Mayor: Respect agreement

By Jim Farley

Brian LaPeter

Jim Farley, Crystal River mayor.

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Today’s editorial (Feb. 18, 2012) stated that I had made a “command decision to bar the public from a portion of the property at last Saturday’s open house...” and that was “unacceptable.”
 

Unfortunately, no reporter or member of the editorial board contacted me for comment before the editorial was written or, apparently, actually read the plan. The fact is, the Crystal River City Council authorized me to meet with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to try to reach a compromise on issues of disagreement within the management plan. One such disagreement is over observation platforms near residences.
 

On page three of the plan it states, “Residents in the immediate area have voiced concerns over privacy and disturbance from the expected large number of visitors to the project area. To address that concern, the project development will minimize conflict with the neighborhood by placing observation platforms away from houses.”
 

That was the intent of the plan, a legally binding plan, agreed to and signed off on by both FWS and the city of Crystal River, which I had no part in drafting. The language is clear and simple to understand, but FWS has ignored it.
 

During the last open house it posted a sign directing people to Gator Hole, which is near houses, and the area of contention. Local residents, who had read the plan, complained that it was clearly a violation of the agreement, and it is. The only way either party can legally ignore areas of the plan is to first obtain permission from the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) to seek an amendment. FWS has not done that.
 

When I met with the representative of the service I requested for the upcoming open house they honor the agreement by, instead of a sign directing visitors to Gator Hole, placing a sign saying “No Visitors Beyond This Point.”
 

I asked that as a compromise until it was determined if the city would agree, or not, to ask FCT for an amendment to the plan regarding the placement of observation platforms.
 

No, the council did not direct me to make that specific request but, again, it did authorize me to seek a compromise. I felt, and still feel, that my request was an effort toward a reasonable compromise. One dictionary definition of compromise is, “An adjustment or settlement by which each side makes concessions.” The city had already made a concession by deciding not to take action on FWS’s prior violation of the management plan regarding the placement of the boardwalk.
The Fish and Wildlife representative reluctantly agreed to my request. So, it was not a “command decision” because I do not have the power to order any federal agency to do anything.
 

I regret that my effort to have both the city and the FWS honor the agreement both signed off on, until the service petitions to legally amend it, is “unacceptable” to the Chronicle editorial board. But, I consider an important part of my job as seeing to it that any party that enters into a written agreement with the city lives up to its part of the bargain. To fail to live up to that responsibility is “unacceptable” to me.
 

Jim Farley is the mayor of the city of Crystal River. ­