Daytona Beach, FL – Daytona Beach and Volusia County have a lot of hurdles to clear in a short amount of time before the proposed Safe Harbor homeless shelter becomes reality.
With only 2 weeks to go before the county’s self-imposed deadline, both sides have submitted proposals to the other detailing how the new facility – tentatively set for a 250-bed building placed near Volusia County Jail on county-donated land – should be funded and built.
The Daytona Beach City Commission spent nearly 45 minutes on the topic during Wednesday night’s meeting. City leaders went over the county’s proposal – done at the direct request of the DBCC – and heard brief presentations made by City Manager Jim Chisholm and Commissioner Pam Woods.
The Volusia County Council is also expected to address the matter when it meets Thursday in DeLand.
VCC members have indicated in previous meetings that there will be no backing away from its threat to pull the offer of land and money for Safe Harbor if an agreement isn’t in place by March 3rd. That offer is contingent on the county’s city governments being on the hook for all operating costs instead of the county government.
Woods – who has been the DBCC’s point person on this issue for the past several months – said during the meeting that she doesn’t see the VCC backing away from that demand and that she would prefer the city find a non-profit to run the shelter instead of running it directly.
Commissioner Rob Gilliland echoed Woods’ sentiment that it might be an option to try and drum up financial support from other East Volusia cities that have already expressed at least some interest, including Ormond Beach, Holly Hill, Daytona Beach Shores and South Daytona. Gilliland noted that Port Orange leaders have already refused to help fund the proposed shelter. Many West Volusia cities have also balked.
Commissioner Patrick Henry joined Gilliland in being absolutely against the city being the only ones on the hook for the yearly operating costs. Chisholm also mentioned during his presentation that the county should become a “true partner” by contributing something for yearly operating costs.
Mayor Derrick Henry said that Daytona Beach and Volusia County have to be “married” to this concept in order for it to work, but also said that the DBCC would try to find a solution to the homeless problem on its own if necessary, especially in the wake of the large homeless camp that formed and was eventually broken up earlier this year in front of the county’s Administration Building on North Beach Street.
Henry has pushed for a joint DBCC-VCC meeting to try to work out the issues, but the VCC has not taken the city up on that offer yet. The DBCC’s next scheduled meeting is March 2nd. The VCC’s next scheduled meeting after Thursday is March 3rd.
Volusia County is offering an undetermined amount of land for the shelter and $4 million in reimbursement for construction that would be paid out in 4 increments once certain goals are met in the building process.
No county money would go towards the estimated $1.6 million yearly operating cost and the city would be required to use the land and building as a homeless shelter for at least 30 years. Daytona Beach would be on the hook for the yearly operating cost.
The county would give Daytona Beach a 3-year deadline to start construction and gives the county the option to reclaim the land and take over the building if the city doesn’t use either for a homeless shelter. The city might also have to pay some of the $4 million back to the county if that’s the case or due to other issues.
Daytona Beach’s counter-proposal has the city agreeing to the 3-year construction deadline and a 5-year deadline to get Safe Harbor operational as well as agreeing to return the land to the county if those conditions aren’t met.
The city is asking for the entire $4 million amount from Volusia within 90 days of signing the agreement, at least 10 acres of land within 3 months and for the county to commit to $400,000 a year in operating costs for 5 years, which would match the amount Daytona Beach has already offered for operating costs.
Daytona leaders also want the county to help get operating money, be it from other Volusia cities, through the state and federal governments or from other sources.
Daytona Beach also wants Volusia to waive all fees relating to permits, licenses and impact as it relates to Safe Harbor in exchange to the city owning the shelter and taking responsibility for construction, operation and maintenance.
Copyright 2016 Southern Stone Communications.