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by Don Finebrock, Miami Herald
With time running out to save the Miami
Circle, the Miami-Dade
Commission agreed Monday to borrow $8.7 million to buy the riverfront
property and preserve the ancient stone carvings discovered there last
year.
Barring any last-minute glitches, the
county expects to complete the
$26.7 million deal today with the property's owner, developer Michael
Baumann.
Title for the 2.2-acre property at the
mouth of the Miami River will be
transferred to the state of Florida, which is contributing $15 million
toward
the purchase price. The county is contributing $3 million from
its Safe
Neighborhood Parks bond program.
The rest of the money will come from
the Trust for Public Land, a
national land conservation organization based in San Francisco.
The trust agreed two weeks ago to lend
the county $8.7 million so it
could buy out Baumann. The county had until today to buy the
property or
make a down payment of $20 million to preserve the carvings.
Experts believe the Circle was carved
about 2,000 years ago by Tequsta
Indians who lived in South Florida.
Seven commissioners -- the minimum needed
for a meeting -- voted
unanimously to accept the trust's offer, despite concerns about the
extra
cost and the potential liability.
The loan, at 8.5 percent interest, could
add $1.5 million to the final
cost of the deal, county officials told commissioners.
The agreement also puts the county in
an uncomfortable spot. The
county must now raise $8.7 million, or repay the loan itself.
The first $2
million is due in one year. The remainder is due in two years.
"In effect, we are going on the hook
for $8.7 million," Miami-Dade
Mayor Alex Penelas said.
But commissioners had little choice.
If the county had walked away from the
deal it cut two months ago with
Baumann, the developer could have sued the county to recover legal
fees and
other costs associated with the delay of his proposed high-rise project.
After reviewing the county's options,
Commissioner Miriam Alonso said
she felt as if she had a knife in front of her and a knife behind.
Whichever
way she moved would be painful, she said.
"It is a very painful experience that
I have right now," Alonso said.
As the deadline neared, Baumann had offered
to lend the county the full
$8.7 million himself -- but at 12 percent interest.
Penelas and county officials pitched
the trust proposal as the best
choice.
"What this is doing is buying us time,"
said George Burgess, special
assistant to County Manager Merrett Stierheim.
Penelas and Burgess said the county's
fund-raising effors should bear
fruit shortly, County officials are seeking contributions from the
Jay I.
Kislak Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the
Kresge
Foundation.
Penelas said the Kislak Foundation has
agreed in principle to provide
$2 million for the land. The foundation previously had express
interest in
funding a Circle museum.
County officials have applied for $1
million in federal transportation
money from the local Metropolitan Planning Organization and they are
exploring the possibility of tapping federal funds for land consevation.
"Although we do not have hard commitments
from any of these effors, all
indications are we will be getting some very good news from several
of these
sources within the next several weeks." Penelas said.
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