfectly good office?”
Despite the county’s attempts to assuage the board’s concerns, the board voted unanimously in May to end negotiations and notified the county.
“I’m disappointed we couldn’t work this out for the benefit of the community,” Merry said. “We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the patrol, and I was surprised when negotiations ceased.”
It was more of a practical decision for the security patrol board.
“It wasn’t that the patrol didn’t want the sheriff’s office here; it was all about the additional expenses we would (or could) have incurred.”
The nonprofit patrol is already paying hundreds more per month to ClubLink than the rent it paid to the community association for the space it outgrew at Cherry Hills Drive and Pebble Beach Boulevard North. Patrol members are now handling lawn maintenance to save funds, and the patrol has left a part-time job unfilled. One paid employee handles administrative duties; otherwise, it’s an all-volunteer effort.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility to our donors,” Hardesty said. “And we take that very seriously.”
The bottom line is the sheriff’s office substation will remain at 948 Cherry Hills Drive.
“Nothing has really changed,” said Maj. Rob Bullara, Dist. IV commander. “We’re still here providing the service we always have. We’re just staying in the same space.”