When in doubt ... hire a consultant.
Such is the modus operandi of many local governments. The city of Stuart appears to have embraced this approach.
First, the Stuart Commission approved $30,000 for Captec Engineering to recommend changes to Colorado Avenue between U.S. 1 and Confusion Corner. Recently, commissioners voted (unanimously) to spend $15,000 on a consultant to determine if developing the downtown waterfront — now occupied by City Hall, the City Hall Annex and the vacant city-owned building that once housed Arthur's Dockside Restaurant and Fiji Bar — would be economically feasible.
The city purchased the 0.6-acre Dockside land for $3.8 million in March 2009.
Let's be clear: The consulting appropriations are relatively minor expenditures in the city's $18.8 million budget. However, they come against the backdrop of continuing declines in overall property valuations — three years in a row, as well as a projected 10 percent drop next year — and a projected budget shortfall of $700,000 for the next fiscal year.
Taxpayers are correct to ask: Can the city afford to retain consultants when city revenues are declining and there are difficult budget decisions looming?
The consulting funds for Captec already have been spent. But it's not too late for commissioners to rethink their consulting appropriation for the downtown waterfront.
For several years city officials have discussed the possibility of attracting a resort-style hotel to the waterfront. Given the fact there is little room for residential growth within the existing municipal boundaries, commissioners are correct to see Stuart's economic future increasingly as a destination location. The downtown waterfront indeed holds promise for such a purpose.
But does the city really need to spend $15,000 to create ideas for this project? Why not invite local architects and developers to present their ideas to the city, as local architect Dan Braden did in 2006 with input from the editorial board of the Stuart News? The development community likely would come out of the proverbial woodwork if given the chance to participate in the project. Let's make this the starting point — not an appropriation to a consultant.
Stuart commissioners should reconsider the $15,000 consulting decision. At the very least, they should cease and desist hiring consultants until the city's financial picture improvements.
