Gabrielle Russon
The House and Senate are divided on which local parks — including one named the country’s best — deserve to get more state funding.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government proposes spending $350,000 to add more parking at Lakeland’s Bonnet Springs Park. The House Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee omits the project in its latest offer.
Bonnet Springs, known for its walking paths, kid-friendly creek and multiple playgrounds spread out 168 acres, was recently named the best city park by USA Today.
The Senate proposed funding several other park projects that were left out in the House’s conference spreadsheet.
Those projects include: $4 million for Hardee County Pioneer Park’s infrastructure improvements; $2.65 million for Zephyrhills’ Zephyr Park; $1 million to revitalize Camp Welaka, a Girl Scout camp in Martin County; $944,000 to replace a playground at Naples Cambier Park; and $400,000 to build a small park in Deerfield Beach’s Tedder neighborhood. Also on the list are $300,000 for Cutler Bay’s Bel-Aire Park improvements, $350,000 for St. Johns River Trail Phase 1 at Green Cove Springs, and $365,000 for Naples Botanical Garden’s Garden for All: Accessibility Solutions.
The Senate is also proposing $300,000 for Port St. Joe’s George Core Park bathrooms, $500,000 for light restoration at Sneads’ Adam Tucker Park, $350,000 each for the Deering Estate Foundation’s environmental program pavilions and Vero Beach’s Humiston Beach Park boardwalk, and $500,000 for Wauchula’s Heritage Park facility upgrades. For those projects, the House is offering nothing.
Meanwhile, projects that have the House’s buy-in — but not the Senate’s — include $500,000 for both the Manatee County’s Gateway Greenway Trails and Manatee County’s Washington Park, $375,000 for improvements at Auburndale’s Lake Ariana Park and $250,000 for recreational amenities at Jupiter’s new waterfront Piatt Park.
The House also budgeted $200,000 to construct a new battlefield museum at Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, which was also left out of the Senate’s latest offer.
As for other issues of contention, the House wants to spend $2.5 million on Plant City’s Lakeside Station Park versus the Senate’s $1 million. And the Senate proposes $600,000 for Westlake Park Improvements Phase 1 compared to the House’s $300,000.
But Chambers supported spending $375,000 on Clay County’s Moccasin Slough’s scenic trail and elevated boardwalk with the Nature Center, one of the few times they agreed on both the project and the dollar amount.
